Metaphors as a Foundation for Judges’ Reasoning and Narratives in Sentencing Remarks

Abstract

One of the most interesting—and perhaps least studied—stages of criminal proceedings in common law countries, is the sentencing remarks: when the jury has already rendered a verdict of guilt, the judge orally hands down the sentence. This legal subgenre is especially attractive because it allows the judge to establish the “official” narrative of the case, the “judicial truth”, including the account of the trial itself and, most important of all, why a specific sentence has been imposed given the circumstances of the case, as established and interpreted by the judge. From the argumentative point of view, this characterisation of events contains hard facts, but also a great degree of persuasion, through which judges aim to convey the impact of the crime to the offender, the victims, their families and society at large. One of the main tools for this characterisation is the use of metaphor, which is applied to the events themselves (“you concocted a tale”), the motivation therefor (“bait to lure her to her death”), the perpetrator (“you are a sexual predator”) and the impact upon the victims (“devastating impact on the whole family”). Our study will be based on metaphors from a number of sentencing remarks delivered in 2020 in English courts, showing how figurative language helps judges to “colour” their argumentation while providing reasons for their judgments, thus sending the desired message to those in the courtroom (not only to the offender) and, through traditional media and online coverage, to the whole of society.