Ignatenko V.A., Dudchenko O.S. The Communicative Category “Apology” in Russian Legal Discourse

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2026.3.10

Valentina A. Ignatenko

Candidate of Sciences (Philology), Senior Lecturer, Department of Foreign and Russian Languages, Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy,
Moscow, Russia

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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3761-1270

Oksana S. Dudchenko

Doctor of Sciences (Jurisprudence), Associate Professor, Department of History, Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, Moscow, Russia

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3537-2694

Abstract. The article focuses on examining "apology" as a communicative category in Russian legal discourse. The relevance of the topic is determined by concern on studying the pragmatic mechanisms that ensure a conflict- free interaction between participants in legal proceedings within a strictly regulated institutional environment. The research is based on textual analysis of normative acts (Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation), materials of judicial practice (resolutions of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, rulings of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation), and samples of official cases and business correspondence. Discursive analysis of basic legal acts of the Russian Federation resulted in revealing textual fragments which require professional politeness manners of the lawsuit participants. Methods of contextual, semantic-and-pragmatic analysis of textual realizations of the communicative category "apology" led to composing the model of an official apology paper that is recommended for filing claims, complaints and other legal documents; it includes several sections: an official appeal, a statement of guilt or error, an explanation of the reason, a message on intention to correct a mistake or an expression of remorse. The examination of lingua-and-discursive means of apologizing has proved the thesis on its oblique presence in the standard of professional politeness, as certain requirements to behavior norms of agents and clients of legal discourse and possible sanctions if violated are stated in legal acts; when being actualized in judicial practice the communicative apology does not perform an etiquette role but functions as a regulatory instrument thus transmitting official regret or fault of one party, which can contribute to diminishing the conflict potential during the professional converse between participants in legal proceedings.

Key words: legal discourse, standard of professional communication, communicative category, politeness, apology, instrumental-and-regulatory function, Russian language.

Citation. Ignatenko V.A., Dudchenko O.S. The Communicative Category "Apology" in Russian Legal Discourse. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 2. Yazykoznanie [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. Linguistics], 2026, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 116-126. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/ 10.15688/jvolsu2.2026.3.10

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