Criminal Law Evidence Law

The Routledge Handbook of Ethics in Forensic Linguistics

Edited by I.M. Nick · Kirsty E. Blewitt
Routledge January 2026

Specifications

ISBN-13
9781032488424
Publisher
Routledge
Publication
January 2026
Jurisdiction
U.K. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

The Routledge Handbook of Forensic Linguistics Ethics is the first comprehensive reference work to explore the ethical dimensions of forensic language analysis across a range of applied and academic contexts.

With the use of linguistic and phonetic evidence now commonplace in legal investigations and court proceedings, questions of consent, bias, responsibility, and professional integrity have become increasingly urgent. This volume brings together over thirty original chapters by leading scholars and practitioners in forensic linguistics and speech science to critically examine these issues. Chapters span a wide range of research and practice settings, from expert testimony and investigative consultancy to academic publishing, teaching, and public engagement, addressing ethical questions across diverse linguistic and legal systems. The handbook offers both conceptual frameworks and practical guidance for researchers and practitioners navigating the ethical challenges of forensic language work.

This authoritative resource is essential reading for scholars in applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, phonetics, law and language, criminology, forensic psychology, and legal studies.

Table of Contents

Tables, Charts, and Figures
Notes on Editors and Contributors
List of Contributors
Abbreviations and Acronyms

1. Introduction
I. M. Nick

Section I: Providing Expertise as a Consultant
2. The Integrity of Forensic Analysis
Robin T. Bowen
3. Ethics and Professional Conduct Oversight in Forensic Linguistic Expert Evidence
Isabel Picornell
4. The Expert’s Role in the Justice System is to Provide Impartial and Transparent Evidence, Not to Perform Social Advocacy
Richard Rhodes and Tina Cambier-Langeveld
5. Ethical Issues Encountered in Forensic Linguistic Practice: Case Examples inspired by Real Life Cases
Tina Cambier-Langeveld and Richard Rhodes
6. Maintaining Professional Distancing in Social Justice Cases of Non-Native Speakers
Margaret Van Naerssen
7. An Intelligence Scaffold to Aid Ethical Considerations in Forensic Linguistic Casework
Ria Perkins, Sharon Glaas, and James Rosie
8. Psychological Biasing in Forensic Linguistic Research: Is such information obtained expertly and ethically?
Ray Bull and Iris Blandón-Gitlin
9. Countering Pseudolinguistic Claims: The Ethical Challenges Facing Forensic Linguists
Tanya Karoli Christensen and Sofia Beck Navarro
10. Disinformative Linguistics: Using Linguistic Science for Unethical Purposes
Timothy Habick
11. Ethics and Linguistic Practice of Dutch Police Interrogations: The Right to Silence
Martha Komter

Section II: Serving as An Expert Witness
12. Linguists and Lawyers: Ethical Challenges in An Adversary System
Robin Conley Riner and John Conley
13. The US American Expert Witness and the Ethics of Advocacy
Michael O’Laughlin
14. Challenging Legal Assumptions: Ethics, Due Process and Forensic Linguistic Research
Mel Greenlee
15. The Forensic Linguist’s Ethical Duty to Explain Language Use to Triers of Fact
Dakota Wing
16. The Golden Rule and the Golden Thread: The Ethics of Communicating the Criminal Standard of Proof
Chris Heffer
17. Ethical Uncertainties and Inconsistencies in Diminished Responsibility Rulings: The Case for Fictionalism
Felicity Deamer and Sam Wilkinson
18. Tightening the Rein on Expert Evidence: Ethical Reasons for Judicial Gatekeeping in the Canadian Context and Implications for Forensic Linguistics
Jennifer Glougie
19. Ethical Expert Practice: Engaging with Everyday Linguistic Harms
Kelly Wright
20. A Critical Evaluation of the Legal System in England and Wales for Sex Abuse Crimes Involving Adult Witnesses with an Intellectual Disability (AWID): Deliberations on Special Measures
Michelle Aldridge and Tina Pereira
21. The Problematic Nature of L1 and Translation in US Criminal Courts: Access, Ethics and Errors
Mel Greenlee
Section III: Researching, Teaching, Publishing, and Providing for the Next Generation
22. Too Close to Home?: Exploring Analysts’ Proximity to their Data
Grace Buker-Sullivan
23. Navigating Legality, Linguistic rights, and Social Justice in Linguistic Research with Deaf Refugees
Nina Sivunen and Johanna Ennser-Kananen
24. Ethical Research Practices with Highly Stigmatized Populations: Engaging with Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses
Stina Lindegren
25. Ethical Considerations of Working with Political Extremist Threat Communications
I.M. Nick and Ulrike Preiss
26. Ethical Considerations in Corpus-based Legal Interpretation Analysis
Brett Hashimoto and Derek Haderlie
27. Get Your Hands Off My Idiolect! A Spectrum Model of Misuse of Idiolectal Information as a Heuristic Tool
Peter Harrison and Dom Watt
28. Analyzing the Language of Non-Human Animals: Why Should Forensic Linguists Care?
Meike de Boer
29. “So this is how you can manipulate witnesses!”: Ethical considerations in the teaching and dissemination of research in forensic linguistics
Karoline Marko
30. Teaching Sensitive Topics in Forensic Linguistics: Ethical Implications for Students and Lecturers
Sam Larner
31. Welcome Forensic Linguists!: Ethical Forensic Linguistics Pedagogy and Classroom Practice
Christine Jacknick and M. Peregrine Balmat
32. Ethics and Publishing in Forensic Linguistics: Policing Credibility
Sarah Frances Gordon and Bernardo Turnbull Plaza
33. Diversity in Forensic Linguistics: A Call To Fulfill the Promise
I.M. Nick
34. Concluding Thoughts
I.M. Nick
Index
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