Zur Textfunktion des Rechtskommentars

Authors

• Erkki Hollo Helsingin yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.70484/vakki.149208

Keywords:

Auslegung, Rechtskommentar, Textfunktion, Textkompetenz, Themenentfaltung

Abstract

The paper presents an analysis of textual work with legal commentaries. The focus lies on the structure and functions of a commentary, starting with the typical features and main differences compared to other text types. The main function of a law commentary is to provide reliable and well-founded information for practical use in a regulated context. In law books, this process of commenting follows certain professional rules and traditions. The main tools for argumentation are provided by preparatory works (travaux préparatoires), literature, legal precedents but also by facts (statistics, data etc.). The corpus was limited to just one article of a German law commentary. The study shows however that, in addition to traditional legal doctrine, the linguistic methods may offer additional clarification for understanding how interpretation and argumentation works in legal commentaries.