Dimensions of justification in legislative discourse: a diachronic approach

Abstract

In this paper I intend to analyse some aspects of the evolution observable in the way the legislative discourse justifies the legal-legislative provisions in legislative texts of different synchronies of the Portuguese language: this is especially apparent when they present statements which contain acts of discourse with justification value. From a comparative and diachronic perspective, I will confront Afonso X’s medieval legislative texts (such as the Portuguese versions of the Primeyra Partida and the Foro Real) with contemporary Portuguese legislative texts. I will attempt to demonstrate that in medieval legislative texts, in addition to the greater extent of the supporting segments, there is also a discursive structure that uses arguments of authority. In Afonso X’s legislative texts royal legislation is conveyed and the Speaker, designated by the first person “we”, is identified with the king, holding a power inherent to this statute. It reaffirms its status as authority and the desirability of royal legislative action and affirms the pragmatic need for the existence of justice by its favourable effect (which is ethically identified with the Common Good). By contrast, contemporary legislative discourse is presented in the third person and this does not designate any individualized subject. The law is stabilized, established in multi-secular institutions and fundamental rights are already guaranteed, and new legislation is generally conjunctural and especially case-by-case legislation. In contemporary legislative formulations there is no discourse of the legitimization of power and the dimension of the supporting segments is smaller.