I’ll be giving an AST (Advanced Skills & Training) session at the American Translators Associations annual conference in Portland on October 30. For those who might be interested in attending, here is a description of the session with an outline of the aspects of Derecho Penal that we will be discussing.

ATA65 Portland—AST Session (AST-05)

Translating Derecho Penal

(Concepts and Terminology from a Comparative Law Perspective)

Drawing on examples from the códigos penales of Spain and Mexico as well as the Model Penal Code, Title 18 US Code and other US state codes, this session seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the concepts and terminology of Derecho penal from a common law viewpoint. We will focus on terms that legal T&Is may encounter as well as the major translation pitfalls found in criminal law documents, exploring the following aspects:

• How criminal law is organized in Spanish-speaking jurisdictions: la Parte General (criminal law theory) vs. la Parte Especial (specific offenses and how they are defined and may be translated)
• Principios del Derecho Penal (general principles of criminal law)
• Teoría del Delito: a few essential concepts:
• Definición del delito: the German model adopted in Spanish-speaking jurisdictions vs. the common law actus reus / mens rea elements
• Understanding (and translating) tipicidad, antijuridicidad, culpabilidad and punibilidad
• Clasificación de los delitos (how crimes are classified)
• Other key concepts: acción y omisión; bien jurídico protegido; dolo vs. culpa; causalidad
• Iter criminis (the road to crime): fases en la realización del hecho típico
• impunidad del mero pensamiento: thinking isn’t a crime
• actos ejecutivos: overt acts requirement; substantial steps toward the commission of a criminal offense
• inchoate (preparatory or imperfect) crimes: conspiración (conspiracy); proposición (criminal solicitation); provocación (incitement to crime)
• tentativa de delito (criminal attempt)
• Autoría del delito (perpetration of criminal offenses)
• Participación en el delito (aiding and abetting the commission of a crime)
• complicidad (types of accomplice liability)
• Teoría de la pena (theory of punishment)
• Circunstancias modificativas de la responsabilidad criminal: agravantes; atenuantes y eximentes (aggravating, mitigating and exonerating circumstances; perfect and imperfect defenses)
• Clases de pena (types of criminal sentences): penas privativas de libertad (custodial sentences) vs. penas no privativas de libertad (noncustodial sentences)
• Determinación y aplicación de la pena (sentencing) and execución de la pena (execution / enforcement of sentences)
• Translating specific offenses:
• Homicidio vs. asesinato (when is it murder?)
• Amenazas y lesiones (not exactly assault and battery?)
• Violación; agresión sexual (translating sexual offenses)
• Allanamiento de morada (breaking and entering, or mere trespass?)
• Criminal defamation (distinguishing injurias and calumnias)
• Hurto vs. robo (when is it theft, robbery or burglary?)
• Delito de daños (criminal damage to property)
• Cohecho (bribery)
• Malversación (ES); peculado (MX) (embezzlement)
• (others)
• Wrap-up and recap: a look at problematic criminal law concepts and terminology pitfalls
• Same Thing, Different Name: criminal law terminology in Spain and Mexico

Attendees will receive a bilingual-glossary of the criminal law terms discussed and additional translator/interpreter resources.