Legal Spanish

Confusing terms: “recurrir” vs. “apelar;” “recurso” vs. “apelación”

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It is easy to assume that recurrir and apelar are synonyms, and recurso and apelación do indeed appear as such in many bilingual sources that inevitably translate both as “appeal.” However, they are not interchangeable. Recurso is a broad term denoting generically many types of appeals and legal remedies, both judicial and administrative. Thus, recurso may be a general term for “appeal,” or it may denote a specific means of appeal, depending on the context.

In contrast, (recurso de) apelación is a specific type of appeal (in Spain is known as a recurso devolutivo, or appeal to a higher court) from (or against) the decision of a trial court (tribunal de primera instancia), whether civil, criminal, administrative or labor. In that regard, recurso de apelación may perhaps be described as a “second instance appeal,” an “appeal of a trial court’s decision,” or perhaps as an “appeal to an intermediate appellate court,” but only in those instances in which a further appeal may be available if the apelación is unsuccessful. Verbs denoting the filing of a recurso de apelación are apelar or recurrir en apelación.

Legal English for Spanish Speakers: Multiple Meanings of “board”

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When “board” denotes a group of persons exercising managerial or supervisory powers, it can have several different Spanish renderings. In business law contexts in Spain, a company’s “board of directors” is its consejo de administración (called junta directiva or directorio in other Spanish-speaking jurisdictions). In other respects, the “board of trustees” of a foundation (fundación) is its patronato.

“Board” is also used in the context of alternative dispute resolution (resolución extrajudicial de conflictos), in which arbitration (arbitraje) may be conducted by a single arbitrator (árbitro único) or by a panel of arbitrators commonly known as an “arbitration board” (tribunal arbitral).

In the US, a state or local entity that governs and manages the public school system is commonly know as the “board of education.” And “board” may likewise designate a type of governmental body or entity. In that regard, what in Spain are collectively termed organismos administrativos (generically, “governmental agencies”) receive several different names within the US government. One of these is “board” (Federal Reserve Board–FRB; National Labor Relations Board–NLRB, etc.), but also include “agencies” (Central Intelligence Agency–CIA; Environmental Protection Agency–EPA), “bureaus” (Federal Bureau of Investigation–FBI) and “commissions” (Securities and Exchange Commission–SEC; International Trade Commission–ITC).