==8 CHAPIER'
Chap. 4 Characleristics or Legal Discourse
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEGAL DISCOURSE
Legal discourse is a highly'. specialized use of language requiring a spe fial set of habits.
Obviously, translating legal texts requires pain staking att ention to detail and sensitivity to the
~\ consequences of subtl e contextual changes. Thi s kind of wr iti ng is such a departure fr om our
ir,~
everyday use of language that it is wort hwhile to consider some of the specific chara cterist ics
of legal language which the translator should keep in mind , Understanding why legal language
I~~ /i is the way it is can help the translator to develop a kind of textual model, a sense of how lan­
guage fun ctions in legal discourse.
~XJ;I
As you consider the selections presented for comparison, you will note how sensitive le­
, ~ .,;~ gal terms are .to chang es in context-th e specific "setting" in which they are used. For this rea­
son, diction;ries a n(J: lexJ coJ!!! a re of Iim"lted useful;;ess in translat ing legal .terrii's: A good tr ans­
lation requires both a through u!l,derstanding of _~!!.~_s)l,bj ect l,J,n,d,er.d.i'l.c]lssign and (,amiliar ity
with similar models in the target language, i~., _the same kind of documents or instr'~~j!Ets.
Here ar e a few general characteristics of legal lang uage:
" T. l eg al language is conscious of precedent; conserva tive; slow to change; formulaic. \.
Under lying legal discourse is the idea that th e law is a unified system devel­
oping organically from generation to generation. We believe that there is continuity
in the law, that it has continued to grow and develop in a consistent way through­
\:: out a very long tradit ion. Legal language reflects these conceptions; a keen consci­
ousness of pr ecedent affe cts every choice of word, every turn of ph rase in legal
discourse. For th is reason, legal langu age tends to be quite conservati ve. It is slow
t o 'changoe and tends to reta in phrases and formula s that have fallen into disuse in
everyday language. Legal langu age relie s heavily on standard formulas of expreS­
~~ sion because the meaning of these phrases has been san ctified through long use.
Our need for legal language to be as reli able and as consistent as possible from
" generation to generation is of very high priority.
Can you detect any of the abovement ioned characterist ics of lega l language
in the following passage? Read the translati on which follows. Has the tr anslator
of the passage been sensitive to these value s, in your opinion?
TESTAMENTOS
Cita d 6n del c6nyuge y familiares
Par a Ia practica de las diligencias expresadas en la seccion anterior, seran
citados con la br evedad posible, el conyuge sobre viviente, si 10 hubiere, los descen­
dientes y los ascendientes legitimos del t estad or, y en defecto de ·u-nos r otr os, los
hermanos.
Si estas persona s no residieren dentro del distrit o judicial 0 se ignorase su
existen cia, 0 siendo menoreso incapacitados care ciersn de representacidn legltima,
se hara la citaci dn al fiscal.
0:--
Los cita dos podran presen ciar la practica de dichas diligen cias y hacer en el
act o, de palabra, las observaciones oportunas sobre la autenticidad del testamen to.
WILLS
C6digo Civil, 1930, art. 642.
229
Cita tion of Spou se an d Relatives
For carrying out the pr oceedings me::ttioned in the preceding section, the sur­
viving spouse, if there be one, the descendants and the ascendants of the testator
shall be summ oned as soon as possible, and in the absence thereof, his brothers
and sisters.
If the said persons do not reside within the jud icial district or if the ir exist­
ence be unkn own, or if they be minors or incapacitated persons without legit imate
representation, the prosecuting attorney shall be cited.
The pers ons cited may be present at the time such proceedings are car ried
out and may make, at the time, verbally, such obser vat ions as they may deem pro­
per with regard to the authenticity of the will.
Civil Code, 1930, ar t. 642.
2. Legal la nguage is defi nite, pre cise an d technical.
"The lawmake r sends his message over wide rea ches of space, and he hand s it
down throu gh indefinite stretches of time. These facts r equir e that the lawmaker,
above all speakers, transmit his message in a form which cann ot miscarry or be
lost to view" (Burke Shartel, Our Leila! System and How It Works, p. 288) .
The message must be transmitted in language that is extraordinarily definite
and precise. Words must be used in strict accordance with defini tions understo od
by all concerned . Members of the legal profession make careful distinctio ns be­
tween words that seem nearly intercha ng eable to the layman: the difference be­
t ween resid ence and domicile, dictum and decision, pri vilege and right, m ay be of
little consequence in everyday language, but in a legal context these distinctions
are critical. In evitably a large number of technical wor ds must be used; popular
langua ge simply lacks the necessary consistency and pre cision. "The degree of de­
finiteness (needed for legal discourse) can usually be obtained only by employing
techni cal legal words whose meaning has been br ought out an d fixed by long ex­
per ience and use," Burke Shartel explains (P. 295). Technical words, once we un­
derst and their meaning, are not only precise but e.c,on.omica!. Imag ine how the fol­
lowing passage would sound if we took out th e underlined technical term s and
substituted t he equivalent phrases listed below. Would th e passage be easier or
harder to understand if we used "shorter" words ?
"HololJraphic will-s' shall be placed in a prot ocol' being presented for this pur ­
pose to the part of the Superior Court of the last domicile' of the t estato r' • . ."
(LrLtOS of Puerto R ico)
1. Holographic will .. "A will which the testato r writes in his own hand in the form and with the
requisites mentioned in section 2161 of Art. 627, the Civil Code of 1 9~O" (Laws of Pu erto R ico) .
2. Protocol: "Original record kept by a notary of documents or transac tions from which he certifies
copies" ( lVebs ler's Thi rd Interna.tio nal Di ctionary) .
3. Domicile: "The place with which a person has a se ttled or established connection for important
legal purpoeea as determination of hla civil status . jurisdiction to impose perso nal ju drrrnenta
~ . .~ _ ~ ...... .__ .~ _ . _ _
 PART III TRANSLATING FOR LEGAL PERSONNEL Chap. 4 Characteristics of Legal Discourse 231
230

or ta xes on him, or determination of the succession rc his personal property on his death"
(Webst er's Third International Dictionary).
4. Testator: "A pe rson who leaves a \\i11 or testament in force at his death" (W ebster 's Third
International Dict ionary) .
3. Legal language lends 10 spell things oul with pa inslaking attention 10 minute delail.
In everyday language, we ord inarily try to leave the obvious un said : we take
it for granted that people know what we a re th inking and under st and what we
mean. In legal discourse, 1lothi1lg can be taken for {Jranted: el.'ery sia'lijicant de­
tail must be stat ed explicitly. We often feel that legal language- is im necessaril Y
word y, even redundant,'and we often feel tempted, while tr ansl ating, to try to re­
duce the number of "unnecessary" words . This can have dan gerous consequences•
.~\. because the apparent redundancy usually is ser ving and important function. Con­
::,. ~ "If .. . a legal solut ion is sought to . . . pro blems, then tim e must be taken
'I \. sider the following example:
assesse d, levied, or collected by or for the account
of the United Mexican States or a ny politi cal sub division
or taxing authority thereof or therein, all of which
IS shall be for the sole account of the Maker."
Note the series in line 14 of the Spanish, "impuestos, exa cciones fisc ales, gra­
varnene s, contribuciones, derechos, retenciones y cargo s pre sentes 0 fut ures, impues­
tos , esta blecidos, cobra dos 0 gr avados ... " E xplain why the app arent redunda ncy is
ju stified here (why we cann ot simply say "all ta xes").
4, Legal language Is characterized in all irs aspects by formality.
F orm ality in legal lang uage is the expression_of the_foLmali ty....9f ih~gal
pro cess itself. Berman and Greiner def ine formality as follows:
f or deliberate action, for articulate definition of the issue, f or a decision which is

;;~ 1 (From a Mexican Promissory Note)

s ubject to pu blic scrutiny and which is obiectiue In th e sense t hat it reflects an ex­
plicitl y pers onal ju dgment . Th ese quali t ies of legal activity may be summed up in
'\ ';~' !
1 "Los lntereses que causa este Pagare, deberan ser the word f ormality; formality in this sense inh eres in all kinds of legal activ ity ,
whether it be the mak ing of laws (leg islation) , the issuin g of regu lations un der
'I \, .}.~' pagados el ultimo dla de cada per fodo de seis meses
","l'F~ the law (administ r at ion), the applying of laws to dispute s (a dju dication s ), or the
'~i
cont ados a partir de la fecha de suscripci6n, sin per­
[uicio del derecho que tiene el Beneficiario de cobrar makin g of pri vate arrangemen ts intend ed to be legally binding (negotiatio n of a con­
5 los intereses devengados a la pres entacion de este
tract, drawing of a will, etc. )" (T he Nature and Functions oj the Law, p. 26) .
Pagare, a pesar de que no hubiere transcurrido el Study th e following excer pt from the Spa n ish Foreign I nvestme nt Law of 1974
perfodo de seis meses. an d compare t he En glish translation to the original.
(Law)
"La Suscriptora se obliga a efectuar todos los
pages tanto de los intereses como de la suert e principal

.
,~ ,

""

,.
,
.
10 en dolares, moneda de los Estados Unido s de Americ a, con
fondos federales, en las oficinas de
y a efectuarlos sin deduccion alguna, por 0 a cuent a de
todos 0 cualesquie r imp uestos, exacciones fiscales,
.
Disporigo:
Art. 1. Las persona s sefialad as en el n umero 1 del art. 1 de la Ley de Inver sio­
nes Extranjeras podran transferir a Espan a sus cap ita les en moneda extranj era ,

.'
~
admitida a cotiza cion en el mercado espafiol de div isas, con objeto de inver tir su
,, IS grav amenes, contribuciones, dere chos, retenciones y contravalor , sin limit acion en cuan to al por centaje de participacirin , en la cr eacion
cargos presentes 0 fut ures, impuesto s, est ablecidos, o su posterior amplificaci6n de sociedades nue vas dedicadas al desarrollo de alg una
cobr ados 0 gravados por 0 a cuenta de los Estados de ias act ividades que se indican en el art. 5 de este Decreto .
\ Unidos Mexicanos 0 cualesquier subdivision politica 0
\~ autoridad impositi va de ellos, tod os los cuales seran por La present e autorizacion no exime de la cbt encicn de las autorizaciones adrni­
\ ,' 20 cuent a exclusi va de la Sus crlptora." n lstrativas que pud ieran ser pre cisas seg un Ia legislaci6n vigsnte, con independen­
cia de que exista 0 no parti cipaci 6n extran iera en la sociedad,
(Tr anslat ion) En tod o caso, las inversi ones que se efe ct tian al amp aro .ide ]0 dispuesto en el
.:-: presente Decreto deberan ser declaradas en el Registro de Inversiones del Ministe­
"Interest on thi s Promissory Note shall be paid on
the last day of each six-mon th period counted from its ri o de Comercio , esta ndo someti das a 10 previsto en el capitulo VII del RegIamc nto
date of issuance, without thereby limiting the right that de In versiones Extranjeras a efectos de poder gozar de! derecho de transferencin.
the benef iciary has to collect the interest accrue d to Art. 2. Para poder acogerse a 10 dispuesto en el pr esent e Decret o, las personas
5 the presentati on of this Promissory Note notwithstanding interesadas en rea lizar invers iones debera n remitir a la Dir eccion General de
that a six-month period has not elap sed. T ransacciones Exteriores la t ranscr ipcion del objeto social de~em pre~ a , ' a fin de
"The Maker obliges itself to mak e all payments of que di cho Centro directive verifique la inclu sion 0 no del mismo en los supu estos
principal and interest in U.S. dollars in fe dera l funds contempl ad os en este Decreto.
at without deduction for or on Fr ancisco F'r an co
TO account of any and ali future taxes. levies, imposts,
charges, duties or withholdings whatsoever imposed,

... ~~' ~::

o:y
 __ __ _ __.. _ ....--::....•.--:. . " ':. y. :" ;',. . .... 'l l' ' ", . ,:;-. '.. . . .,..-" .• i";"' ;;-' ·~ ~

232 PART III TRANSLATING FOR LEGAL PERSONNEL Ch.p. 4 Charatleristits 01 L.~.I Discourse
(Translation) 233

Be It Enacted As Follows: QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Art. 1. The person s listed in Article 1, number 1, of the Forei gn Inv estment Law 1. List the characteristics of legal language th at the translator should keep in
may transfer capital to Spain , in for eign currency admitted to quot at ion as the mind. Explain the rationale behind these character istics (i.e., why does legal lan­
Spanish currency market, for the unrestricted investment of the counterpart ther e­ guage tend to be slow to change, etc. ?)
of, without any limitation whatsoever as to the percentage of participation, in
2. Look up the following terms in a bilingual legal dictionary, Take note of the
the cr eat ion or subsequent expansion of new compani es engaging in any of the act i­ equiva lents listed for each:
vities specified in Article 5 hereof.
a. orden
This authorization shall not relieve the parties concerned from obtaining any b. testimonio
government permi ssions that may be required under the legislat ion in force, inde­ c. demands
penden tly of wheth er or not there is foreign part icipati on in the compan y. d. cesidn
·~ In any event, investments made under the prov isi ons of this Decree must be e. habil
. 'J" ~ ~ declared to the In vestments Register of the Minis t ry of Commer ce, and shall be f. canc elar
. .1,; subjec t to the provis ions of Chapter VII of the Reg istration on Foreign Invest­
In light of the above, comment on the importance of context in legal transla­
, .~ ~ ments, in ord er to enj oy the right of transfer.
:''', ! tion.
~t .
Ar t. 2. Per sons interested in making in vest men ts und er t he provi sions of thi s
'l ' ~ Decree shall forward to the Directorate General of Fore ign T ransaction a tr an­
3. Revi ew the formation and tr ansl ati on of the Span ish f ut ure subj uncti ve. In
~\/~
. \. JtJ scrip tion of the corporate purpose of the company, in or der th at the sa id Dire c­
the texts gi ven in Sections 1-5 of th is chap ter, fin d four exa mples of the
future subjunctive.
'l..7 torate General may check as to whether or not the said pur pose is included in the
cases contemplated in this Decree. What characteristic of legal discourse is illustr ated by the pers istence of future
subj unctive. a tense which has all bu t disappe ared from every day usag e?
Francisco Franco

S. The eernplexlty of eerteln [egal toneepts demands a corresponding complexity in sen­

'~ tence structure•
...~ ,......
A gr eat many qualifying phrases and dependent claus es may b e required in
\. ord er to express a concept with the necessary precision.
~' Stud y the following excerpt from the Span ish For eign Inv estment Law of 1974.

(Law)
\
'~rj
Ar t. 5. Se encuentran liberadas POI' el pres ente Decreto las inversiones en Em­
--.' pres as CU)' O objeto social sea, unica y exclu si varnente, la fab ricacion en Espan a de
unos 0 va r ios de los bienes de equipo comprendidos en 1a Lista Apend ice del Arancel
de Aduanas , salvo que expr esamente se ha ya determinado 10 contra rio en el mo­
ment o de inclusion.

(Transl ati on)

Ar t. 5. The benefits of this Decr ee shall be applicable to investments in com­

panics whose corporate purpose is solely an d exclusively the manufacture in Spain
of one more of the items of capital equip ment included in the Ap pendix List of t he
Cuntom« Tnriff( pr oviding the contrary has not been expressly stipulated at the
t i lT lI~ o r th ei r inclusion).

B""""d the examp le r.iven in Secti on 4 of this chap ter for a dditi onal illustra­
ll Oll 1 Ill" lllU :::unn cha racteris ti c.

..-- - ~1¢.',' .-

,~~
s«