RHETORICAL ARGUMENTATION TECHNIQUES IN THE TEXTS OF CRIMINAL JUDICIAL DURING 1434 A.H IN SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

The significance of this study lies in the scarcity of rhetorical studies addressing Saudi judicial rulings, the importance of establishing a connection between rhetoric and judicial discourse, and its contribution to both linguistic and legal scholarship. Accordingly, the study focuses on identifying the rhetorical argumentation techniques employed in the texts of the Collection of Criminal Judicial Rulings for the year 1434 AH in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and on examining the role of these techniques within judicial discourse in influencing and persuading the recipient, thereby ensuring the effectiveness of the discourse and its attainment of the purposes for which it was produced. This is achieved through tracing the manifestation of rhetorical argumentation techniques in the study corpus, shedding light on the ways in which they are employed by the parties to argumentation within that judicial discourse, and subsequently elucidating the role they perform in persuading the recipient. Given its focus on the arguer's use of rhetorical argumentation techniques, the study adopts a pragmatic approach, as the nature of the investigation necessitates the examination of language in use. The study arrived at several findings, the most prominent of which are as follows:

1. The study corpus employs a considerable number of rhetorical argumentative premises, which serve as the foundational starting points upon which the rhetorical arguments presented in the discourse are constructed and supported.
2. A variety of rhetorical argumentation techniques were identified as manifested in the study corpus, as evidenced by their conspicuous presence throughout the discourse and the degree to which the arguer relies upon them.
3. The rhetorical techniques employed in the study corpus command broad acceptance and exert an effective influence on the persuasion process. This is affirmed by the arguer's reliance upon them to elicit acceptance and acquiescence, and equally reflects their significance to the recipient, whose disposition is taken into consideration in the selection of the most effective and persuasive techniques.