FEATURED NEOLOGISM:

One of my favourite neologisms is the English term “lawfare”—a portmanteau of law and warfare. It refers to the strategic use of legal systems and institutions to achieve military, political, or ideological objectives, often as an alternative to traditional armed conflict. The term gained traction in the early 2000s, particularly in U.S. military and legal discourse, and has since been adopted in international human rights and political analysis. Structurally, “lawfare” combines two powerful concepts to critique how legal tools may be weaponized—turning courts, human rights claims, or international legal mechanisms into instruments of power projection. It is often used to describe situations where legal arguments are deployed not necessarily to seek justice, but to delegitimize, delay, or control opponents. The term was popularized by authors like Charles J. Dunlap Jr. in the early 21st century. Its rise reflects growing global awareness of the instrumentalization of legal norms in both democratic and authoritarian regimes.

Source: Scharf, Michael; Andersen, Elizabeth (1 January 2010). “Is Lawfare Worth Defining – Report of the Cleveland Experts Meeting – September 11, 2010”. Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law. 43 (1): 11. ISSN 0008-7254. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2025.

Dr. Büşra ÖZER ERDOĞAN is a faculty member at the Department of Translation and Interpreting, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Hacettepe University, a master’s degree in European Studies from METU, and a PhD in Translation and Cultural Studies (English) from Gazi University. Between 2013 and 2022, she served as a legal translator at the Human Rights Department under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Türkiye. Her main research interests include legal translation, diplomatic interpreting and translation of EU texts. Among her publications is the Dictionary of Human Rights, co-authored to support legal and linguistic accessibility in multilingual environments.