This volume presents a combination of practical, empirical research data and theoretical reflection to provide a comparative view of language and discourse in the courtroom. The work explores how the various disciplines of law and linguistics can help us understand the nature of "Power and Control" - both oral and written - and how it might be clarified to unravel linguistic representation of legal reality. It presents and examines the most recent research and theories at national and international level.

Anne Wagner, is an Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics., Université du Littoral Cÿte d'Opale, France, and Research Professor, China University of Political Science and Law (Beijing, China). Since 2005 she has been President of the International Roundtables for the Semiotics of Law (IRSL). She is the founder of the website: http://www.semioticsoflaw.com; a founding Member of International Law and Language Association and a Permanent Member of the Scientific Committee of the Instituto Subalpino per l'analisi e l'insegnamento del diritto della attività transanzionali - ISAIDAT. She has published extensively on issues relating to law and language. Le Cheng is currently Professor and Director of the Center for Legal Discourse and Translation, Zhejiang University. He holds a concurrent professorship at China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL). He is Chief Editor of the International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse, co-editor of the Translated Series on Law and Language (CUPL Press), Secretary General and Vice President of the Multicultural Association of Law and Language, Deputy Director of the Research Centre for Legal Translation, CUPL, and Councillor of the China Behaviour Law Association. His interests and publications are in the areas of law, legal translation, semiotics, language and law, and discourse analysis.

Chapter 1 Language, Power and Control in Courtroom Discourse, Anne Wagner, Le Cheng; Part 1 Power and Control in Language; Chapter 2 Understanding Courtroom Communication through Cultural Scripts, Kim McCaul; Chapter 3 Witnesses on Trial, Sarah Dettenwanger; Chapter 4 (False) Confessions Become Compelling at Trial, Gillian Grebler; Chapter 5 The Role of Metadiscourse in Counsels' Questions, Silvia Cavalieri; Chapter 6 Constructing Legal Narratives, Flora Di Donato; Part 2 Power and Control behind Language; Chapter 7 Magical Images in Law, Christine A. Coreos; Chapter 8 The Construction of Admissions of Fault through American Rules of Evidence, Janet Ainsworth; Chapter 9 The Construction of Truth in Legal Decision-making, Petrina Schiavi; Chapter 10 Hidden Penalties Faced by Non-English Speakers in the UK Criminal Justice System, Roxana Rycroft; Chapter 11 Language Alternation in Kenyan and Malaysian Courts, Richard Powell, Maya Khemlani David; Chapter 12 The Place of Arbitration in Online Proceedings as a Simulacrum, Joanna Jemielniak;