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Since 1995

Hidden Meanings in Legal Spanish - 13

verificarse - tener verificativo The meaning of the verb verificar is obvious. It means "to verify." But when the reflexive form of the verb (verificarse) is used, it takes on a meaning that is anything but obvious. The reflexive verb verificarse is a synonym of tener lugar and thus means "to take place" or "to be held." Thus, for example, Se verificó la reunión con sólo cinco asistentes means "The meeting was held with only five people in attendance." There is another synony

Ellipsis in Legal Spanish

Ellipsis in the sense of leaving the noun out of a phrase that consists of a noun plus an adjective is common in Spanish. For example, people refer to a tarjeta postal (post card) as simply una postal. Other common examples include referring to a tren expreso (express train) as un expreso (which an English reader might take to be a kind of coffee drink) and calling a página web simply una web (which an English reader might understand to be the Internet itself, instead of mere

Hidden Meanings in Legal Spanish -12

sentencia absolutoria, sentencia condenatoria In our post on the legal Spanish of Chile, we saw two terms that are typical of criminal procedure (querella and denuncia) being used in a civil context. That was the tip that they must have a different meaning. Two other terms whose meaning varies depending on whether they are used in a civil context or a criminal context are sentencia absolutoria and sentencia condenatoria. The first thing to remember that sentencia is a false f

Hidden Meanings in Legal English - 2

Hidden Meanings in Legal English - 2

The verb "to sound" has an unexpected meaning in legal English, where it can mean "to be actionable (in)." Consider this sentence from a decision of the California Supreme Court (Santisas v. Goodin, 17 Cal. 4th 599 - Cal: Supreme Court 1998): "The case did not present an issue concerning the right to recover attorney fees under a contractual attorney fee provision as applied to claims or actions sounding in tort rather than contract and thus outside the scope of section 1717.

Hidden Meanings in Legal Spanish - 11

registro - registrar Un registro is obviously a "register" (when you mean the book in which information is recorded) or a "registry" (when you mean the office where the records are kept), but it has a second meaning--one that is important in el derecho procesal penal (criminal procedure). Registro is also the word for "search" and the related verb registrar means "to search." Thus, for example, Article 18 of the Spanish Constitution states the following: El domicilio es invio

Legal Spanish of Chile

Legal Spanish of Chile

Article 549 of the Chilean Código de Procedimiento Civil (Code of Civil Procedure) provides for four figuras jurídicas (legal concepts) whose names are likely to confuse translators who are only familiar with the legal Spanish of countries other than Chile: querella de amparo, querella de restitución, denuncia de obra nueva and denuncia de obra ruinosa. The first two of these figuras use the term querella, which in other countries is solely a criminal procedure term and refer

Legal Spanish of Ecuador

Legal Spanish of Ecuador

avocar, avocarse, abocarse, decurrir The two verbs avocarse and abocarse are pronounced exactly alike, and for that reason Spanish speakers sometimes write one of them when they mean the other. Abocarse is a verb used only in Latin America (not in Spain) and is a synonym of dedicarse. So se aboca a la redacción del contrato means "he is drafting the contract" (literally "he is dedicating himself to the drafting of the contract"). Avocarse, on the other hand, is used only in l

Style in Spanish Legal Translation

In legal English, once you use a term you must repeat that term throughout the document you are drafting. If you use a synonym instead, it may be taken to mean something other than the original term you used. In legal Spanish, the rule seems to be just the opposite. Writers of legal Spanish seem to use every synonym they can think of to avoid using the same noun twice. Thus, for example, the Constitution may first be referred to as la Constitución. Two lines later, it may be

imputar - Fiscal - acusación particular - acusación popular

imputar - Fiscal - acusación particular - acusación popular

In 2014 Spain's Princess Cristina, the Duchess of Palma, was imputada (formally named a suspect) in the corruption case surrounding her husband Iñaki Urdangarin. As such, she was summoned to hacer declaración (testify) before the juez instructor (investigating judge) José Castro. In December 2014 it was revealed that Judge Castro had issued an auto de apertura de juicio oral against the Princess, ordering her to stand trial for tax evasion. This order is controversial becaus

Hidden Meanings in Legal Spanish - 10

Presentación Presentación looks like "presentation" and means just that in some contexts. Note, however, that a "presentation" at a conference is called a ponencia and the presenter is called a ponente. In legal Spanish, presentación has two meanings. The first is "filing." So la presentación del escrito ante el tribunal means "the filing of the motion with the court." The other meaning is "presentment." La presentación del cheque al pago means "presentment of the check for p

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