Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in the cultural dimensions of conflict resolution. Books, numerous studies, and courses have offered perspectives on the nature of culture and its complex relationship to the transformation of conflict. This article focuses on metaphors concerning negotiations across cultures. The study attempts to contribute knowledge in the field of cross-cultural studies on language and culture, especially with regards to negotiation metaphors. The article attempts to answer a question how does the usage of metaphors for the process of negotiation differ across cultures
In Finland, a government bill on plea bargaining is now at the parliament. In Estonia, Norway, Denmark, Germany and Latvia they have adopted similar systems already. In Sweden and Iceland plea bargaining is not possible. As a procedural instrument, plea bargaining is something quite new in Europe, and in the Baltic and in the Nordic countries. How does it fit into our systems and into our way of thinking? If we look at the current trends in criminal proceedings fairness, procedural justice, conflict resolution, negotiated law, pragmatically acceptable compromise, procedural truth, party autonomy, court service, communication and interaction are good examples of the topics which are currently being discussed. All these examples indicate that the criminal jurisdiction has become more communal. It has even been said that criminal proceedings have recently become closer civil proceedings, which seems to be quite true. Still, efficiency plays a major role in European adjudication thanks to economic crisis and lack of resources. How to understand the role of plea bargaining in this set? At least the legislator has pointed out the efficiency, the appropriate allocation of resources and the simplifying the criminal proceedings when suggesting adopting the plea bargaining in Finland. The novelty has not been put into philosophical context or into the systemic context of criminal proceedings. It looks like the legislator adopts some single instruments from the foreign legal orders if they seem to fit well into legislators’ puzzle to intensify the proceedings and to save the state money. However, there seem to be more coherent trends behind all of that as well - namely, the change of paradigm.
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