Jurez-vous, au nom de Dieu le Tous-Poùeurant, et votre Roy, dire toute la vérité et ne dire que la vérité?"
"Do you swear, on the name of Almighty God (LIT: God the All-Powerful), and your King, to speak the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
—An example of Law Malandish, in this case an oath being spoken to a witness in a court of law
Law Malandish (Malandais des Loys, or La Langue des Loys; LIT: Malandish of the Laws/The Language of the Laws) was a language spoken in the Zarkan Kingdom, in particular within the Zarkanian legal system, and by the Zarkanian nobility, which led to it being commonly known as "Zarkanian Malandish" (Malandais Zarkainaise), due to not always being used in a strictly legal setting.
A form of Old Malandish (Malandais Vieux), the language of the nation of Malandace at the time, Law Malandish began its developmemt in 801 BBY, when King John I of the Zarkan Kingdom invited many Malandish legal practitioners to help reform his legal system. He chose Malandish lawyers owing to Malandace having one of the most well-developed legal systems at the time. John himself learnt Malandish to help him understand his new legal system, and his nobles and courtiers did the same, beginning a long tradition of Zarkanian nobles being taught Law Malandish, even as late as Jane Zarkan, who was born in 61 BBY, and was fluent in Law Malandish herself, though by this point Law Malandish was no longer the official legal language of the Zarkan Kingdom, and was learnt more for the prestige, and for being considered a sign of a good education to the nobility, as well as the upper and middle classes.
As successive Malandish lawyers were employed, they produced books and gave instruction in their more modern methods of legal procedures, which helped cement Law Malandish as the de facto language of the Zarkanian legal system by the 740s BBY, though it was mostly used in the courts of the nobility and upper classes, with the courts of the commoners continuing to use Zarkanian, to ensure the peasantry who used the common courts could understand the proceedings. Law Malandish was also used in government, with the term "Parlements" for official governmental meetings gradually finding more favor over the traditional name of "Moot", though the latter continued in usage for a long time. Whilst the parlements could be conducted in either Zarkanian or Law Malandish, the transcripts were often written down in Malandish only.
Trivia[]
Law Malandish is directly inspired by Law French, a form of French used in the English legal system from ca. 13th century to ca. 18th century.