Biography
Title of PhD project: Linguistic Politeness in Judicial Deliberations of the European Court of Human Rights: The ECtHR's Judiciary and Its Audiences
Supervisors: Prof.mr.dr. A.M.P. Gaakeer and Prof.dr. E. Mak (Utrecht University)
Vera studies the question how judges treat their audiences in their judgments and decisions, in particular the parties to a legal dispute, given the oppositional and, what she would call, 'conflictual' nature of their decision-making. She does so on the basis of a case study of several written proceedings of the European Court of Human Rights on cases involving alleged violations of the freedom of religion. In order to better understand judges' communication strategies, she incorporates insights from linguistic politeness theory and position her findings within a rule of law context, addressing, in particular, the issue of the legitimacy of judicial decision-making.
More information
Work
- VG Willems (2017) - Judicial Audiences in International Adjudication and the '"Language of Legitimation": A Politeness Perspective
- VG Willems (2016) - 'International Courts and Tribunals and Their Linguistic Practices: A Communities of Practice Approach' - International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, 30 (2), 181-199 - doi: 10.1007/s11196-016-9486-5.
- VG Willems (2015) - Towards the Mitigation of Conflict in Judicial Decision-Making in International Adjudication through the Use of Linguistic Politeness: From Authority to Legitimacy via Language Use
- VG Willems (2015) - 'Law, Language, and Audiences: Towards a Legal-Linguistic Theory of International Adjudication?'
- VG Willems (2014) - 'International Courts and Tribunals and Their Linguistic Practices: A Communities of Practice Approach'
- VG Willems (2014) - Symposium The Incorporation Problem in Interdisciplinary Legal Research - [link]
- VG Willems (2017) - Guest lecture 'The Language of Judicial Writings: A Politeness Perspective' (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic - VG Willems (2017) - Guest lecture 'Judicial Decision-Making by the ECtHR in Cases on Religious Symbols and Clothing: A Politeness Perspective' (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic - VG Willems (2016) - 'The European Court of Human Rights and Its Linguistic Practices: A Politeness Perspective' (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic
