Principles of building a value system of legal discourse

The rhetorical approach to genre description requires the “value” parameter, often ignored by researchers, to be introduced into the genre model. This study aims to systematize the types of values characteristic for legal discourse as belonging to certain genres of legal communication. Rhetorical and content analyses at the first stage and comparative analysis at the second stage were used to examine various texts representing legal discourse with the focus on the most characteristic types of values verbalized in them. Since legal texts of many genres are inaccessible to outsiders (e. g., interrogating an investigator, legal advice, etc.), the study of genres relevant to legal discourse was conducted on the material of fiction and films about the work of lawyers in various fields. Observations show that, on the whole, the general features of rhetorical genres are adequately reflected in such materials. As a result, the value system of legal discourse consisting of five levels was designed: 1) universal values perceived as good by all people and protected by law; 2) basic values (key legal values); 3) personal values regulating relationship between communicating participants; 4) major legal values grouped by (i) fields of legal practice and (ii) particular legal activities; 5) particular legal genre values meant to derive, spread and interpret essential legal information.