Good Law or Bad Law? Need for General Principles on Plain Urdu Translation of Legislative Documents in Pakistan

Abstract

The article is written against the backdrop of the plain language movement that made its way to the legal Language almost in the 1970s. Almost all countries work differently to make legal documents readable and understandable for laypersons. The rationale behind the plain language movement in Pakistan is to connect and reach out to the community members the law must serve. Through detailed and careful observation, it is concluded that the Urdu language has no systematic model, principles, or handbook that can wisely analyze the plain patterns in a translated legal text in Urdu (the author deliberately uses translated Urdu as there is no system available for producing independent Urdu legislation in Pakistan). To serve this purpose, the study draws upon Punjab (Pakistan) laws translated from English into Urdu to make them accessible to common readers who can only read Urdu. To introduce plain language markers, the author derives principles from various handbooks, official websites, and articles written and devised by different countries. Based on these markers, the study concludes that 'how' plainness necessarily paves the way for communicating legal knowledge and legal rights preserved through legislative documents.