Call For Expressions of Interest: International Handbook of Legal Language and Communication: From Text to Semiotics; Section 3: Justice in the Media Age-- Law, Communication, and Public Perception

Call For Expressions of Interest

International Handbook of Legal Language and Communication (IHLLC): From Text to Semiotics
Editor-in-Chief: Anne Wagner
Publisher: Springer

Section 3: Justice in the Media Age — Law, Communication, and Public Perception

Section Editors: Jerome Tessuto & Vijay Kumar Bhatia
Contact: Tessuto Jerome (t.jerome@libero.it) & Vijay Kumar Bhatia (vjkbhatia1@gmail.com)

We invite proposals for chapters for Section 3 of the IHLLC, which examines the evolving relationship between media, digital communication, and the legal system—and how these shape public perceptions of justice, cultural identity, and collective memory. We welcome contributions that bridge law, linguistics, communication, media studies, and semiotics.

This section explores:

• How traditional media (press, TV, radio) construct legal narratives and influence trust in institutions.
• The role of social and digital platforms (e.g., X/Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) in real-time legal discourse, advocacy, and mobilization—as well as the risks of misinformation and prejudgment.
• The emergence of digital evidence, its authenticity and admissibility, and the impact of virtual courtrooms on procedure and participation.
• Media’s role in collective memory, reform, and accountability, including the responsibilities of tech companies and regulators in moderating harmful content while safeguarding free expression.

Suggested Themes (non-exhaustive)

• Media trials, open justice, and the right to a fair trial
• Framing of courts, judges, and litigants in legacy media
• Social media activism, hashtag movements, and legal reform
• Disinformation, prejudicial publicity, and contempt risks
• Digital evidence: capture, authenticity, admissibility, and fact-finding
• Virtual hearings, remote justice, and access to justice
• Platform governance, content moderation, and intermediary liability
• Online hate speech, defamation, harassment, and remedies
• Investigative journalism, watchdog roles, and legal accountability
• Collective memory, cultural identity, and legal storytelling
• Comparative and cross-jurisdictional analyses
• Methods: discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, multimodal/semiotic analysis

Submission Guidelines

Please email your Expression of Interest (EOI) to Tessuto Jerome (t.jerome@libero.it) and Vijay Kumar Bhatia (vjkbhatia1@gmail.com) including:

• Tentative chapter title (subject to revision)
• Author name(s)
• Institutional affiliation(s)
• Country
• Short abstract

Chapters should be substantial, literature-based, and accessible in tone, engaging the handbook’s semiotic perspective on law and communication. Revisions are possible through the production process.

Timeline: Deadlines for full chapters are flexible (typically 6–12 months after acceptance, with extensions possible).

All information, including author guidelines, templates, and Q&A, is available on the IHLLC project website:
👉 https://meteor.springer.com/project/dashboard.jsf?id=1949&tab=About&mode=ReadPage&entity=15466