Legal translation a special challenge in terminology management

F.Steurs

Lessius/KU Leuven

Legal translation

TSS 2012

Law , language and translation

Legal Translation : a challenge

Legal translation = a special and specialized area of translational activity.

Legal terminology = a fuzzy set

Multilingual challenges

Monolingual countries

Need to compare legal documents on international level

EU-legislation

Implementation in memberstates

International law

Multilingual countries

Internal translation within the own legal system (authentication)

External translation for the international level

TSS 2012

Legal impact

Legal translation involves law : a translation very often produces not only a linguistic result, but also a legal impact and consequence, because of the special nature of law and legal language.

The legal translator has to have a basic understanding of the nature of law and legal language and the impact it has on legal translation

TSS 2012

TSS 2012

Two general categories of translation : Literary vs non-literary

Pragmatic vs literary or artistic texts Commonly classification : General/literary/specialist translation These categories involve different language uses with their own peculiarities, but they share also common grounds. Hybrid forms do exist ; the text can be classified on a spectrum. Legal translation can be seen as specialist translation, or technical translation.

Classification of translation types

LSP vs LGP

General language(LGP) Vocabulary

Ambiguous

Specialised, professional language (LSP) Terminology, domainoriented

Non-ambiguous ; the legal domain is not that clearly defined ; fuzziness ; conceptual problems ; phraseology

Constant interaction/ termcreation / neologisms / borrowing

TSS 2012

LGP/LSP

TSS 2012

Misdrijf

Misdaad Wanbedrijf Overtreding

General/specific

Misdrijf : ernstig strafbaar feit

criminal offence/act crime, indictable offence, felony

Context

de politie denkt niet aan een misdrijf the police do not suspect any foul play

een ernstig misdrijf a serious crime/offence

een misdrijf plegen commit a criminal offence

politieke misdrijven political offences

misdrijven tegen de mens(elijk)heid crimes against humanity

2 (België) strafbaar feit legal/penal/criminal offence

TSS 2012

Misdaad

delict, crime, criminal act, offence context

een misdaad begaan/plegen commit/perpetrate a crime

de politie denkt niet aan een misdaad the police do not suspect foul play

een golf van misdaden a crime wave

dat is geen misdaad that’s hardly a/no crime

een misdaad jegens de gemeenschap a public wrong

de perfecte misdaad the perfect crime

de plaats van de misdaad the scene of the crime

misdaden tegen de menselijkheid crimes against humanity

zware misdaad serious crime, felony

TSS 2012

Wanbedrijf

wanbedrijf (het) (België; juridisch) 1 crime offence

context

straf voor wanbedrijven

punishment of crime(s)/offences

TSS 2012

Overtreding

1 het overtreden van een gebod breach (of the rules/…)violation,

infringement, contravention, ↑ transgression

context : in overtreding zijn be in breach of the law, commit an offence

niet in overtreding zijn be within the law

overtreding van de spelregels/de wet breaking the rules of the game/the law

2 misstap error(sport) foul

context : een overtreding begaan tegenover een tegenspeler foul an opponent een zware/grove overtreding a bad foul

3 (juridisch) offence, (Amerikaans-Engels) offense misdemeanour

context : een lichte overtreding a minor offence

een overtreding maken/begaan commit an offence

zich schuldig maken aan een overtreding van de Warenwet

be guilty of an offence against/of breaching the Commodities Act

TSS 2012

LSP

Terminology Domainspecific

Monolingual study of a subdomain

Multilingual study of a subdomain Language contrastive

Translation purposes

Concept-oriented research Mapping of concepts for each regio or country

(e.g. : legal system in French : France, Belgium , Canada, Switserland,…)

TSS 2012

TSS 2012

Polysemy in natural language One-to-one concept-term in LSP

Domain specific vs polysemy

homicide

murder manslaughter

TSS 2012

Manslaughter can be committed in one of three ways: 1) killing with the intent for murder but where a partial defence applies, namely loss of control, diminished responsibility or killing pursuant to a suicide pact. 2) conduct that was grossly negligent given the risk of death, and did kill, is manslaughter ("gross negligence manslaughter"); and 3) conduct taking the form of an unlawful act involving a danger of some harm, that resulted in death, is manslaughter ("unlawful and dangerous act manslaughter"). The term "involuntary manslaughter" is commonly used to describe a manslaughter falling within (2) and (3) while (1) is referred to as "voluntary manslaughter". There are of course other specific homicide offences, for example, infanticide, and causing death by dangerous or careless driving. For dangerous driving see CPS Guidance on prosecuting cases of Bad Driving elsewhere in the Legal Guidance

TSS 2012

Murder Subject to three exceptions (see Voluntary Manslaughter below) the crime of murder is committed, where a person: of sound mind and discretion (i.e. sane); unlawfully kills (i.e. not self-defence or other justified killing); any reasonable creature (human being); in being (born alive and breathing through its own lungs - Rance v Mid-Downs Health Authority (1991) 1 All ER 801 and AG Ref No 3 of 1994 (1997) 3 All ER 936; under the Queen's Peace; with intent to kill or cause grievous bodily harm (GBH).

TSS 2012

FR en vigueur

Dutch : Van kracht (voorschrift/presciption) Geldig: muntstuk (coin, money) In gebruik: regeling is nu in gebruik (in use) In werking: verdrag (treaty)

FR légal

Dutch : Wettelijk : wettelijke bepalingen ( amendments) Wettig : wettige aanspraken (rights)

Differences according to subject matter

Translating domestic statutes and international treaties

Private legal documents

Legal scholarly works

Case law

Another classification : the status of the original text

Enforceable law : e.g. statutes

Non-enforceable law : e.g. legal scholarly works

TSS 2012

TSS 2012

Primarily prescriptive laws, regulations, codes, contracts, treaties and conventions Primarily descriptive judicial decisions and legal instruments to carry on judicial and administrative proceedings such as actions, pleadings, briefs, appeals, requests, etc. Purely descriptive : scholarly works such as legal opinions, law textbooks, articles etc. ! importance of register : communication between lawyers and lawyers ; what about communication between lawyers and non-lawyers? Most classifications are based on the aspects of the source language ; what about the target text : function or status of the translated text is important as well.

Function of the source language text

Classification

Legal language refers to the language of and related to law and legal practice. Language of the law, language about law, language used in other legal communicative situations.

1. Legislative texts (national and international)

2. Judicial texts produced in the judicial process by judicial officers and other authorities

3. Legal scholarly texts and commentaries

4. Private legal texts (contracts, leases, wills, witness statements, etc.)

Legal language does not cover language of the law alone, but also all types of communication in a legal setting.

TSS 2012

Translation and Authentication

TSS 2012

Translation can be normative (i.e. the production of equally authentic legal texts in bilingual or multilingual settings, of the international legal instruments.) Different language versions are equal in force (authentication) The texts are not translations of the law, but the law itself.

In this type of translation , the communicative purposes of SL and TL are identical. The distinction between SL and TL even disappears.

Translation can be informative (with descriptive function). Statutes, court decisions, scholarly works etc. Here, SL is the only legally enforceable language. TL is not; the translation is purely informative. E.g. : WTO : English, French and Spanish are the official languages; all other translation of texts is purely informative.

Translation can be for the general legal and judicial purpose.(e.g. court translation and court interpreting) primarily translations are for information, but can be used in court proceedings as part of documentary evidence.

The nature of legal language

TSS 2012

Normative : prescriptive. Law guides human behavior and regulates human relations. A set of prescriptions : imperatives, defining, and enforcing arrangements, relationships and procedures that are to be followed in society. Performative : cfr. Speech act theory (Austin , Searle etc.) : law relies heavily on performative utterances (you are guilty ; you are fined ; … (obligation, prohibition and permission) Technical : LSP (is there a legal language, or is it just a part of the language as such?) a subset of language Indeterminate nature of language : ideal conception of language as precise, determinate , literal and univocal. Human behaviour is indeterminate and uncertain, and language is also. There is a core of settled meaning, and a context of uncertainty. The language is full of imprecise and ambiguous expressions. There is both intralingual uncertainty (within one language) and interlingual uncertainty (when one language is translated in another one).

TSS 2012

Characterizing legal language

Lexicon : complex and unique legal vocabulary found in different legal languages. Peculiarities in each language, non-correspondence with terms in another language. Archaic, ritual usage of words ; common words with uncommon meanings etc. Syntax : formal and impersonal writing with huge complexity and length of the sentences. Subclauses with conditions, qualifications and exceptions. Passive voice, multiple negations, long prepositional phrases, nominal clusters , etc.

TSS 2012

Pragmatics : performative nature of the language . Style : legal style results from legal traditions, thought and culture . Impersonal style, extensive use of declarative sentences pronouncing rights and obligations. But different languages have a different style. E.g. German : logic, systematic, abstract and conceptual. In German, abstract and general principles prevail ; whereas in English, it is more working from case to case.

Sources of difficulty in legal translation.

TSS 2012

Different legal systems and laws Legal language is a technical language, but not universal, but tied to a national legal system. Law and legal language are system-bound. They reflect the history, evolution and culture of a specific legal system. Legal systems are peculiar to the society in which they have been formulated. Romano-Germanic law (continental civil law) Common Law Socialist law Hindu law Islamic law African Law Far-east law 80% belong to the common law and the continental civil law. There are also mixed systems .. (D. CAO) Systemic differences between the different legal families are a major source of difficulty in translation.

Register : between experts or between expert and laymen

One of the most problematic features is that it is “invisible”. The

biggest obstacle is not the vocabulary or the sentences, but the

unstated conventions by which the language operates.

German law :abstract, system oriented and theoretical, the method is

deductive.

USA : empirical, inductive system.

Cultural differences

TSS 2012

Linguistic differences

http://www.european-council.europa.eu/home-

page.aspx?lang=en

TSS 2012

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community was signed in the Portuguese capital on 13 December 2007 by the representatives of the twenty-seven Member States. It entered into force on 1 December 2009, after being ratified by all the Member States. The Lisbon Treaty is the latest of the Treaties which, to date, have amended the Treaties on the basis of which the Communities and the European Union were founded, such as the Single European Act (1986), the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht Treaty) (1992), the Amsterdam Treaty (1997) and the Treaty of Nice (2001).

IATE

TSS 2012

TSS 2012

Multilingual thesaurus convering all areas of decisionmaking of the EU

Used by:

European Parliament Bureau for the official publications of the EU National and regional parlements in Europe National government services A large number of European organisations

Eurovoc takes in to account the latest standards on terminology management (ISO, CEN)

Eurovoc

TSS 2012