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Articles

Vol. 12 (2025): Revista de Estudos Empíricos em Direito

Legal Design in the understanding of sentences: An empirical test of the use of plain language in the Military Justice System of the Union.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.19092/reed.v12.960
Submitted
December 29, 2024
Published
2025-12-31

Abstract

This article examines whether the use of Plain Language, in its direct vocabulary and legal design forms, enhances the understanding of judicial decisions in the Federal Military Justice. The research focuses on whether simplified approaches in criminal sentences improve comprehension among enlisted military personnel. To assess this, tests were conducted with 120 enlisted members divided into three groups of 40: the control group analyzed the sentence in its traditional format; experimental group 1 reviewed a simplified version with direct vocabulary; and experimental group 2 analyzed a redesigned version using legal design techniques. A quantitative approach was applied with variance tests to identify differences between groups. Results showed that the legal design group had better comprehension, indicating that this approach can improve access to justice by making legal information clearer and more accessible, particularly for audiences less familiar with legal language.

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