The field of legal documents covers a wide range: statues, decrees, legal provisions, economic contracts, commodity warranty (担保), insurance policies, wills and testaments（证明）, etc. Yet all of these have one and the same functional tenor（要旨，趋势）: they are concerned with imposing of obligations and conferring of rights.
In terms of mode, all of them are recorded in a written form——being essentially a visual language——meant to be scrutinized in silence. Though, for instance, court trial is conducted in spoken form, the language used at court shares much with the characteristics of written legal documents.
In order to ensure that a document says exactly what it is meant to say, and leaves no chance for misinterpretation, composers of the document will take the greatest pains to make it communicate just one set of meanings and avoid any possible ambiguity. Owing to the composers’ reliance on established forms and their reluctance to adopt new and untested modes of expression, and owing to some historical reasons, legal English appears extremely conservative and presents some striking oddities(古怪) in form and wording （措辞）.
•Main clauses in a contract
•The main contents of a contract are embodied in its main clauses which are listed as follows:
•1) Commodity 商品条款
•2）Specifications (规格条款)
•3）Quality (质量条款)
•4）Quantity (数量条款)
•5）Price (价格条款)
•Payment (付款条款)
•Packaging (包装条款)
•Shipment (装船条款)
•Shipping Marks (装船标记条款)
•Loading & Discharging (装卸货条款)
•Insurance (保险条款)
•Inspection (检验或公证条款)
•These said main clauses vary according to different situations in different contracts.
•Besides, there are still some general clauses which are applicable to most of the contracts. Sometimes they can be printed on a contract beforehand. They are:
•Export or Import license (进出口许可证条款)
•Taxes & Duties (税项条款)
•Exchange Risk, Insurance Risk, Freight Risk (汇率风险、保险风险、运费风险等条款)
•Claim (索赔条款)
•Force Majeure (不可抗力条款)
•Arbitration (仲裁条款)
•Governing Laws (准据法条款)
•Validity (有效期条款)
•Sample 1:
Contract
Buyers: Anderson Trading Company, Denmark
Sellers: Guangdong Native Produce Imp. & Exp. Co.
The contract is made by and between the Buyers and the Sellers, whereby the Buyers agree to buy and the sellers agree to sell the under-mentioned goods according to the terms and conditions stipulated below:
Commodity: Wuyi Peanuts
Specifications: FAQ 1998 Crop
Unit Price: US $ 500.00 per m/t, CIF （目的港到岸价）Aarhus Denmark Total value: US$ 50,000.00 (Say US dollars fifty thousand only) Packaging: In 3-ply gunny sacks of 50kg each
Insurance: to be effected by the seller for 100% of invoice value plus 10% against All
Terms of shipment: during July, 1999 with transshipment (转运，换船、换车) at Copenhagen
Port of shipment: Huangpu, China
Port of destination: Aarhus, Denmark
Terms of payment:
By irrevocable L/C payable by draft at sight (凭即期汇票支付的信用证). The L/C should reach the seller 30 days before the time of shipment and to remain valid for negotiation in China until the 15th day after the day of shipment. 在装运期后15天内在中国议付有效
Done and signed in Guangzhou on this twentieth day of April, 1999
Notes:
FAQ: fair average quality 中等品，大路货
1998 crop: 1998年产
Huangpu Port 广州黄埔港
3-ply gunny sack 三层麻袋
CIF: 目的港到岸价，包括成本、保险费和运费