Master in Forensic Linguistics

Programme developed in collaboration with IULA

Information relating to the new edition of the programme will be updated soon.

* This Master has received verification to be taught as a University Master's Degree as from the academic year 2011-2012

In general terms, Forensic Linguistics can be defined as the interface between language and law, in other words the discipline that ties together the formal, descriptive and applied aspects of linguistics and the legal and judicial fields of law.

The Master in Forensic Linguistics (MLINF) comprises two postgraduate programmes: Legal and Judicial Language (DLIFJ) and Expert Linguistic Analysis (DLIFP).

The Postgraduate Programme in Legal and Judicial Language, which allows those interested in forensic linguistics to learn about the discipline's more legal and judicial aspects, is divided into three modules or courses, each consisting of two 20-hour subjects which are taught with a focus on linguistics and law. The Postgraduate Programme in Expert Linguistic Analysis, which allows students to acquire the skills needed to act in real cases as expert witnesses in linguistics for judicial and police institutions and bodies as well as for the private sector, is divided into three modules in applied forensic linguistics.

On 11 November 2008, Pompeu Fabra University signed an agreement with the Association of Doctors and Graduates in Philosophy and Arts and Sciences of Catalonia (CDL), which has contributed towards institutionalising the figure of the expert witness in linguistics (EWL). The outcome of this agreement is that the CDL a) has granted recognition to the Master in Forensic Linguistics as a quality programme; b) has acknowledged it as a master's that guarantees the validity and reliability of the EWLs and their expert's reports; c) has listed the Master in Forensic Linguistics as a registered qualification and will allow holders of this qualification to form part of the Register of Expert Witnesses in Linguistics created by the Association with the aim of introducing the Register to the competent judicial institutions, and d) will award a certificate to demonstrate that holders of this Master are included in said Register.

Furthermore, on 24 March 2010, the Pedro Salesa Cabo Foundation and IDEC-UPF signed an agreement to finance two partial grants for students of the Master in Forensic Linguistics. The first grant will be awarded for the third edition of the Master, and the second grant for the fourth edition. In the near future, agreements are expected to be signed with several legal firms in order to increase funding for the programme.

As well as a final project, students must also carry out an internship in the forensic linguistics laboratory ForensicLab (IULA-UPF), or another similar centre.

In general terms, Forensic Linguistics can be defined as the interface between language and law, in other words the discipline that ties together the formal, descriptive and applied aspects of linguistics and the legal and judicial fields of law. Furthermore, Forensic Linguistics includes a series of fields of research and study related to the use of linguistic tests in different areas or to legal and judicial language, most notably the following:

• The use of phonological, morphological, syntactic, discursive and terminological tests to identify speakers of a certain linguistic variety, style or register and to create linguistic profiles.
• The analysis of imitation in producing texts for criminal purposes.
• Authorship determination and attribution, both for oral and written texts, and plagiarism detection.
• Reading comprehension of legal documents.
• Legal and judicial discourse.
• Legal and judicial interpreting and translation and support in multilingual contexts.

The Master in Forensic Linguistics (MLINF) consists of study of the aforementioned subjects as part of the Diplomas in Expert Linguistics Analysis and Legal and Judicial Language, as well as the completion of a final project.

*This Master has received verification to be taught as a University Master's Degree as from the academic year 2011-2012

Classroom-based

This Master is aimed at graduates of Linguistics, Translation, Philology and other fields such as Law, Journalism and Psychology who wish to specialise in applied forensic linguistics and study the interface between language and law.