Actual practice of linguist expert within the speech offenses: Relevance and problems

Abstract

This article raises the problem of the uncertainty of legal norms related to speech offenses, which can be traced, in particular, in Art. 5.61 “Insult” of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation in relation to the concepts of a generalized negative assessment and indecent form of expression. The author believes that the adoption of a new wording of the plot of this article did not eliminate the existing uncertainty, on the contrary, new, even more uncertain elements led to the danger of an arbitrary broad interpretation of this legal norm and equally arbitrary judicial decisions in cases of insult. The article emphasizes that under such conditions, linguistic expertise becomes of particular importance as an important way to establish the essential signs of insult. However, despite the fact that, in relation to the legal sphere, one can quite confidently speak of the already established institution of linguistic expertise, nevertheless, in cases involving personal insults, linguistic experts continue to face a number of problems. Difficulties are associated with the assessment of a particular word as subject to the disposition of an insult, with the definition of decency/indecency of a linguistic form of expression, with the inability to codify the norms of morality and morality, with the use of various linguistic approaches by experts, as a result of which many questions remain debatable. Examples of such situations are also given in the article. According to the author, the legislator should clearly define the conceptual content of all components of the objective side of offenses related to personal insult, at the same time, professional linguists should develop a common understanding and a common strategy in solving these problems. This article is an attempt to take a step in this direction.