In legal usage “impertinent” and impertinente can usually be considered false friends. In nonlegal Spanish, impertinente has two possible meanings (taken from the DLE): 1) “que no viene al caso” (in English, “irrelevant”) and 2) “que molesta de palabra o de obra” (in English, “impertinent”).

In Legal Spanish impertinente generally has the first meaning: que no viene al caso; que es irrelevante (and, therefore, the matter in question is improcedente; no procede en Derecho). In the Spanish Law of Evidence there are two clear examples: prueba impertinente and pregunta impertinente. Prueba impertinente is defined as “prueba que no guarda relación con el objeto del proceso” (in Legal English, “irrelevant evidence”). This prohibition of irrelevant evidence is set forth in article 283.1 of the Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil that provides that “no deberá admitirse ninguna prueba que, por no guardar relación con lo que sea objeto del proceso, haya de considerarse impertinente.”

In that regard, evidence can be classified as prueba pertinente or prueba impertinente (“relevant or irrelevant evidence”), prueba útil or prueba inútil (“material or immaterial evidence,” in the sense of being appropriate or inappropriate for demonstrating the fact that it is intended to prove), and prueba directa or prueba presencial (“direct evidence” or “eyewitness evidence”) as opposed to prueba indirecta or prueba indiciaria (“indirect evidence” or “circumstancial evidence”).

The same applies to preguntas impertinentes (in Legal English, “irrelevant questions”) that may not be used when examining witnesses at trial. The DPEJ defines pregunta impertinente as “cuestión que no deba ser respondida en juicio por el interrogado, al no corresponder con los hechos litigiosos o no guardar relación con el declarante.” And in addition to preguntas impertinentes (irrelevant questions), Spanish Law of Evidence likewise prohibits the use of preguntas sugestivas (“leading questions”) and preguntas capciosas (“misleading or trick questions”).