Print version
Switch on secure layer
Legal Translation
The main feature that sets legal documents apart from others is that they refer to highly specific systems and thought processes. The Anglo-Saxon and French legal systems differ in these basic respects. Indeed, written law is partly based on ethical and cultural thinking, which is specific to each individual country. The Anglo-Saxon concepts of common law and equity are unheard of in the French legal system. This is because English law is basically founded on customary law whereas French law is based on founding texts such as the Constitution.
This fact means that the translator must be able to render into his or her own language concepts which often only exist in the source language. So, the translator has a duty to select an equivalent term rather than keep the original one and to explain it in a footnote (unless it is a basic concept, in which case a translator’s note will prove necessary). So, a specific term should be translated using an equivalent in a target language, even if some aspect(s) of the original concept is/are lost, in order to make the document easier to understand and to avoid the need for repeatedly referring to footnotes, which would make the document more difficult to read.
|
Cabinet EHC |
|
Légende LLC Translation of summonses and judgements relating to copyright protection. |
|
Cabinet Arthéo
|
|
Euro Legal Counsel Group
|
Add to favorites
