Clarity and precision in legal language: Linguistic-discursive analysis of Organic Law 3/2021 on the regulation of euthanasia in Spain

Abstract

AbstractSpain has recently regulated the practice of euthanasia through the Organic Law 3/2021. The social relevance of this law clear, as it directly affects fundamental rights enshrined in the Spanish Constitution. The aim of this article is to examine the clarity and precision of the discourse with which the legislator refers to the context of end-of-life care. A linguistic-discursive analysis of the Organic Law 3/2021 is carried out using a mixed methodological approach. The data are categorized and quantified in order to detect potential designative and interpretative problems. We find argumentative inconsistencies in the preamble (n=2) and abundant problematic lexical-semantic choices (n=151) such as vagueness, ambiguity, euphemisms, improper epistemic expressions, evaluative adjectives, verbs of appreciation. Although a legal text must be sufficiently abstract given its generalizable nature, the euthanasia law presents a series of phenomena that affect its interpretation and are potentially negative for its procedural concreteness and effective execution.