UST hosts forum on forensic linguistics
The 16th Biennial Conference of the International Association for Forensic and Legal Linguistics is now happening
By MB Lifestyle
Published Jul 4, 2023 09:46 am
In effort to start an important discussion on the groundwork, current trends, and issues in forensic linguistics the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila will host onsite the 16th Biennial Conference of the International Association for Forensic and Legal Linguistics (IAFLL16) from July 4 to 6, 2023 at the Buenaventura G. Paredes, O.P. Building (BGPOP). This year’s theme is “Forensic Linguistics: Strengthening Foundations, Rethinking Paradigms, and Navigating New Horizons.”
The program
IAFLL16 will confer with keynote and plenary speakers, two sets of themed panel presenters, and parallel session speakers who will discuss topics dealing with forensic linguistics, language, and law including but not limited to legal languages, legal discourse, language minorities and the legal system, law on language, linguistic evidence and investigative linguistics, and other related sub-themes. Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court Hon. Midas Marquez will deliver the keynote speech where he is expected to highlight challenges in the administration of justice in a multilingual setting, as evidenced by several cases that have reached the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He will also examine the prospects for standardizing courtroom language against this context of diversity, and in consideration of access, fairness, and inclusion; discusses several illustrative initiatives in the Philippine judiciary, particularly given advancements in technology, such as the Court’s ongoing program for judicial reform through innovation as well as other emerging issues at the intersections of these subjects. Meanwhile, Incumbent IAFLL president Dr. Isabel Picornell, in her lecture, will argue that “at 30 years old, it is now time for the field of forensic linguistics (FL) to become a profession, and there is a role for the International Association for Forensic and Legal Linguistics in the regulation of that profession and of expert behaviour.”
Prof. Timothy Grant of the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics (AIFL) at Aston University in the United Kingdom, who served previously as president of IAFLL, highlights that “rich explanations are often required, and that more attention should be given to the necessity of explanation alongside the necessity of validated methods in forensic linguistic evidence.” In the Biennial conference to be held in Manila, he will speak on the "role of explanation in forensic linguistic expert evidence."
One of the plenary speakers, Prof. Natalie Schilling from Georgetown University in the US, will discuss in her presentation the notion and role of the "linguistic expert" in legal settings. Schilling will illustrate with case studies from her own experiences in the legal arena, some lessons from judges, attorneys, and law enforcement professionals like FBI agents, who are experienced language readers in their own right.
The Department of English of the Faculty of Arts and Letters has organized the IAFLL16 under the supervision of Dr. Marilu R. Madrunio, the conference convener with her co-conveners, Dr. Rachelle B. Lintao and Dr. Alejandro S. Bernardo.