Master’s Degree in Education (Sheffield, 2002)
Law Society: Solicitors’ Qualifying Examinations (Bachelor’s Degree Equivalent) (1971)
Institute of linguists: post-graduate diploma in translation (1986)
Significant Professional Experience
Between 1965 and 1983, Christopher Goddard trained, qualified in, and practised, English law. After further study and training, he was involved in international projects in Central and Eastern Europe. He has been a legal linguistic consultant at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and as EU legal writing expert with the State Prosecutor’s office in Tbilisi as well as other European Commission projects involving language and law in the EU and Kosovo. As a practising legal linguist, he translates legal texts into English from French, German, and Russian, edits legal English texts for publishers and law firms and holds occasional seminars and workshops in professional legal writing.
From 1999 he worked closely with the Riga Graduate School of Law (RGSL), where he was responsible for establishing the master’s programme in legal linguistics. He delivered courses in Continuing Professional Development for lawyers, judges, senior civil servants, translators and interpreters, and others. He also was responsible for the legal skills development and thesis preparation elements of the RGSL master’s programmes.
Current research
• Doctoral degree in Legal Linguistics (University of Lapland)
Publications
- “A Voice in the Wilderness? Legal Linguistics in Search of a Place in the Curriculum” (2016: RGSL Research Papers, No 12).
- “The Pragmatic Dimension of Competence in ESP in Cross-Cultural Legal Contexts”, in Williams, C. (ed.) ESP Across Cultures, Vol 12 (2015) Edipuglia, 67-84.
- “Learning to fly: the prospects for legal linguistics in the academic curriculum… and beyond”, in Williams et al. (eds) Language in the Negotiation of Justice: contexts, issues and applications 2013, Ashgate, 279-299.
- "Legal Linguistics as an Academic and Professional Discipline: Identifying Clients, Customers, Stakeholders" in Heine, Carmen / Engberg, Jan (eds): Reconceptualizing LSP. Online proceedings of the XVII European LSP Symposium 2009. Aarhus 2010 – ISBN: 9788778824745
- Fishing with new nets in familiar waters: a legal linguistic foray into comparative law, legal culture, and legal ideology in Lapland Law Review, 2011, issue 1. Law and Language in Partnership and Conflict, Salmi-Tolonen, Tarja, Tukiainen, Iris, Foley, Richard (eds), 122-144.
- “Didactic aspects of legal English: dynamics of course preparation” in Gotti, M. And Williams, C. (eds) ESP Across Cultures Vol. 7, 2010 Special issue: Legal English across cultures. Bari: Edipuglia, 45-88
- Goddard, Christopher “Where legal cultures meet: translating confrontation into coexistence” in Investigationes Linguisticae Vol XVII 2009 Adam Mickiewicz University, 168-205
- Goddard, C., “A Professional Master’s Programme in Legal Linguistics: A Model for Translators and Lawyers?” in Sočanac et al. (eds) Curriculum, Multilingualism and the Law. Zagreb: Nakladni zavod Globus, 2009, 149-174.
- Goddard, C., 2009/3: “Legal Linguists: Like Ghosts and True Lovers?” Paper delivered at CERLIS conference, University of Bergamo 18-20 June 2009, in Giannoni, D. S., & Frade, C. (2010). Researching language and the law: Textual features and translation issues. Bern: Peter Lang, 199-212.
- Comparative Legal Linguistics (translated from French) with Heikki Mattila (2006, Ashgate)
- “English as an international language of legal communication: inter-cultural aspects.” Research Network of Legal Culture and Traditions in the Baltic Sea Area August 27-29, 2004 Vilnius. RGSL Working papers No 20.
- Understanding European Law (with N. Reich and K. Vasiljeva). (2003, Intersentia)
- Business Idioms International (1994, Prentice Hall)