The “Antonia Moreno” case: an exercise of court ruling rewriting based on plain language guidelines

Abstract

The plain language movement has gained increasing visibility and this has led to its greater use in the administrative and judicial areas. However, there is still a certain reluctance to adopt the rules and principles of plain language in the judiciary. To overcome these obstacles, a proposal is made regarding the rewriting of a ruling that has been written in a “traditional” manner, in accordance with the elements of plain language. The article will first begin with some introductory considerations on the reasons for adopting plain language for court rulings. Then, the reasons that lead to the adoption of the sentence passed in the “Antonia Moreno” case for the theoretical exercise of rewriting will be given. After this, we will proceed to show both the original sentence and the rewriting in a comparative table, to facilitate the reader’s understanding. We will then give an account of the changes made in the rewriting and their rationale and advantages, before closing with some reflections as a conclusion.