These terms are certainly look-alikes, but as used in electoral law (Derecho electoral) recuento and “recount” may or not be cognates, depending on the context. In English “vote recount” refers exclusively to a second or repeat tabulation of votes when the accuracy of the initial vote tally is questioned. The most famous case of an election recount in recent history is undoubtedly the vote recount conducted in Florida during the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. In Spanish, however, recuento may denote both the initial tallying of votes or, as in English, a second vote count. In that regard, the DRAE defines recontar as contar o volver a contar el número de cosas. Thus recuento de votos may be a synonym of escrutinio de votos denoting the counting of votes for the first time, as in Los colegios electorales han cerrado y ha comenzado el recuento de votos (“The polling stations have closed and the counting of votes has commenced”). But, as in English, recuento de votos may also refer to a “recount,” i.e., to a second or subsequent canvassing of votes. This was implicit, for example, in news articles published in Spain concerning the 2000 US election recount, such as one entitled La victoria de Bush depende del recuento en Florida.

The same may apply in other contexts. Recuento físico de existencias denotes a “physical inventory,” “inventory count” or “physical stock-taking,” and may refer to an initial inventory or stock count (its usual meaning) or a second or subsequent one. In contrast, in English the expression “inventory (or) stock recount” always denotes a second or subsequent review of stock after an initial inventory has been conducted.

In other respects, in the context of corrections law (Derecho penitenciario) recuento has a totally different meaning. In that regard, expressions such as recuento de internos or recuento de reclusos refer to an “inmate headcount” or “inmate rollcall.”

 

 

 Puro y simple isn’t so pure and simple!

In legal contexts puro/a (y simple) cannot generally be translated literally as “pure (and simple),” since the expression often means “unconditional.” Obligaciones puras (“unconditional obligations”) are those that are not subject to any condition or term (no sujetas a ningún tipo de condición, plazo o término) and, thus, payment or performance of those obligations may be demanded at any time. Donación pura y simple denotes an “unconditional gift,” in contrast to a donación modal (or)  donación onerosa upon which the donor has imposed a condition or encumbrance.

With regard to negotiable instruments (títulos valores), checks and bills of exchange (cheques y letras de cambio) must contain an “unconditional order to pay a fixed amount of money.” In Spanish this is expressed as un mandato puro y simple de pagar una suma determinada. And in the context of the law of succession (Derecho de sucesiones) heredero puro y simple denotes an heir who accepts his inheritance unconditionally (known as aceptación pura y simple), without exercising the option to limit his liability for the debts of the inherited estate to the value of the inheritance (called beneficio de inventario).

 

Activo and pasivo are used in many different areas of legal practice in which it would be meaningless to translate these terms literally as “active” and “passive.” When used as nouns, in accounting (contabilidad) activo often refers to “assets,” while pasivo denotes “liabilities:” activo circulante (“current assets”); activo fijo (“fixed assets”); activo de explotación (“operating assets”); pasivo circulante (“current liabilities”); pasivo a largo plazo (“long-term liabilities/loans”), etc. Likewise, in insolvency law (Derecho concursal) the expression masa activa del concurso denotes the assets of an insolvent’s estate, while masa pasiva del concurso refers to his liabilities, including all debts owed to creditors.

In civil procedure (Derecho procesal civil), the adjective activo/a often refers to the “plaintiff” or “claimant” (demandante), while pasivo/a denotes the “defendant” (demandado). Thus, legitimación activa is “plaintiff’s standing” or “standing to sue,” while legitimación pasiva is “defendant’s standing” or “standing to be sued.” Similarly, litisconsorcio activo refers to the “joinder of plaintiffs/claimants” and litisconsortes activos are “co-plaintiffs” or “co-claimants,” while litisconsorcio pasivo is “joinder of defendants” and litisconsortes pasivos are “co-defendants.”

In the Law of Obligations (Derecho de obligaciones or Derecho de la relación obligacional), an acreedor (“creditor” or “obligee”) is often referred to as the sujeto activo de la obligación (the party entitled to demand performance of the obligation), while the deudor (“debtor” or “obligor”) may be described variously as the sujeto pasivo de la obligación (the party who has undertaken to perform an obligation) or the sujeto activo del cumplimiento (the party who owes performance).

In that regard, solidaridad activa refers to an obligation in which a single debtor owes an obligation to two or more joint and several creditors, any of whom may demand performance of the entire obligation, while solidaridad pasiva denotes an obligation in which two or more debtors are jointly and severally liable to a single creditor for the same obligation and, thus, any of the debtors may be compelled to perform the entire obligation.

In criminal law (Derecho penal), sujeto activo may refer to the “principal” or “perpetrator” of a crime (often called autor del delito), while sujeto pasivo may, in turn, denote the “victim” (ofendido or víctima del delito). And with respect to specific offenses, for example, cohecho activo is the crime of “offering a bribe” to a public official, while cohecho pasivo denotes a public official’s accepting or “taking a bribe.”

In tax law (Derecho tributario), sujeto pasivo is one of several terms for “taxpayer,” and in this context the sujetos activos are of course the “tax authorities”  empowered to levy and collect taxes. Thus, for example, the expression sujeto pasivo por obligación personal is often used to denote a “resident taxpayer,” while sujeto pasivo por obligación real refers to a “non-resident taxpayer,” concepts that may likewise be expressed as sujeto pasivo residente and sujeto pasivo no residente.

In other respects, in electoral law (Derecho electoral), sufragio activo refers to the “right to vote,” while sufragio pasivo is the “right to stand for election.”

And finally, clases pasivas is an additional expression in which pasiva cannot appropriately be translated literally as “passive” (although it often appears as such, even in “official” translations). Sometimes mistranslated as “retired civil servants,” clases pasivas (del Estado) is actually a broader concept, referring to civil servants (funcionarios públicos) and their relatives or dependents (parientes o dependientes) who receive any type of pension or other benefit from the state, including retirees (jubilados), widows and widowers (viudas y viudos), orphans (huérfanos) or beneficiaries of disability pensions (beneficiarios de pensiones por incapacidad). In that regard, depending on the context clases pasivas may perhaps be translated broadly as “beneficiaries of civil service pensions” or “recipients of civil service benefits.”