The Role and Rule of the New Texts

In the electronic age, those trained in the law will eventually ask an important preliminary question: To what degree will law acknowledge the legal significance of paratexts? In other words, at the evidentiary level, what is the primary text to be interpreted? Several responses are likely. First, printed documents might be considered the exclusive texts, and paratexts deemed irrelevant or insignificant to the application of law. Second, printed documents might be treated as primary, with paratexts consigned to the status of notable supplements. Third, printed documents and paratexts might be given equal weight. Finally, paratexts might be viewed as exclusive or dominant, while printed documents serve as merely extrinsic evidence or superfluous material. We can begin to answer this preliminary question by considering several examples of the role of paratexts in legal transactions­the appellate review process, probate matters, and criminal procedure.