3–5 September 2025
Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania
The 7th ILLA General Conference focuses on the uncertainties of the 21st century, which greatly impact different areas in present-day societies, including linguistic behaviours and law practices. This conference invites scholars, legal practitioners, policymakers, and other professionals from different areas to share their research on language and law by relating it to the context of transition and uncertainty, addressing such issues as:
• changing modes of communication,
• austerity,
• migration,
• growing digital divides,
• new technologies undermining traditional routines,
• AI,
• issues of (mis)trust and democratic confidence,
• the COVID-19 pandemic,
• environmental catastrophe,
• the right-wing populism that challenges international agreements,
• globalisation,
• etc.
Within this thematic focus, we welcome papers that address a variety of questions, including:
• What uncertainties have emerged about language and law?
• What vulnerabilities does the age of uncertainty and transition bring in?
• Which approaches from the past are most relevant, how do they need to be modified, and what new perspectives need to be developed?
• Considering the existing level of uncertainty, how should we deal with our desperate need for certainty: how is it addressed in law practices?
• What remains stable? Are there any stable genres, conventions, and language forms?
• How have technological developments affected the emergence of new genres and sub-genres and their fluidity? What ethical and legal dilemmas have arisen?
The conference encourages discussion of the plurality of theories, methods, and approaches, such as corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, and pragmatics.
We invite contributions for one of the following thematic areas:
- Historical (Socio)linguistics and Legal Documentation
Coordinator: Paolo Greco (University of Naples Federico II) - Linguistic Meaning in Legal Interpretation
Coordinators: Cleo Condoravdi (Stanford University), Brandon Riley Waldon (Stanford University), Dieter Stein (Heinrich-Heine-Universität) - Language and Power in the Courtroom
Coordinators: Magdalena Szczyrbak (Jagiellonian University), Jacqueline Visconti (University of Genoa) - Media and Multimodal Texts Communicating Legal Knowledge
Coordinator: Jan Engberg (Aarhus University) - Language of Prejudice, Discrimination and Violence
Coordinator: Victoria Guillén-Nieto (University of Alicante) - European Legal Culture and Multilingualism
Coordinator: Anne Lise Kjær (University of Copenhagen) - Philosophy of Law
Coordinators: Tomasz Gizbert-Studnicki; Adam Dyrda, Jagellonian University; Paweł Banas, Warsaw University - Approaches to Legal Argumentation and Interpretation
Coordinators: Stanisław Goźdź-Roszkowski (University of Lodz), Iwona Witczak-Plisiecka (University of Lodz) - Extremist Narratives and Cybercrime
Coordinators: Julien Longhi (CY Cergy Paris université), Ana Yara Postigo Fuentes (Heinrich-Heine-Universität) - Law, Language and Politics
Coordinator: Frances Olsen (UCLA)
Note: Besides the above-listed areas, we invite proposals for conference panels on key issues related to the general theme.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Auksė Balčytienė (Vytautas Magnus University)
Resisting uncertainty: Laying the ground for dialogue in the times of digital expres-sionism
Eleonora Esposito (University of Navarra)
Combating Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Why Knowing is Half the Battle
Rodney Jones (Reading University) and Christoph Hafner (City University of Hong Kong)
Preliminary topic area: AI, language and law
Ralf Poscher
A talk with a focus on an analytical reconstruction of legal hermeneutics, paying tribute to Professor Lawrence Solan
Rosanna Sornicola, University of Naples Federico II
Language and Law in the Crisis of the Roman World. The Case of Langobard Italy
IMPORTANT DATES
• 15 September 2024 – Call for papers
• 15 November 2024 – 2nd Call for papers
• 1 February 2025 – Deadline for submission of abstracts
• 1 March 2025 – Notification of acceptance/rejection
• 15 August 2025 – End of registration
• Early bird registration deadline: 15 May 2025
• Regular registration deadline: 15 August 2025
REGISTRATION FEES
Academics and professionals
Early bird: by 15 May 2025 (Friday)
• Basic: 200 eur (for ILLA members: 180)
• Full: 260 eur (for ILLA members: 240)
Regular: by 15 August 2025 (Friday)
• Basic: 270 eur (for ILLA members: 250)
• Full: 330 eur (for ILLA members: 300)
Students
Early bird: by 15 May 2025 (Friday)
• Basic: 100 eur
• Full: 130 eur
Regular: by 15 August 2025 (Friday)
• Basic: 140 eur
• Full: 170 eur
• The basic fee includes participation in lectures, conference materials, ID badge, coffee breaks and lunches.
• The full fee includes participation in lectures, conference materials, ID badge, coffee breaks, lunches, welcome reception, conference dinner and the cultural programme.
For more information, visit the conference website: https://conferences.vdu.lt/etn/general-illa-conference/
» Downlad Call for Papers as PDF
