Joanna Kowalczyk – Doctor of Humanities; assistant professor at Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce; linguist, translator, administrator; author of six monographs. She has published dozens of articles in Polish, English, and Russian in Polish and foreign journals. She has published several chapters in multi-author monographs. She edited a  publication which is a collection of studies in the field of semantics, linguistic evaluation, and translation. Her research interests are related to legal, judicial, and official communication. In this area, she studies the real impact of the nomenclature used on the effectiveness of actions taken in the context of official interactions. She is the originator and founder of the language support center for citizens and officials, Prosty język w urzędzie (Simple Language in the Office). In 2022, she received a scholarship from the Minister of Education and Science for outstanding young scientists.

This monograph is devoted to the analysis of legal discourse as a construct that actually organizes social reality. The starting point was the assumption that the implementation of abstract legal norms determines the relevance and effectiveness of the principles adopted in a specific legal system. In line with the adopted perspective, the study focuses on the description of functional semiosis determining this type of official communication. On this basis, a detailed reconstruction of the fundamental aspects of discourses implementing statutory provisions in factual situations was carried out. The core of the study was to present the actual impact of legislative and executive discourse on the quality of the functioning of the state and society.