Legal translation is concerned with comparative law and the incongruency of legal systems: elements of one legal system cannot simply be transposed into another legal system. In legal translation the comparison of legal terms precedes their translation. Legal translators must compare the meaning of terms in the source and target legal systems, which will make them aware of similarities and differences in their use across languages.

Karen McAuliffe: Translating Ambiguity,The Journal of Comparative Law, Vol 9(2)

Problems in legal translation generally arise because legal systems conceptualise reality in different ways. Legal translators do not translate words. They translate terms embedded in specific cultural models. Legal systems reflect principles and values that underlie the organisation of a society. This is why the translation of legal rules is considered not as a translation of words or ideas but as an import of foreign methods of organisation of a society.

Karen McAuliffe: Translating Ambiguity,The Journal of Comparative Law, Vol 9(2)

Back in June 2015 I attended the Transius Conference on legal and institutional translation hosted by the University of Geneva.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be summarising some of the main points made by speakers based on notes taken at the conference. The idea is to convey a rough flavour of the main ideas presented at the conference. This is the second blogpost in the series…Διαβάστε Περισσότερα

While certainly not an infallible aid in the process of legal translation, glossaries -especially monolingual ones- can be useful in understanding the legal terms as used in the source text, which can make translation of the legal text into the target language easier and more accurate.

A colleague recently drew my attention to this monolingual English glossary of basic legal terms from the Ministry of the Attorney General (Ontario / Canada). The glossary can be accessed at:

http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/glossary

Because Canada is bilingual, a monolingual French version is also available at:

http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/french/glossary/

Back in June 2015 I attended the Transius Conference on legal and institutional translation hosted by the University of Geneva.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll be summarising some of the main points made by speakers based on notes taken at the conference. The idea is to convey a rough flavour of the main ideas presented at the conference.

Let’s start with a keynote speech given by Professor Jan Engberg entitled: Comparative law and legal translation: Adjusting partners to build the necessary knowledge Διαβάστε Περισσότερα

Πως η κατανόηση του Οθωμαικού Δικαίου βοηθάει στη νομική μετάφραση στο συνδυασμό Ελληνικά-Αγγλικά…

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Πως η κατανόηση του Οθωμαικού Δικαίου βοηθάει στη νομική μετάφραση στο συνδυασμό Ελληνικά-Αγγλικά…

Διαβάστε Περισσότερα