Author: rebeccajowers

Latinismos: vacatio legis

rebeccajowers Latinismos

Latin for Lawyers

Vacatio legis, literally the “absence of law,” refers to the postponement of the entry into force of a law and denotes the period between the promulgation and publication of a piece of legislation and its actual taking effect.

The Spanish Civil Code (article 2) initially provides that laws shall enter into force 20 days after their publication in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (or in the boletines oficiales of the autonomous communities), unless the text of the law states otherwise. Some laws may be designated as entering into force immediately upon their official publication, but others may require a longer period of preparation and adjustment. Such was the case with Spain’s new (at that time) Civil Procedure Act (Ley 1/2000 de Enjuiciamiento Civil), which replaced the former Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil de 1881 and radically changed Spanish civil procedure. In that instance a year-long vacatio legis was deemed warranted to allow judges, lawyers and other legal professionals sufficient time in which to learn and implement the new rules.

Un caso aparte is Ley 20/2011 de Registro Civil, which seeks to completely overhaul Spain’s civil register system and was initially designated to enter into force three years after its publication in the BOE. After successive extensions (prórrogas) of this initial vacatio legis, the law was scheduled to completely enter into force on June 30, 2018. But with that date fast approaching, the vacatio was once again extended until until 2020. The law’s “Entrada en vigor” article (Disposición final décima) is worth reproducing to underscore just how complicated a vacatio legis provision can become, since parts of the law enter (or have already entered) into force on four different dates:

La presente Ley entrará en vigor el 30 de junio de 2020, excepto las disposiciones adicionales séptima y octava y las disposiciones finales tercera y sexta, que entrarán en vigor el día siguiente al de su publicación en el “Boletín Oficial del Estado”, y excepto los artículos 49.2 y 53 del mismo texto legal, que entrarán en vigor el día 30 de junio de 2017.

Lo dispuesto en el párrafo anterior se entiende sin perjuicio de la entrada en vigor el 15 de octubre de 2015 de los artículos 44, 45, 46, 47, 49.1 y 4, 64, 66, 67.3 y disposición adicional novena, en la redacción dada por el artículo segundo de la Ley 19/2015, de 13 de julio, de medidas de reforma administrativa en el ámbito de la Administración de Justicia y del Registro Civil.

Hasta la completa entrada en vigor de esta Ley, el Gobierno adoptará las medidas y los cambios normativos necesarios que afecten a la organización y funcionamiento de los Registros Civiles.

Read more here.

Terminology of Testamentary Gifts (“devise,” “bequest,” “legacy”)

rebeccajowers Confusing Terms

testamentary terms

Translators of English-language wills are often puzzled by the formulaic expression “I give, devise and bequeath,” used when specifying how a testator’s estate should be divided upon his death. Is the expression redundant, or would one of the three verbs actually suffice?

Strictly speaking, a “devise” (verb: “to devise”) is a testamentary gift of real property (bienes inmuebles), the beneficiary of which is known as a “devisee.” In contrast, a “bequest” (verb: “to bequeath”) usually refers to a testamentary gift of personal property (bienes muebles), often excluding money. In modern American usage “devise” is used to denote a testamentary gift of both real and personal property,* although the distinction between “devise” and “bequest” largely persists in British usage. “Legacy” is likewise a gift by will, especially of personal property and often of money, the beneficiary of a legacy being known as a “legatee.” And, of course, devises, bequests and legacies may all be equally described as “testamentary gifts.”

*This may be due, in part, to the fact that the US Uniform Probate Code uses “devise” to denote both real and personal property. Its Section 1-201 General Definitions (10) states that “’Devise,’ when used as a noun means a testamentary disposition of real or personal property and, when used as a verb, means to dispose of real or personal property by will.” Black’s Law Dictionary notes that although “devise” traditionally referred to gifts of real property, in American usage a disposition of any property by will is a “devise.”

(Illustration: website of Sánchez-Gago, Vieira & Gallego Abogados, León, Spain)

 

Confusing Terms: “breach,” “default,” “infringement,” “violation,” “infraction”

rebeccajowers Confusing Terms

Legal Synonyms,Confusing Terms(what's the difference between..._)

Although these nouns may be considered legal synonyms that are very close in meaning, they are rarely interchangeable when used in standard expressions (frases hechas) in specific contexts. Here are a few examples of the most common expressions in which they appear (there are many others!):

Breach: In contract law, “breach of contract” denotes incumplimiento contractual and is synonymous with “nonperformance” or “failure to perform.” Breach may be described as a “material breach” (incumplimiento grave) or “partial breach” (incumplimiento parcial), and it is often possible to “cure (or) remedy a breach of contract” (subsanar el incumplimiento contractual). In this context “breaching party” denotes the parte incumplidora, while “non-breaching party” is the parte cumplidora.” In contrast, in criminal or administrative law the expression “breach of the peace” refers to alteración del orden público while, in general, “breach of trust” denotes abuso de confianza. In other contexts “breach” may sometimes be rendered as quebrantamiento, as in the expressions “breach of duty” (quebrantamiento del deber) or “prison breach” (quebrantamiento de prisión), also called “breach of prison” or “prison breaking.”

Default: Like “breach,” “default” can denote incumplimiento contractual (“contractual default”). In this case, “defaulting party” denotes the parte incumplidora, while the “nondefaulting party” is the parte cumplidora.” In the context of civil procedure, “default” may refer to the nonappearance of a defendant in court (incomparecencia del demandado) or to his failure to respond to a complaint (demanda). In this instance, “to declare in default” is declarar en rebeldía, “default proceeding” is juicio en rebeldía, and “default judgment” or “judgment by default” is sentencia dictada en rebeldía. In banking law and the law of obligations in general, “default” has the additional meaning of “failure to pay a debt when due” (mora). In that sense “to be in default” (which may also be expressed as “to be in arrears”) is estar en mora, while the expression “default interest” refers to intereses moratorios, and a “default debtor” is a deudor en mora or deudor moroso.

Infringement: “Infringement” is frequently used in the context of intellectual property law to denote interference in an owner’s exclusive rights in a patent, trademark or copyright. The term is often rendered in Spanish as violación, as in “patent infringement” (violación del derecho de patente), “trademark infringement” (violación del derecho de marca) or “copyright infringement” (violación de derechos de autor).

Violación: “Violation” is used generically to denote general contraventions of law or rights and is often rendered as vulneración: “violation of the law,” (vulneración de la ley); “violation of constitutional rights,” (vulneración de los derechos constitucionales). In other respects, the expression “traffic violations” may denote lesser traffic offenses (referred to generically in the Spanish Ley de Seguridad Vial as infracciones de tráfico).

Infraction: Similarly, “infraction” often refers to petty offenses and minor contraventions of rules or local ordinances and, indeed, there may be quite a bit of overlap with the term “violation”. In many US jurisdictions lesser violations of law that were previously classified as criminal offenses have been decriminalized and are now known as “infractions.” The most common are “traffic infractions” (infracciones de tráfico) for which the penalty is usually a fine, but not incarceration. Depending on local law, other civil infractions might include smoking in no-smoking areas, littering or violation of noise ordinances, among many others.

Why are copies of contracts called “counterparts”?

rebeccajowers Legal English for Spanish-speakers

What does a US notary do_(1)

In Anglo-American contract terminology, a copy of a contract is known as a “counterpart.” When a contract is signed, it is customary for each party to the contract to retain a counterpart of the agreement. But why do we need this term?

In English “copy” may have two distinct meanings. The expression “he gave me a copy of his latest article” may imply me dio una fotocopia de su último artículo. But rather than referring to a photocopy, “he gave me a copy of his latest novel” probably means me dio un ejemplar de su última novela. Thus, “copy” can denote la reproducción de un documento (photocopy, facsimile, etc.) as in the first example, or the document itself, un ejemplar del documento, as in the second.

In contract law the expression “counterpart” is used to denote a copy of a contract (ejemplar de un contrato) that may be considered one of several originals of the document. Each party to a contract obviously wants his own “copy” of the agreement (in the sense of ejemplar), deemed to be an original. Clauses to that effect are often included in contracts, underscoring that “This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall be an original and all of which shall constitute together the same document” or “This Contract is executed in duplicate counterparts, each of which shall have the force and effect of an original.” Counterparts are also often used to facilitate contract execution when all of the parties cannot be physically present at the signing. In this case, counterparts of the contract may be signed by different parties and are then exchanged.

The concept of signing a contract in duplicate counterparts, each deemed to be an original, is often expressed in Spanish contracts as firmado por duplicado ejemplar a un sólo efecto, or with similar wording.

INCOTERMS (in Spanish and English) and what they mean

rebeccajowers Capsule vocabularies

International Commercial Terms (“Incoterms”) are eleven internationally-acknowledged standard trade terms created by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)* to be used in sales contracts. They specify:

1) who (whether the seller or buyer) will be responsible for transportation costs, including insurance, taxes and duties

2) where the goods are to be picked up and delivered, and

3) who is responsible for the goods at each step of the transportation process and, particularly, when risk of damage to or loss of the goods pass from seller to buyer.

Below are the standard Incoterms in English and Spanish with a brief schematic explanation of each:

A) Incoterms for any mode of transportation:

EXW Ex Works (named place)–EXW En fábrica (lugar convenido)

Seller places the goods at the disposal of the buyer at the seller’s premises or at another named place (factory, warehouse, etc.). The seller does not need to load the goods on any vehicle, nor clear the goods for export, if applicable. Buyer is responsible for all subsequent risks, transportation costs, taxes and duties from that point forward.

FCA Free Carrier (named place)–FCA Libre transportista (lugar convenido)

Seller delivers the goods to the buyer’s carrier at a designated place. At this point risk passes to buyer, who is then responsible for transportation to the final destination of delivery.

CPT Carriage paid to (named place of destination)–CPT Transporte pagado hasta (lugar de destino convenido)

Seller delivers the goods to a carrier designated by the seller at an agreed place. Seller contracts for and bears the cost of delivering the goods to the named place of destination.

CIP Carriage and Insurance Paid to (named place of destination)–CIP Transporte y seguros pagados hasta (lugar de destino convenido)

Seller delivers the goods to a carrier designated by the seller at an agreed place. Seller not only contracts for and bears the cost of delivering the goods to the named place of destination, but must likewise take out minimum insurance coverage against the buyer’s risk of loss or damage to the goods during transportation. Buyer may choose to contract additional insurance coverage.

DAT Delivered at Terminal (named terminal at port or place of destination)–DAT Entregado en terminal (puerto de destino convenido)

Seller is deemed to have delivered the goods when, once unloaded from the arriving means of transport, they are placed at the disposal of the buyer at a named terminal at the designated port or place of destination. Seller bears all risks involved in bringing the goods to and unloading them at the terminal at the port or place of destination.

DAP Delivered at Place (named place of destination)–DAP Entregado en un punto (lugar de destino convenido)

Seller is deemed to have delivered the goods when the goods are placed at the disposal of the buyer on the arriving carrier ready for unloading at the named place of destination. Seller bears all risks involved in bringing the goods to the designated place.

DDP Delivered Duty Paid (named place of destination)–DDP Entregado, derechos pagados (lugar de destino convenido)

Seller is deemed to have delivered the goods when the goods are placed at the disposal of the buyer, cleared for import on the arriving means of transport and ready for unloading at the named place of destination. Seller bears all costs and risks involved in bringing the goods to the place of destination, including clearing the goods for export and import, paying the corresponding duties and carrying out all customs formalities.

B) Incoterms specifically for sea and inland waterway transportation

FAS Free Alongside Ship (named loading port)–FAS Franco/Libre al costado del buque (puerto de carga convenido)

Seller is deemed to have delivered the goods when they are placed alongside the vessel (e.g., on a quay or a barge) designated by the buyer at the named port of shipment. Risk of loss of or damage to the goods passes to buyer when the goods are alongside the ship, and the buyer bears all costs from that moment onwards.

FOB Free on Board (named loading port)–FOB Franco/Libre a bordo (puerto de carga convenido)

Seller delivers the goods on board the vessel designated by the buyer at the named port of shipment. Risk of loss of or damage to the goods passes to buyer when the goods are on board the vessel, and the buyer bears all costs from that moment onwards.

CFR Cost and Freight (named port of destination)–CFR Coste y flete (puerto de destino convenido)

Seller delivers the goods on board the vessel and risk of loss of or damage to the goods passes to buyer once the goods are on board. Seller bears responsibility for contracting for and paying the costs and freight necessary to bring the goods to the named port of destination.

CIF Cost, Insurance and Freight (named port of destination)–CIF Coste, seguro y flete (puerto de destino convenido)

Seller delivers the goods on board the vessel and risk of loss of or damage to the goods passes to buyer once the goods are on board. Seller not only bears responsibility for contracting for and paying the costs and freight necessary to bring the goods to the named port of destination, but must likewise take out minimum insurance coverage against the buyer’s risk of loss of or damage to the goods during carriage. Buyer may choose to contract additional insurance coverage.

This ICC chart gives an informative Incoterms overview:

Incoterms 2010 (chart)

For a more detailed explanation of each Incoterm, see the ICC’s website: https://iccwbo.org/resources-for-business/incoterms-rules/incoterms-rules-2010/

What is usufructo ?

rebeccajowers Español jurídico

ExpressingCivil LawConcepts

Usufructo, the right to use and enjoy the proceeds of another’s property for a given term, is one of the most common rights in property (derechos reales) present in civil code systems. The beneficiary (usufructuario) of a “usufruct” (as usufructo is known in Louisiana and in other English-speaking civil law jurisdictions) may use and enjoy the “fruits” (proceeds, profit, etc.) from the property, but without damaging or diminishing it. Article 467 of the Spanish Civil Code defines usufructo as the “right to use and reap the proceeds from another’s property with the obligation to preserve its form and substance, unless the instrument granting that right or the law provides otherwise” (derecho a disfrutar los bienes ajenos con la obligación de conservar su forma y sustancia, a no ser que el título de su constitución o la ley autoricen otra cosa). The property owner granting a usufruct is known as a nudo propietario (“naked owner,” similar to the common law “remainderman”).

There is no common law equivalent of usufructo, and if “usufruct” is not readily understood, the term may perhaps be rendered as “beneficial interest” or even “beneficial ownership,” given that “beneficial owner” is “one recognized as the owner of something because use and title belong to that person, even though legal title may belong to someone else” (Black’s Law Dictionary).

With that in mind, here are a few of the basic terms and concepts concerning usufructo with possible English translations:*

  • usufructo—usufruct; beneficial interest; beneficial ownership
  • usufructuario—usufructuary; beneficiary of a usufruct; beneficial owner
  • nudo propietario—naked owner; remainderman
  • usufructo sobre cosas inmuebles o muebles—usufruct/beneficial ownership of real or personal property
  • usufructo de derechos—usufruct/beneficial ownership of rights
  • usufructo simple—usufruct/beneficial ownership granted to a single person
  • usufructo múltiple—usufruct/beneficial ownership granted to two or more persons
  • usufructo simultáneo—simultaneous usufruct/beneficial ownership (enjoyed simultaneously by multiple beneficiaries)
  • usufructo sucesivo—successive usufruct/beneficial ownership (enjoyed by each beneficiary in succession)
  • usufructo propio; usufructo normal; usufructo de cosa no consumible—usufruct/beneficial ownership of non-consumable property (with the obligation to preserve its form and substance)
  • usufructo impropio; usufructo anormal; cuasiusufructo—usufruct/beneficial ownership of consumable property
  • usufructo voluntario—usufruct/beneficial ownership created voluntarily
  • usufructo legal—usufruct/beneficial ownership imposed by operation of law
  • usufructo puro—unconditional usufruct/beneficial ownership
  • usufructo condicional—conditional usufruct/beneficial ownership
  • usufructo a plazo—usufruct/beneficial ownership for a term
  • usufructo universal—usufruct/beneficial ownership of an entire estate
  • usufructo vitalicio—lifetime usufruct/beneficial ownership; usufruct/beneficial ownership for the life of the beneficiary; life estate; lifetime interest
  • usufructo viudal; usufructo del cónyuge viudo—surviving spouse’s usufruct/beneficial ownership; usufruct/beneficial ownership of a surviving spouse
  • usufructo testamentario—usufruct/beneficial ownership created by will
  • usufructo por prescripción—usufruct/beneficial ownership created by adverse possession

Source: Rebecca Jowers. Léxico temático de terminología jurídica español-inglés. Madrid: Tirant lo Blanch, 2015, pp. 767-769.

What’s the right preposition to use with “right” and “rights”?

rebeccajowers Legal English for Spanish-speakers

woman working girl sitting
Photo by Alexander Dummer on Pexels.com

Learners of Legal English are often stumped when it comes to deciding which preposition to use in a given expression. Indeed, prepositions pose a stumbling block in many languages, and English is no exception, whether used with nouns, in prepositional phrases or appended to phrasal verbs. This week one of the students in my Legal English course asked me which preposition is used with the noun “right” (or “rights).” Most expressions require “of,” “to” or sometimes “in.” Here are some of the most common (some have two possible options):

Expressions with “OF”:

  • right of assembly (also: freedom of assembly) (derecho de reunion; libertad de reunión)
  • right of asylum (derecho de asilo)
  • right of association (also: freedom of assembly) (derecho de asociación; libertad de asociación)
  • right of establishment (derecho de establecimiento)
  • right of first refusal (derecho de tanteo)
  • right of good reputation (derecho al honor)
  • right of privacy (derecho a la intimidad)
  • right of publicity (also: publicity rights) (derecho a la propia imagen)
  • right of sufferage (derecho de sufragio)
  • right of way (derecho de paso; servidumbre de paso)

Expressions with “TO”:

  • right to counsel (derecho a la asistencia letrada)
  • right to demonstrate (libertad de manifestación)
  • right to due process (derecho a la tutela judicial efectiva)
  • right to hold public office (derecho de acceso a los cargos públicos)
  • right to life (derecho a la vida)
  • right to own property (derecho de propiedad)
  • right to privacy (derecho a la intimidad)
  • right to stand for election (derecho de sufragio pasivo)
  • right to unionize (libertad sindical)
  • right to strike (derecho a la huelga)
  • right to vote (derecho de sufragio activo)
  • right to vote and stand for election (derecho de sufragio)
  • right to work (derecho al trabajo)

Expressions with “IN”:

  • rights in property (derechos reales)
  • rights in patents (derechos sobre patentes)
  • rights in trademarks (derechos sobre marcas), etc.

(One holds rights IN property, a use most often found in the context of intellectual property, and which may actually sound unnatural to nonlawyer native speakers of English).

 

False Friends (23): sentencia; sentence

rebeccajowers False Friends

Oh, no! False Friends

This pair of legal false cognates definitely belongs in the False Friends 101 category, terms that translators and legal professionals just can’t afford to confuse. Sentencia denotes a court’s final disposition of a matter: decisión formulada por el juez o tribunal que resuelve definitivamente todas las cuestiones planteadas en el proceso.* In English, this is a court’s “judgment,” its “final determination of the rights and obligations of the parties in a case.”**

In previous blog posts I examined in detail the terminology of Spanish sentencias,*** but what about the legal meanings of “sentence”? The term generally denotes the punishment (condena or pena) imposed on a criminal defendant found guilty, and it is used as both a noun and a verb: He served a 10-year sentence (Cumplió una condena/pena de 10 años); He was sentenced to 10 years in prison (Fue condenado a 10 años de prisión).

To look at some of the related terminology, under Spanish criminal law sentences are divided into penas privativas de libertad (custodial sentences), i.e., some form of incarceration, and penas no privativas de libertad (noncustodial sentences). Several types of alternative sentence (pena sustitutiva de la pena privativa de libertad) exist. Penas privativas de derechos entail the forfeiture of certain rights including, for example, several types of inhabilitación (disqualification from holding certain offices, exercising certain professions, etc.) or privación del derecho a conducir vehículos a motor (loss of the right to drive; suspension of driver’s license).

Mandatory community service (trabajos en beneficio de la comunidad) and fines (multas) are also often imposed. The most common fines are day fines (penas de días-multa) that take into account the offender’s financial situation based on his assets, income and family obligations, and other circumstances (situación económica del reo deducida de su patrimonio, obligaciones y cargas familiares y demás circunstancias). Less common are proportional fines (penas de multa proporcional) expressed as an amount proportional to the damage caused or injury inflicted, the value of the object of the offense or the proceeds obtained from the crime (cuantía del daño causado, el valor del objeto del delito o el beneficio reportado por el delito) (arts. 50-51 CP).

Judges likewise sometimes place offenders on a type of probation, referred to in the Spanish Criminal Code as suspensión de la execución de la pena privativa de libertad (literally, “suspension of the execution of custodial sentences”) (art. 80 CP). Also sometimes called “condena condicional” or “remisión condicional,” this type of probation or suspended sentence may be granted to first time offenders (delincuentes primarios) sentenced to less than two year’s incarceration (condena no superior a dos años de privación de libertad).

*F. Gómez de Liaño. Diccionario jurídico. Salamanca, 1979.

**Black’s Law Dictionary, 8th ed., 2004.

***  Additional terminology on sentencias with possible English translations can be found here , here , and here .

Legal Meanings of pieza

rebeccajowers Common words with uncommon legal meanings

legal words

In procedural law contexts, pieza does not mean “piece,” but rather denotes a “proceeding.” Certain aspects of a case may be adjudicated en pieza separada, i.e., in a separate proceeding from the main trial or proceeding (called pieza principal), and will be recorded in a separate case file (likewise often referred to as pieza separada). In civil proceedings, for example, pieza de medidas cautelares denotes a “provisional remedies proceeding” incident to civil litigation. In criminal procedure, in ordinary felony proceedings (proceso ordinario por delitos graves), a preliminary criminal investigation (instrucción sumarial) is typically conducted in four piezas. In addition to the main investigatory proceeding (pieza principal), a second pieza de situación personal reflects any pretrial measures (medidas cautelares personales) ordered against a suspect (investigado), including arrest (detención), pretrial release (libertad provisional) or pretrial detention (prisión provisional). The remaining two concern civil liability (responsabilidad civil) arising from the commission of the crime in question. The pieza de responsibilidad civil principal contains all measures ordered against the suspect’s property (medidas cautelares reales) to ensure that, if convicted, he will be able to pay the victim the compensation awarded by the court. These may include requiring the accused to make a pretrial deposit into court (prestar fianza) or ordering attachment (embargo) of his property. In the fourth pieza de responsibilidad subsidiaria similar measures may be ordered against third parties who may likewise be liable for civil damages resulting from the offense.

In other respects, the term pieza de convicción refers to the physical evidence of the commission of a crime, defined as objetos inanimados que puedan servir para atestiguar la realidad de un hecho relevante para el proceso.* The expression has sometimes been inappropriately translated as “incriminating evidence,” but whether a pieza de convicción is incriminating or not must subsequently be established at trial.

*Juan Manuel Fernández Martínez, coord. Diccionario jurídico. Thompson-Aranzadi, 2004.

False Friends (22): panfleto isn’t a “pamphlet”

rebeccajowers False Friends

Oh, no! False Friends

Panfleto appears in several bilingual dictionaries translated literally as “pamphlet.” But “pamphlet” is more appropriately folleto while, at least in Spain, panfleto is something quite different. Indeed, as defined in the DLE, panfleto denotes libelo difamatorio or an opúsculo de carácter agresivo. Fundéu likewise distinguishes between the two, indicating that “folleto” es una obra impresa, no periódica, de reducido número de hojas, while “panfleto” siempre tiene sentido difamatorio. Indeed, the term panfleto is often associated with political propaganda (un panfleto político) and is defined as such (papel o folleto de propaganda política) in Clave.* Thus the informal expression nos echó un panfleto implies “(he/she) subjected us to a (political) diatribe.” And the adjectives panfletario/a (estilo propio de los panfletos) and the noun panfletista (autor de un panfleto) also have this meaning. Thus “pamphlet” should be rendered as folleto rather than panfleto, unless the reference is to some sort of biased, partisan or propagandistic writing.

*Clave: Diccionario de uso del español actual. Ediciones SM, 2006.