Verbal violence, conflicts, glottophobic discriminations – is sociolinguistics in court such a good idea? (reflections in a French context)
In this article, Marc Debono, Associate Professor in Language Sciences at the University of Tours, challenges us to consider the role of academic linguistic experts in court, arguing that academic expertise on matters of language, while it can be useful in court, must not be allowed to encroach on judges’ freedom to make their own decisions, which, he argues, is a democratic imperative.