In Spanish certain legal concepts are customarily personified and, although not a mistranslation per se, when rendered literally such expressions may sound strange to native English speakers. One of the most common examples is the personification of the shareholders meeting in Spanish corporate documents. When reflecting decisions taken at a shareholders meeting, the minutes will, for example, typically indicate that the Junta General acordó un aumento de capital (or) ratificó el nombramiento de los consejeros. Rather than “the shareholders meeting approved (or) ratified…,” in English this would more likely be expressed as “The shareholders approved a capital increase” (or) “ratified the appointment of directors at the annual meeting.”

Likewise, in the context of parliamentary law, el constituyente often denotes a “constitutional convention (or) congress” (asamblea constituyente), rather than an individual member of that body. Thus, el constituyente de 1812 refers collectively to the assembly (Cortes de Cádiz) that drafted the Constitución de 1812, and el constituyente de 1978 denotes jointly the Spanish Parliament (Cortes Generales) and the people of Spain (in referendum) who approved Spain’s present Constitución de 1978. In this context, in addition to “constitutional assembly (or) convention” el constituyente might also be translated as “the drafters (or) authors of the Constitution.”

Similarly, the parliament, legislature or legislative branch of government is often personified as “el legislador,” which would sound strange if rendered literally as “the legislator.” Thus, medidas introducidas por el legislador refers to “measures introduced by parliament (or) the legislature,” and la reforma llevada a cabo por el legislador refers to a “legislative reform,” while the expression el legislador estatal distinguishes the central Spanish parliament (Cortes Generales) from the legislative assemblies of the Autonomous Communities, which are often referred to as “el legislador autónomico.” In addition, references to el legislador demócratico denote the present Spanish parliament under the post-Franco Constitution of 1978. In this and similar contexts, in addition to “the Parliament” or “the Legislature,” el legislador may also be rendered simply as “lawmakers.”