The Influence of Cognitive Context on Legal Linguistic Interpretation. A Case Study on the Liability for Damage Caused by Enterprises Operating on the Basis of the Use of Natural Forces

Abstract In the process of legal interpretation, lawyers and legal scholars tend to focus on the language, the goals and values to be realised by the rules, and the will of the lawmaker. In describing this process, however, they overlook the involvement of the cognitive context in linguistic legal interpretation. Using the example of case law on liability for damage caused by natural forces, this paper demonstrates that the cognitive context should be recognised and explored in both the theory and practice of legal interpretation. In the judgment under review, the court, contrary to previous case law and established facts, classified a large shopping centre as an enterprise set in motion by natural forces and held that damage caused on its premises was subject to strict liability. According to the authors, this judgment may be the result of the incorporation of new autonomous technologies into the cognitive environment and cognitive context of the judges.