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Part of
Legal Pragmatics
Edited by Dennis Kurzon and Barbara Kryk-Kastovsky
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 288] 2018
► pp. 133–156

Chapter 7
The nature of power and control in the interrogative patterns of selected Nigerian courtroom discourse

| Crawford University
| University of Lagos, Nigeria
| University of Lagos, Nigeria

This study examines power relations in two different but interrelated courtroom trials within the Nigerian socio-judicial space. One reports barrister-questioning strategies in the course of legal proceedings concerning a land dispute, and the other focuses on two election petition tribunal trials involving various barrister-witness dialogues. This article highlights the way language is used as a symbol of power in the two courtroom dialogues. Moreover, it considers questioning procedures in conjunction with the forms of witnesses’ answers and how these reproduce the nature of power and control in this institutional setting. Drawing on pragmatics and insights from Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), we show that courtroom conventions as well as social circumstances impose some constraints on what is said and how it is said. Some insights might, thus, be gained as to the extent in which social and other extra-judicial circumstances may impact the strategy that witnesses adopt to tell their stories during interrogation.

The findings support the interplay between socio-[cultural] circumstances and legal considerations in some typical courtroom trials in Nigeria. It confirms the universality of legal proceedings, especially as regards some similarity in the various interrogative patterns that counsel deploy in courtroom encounters and how these show the asymmetric nature of legal discourse and the effect on text and talk of the participants.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1 Conceptual and theoretical issues
    • 1.2 Power and discourse
  • 2.Courtroom discourse
    • 2.1Interrogatives as discourse in the courtroom
    • 2.2Conducive questioning in legal pleading
  • 3.Nigerian courtroom discourse
    • 3.1 The English language and law in Nigeria
    • 3.2Sociocultural background of land ownership in Nigeria
    • 3.3 Methodology
  • 4.The data
  • 5. Information-seeking interrogatives
    • 5.1Exploiting presuppositions through information-seeking questions
    • 5.2Tracking inconsistencies in legal testimonies
    • 5.3Constraining the responses of a witness
  • 6.Confirmatory questions as instrument of power and control
    • 6.1Speaker’s dominance through conducive questioning
    • 6.2Socio-cultural pragmatics in the courtroom setting
  • 7.Conclusion
  • References
  • Webography
Published online: 26 April 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.288.07ain
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Webography

César Félix-Brasdefer
(2007) Discourse Pragmatics [URL]Accessed 22nd August, 2017.
Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

Aina, Oluwasola Abiodun & Anthony Elisha Anowu
2023. Some Pragmatic Points of Description of Conducive Questioning in Courtroom Interrogation. Journal of Universal Language 24:2 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Uwen, God’sgift
2023. Objection Overruled: Language Dynamics and Power Relations in Courtroom Interactions. Language Matters 54:2 ► pp. 21 ff. DOI logo

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