Trust in Legal Discourse: Between Conceptual Clarity and Methodological Mistakes

Abstract Trust has become one of the most focal points in legal discourse. Although lawyers and legal institutions increasingly discuss and attempt to build it, trust is not a legal concept, but rather a socio-psychological one that has gained recognition among legal actors. This poses a serious challenge for lawyers in incorporating this extra-legal concept into legal discussions properly. Therefore, this paper aims to depict difficulties that discussing trust in legal discourse entails, and to examine how lawyers address them. To achieve this, I confront social science literature on trust with legal writings, both academic and institutional, that refer to trust. By doing so, I determine how to reconcile the standpoint on the relevance of trust in courts, which lawyers emphasise so eagerly, with findings of social science scholars on the complexity of trust and the trust-building process. The critical analysis of social science scholars’ findings on trust and of legal discourse on trust in courts enables me to identify pitfalls that lawyers discussing trust should be aware of, thereby increasing the clarity of their arguments and avoiding methodological mistakes.