Author: rebeccajowers

Español jurídico: What is tácita reconducción?

rebeccajowers Español jurídico

Weird Words You Need to Know

This strange, seemingly cryptic expression is defined in the RAE’s Diccionario del Español Jurídico como prórroga del contrato de arrendamiento de fincas rústicas o urbanas que se produce cuando, una vez terminado el contrato hecho por tiempo determinado, permanece el arrendatario disfrutando quince días de la cosa arrendada con aquiescencia del arrendador.* In that regard, reconducción refers specifically to prórroga de un arrendamiento (DLE).

Tácita reconducción has often been translated literally as “tacit renewal,” described as “renewal by default” or, perhaps in more idiomatic English, rendered as “automatic renewal (of a lease).” But it should be noted that all of these translations are actually inaccurate, confusing prórroga (“extension”) with renovación (“renewal”). Thus tácita reconducción more appropriately denotes the “automatic extension” of a lease (if, as indicated in the DEJ’s definition above, fifteen days after the contract expires neither party has given notice of termination to the other).

*Código Civil, arts. 1566-1567.

Translating “hechos” across Legal Disciplines

rebeccajowers Capsule vocabularies

wood-cube-abc-cube-letters-488981-e1536850974730

One of my lawyer students of Legal English recently asked me how to translate hechos, whether they are “acts,” “facts,” “events” or something else. And of course I had to reply that it depends on the context (in legal translation, context is everything). Here are a few examples from Spanish law with (possible / approximate) English translations (there may be others):

Derecho registral

  • hechos inscribibles (recordable events)

Derecho de daños

  • responsabilidad por hechos propios (personal liability)
  • responsabilidad por hechos ajenos (vicarious liability)

Derecho procesal

  • hechos aducidos (facts alleged [in pleadings, etc.])
  • hechos controvertidos (facts in issue; facts in dispute)
  • hechos no controvertidos (undisputed/uncontested facts)
  • hechos probados (proven facts; facts as found)
  • hechos notorios (facts that are common knowledge)
  • hechos notorios no necesitados de prueba (judicial facts; judicially-noticed facts)
  • hechos nuevos o de nueva noticia (new or after-discovered evidence)

Derecho penal

  • hecho típico (criminal offense; act/action/conduct defined as a criminal offense)
  • hecho constitutivo de la infracción penal (conduct constituting a criminal offense)
  • lugar de los hechos (crime scene)

Derecho tributario

  • hecho imponible (taxable event)

Derecho de familia

  • unión de hecho (nonmarital union; domestic partnership)
  • pareja de hecho (nonmarital/unmarried couple)
  • guarda de hecho (de facto guardianship)

Derecho de sociedades

  • comunicación de hechos relevantes (notice/disclosure of material events)

Derecho contable

  • hechos posteriores al cierre (events after the reporting period)

Source: Rebecca Jowers. Léxico temático de terminología jurídica español-inglés. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch, 2015.

“Entertain” Used in Legal Contexts

rebeccajowers Common words with uncommon legal meanings

Common Words with Uncommon Legal Meanings

In everyday English “entertain” is most often associated with providing amusement or with offering hospitality to a guest. But as a verb, “entertain” has the additional meaning of “to bear in mind” or “to take under consideration,” and in legal contexts means “to give judicial consideration to” (Black’s). Thus “the court entertained the motion for continuance” indicates that the judge considered the party’s request for a delay (but may or may not have decided to grant it). Here are a few examples of how “entertain” is used in this context:

  • In no event shall any judge entertain such motion if it be made after the making of an opening statement by counsel for plaintiff.
  • Court finds that it cannot entertain the case because there was no dispute between the parties on the date when the application was filed.
  • The judge will not entertain any written discovery motions until the Court has been provided with an opportunity to informally mediate the parties’ dispute.
  • In the absence of leave from an appellate court, a trial judge lacks jurisdiction to entertain a motion while judgment is pending on appeal.

False Friends: When autor is not an “author”

rebeccajowers False Friends

Oh, no! False Friends

autor; author / autoría; authorship

Autor and “author” are obviously cognates when they describe the creator of a literary or artistic work: el autor de la novela (“the author of the novel”). Thus, for example, the expression derechos de autor refers to “copyright,” while derechos morales de autor are an author’s “moral rights.” In this context, autoría is indeed “authorship” (the fact of having authored or created a literary or artistic work), coautoría denotes “co-authorship,” and coautores are “co-authors.”

In contrast, in Spanish criminal law contexts el autor (de un delito) is the “principal” or “perpetrator” of a crimal offense. A distinction is often drawn between the autor material or ejecutor (the person who actually commits the offense) and autor intelectual (the “brains” or “mastermind” behind a crime). Likewise, an autor mediato uses an innocent third party (for example, a minor or mentally incompetent person) as an instrument to execute a crime. In this context, autoría refers to the fact of being directly responsible for the perpetration of a crime, while coautoría denotes the commission of a crime by two or more principals who are, thus, coautores (“co-principals” or “co-perpetrators”) of the offense.

“Legal” Verbs and Prepositions (Criminal Procedure)

rebeccajowers Legal English for Spanish-speakers

Legal English for Spanish Speakers

What’s the right preposition for these “crimpro” verbs??

1. The police suspected Mr. X ____ having committed a crime; indeed they believed they had enough evidence________ him to accuse him _____ committing burglary.

2. After the investigation, the prosecutor brought charges _______ Mr. X, who would be charged ________ two counts of burglary.

3. He was then arrested ______ burglary and taken _______ custody.

4. He was arrested _______ a charge ______ burglary and brought _______ the judge.

5. While ______ arrest Mr. X did not confess _____ the crime, but rather he pleaded not guilty _____ the charges filed ________ him.

6. When he appeared ______ court, the judge ordered that Mr. X be released ________ bail pending trial, during which he would be prosecuted and tried _______ burglary.

7. The arresting officer testified _____ Mr. X at trial, while his defense counsel defended him _________ the charges.

8. The prosecution was prevented ______ introducing illegally-obtained evidence ______ the proceedings.

9. After retiring ____ the deliberations room, the jury passed verdict _______ the accused.

10. The jury found Mr. X guilty ________ charged.

11. In summary, Mr. X was finally convicted ________ burglary and was sentenced ________ ten years in prison.

12. After serving four years of his ten-year sentence, Mr. X was released _________ prison and placed ______ parole.

Answers:
  1. of; against; of
  2. against; with
  3. for; into
  4. on; of; before
  5. under; to; to; against
  6. in; on; for
  7. against; against
  8. from; during
  9. to; on/upon
  10. as
  11. of; to
  12. from; on

Translating Spanish Criminal Procedure: actor civil

rebeccajowers Español jurídico

CRIMINAL L

In Spanish criminal procedure actor civil refers to a party to a criminal proceeding who is seeking compensation for damages for civil liability arising out of the criminal act being tried. In Anglo-American jurisdictions claims for compensation for damages arising from criminal offenses are typically filed in a separate civil suit and, thus, the role of the actor civil in the Spanish criminal process may often be unclear to English-speaking audiences. In brief, in Spain claims for compensation for damages arising during the commission of a crime (reclamación de la responsabilidad civil derivada de la comisión de un delito) are usually tried simultaneously with the prosecution of criminal defendants during criminal proceedings. Actor civil designates the party who enters an appearance in a criminal proceeding to file a claim for damages in what amounts to a civil liability action conducted simultaneously with (or within) a criminal procecution.

Thus, civil and criminal liability may be determined in the same proceeding if the actor civil enters an appearance and asks to be acknowledged as a party to the criminal proceedings as a plaintiff claiming damages based on the same incident for which a conviction for criminal liability is being sought (la parte solicita que se la tenga por personada en el procedimiento en calidad de actora civil). And in perhaps most cases the victim and and person seeking civil redress are the same.

Actor civil has often been rendered literally as “civil plaintiff” or “civil claimant,” translations that perhaps fail to reflect the fact that the expression actually denotes a party to a criminal proceeding. And, indeed, since this “civil action within a criminal trial” concept will perhaps be foreign to English-speaking audiences, actor civil may require a more detailed descriptive translation such as “party claiming civil damages in a criminal proceeding.” In other respects, the civil claim heard during a criminal trial is often referred to as a proceso civil acumulado, precisely because it is, in effect, a civil action joined or consolidated with (within) a criminal procecution.

Read more here: Víctor Moreno Catena and Valentín Cortés Domínguez. “El llamado ‘actor civil’ en el proceso penal.” Derecho Procesal Penal. Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch, 2005, p. 125 ff.

 

 

False Friends 101: trimestre; trimester

rebeccajowers False Friends

False Friends 101

These two terms probably belong in the “False Friends 101” category, but are nevertheless sometimes confused in translation. Both trimestre and “trimester” refer to a period of three months. In English “trimester” is perhaps most often used to refer to stages of human gestation: “the first trimester of pregnancy” (el primer trimestre del embarazo). In addition, many US universities divide the academic year into three trimesters (fall, winter and spring), each having a duration of approximately 12 weeks.

However, in legal, business or accounting contexts a three-month period is called a “quarter” (i.e., la cuarta parte de un año). Thus, in these contexts trimestre must be rendered as “quarter” rather than as “trimester.” To cite a few simple examples, the accounting year (ejercicio contable) is divided into “quarters,” (trimestres); VAT (IVA) is paid “quarterly” (trimestralmente), and business profits are typically announced in a “quarterly earnings report” (informe trimestral de resultados).

A tribunal isn’t always a court

rebeccajowers Mistranslations?

Tribunal not always court

Tribunal is often mistranslated due to the assumption that the term always designates a court. But tribunales are not necessarily part of the ordinary court system, and the term may be used to designate administrative “boards” or “tribunals” that review the decisions of governmental agencies (órganos adminstrativos). A prime example is Spain’s Tribunal Económico-Administrativo, which is often mistranslated literally as “Economic-Administrative Court.” But rather than courts, as part of the Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda, tribunales económico-administrativos are administrative tribunals that provide a procedure for challenging decisions of the Spanish tax authorities and, as such, they are perhaps more accurately described as “tax appeal boards.”

In that regard, an expression such as reclamación económico-administrativa describes an “(administrative) appeal of a decision of the tax authorities.” Once this administrative remedy has been exhausted (agotada la vía administrativa), appeals from the decisions of tax authorities may be subsequently taken to the administrative courts (tribunales contencioso-administrativos), which are indeed a part of the ordinary court system (tribunales ordinarios). But a tribunal económico-administrativo cannot be accurately described as a “court.”

In English “tribunal” often likewise designates an administrative review board rather than a court, especially when referring to those that decide tax or employment benefit claims. Examples in the US include the New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal, Michigan Tax Tribunal, Wisconsin Unemployment Insurance Appeal Tribunal or Tennessee Employment Security Appeals Tribunal.

Read more here

Weird Words You May Need to Know: imprejuzgado

rebeccajowers Mistranslations?

Weird Words You Need to Know

This admittedly strange term describes a proceeding in which the matter in dispute was for some reason not adjudicated and, for example, appears in expressions such as dejando imprejuzgado el fondo del asunto or habiendo quedado imprejuzgado el fondo del litigio. In this context imprejuzgado has sometimes been translated literally as “untried,” “still untried” or “passed untried,” etc.

Although “not adjudicated” might provide a possible rendering, in this context dejando (and) quedando imprejuzgado el fondo are actually synonymous with the expressions sin entrar al fondo and sin una resolución sobre el fondo, and both can be translated as “without a decision (or) ruling on the merits.” Thus, as an example, auto que estima la excepción de incompetencia, dejando imprejuzgado el fondo refers to an “order granting a motion challenging the court’s jurisdiction, without a ruling on the merits.”

Legal English: The “Color” of Law

rebeccajowers Legal English for Spanish-speakers

 

The Color of Law

“Color” is often used in legal contexts with the meaning of “appearance” or “semblance” and the expression “under color of…” suggests something done “under the pretext (or) guise of” something else. Thus, something done “under color of law” is done with the apparent authority of the law. Acting “under color of office” may describe someone pretending to be a public official, or a public official who abuses his position for gain. And possession “under color of title” may refer to an occupant who holds himself out as the owner of a given property, acting as if he is actually the titleholder.

Many actual colors are used in legal language in many areas of law. Here are some of the most common (there may be many more!):

RED

  • red herring prospectus—a preliminary prospectus for the sale of securities that has not yet been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission

BLUE

  • blue law—a statute regulating or prohibiting commercial activity on Sundays
  • blue sky law—a statute establishing standards for offering and selling securities to protect citizens from fraud
  • blue pencilling—deleting or censoring the contents of a book or other work
  • bluewater seaman—an able-bodied seaman

GREEN

  • greenbacks—dollars; legal-tender notes in the US
  • greencard—US residency card; in the EU, an international auto insurance document
  • green-card marriage—marriage of convenience in order to obtain permanent US residency
  • greenfield site—undeveloped land, presumably uncontaminated
  • green paper—a government document that invites discussion concerning approaches to an issue of public interest

WHITE

  • Whiteacre—a fictitious tract of land used in legal discourse (especially law school hypotheticals) to discuss real-property issues; when the discussion involves two tracts of land, they are generally termed “Blackacre” and “Whiteacre”
  • white paper—a government report on a given subject; a detailed or authoritative report
  • white-collar crime—crime committed by business professionals, usually involving a form of financial theft or fraud (may include bribery, embezzlement, insider trading, etc.)
  • white knight—a party that rescues the target of an unfriendly or hostile takeover bid
  • white slavery—forced prostitution

BLACK

  • Blackacre—a fictitious tract of land used in legal discourse (especially law-school hypotheticals) to discuss real-property issues; when the discussion involves two tracts of land, they are generally termed “Blackacre” and “Whiteacre”
  • black economy—illicit economic activity done in violation of official regulations (also called “shadow economy”)
  • black market—illicit trade in goods or commodities in violation of official regulations; a place where illicit trade is conducted
  • black-leg labor—a chiefly British term for “scab” (a strikebreaker or, generally, someone acting against union policies)
  • blackletter law (also: “hornbook law”)–fundamental and well-settled legal principles
  • blackmail—extortion or coercion of money or other benefit in exchange for refraining from publicizing damaging information about the victim

BROWN

  • brownfield site—a tract of land that has been developed for industrial purposes, but is underused or abandoned due to environmental pollution

PINK

  • pink slip—a slang term for a notice of termination of employment
  • pink sheet—daily publication of a listing of bid and ask prices for over-the-counter stocks, published by the National Quotation Bureau

YELLOW

  • yellow-dog contract—a contract of employment prohibiting union membership (generally illegal under US state and federal law)

(Sources: Black’s Law Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Law, Oxford Dictionary of Law, Investopedia)