There has been much discussion recently about the role of language and the law in the international context, especially as globalization is now so important. Businesses and individuals find themselves in parts of the world that in the past they would never have had the chance to be. Legal matters are part of the community in general, but as people from different countries merge into regions and countries where legal issues arise there has been no common legal language that has been developed to take into account cultural variances between people. This can become an issue with legal documents for globalization that need to be in the language of the original document and the language of the host country so that the meaning in context is understood by the parties involved.

What is globalisation?

Globalisation is the term that is used to describe the rise in the interdependence of cultures, economies, and populations throughout the world due to the rise in cross-border trading in technology, goods and services, and flows of people, information, and investments.

What is international law?

This is a set of norms, rules, and standards typically recognized between nations as binding.  It establishes guidelines for a range of areas such as diplomacy, war, trade, and human rights. The aim of international law is to encourage consistent, stable, and orderly international relations.

Law firms and international law

International law firms advise individuals, organizations, and government entities regarding their legal rights in international settings and they suggest how to reach the best outcome for every case. An international lawyer could specialize in international law in legal fields like security law, intellectual property, and taxation. They should have a complete understanding of how their specialist fields fit into the context of international affairs.

The International Law Association

The international Law Association (ILA) was founded in 1873 in Brussels and today is based in Britain as a non-profit organization. Its constitution states that it promotes "the study, clarification, and development of international law" and "the furtherance of international understanding and respect for international law".

The International Language and Law Association (ILLA) is an association founded expressly to bring together a web of lawyers and linguists. The founders are a threesome made up of Lawrence Solan, Peter Tiersma, and Dieter Sein. Their aim is to get lawyers and linguistics to work together on the language of law in the international context. The ILLA’s 1^st international conference of legal linguistics is set to take place in August 2017, in the city of Freiburg in Germany.

What is to be discussed includes the research that has been undertaken in the area of legal linguistics in relation to the rise in social conflicts in multilingual, globalized, and digitalized countries. A second question concerns the models in legal linguistics and whether they can be of use as a way of rethinking methodological issues in multilingual and transnational law in a digitalized and globalized world. A 3rd question is whether legal linguistics contributes to the understanding and resolving of social conflicts. A 4^th question is how legal linguistics can be used practically in courts and legislation.

No doubt over time international legal linguistics will feature in postgraduate programs so that sooner or later it will make it easier to translate legal documents for globalization where a greater understanding of world languages in the legal context unites to create a mutual understanding.