Language and the Law: Sentence Complexity in Ghana's 1992 Constitution

This paper investigates the language of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution at the level of the sentence. Using the register assumption that linguistic choices are influenced by the context of situation, we investigate the use of sentences and their immediate clause constituents in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. The study is premised on two notions. In the first place, the constitution is a legal document put together by legal experts. However, its contents (duties, obligations, responsibilities, rights, etc.) are meant for citizens of variegated backgrounds. One is curious to know how these factors influence linguistic choices in the constitutional document? In all, 13 chapters covering 639 sentences were studied using quantitative and qualitative methods. We found that the complex sentence type (including the compound complex sentence) is the preferred choice in the constitutional data. We equally observed that this predominant sentence type favours the use of several finite and non-finite subordinate clause combinations (up to 26 subordinate clauses in a single sentence). We argue based on these findings that though the complex sentence and its multiple clause combinations enable the framers of the constitution achieve precision and clarity, they inhibit readability and comprehensibility. This has implications for register argumentation and the general assumption that the audience is one of the variables that influence linguistic choices.