Forensic Analysis of the Court Legal System: A Linguistic Perspective

Abstract

Language plays a crucial role in the legal system and judicial practice, both in written legal documents and oral interactions in court. The complexity and ambiguity of legal language often lead to distortion of facts, misinterpretation, and potential unfairness in judicial decisions. This study aims to analyze the role of forensic linguistics in identifying and resolving linguistic distortions or ambiguities within the legal system, focusing on legal documents, trial transcripts, and courtroom communication. This research employs a qualitative, descriptive, analytical method, with data collected through documentation and literature review. The data sources consist of official legal documents, trial transcripts, and ten recent scholarly articles on forensic linguistics, legal discourse, and legal pragmatics. The analysis integrates the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework with forensic linguistic principles, including the examination of linguistic structures, lexical choices, ambiguity, and rhetorical strategies in legal texts. The findings reveal that legal language often contains bias, ambiguity, and communicative distortions that may affect the credibility of evidence and the fairness of judgments. Forensic linguistic analysis has proven effective in detecting such issues, enhancing comprehension of legal texts, strengthening courtroom interpretation, and improving legal accessibility through precise translation and interpretation. This study underscores the urgency of integrating forensic linguistics into Indonesian legal practice to promote a more equitable, transparent, and linguistically accountable justice system