Language as Evidence

Book excerpt: This edited book provides a comprehensive survey of the modern state of the art in forensic linguistics. Part I of the book focuses on the role of the linguist as an expert witness in common law and civil law jurisdictions, the relation of expert witnesses and lawyers, ethics standards, and courtroom interaction. Part II deals with some of the major areas of expertise of forensic linguistics as the scientific study of language as evidence, namely authorship identification, speaker identification, text authentication, deception and lie detection, plagiarism detection, and cyber language crimes. This book is intended to be used as a reference for academics, students and practitioners of Linguistics, Forensic Linguistics, Law, Criminology, and Forensic Psychology, among other disciplines.