Legal Translation 2019 Level 4-1 PDF
Legal Translation 2019 Level 4-1 PDF
Legal Translation 2019 Level 4-1 PDF
level 4
Legal Translation
Arabic-English-Arabic
Ali Almanna
2
This e-version is printed for teaching and proofreading purposes only. The
book has not been published yet by any publisher.
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction 4
Chapter 3 Modality 28
Chapter 5 Crimes 54
Chapter 7 Tort 84
References 108
4
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
5
Overview
The interest of linguists in English legal discourse is relatively recent and
regretfully scarce as yet. From both Mellinkoff (1963) and Crystal and Davy´s
(1969) attempts towards systematization in the sixties, up to the modern
studies carried out by Bhatia (1993) on legislative texts, by Kurzon (1986) on
cohesive structures and, in Spain, by Alcaraz (1994) on the peculiarities of the
English legal structure and its language, among others, the emphasis has been
increasingly placed on the need to define and describe the legal discourse in
its own context. Therefore, far from considering the legal text solely from its
grammatical and semantic point of view, and, no doubt, influenced by the
pragmatic flavour of other previous multidisciplinary analyses (see Danet,
1980 and O´Barr, 1982 for example), the objective of these studies has taken
into account the extra-linguistic purposes of the text itself.
Bhatia in Sabrah (2003:15) classifies legal writing into three main types:
1. ‘Academic legal writing’, which includes the language of academic
magazines, books specified for teaching law, and others.
2. ‘Juridical writing’, which covers judgements issued by courts, the
books which deal with legal cases, reports in that respect, etc.
3. ‘Legislative writing’, which encompasses a wide range of writing,
such as legal documents, contracts, conventions, treaties, decrees,
orders and others.
This book will concentrate on the three types of legal writing, paying extra
attention to the last type which has “acquired a certain degree of notoriety,
rarely equalled by any other variety of English” (Bhatia, 1993:101). In any
variety of language, there are some social factors that affect people‟s choice
of language. Among these factors, as Holmes (2001) points out, are the
relationship between the participants, the setting or the context in which the
language is used, communicative purpose and the topic. Like other varieties
of language, legal language includes a wide range of genres depending on the
social factors mentioned above. So, for instance, when the relationship is
6
between a solicitor and a client at the solicitor‟s office during working hours
to discuss a legal matter, we will have a certain genre, which is definitely
different from that between, for example, a judge and a witness giving his/her
testimony in a court case. Accordingly, a conclusion can be drawn that legal
writing covers several genres, one of which is legislative writing, in which the
communicative purpose, relationship, setting and topic are totally different not
only from those of other varieties of language, but from those of other genres
within the legal language itself.
In what follows, we will concentrate on the most important features that
distinguish legislative writing from other legal writing, on the one hand, and
from other varieties of language, on the other. These features are the
communicative purpose, the position of the draftsman and the readership.
Communicative purpose
By examining all types of legislative writing, one can easily recognize that it
is a type of writing whose function is to impose obligation and prohibition,
confer rights and give permission, etc. So, the general function of such a kind
of writing, according to Hymes' classification 1 of language function (in
Jakobson, 1991), is directive (giving instructions to the addressee).
Legislative writing, as Bhatia (1993:102) indicates, is “highly impersonal and
decontextualized, in the sense that its illocutionary force holds independently
of whoever is „the speaker‟ (originator) or „the hearer‟ (reader) of the
document”.
1
Jakobson (1991) adds three functions, namely poetic, phatic and metalinguistic, to Buhler's
(1990) three functions: informative, expressive and persuasive. Hymes (in Jakobson) adds a
seventh function, which is the contextual function and modifies the classification. So, the
seven functions are referential, emotive, directive, phatic, poetic, metalinguistic and
contextual.
7
Readership
One of the crucial factors that play a significant role in determining the final
shape of the TT is “the translator‟s need to take into account the target
reader‟s expectations. This requires translators to take a number of
fundamental decisions concerning the levels of acceptability and
accessibility” (Almanna 2014: 108). The TT acceptability does not “depend
on how closely it corresponds to some state in the world”, but rather on how
the target readers access the TT and decide on its reality “whether believable,
homogenous or relevant” (Baker 1992: 2019). To this end, the translator
needs to render the “exact contextual meaning of the ST [...] through the
medium of a TL which is acceptable to the TL reader and easily understood
by him” (Adab 1997: 9-10). Hall (2008: 23) writes:
To achieve effective communication, the translator needs to take account of
the cognitive and cultural environment of the targeted language community
and its likely expectations of the transmitted text and make his/her translation
as informative and accessible as possible.
In legislative writing the readership is completely different from other
varieties of language in the sense that in the case of legislative writing, “the
document is meant for ordinary citizens; but the real readers are lawyers and
judges, who are responsible for interpreting these provisions for ordinary
citizens” (Bhatia, 1993:103). As a result, we can say the readership with
regard to legislative writing has two types of readers: the document is meant
for ordinary people but the real readers are those people expert in law.
Consider the following diagrams that show the differences between legislative
writing and other varieties of language:
8
(Parliament) (draftsman)
(document)
lay people
Terminology
One of the main characteristics of legislative writing is the use of archaic
words and expressions to add a formal nature to the language in which they
occur (cf. Alcaraz Varó and Hughes, 2002:5). Pople (1998: 62) points out that
there is a strong relationship between "formality and the older English". So,
words like herein, hereof, hereafter, thereon, therewith, whereof, etc. are not
used in other varieties of English any more, but they are still heavily used in
legal language. By way of clarification, let us consider the following
examples:
Hereby refers to the document in which it is used, thus
lending itself to عت ٘زا اٌؼمذّٛ ث, خ١عت ٘زٖ االرفبلّٛث, etc.
The Landlord hereby may enter the dwelling without Tenant's consent in
case of emergency. (adapted from in Sabra, 2003: 29)
9
The States parties shall take effective measures to prevent such acts and
shall regard the practice thereof, or participation therein, as a punishable
offence. (adapted from El-Farahaty, 2015: 102)
Thereof and therein refer to certain acts mentioned in the
document, thus lending themselves to (ِّبسعخ) ٘زٖ اٌزقشفبدand
بٙ١ (اٌّغبّ٘خ) فrespectively.
EX: The following examples are extracted from Sabra (2003) along with their
translations. Translate the archaic words highlighted for you:
The Contractor shall not assign the
Contract or any part thereof, or
benefit or interest therein or
thereunder, without the prior
consent of the Employer. (p. 19)
David and Davy (1969:207/8) indicate that the reason for the use of such
archaic words and expressions is just a matter of tradition and they provide us
with an interesting example: 'witnesseth' ending with the suffix (-eth), which is
used in old English to refer to a third person singular. Using such an archaic
suffix '-eth' despite the fact that there is a modern suffix (-s/es) that can be
used instead, indicates that it is really just a matter of tradition, on the one
hand, and to add a touch of formality to the language in which they occur, on
the other. In addition to using archaic expressions, there is a tendency to use
more than one lexical item to stand for one referent. Typical examples of this
include
Williard (in Sabrah, 2003) points out that the use of these couplets results
from both the draftsmen's desire to write in an elegant style and the tradition
that is followed in writing legal documents.
Your glossary
CHAPTER TWO
SYNTACTIC FEATURES
Ali Almanna Legal translation 13
One way of describing legal language is to point out the linguistic features of
the legal language at different levels: lexical, syntactical and discoursal etc.
Crystal and Davy (1969), Bhatia (1993), Tiersma (1999) and many others
have worked along these lines. In this chapter, an attempt will be made to
outline the main syntactic features of legal language.
Syntax is the study of the structure of sentences. Syntacticians describe how
words are put together to form phrases, clauses and sentences. For example, ‘I
bought a book two days ago’ is embedded as a relative clause in the sentence,
‘The book that I bought two days ago is quite valuable or interesting’.
The verb to assume, which means here to take or begin to have power or
responsibility, is different from to resume which means to begin to do or
pursue an activity, etc. again after a pause or interruption.
This example clearly explains that “embeddings serve the striving for stating
the whole legal principle in a single sentence” (Janulevičienė and
Rackevičienė 2011: 144). Being motivated by the desire to include all
possibly arising circumstances, the draftsman uses a number of embeddings,
thus creating “vagueness for a layperson reader, but is highly valued for
accuracy and precision by legal professionals” (Ibid).
by virtue of instead of by
in consideration of instead of for
for the purpose of instead of for
in accordance with instead of according
in the course of instead of during
with the exception of instead of except
in respect of instead of concerning
with regard to instead of regarding
Article 2 2
بٙي ثّٛاٌّيجمخ = اٌّؼ
Each Contracting State shall in its
territory and in accordance with its
applicable laws and regulations
encourage and admit investment and
associated activities by investors of
the other Contracting State …
EX: Identify any complex prepositional phrase and replace it with a simple
one if possible:
in
in accordance with ىجمبً ٌـ
Ali Almanna Legal translation 17
on
on behalf of ٓبثخ ػ١ٔ
on the basis of ٍٝثٕبء ػ/ أعبطٍٝػ
on the grounds of ثحغخ
on the pretext of ؼخ٠ثزس
with
with a view to ْخ أ١ثغ
with emphasis on ٍٝذ ػ٠ِغ اٌزؾذ/ٍٝذاً ػ١رأو
with regard to ؿٛثخق/ْثؾأ/خزـ ثـ٠ ّب١ف/ّخـ٠ ّب١ف/زؼٍّك ثـ٠ ّب١ف
with respect to (also: in respect ؿٛثخق/ْثؾأ/خزـ ثـ٠ ّب١ف/ّخـ٠ ّب١ف/زؼٍّك ثـ٠ ّب١ف
of)
with the aim of ذفٙث
with the approval of افمخّٛث
with the assistance of ٔخٚثّؼب/ثّغبػذح
18 Chapter two: Syntactic features
Whiz Deletion
It refers to the deletion of the relative pronoun, such as who, which or that,
and a form of the verb to be (cf. Dámová 2007: 20). When the relative
pronoun along with verb to be is left out, the relative clause is called 'a
reduced clause'. By way of explanation, let us consider the following example
quoted from a treaty between the State of Bahrain and the government of the
United States of America:
Article 9 9
For the purposes of this Treaty, an
investment dispute is a dispute between a
Party and a national or company of the
other Party [which is] arising out of or
[which is] relating to an investment
authorization, an investment agreement
or an alleged breach of any right [which is]
conferred, created or recognized by this
Treaty with respect to a covered
investment.
Is it ُ اعor ُ ?إعWhy?
Passive constructions
Passive forms are overused by legal writers because of its useful indirectness
and formality. It comes in handy when the author strategically prefers not to
mention the agent of the action, or when the text can apply to more than one
possible agent (Tiersma, 1999:74-77). The following example quoted from
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will illustrate this point:
Article 1 1 المادة
All human beings are born free and equal
in dignity and rights. They are endowed
with reason and conscience and should
act towards one another in a spirit of
brotherhood. .
EX: The following texts are extracted from Hatim et al. (1995: 176-177).
Change any sentence in the active form to passive:
The Ministry shall provide the Contracted
Party and his dependents with the following
air tickets:
- From his home country to the -
Kingdom at the beginning of the
20 Chapter two: Syntactic features
Passive
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Passive
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Passive
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Ali Almanna Legal translation 21
Nominalization
Nominalization refers to the act of changing another part of speech, such as an
adjective, verb, etc., into a noun by adding certain suffixes, such as –tion, –
ment, –dom, –ance, and so on, as in:
! free >> freedom
! legalize >> legalization
! authorize >> authorization
! found >> foundation
! pay >> payment
! inform >> information
! provide >> Provision
! accept >> acceptance
Nominalization is frequently used in legislative writing in order for law to "be
stated as broadly as possible" (Tiersma, 1999: 78). By way of explanation, let
us consider this example extracted from The Preamble to the Human Rights
Charter:
Whereas recognition of the inherent
dignity and of the equal and
inalienable rights of all members of
the human family is the foundation of
freedom, justice and peace in the
world,…
EX: Identify the verbs used in Arabic and compare them with their
equivalents in English. Can you change some of them to nouns?
Non-finite clauses
Closely related to nominalization is the issue of non-finite clauses. To
understand non-finite clauses, let us first distinguish between finite verbs and
non-finite verbs. Generally speaking, the forms of finite verbs indicate tense,
person and number and non-finite verbs do not indicate tense, person and
number. In English, for example, a verb has three non-finite forms, viz.
Infinitive: I have moved to another city to find a job. (to find = non
finite verb) so that I can
find > to find
Past participle: The question asked by you was very difficult. (asked =
non-finite verb)
which was
asked > asked
Gerund: Having cleaned my flat, I went out. (having = non-finite verb)
After I
had cleaned > Having cleaned
It is worth noting that these non-finite clauses cannot stand alone as they are
dependent clauses serving as a subject or complement to a verb, preposition,
noun, etc.
2. The man who was arrested by the police yesterday was found guilty.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
3. In the absence of any brothers or nephews, the throne shall pass to the
uncles and their descendants according to the order which is
prescribed in paragraph (b) above.
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
24 Chapter two: Syntactic features
Conditionals
Conditionals are indicated by such syntactic indicators as
! If إرا
! In case حبٌخٟ ف، حبيٟف
! In the event حبٌخٟ ف، حبيٟف
! Should إرا
! Subject to ؽشهٍٝ ػ،يخ٠ ؽش،ثؾشه
! Provided (that) ؽشهٍٝ ػ،يخ٠ ؽش،ثؾشه
! Providing (that) ؽشهٍٝ ػ،يخ٠ ؽش،ثؾشه
! On condition (that) ؽشهٍٝ ػ،يخ٠ ؽش،ثؾشه
! So long as ىبٌّب
! As long as ىبٌّب
! Whereas ٌّّب
! Wherever وٍّّب
Conditionals are used for different reasons, for example, to specify who is
included in a certain term, in particular when there are more people
concerned. Let us discuss the following example quoted from Hatim et al.
(1995: 176-177):
أْ الٍٝ( ػalso أالٍٝ )ػmeans ثؾشهor ْيخ أ٠ؽش, thus lending itself to
provided that, providing, etc.
Can we say ٞذفغ اٌّؾزش٠ in place of ذفغ٠ ْ أٞ اٌّؾزشٍّٝٓ ػ١زؼ٠? Discuss.
EX: Use the following structure 'if …., then …' or any similar structure to
complete these translations:
EX: Identify the provisionary clause, that is, the main elements of the
sentence. Then, complete the suggested translation, paying extra attention
to the other elements of the sentence.
Unique Determiners
In legislative writing, in place of using demonstrative pronouns, words such
as such and said are frequently used to simply mean this, these, the, the
particular, the one that is being concerned and no other, and so forth. Let us
consider these examples quoted from Sabra (2003: 39):
Your glossary
CHAPTER THREE
MODALITY
Ali almanna Legal translation 29
1. deontic modality
The term „deontic‟ comes from Greek where the word „deon‟ means „duty‟,
„necessity‟, „obligation‟, etc. it is normally used to affect the situation; it is
obligation/necessity orientation. In other words, it describes how things ought
to be. However, some scholars (cf. Downing & Locke 1992; Farghal and
Shunnaq 1999; Jarjour 2006) state that deontic modality is also concerned
with the concept of „permission‟.
2. epistemic modality
The word „epistemic‟ comes from Greek where the word „epistemikos‟ means
„to understand‟ or „to have knowledge‟. It refers to understand or have
knowledge. Epistemic modality is concerned with the degree of the language
user‟s commitment to the truth of the proposition (cf. Downing & Locke
1992; Farghal and Shunnaq 1999; Jarjour 2006).
Further, there are two sub-types of modality in language. These are: „dynamic
modality‟ and „root modality‟ (cf. Jarjour, M. 2006).
3. dynamic modality
The dynamic modality centres on the concept of „ability‟. So, it has nothing to
do with the language user‟s opinion, attitude or mood.
Here, the speaker is describing a factual situation about the doer of the action,
i.e. the actor/speaker. So, the modal verb can in this sentence can be replaced
with the modalized phrase be able to.
4. root modality
The root modality is characterized by ambiguity as it combines „dynamic
modality‟ and „deontic modality‟.
Permission
Tom can go to the party.
Ability
Here, the bi-valent modal verb can can be replaced with the modalized phrase
be able to as in Tom is able to go to the party, i.e., „dynamic modality‟ or can
be understood as: ‘Tom is permitted to go to the party’, i.e., „deontic
modality‟ (for more details, see Suzuki 1986: 16–17; Almanna 2016a: 93-99).
Arabic, for its turn, although it does not have a closet, well-defined class of
modals to express such notions as obligation, necessity, lack of necessity,
prohibition, possibility, advisability, ability, permission, request, expectation,
etc. it still has the potential resources to express the speaker/writer‟s attitude,
opinion or mood towards what happens or what exists in the outside world
(Almanna 2016a: 95). In this study, modality in Arabic is classified into four
groups:
Article 1
1. This Law shall be called The Law of Income Tax on Companies of
1981.
2. This Law shall be effective in all parts of the Sultanate of Oman ...
Translating modality: a cognitive approach
shall be called, shall be effective
1. it starts with the visual recognition of the lexical items of the ST;
2. then it undergoes syntactic parsing in combination with mechanisms
of lexical search processed by a frequent structure analyzer;
3. this is followed by semantic and pragmatic processing to generate a
semantic representation supported by an idea organizer and a planner.
By way of illustration, let us consider the following example quoted from the
Law of Income Tax imposed on Companies in the Sultanate of Oman, 1981
along with its official translation:
ز أغشاك١ٓ ٌزٕف١ظف ِؼِٛ ٞك ػٕٗ أٛف٠ ْشً أ٠صٌٛافمخ اِٛ ٍٝي ػٛخش ثؼذ اٌحق٢ لذٚ ِٓ ش٠ٌٍّذ
...ْٛٔعت ٘زا اٌمبّٛش أفال ث٠ اٌّذٌٝز٘ب إ١ي رٕفٛوِٛ بد ِحذدح١ ِّبسعخ فالحْٟ فٛٔ٘زا اٌمب
The Director shall from time to time, having obtained the agreement of
the Minister, appoint any designated officer to carry out the objects of
this Law in the exercise of defined powers of the carrying out of defined
tasks the execution of which was originally entrusted to the Director by
virtue of this Law ….
1. Visual recognition ٌـ
2. Identifying the modalized verb, expression, etc. used
3. Identifying the function of modality in the ST
may
4. Mechanism of lexical research
5. Encoding the draft semantically, pragmatically, lexico-grammatically
and stylistically in the TL as in:
Official translation:
The Director shall from time to time, having obtained the agreement of the
Minister, appoint any designated officer to carry out the objects of this
Law in the exercise of defined powers of the carrying out of defined tasks
the execution of which was originally entrusted to the Director by virtue of
this Law ….
Comment:
Taking into account the context and co-text, one would not hesitate to conclude that
the modalized preposition ٌـis permissive, expressing duties, rather than obligations
or commands. When the modalized preposition ٌـis paraphrased, its intended
meaning, i.e., „ ٌٗ اٌحكto have the right to‟ or ٌٗ حك٠ „to be entitled to‟, will be
identified easily (for more details on paraphrasing modal verbs, see Abdel-Fattah
2005: 44). Despite that, the translator opted for the use of the modal verb shall.
In English, the modal verb shall is normally used to express futurity or in the
interrogative forms to express suggestion. However, in legal texts, particularly in
legislative texts, it is often used to express obligation, command and in the negative
forms to express prohibition (cf. Swan 2005: 212-220). As stated earlier, modal verbs
are characterized by ambiguity, contextuality and indeterminacy; therefore, they
should be approached carefully.
Ali almanna Legal translation 33
Suggested translation:
The Director may from time to time, having obtained the agreement of
the Minister, appoint any designated officer to carry out the objects of
this Law in the exercise of defined powers of the carrying out of defined
tasks the execution of which was originally entrusted to the Director by
virtue of this Law ….
Following is another example quoted from General Sales Text Law No. 11 of
the year 1991 (Egypt):
...
ُجق٠ ،قذس٠ ،ٗؼًّ ث٠ ،ٕؾش٠
Article (5) This Law shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall
come into force as of the next day of publication. The Minister of Finance
shall, within one month of enforcement, issue the executive regulations
hereof. This Law shall receive the seal of the State and shall come into
force as one of the State Laws …
shall be published, shall come into force, shall issue, shall receive the seal
To reinforce this point, the following example quoted from the Libyan
Commercial Law, Book One (in Practicing Economic Activities, Chapter One,
General Provisions) can be given consideration:
2
ريجّك
.
.
34 Chapter Three: modality
The conditional clause ...َك ٘زٖ األحىب١ أْ ريجٍٝ ػhas been translated into
provided that such provisions shall be applied …. Here, as can be seen the
modal verb shall has been employed in a conditional clause. Discuss.
EX: Complete the translation of the following article quoted from Agreement
between the State of Kuwait and the Republic of Austria for the
Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investment:
2
1
Article 2
1. ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________ and
admit investment and associated activities by investors of the other
Contracting State …
EX: Complete the following article quoted from Hatim et al. (1995: 176-177).
Your glossary
CHAPTER FOUR
CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
Test yourself …
More …
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
contract, contractual obligation, offer, acceptance, the contracting parties, …
More …
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Ali Almanna Legal translation 37
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the English translation of the
following Arabic legal text, paying extra attention to the
technical terms and syntactic structures.
Contract عقد
A contract is much more than just an
agreement between two parties as an
agreement must have certain elements
in order to be considered a contract,
such as an offer, an acceptance,
intention to make a legally binding
agreement, and a legal capacity. .
EX: Translate the following text into Arabic, paying extra attention to the
technical terms used and the differences between Arabic and English.
Is it a legislative text, juridical text or academic
legal text? To learn more, go to page 5
How would you
A contract will be legally binding when an offer by translate not unlawful?
one party is accepted by the other party and the
object of the contract is not unlawful.
You will have an
An offer must be distinguished from mere example of 'modulation'
willingness to deal or negotiate. If a man, for or 'structure shift' when
instance, offers to sell his car to his brother, and his translating a passive
brother decides not to continue before discussing its form into an active
colour, size, price, and so on, then there will be no form.
legally binding contract between them as there is no
definite offer. When a person, for example, does not
explicitly reject an offer, this cannot be considered as Replace the connector
acceptance. as (line 9) with its
synonym. _________
Broadly speaking, the acceptance must reflect the
terms of the offer. If not, the acceptance is viewed as
Learn how to deal
a rejection or counter offer.
with the discourse
marker broadly
Your translation: speaking.
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
Ali Almanna Legal translation 39
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the English translation of the
following Arabic legal text, paying extra attention to the
technical terms and syntactic structures.
The object of the contract
In any contract, there must be
something agreed on between two
parties, such as selling a car, renting a
house, publishing a book, and so on.
EX: Translate the following text into Arabic, paying extra attention to the
technical terms used and differences between Arabic and English.
In some countries, the first stage in a contractual dispute is to enter into
arbitration. Arbitration is a term used to describe the process by which the
parties to a dispute submit their differences to the judgment of an impartial
person appointed with the agreement of both sides. To be impartial means
that you have treat both sides fairly and equally.
Arbitration can be either binding or non-binding. When it is binding, then
the decision made by the arbitrator must be followed by the two disputing
parties. By contrast, when it is non-binding, then the arbitrator‟s decision
cannot be enforced by law.
! The word 'dispute' can be translated into ٔضاع, ِخٛخق, and the like.
! The word ‘arbitration’ , which collocates well with verbs such as „to enter
(into arbitration)’ or „to go (to arbitration)‟, lends itself to ُ١رحى.
! The adjective 'impartial' means not supporting any of the sides involved in
an argument. How would you translate the word 'impartial'? Related words
include 'impartiality' and 'impartially'.
! The adjective 'binding' lends itself to ٍَُِض. Its opposite 'non-binding' can be
translated into َِش ٍُِض١غ.
! The verb 'to enforce' in such a context can be rendered as ُٕفّز٠.
b. Change the passive form in the decision made by the arbitrator must
be followed by the two disputing parties to active:
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Ali Almanna Legal translation 41
EX: Translate the following text into English, paying extra attention to the
technical terms used and differences between Arabic and English.
! The verb ًّخ٠/ًّ أخcan be translated into 'to breach', 'to break', 'to commit a
breach of', 'fail to meet', 'to fail to perform', and so on.
! The word دٕٛث, which is normally translated into 'clause' in other types of
agreements, can be rendered into 'term'.
! خ١( اٌّحىّخ االِثزذائalso )ِحىّخ اٌجذاءحlends itself to 'court of first instance'.
! ٗ١ٍ ػّٝ اٌّذػcan be translated into 'defendant'. ٟ اٌّذّػcan be rendered here
into 'plaintiff' or 'the complaining party'.
! The phrase ٜٛ اٌذػٟػٕذ إٌظش فٚ can be translated into 'when the case is
looked into'.
! The phrase ( ِحً اٌزؼبلذalso )ِحً اٌؼمذlends itself to 'the object of the
contract'.
! The word ً( ِمبثalso كٛ )اٌؼcan be rendered into 'consideration'.
! The word ِخبٌفcan be translated into 'at variance with', 'contrary to', etc.
Alternatively, it can be lexically adjusted to خبٌف٠, thus lending itself to 'to
breach', 'to infringe', etc.
! The phrase آداة ػبِخ, which is commonly used in law, lends itself to
'public morals'.
! The lexical item ً( ثبىalso ٍ )الؽlends itself to 'void' or 'invalid'.
! The verb ٟفٛ٠, which means „to pay off‟ in another context, lends itself
here to 'to fulfil' as it collocate well with the noun „obligation‟.
! The phrase بٙ١ٍؿ ػٛ إٌّقcan be translated into 'set forth in', 'provided for
in', or 'stipulated in'. Alternatively, one can make some syntactic
adjustment, as in خ٠ اٌزضاِبرٗ اٌزؼبلذٟفٛ٠, thus lending itself to „to fulfil his
contractual obligations‟.
42 Chapter Four
EX: Translate the following text into Arabic, paying extra attention to the
technical terms used and differences between Arabic and English.
When you file a suit claiming a breach of contract, you, as a complaining
party, must prove four elements to show that a contract existed. They are
! An offer, that is, one of the contracting parties made a promise to do
or refrain from doing some specified action in the future.
! Acceptance, that is, the offer made by one party was accepted
unambiguously by the second party by way of words, actions, etc.
! Consideration, that is, the value that induces the two parties to
enter into a contract. In other words, it is something of value which
was promised in exchange for doing or refraining from doing some
specified action in the future.
! Legal capacity, that is, you are legally qualified for entering into a
contract.
! The verb 'to file a suit', which can be replaced with 'to file a lawsuit', 'to
bring a lawsuit', 'to bring an action to court', 'to bring a civil case to court',
'to sue somebody for/over', and the like, lends itself to ،ُٜٛ دػ١م٠ ،ٜٛشفغ دػ٠
ٟؾزى٠, and the like. In a similar vein, 'to drop a lawsuit' or 'to drop a case',
which means to decide not to pursue a lawsuit, lends itself to ٕٓبصي ػ٠
ٜٛاٌؾى/ٜٛاٌذػ/ّخ١اٌمن.
! The verb 'to refrain' can be translated into ّٓزٕغ ػ٠/ اِِزٕغ،ٓحغُ ػ٠/ُأحغ.
! The verb 'to enter (into a contract)' can be translated into زؼبلذ٠ or ٍٗضَ ٔفغ٠
ًب٠ػمذ.
! The verb 'to induce', which can be replaced with the verb 'to motivate', can
be translated into ؽغّغ،ّ حفض،ّحش, etc.
! The phrase ‘legal capacity’ can be translated into خ١ٍ٘أ.
EX: Translate the following text into Arabic, paying extra attention to the
technical terms used.
Forbearance refers to
the act of refraining
There must be a price paid by one party for the from exercising a
promise of the other party. The price legally called legal right, especially
'consideration'. The price must be something of value, enforcing the payment
although it need not be money. Consideration may be of a debt.
some right, interest or benefit going to one party or
some forbearance, detriment, loss or responsibility
given, suffered or undertaken by the other party. Detriment means
harm or damage, as
So long as consideration exists, the court will not in:
question its adequacy, provided that it is of some You can follow
value. For example, the promise to pay a peppercorn this diet without
rent in return for the lease of a house would be good detriment to your
consideration. Of course, the consideration must not health.
be illegal or impossible to perform.
Your translation:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
44 Chapter Four
EX: Translate the following legal text, paying extra attention to the technical
terms used. Before embarking on translating the text, try to be familiar
with the technical terms used in this text and similar texts:
! to rent, to lease, to hire اِعزأعش !
! to rent, to lease, to hire أعّش !
! tenant, lessee, leasee, leaseholder ِغزأعش !
! lessor ِؤعّش !
! rent غبس٠اإل/األعشح !
to pay the rent غبس٠ذفغ اإل٠
to fall behind/ to lag behind/ to be delay غبس٠ دفغ اإلٟزأخش ف٠
…
! lease contract, rent contract, غبس٠ػمذ إ !
contract of lease, contract of rent
to renew … غذّد ػمذًا٠
to terminate …, to rescind …, to ًفغخ ػمذا٠
revoke …
to sign … لّغ ػمذًاٛ٠
to conduct …, to enter into … ًجشَ ػمذا٠
! term of lease, term of rent, rental غبس٠ِذح اإل !
period,
! rented property/estate/house/flat ٓ اٌّغزأعشح١اٌؼ/سٛاٌّأع !
leased property/ estate/ house/ flat
to view …, to check …, to examine …, ٓ اٌّغزأعشح١ٓ اٌؼ٠ؼب٠
to inspect
to repair …, to fix …, ٓ اٌّغزأعشح١شُِ اٌؼ٠
to quit … ٓ اٌّغزأعشح١ اٌؼٍٟخ٠
to hand … over ٓ اٌّغزأعشح١غٍُّ اٌؼ٠
عقد إيجار
_______________
Ali Almanna Legal translation 45
! The verb َ أثشis in the passive voice, thus lending itself to ‘this
contract is made between …’ or ‘this contract is conducted
between …’.
! The expression ّب ثؼذ١ٗ ف١ٌ( اٌّؾبس إalso ٘زا اٌؼمذٟٗ ف١ٌ اٌّؾبس إor ٗ١ٌاٌّؾبس إ
ٖ )أدٔبlends itself to ‘hereinafter referred to as …’. Compare it with
ٖٗ أػال١ٌ اٌّؾبس إwhich lends itself to ‘hereinabove referred to as …’.
! The expression يٛ اٌّفؼٞ عبسlends itself to ‘enter into force’,
‘effective’, ‘valid’, and the like, as in ‘This contract shall enter into
force/be effective/be valid ….’.
! The verb ّمش٠ lends itself to ‘to acknowledge’.
! ٟظ ٌٍّغزأعش اٌحك ف١ٌ or حك ٌٍّغزأعش٠ الlends itself to ‘the tenant has no
right to …’ or ‘the tenant may not …’.
! The particle ( إراalso حبٌخٟ )فcan be translated here into ‘in case …’,
‘in the event that …’, or just ‘if …’.
! The conditional clause ... إرا رأخش اٌّغزأعش ػٓ دفغlends itself to ‘in case
of default of payment of the rent…’ or ‘if the tenant falls behind
paying the rent …’, etc.
! The verb غزميغ٠ can be translated into ‘to deduct’.
! The expression يخ٠( ؽشalso ؽشهٍٝػ, )ثؾشهlends itself to ‘provided’,
‘provided that’, ‘providing’, ‘providing that’, ‘on condition that’, and
so forth.
! The expression رحشس ٘زا اٌؼمذcan be translated into ‘this contract has
been made’, ‘this contract has been written’, ‘this contract has been
drawn up’, and the like.
46 Chapter Four
EX: Translate the following text into Arabic, paying extra attention to the
technical terms used and differences between Arabic and English.
عقد بيع
.
Ali Almanna Legal translation 47
Why is it ?
! The verb رحشسin رحشس ٘زا اٌؼمذmeans أُثشَ ٘زا اٌؼمذ, thus lending itself to ‘this
contract is made and enter into …’.
! The phrase ِٓ ًّٓ و١ ثcan be translated into ‘by and between’.
! The verb ًّح٠ in such a context lends itself to ‘to hold’.
! The phrase ّب ثؼذ١ٗ ف١ٌاٌّؾبس إٚ can be translated into ‘hereinafter
referred to as’.
! The legal sentence
, which is commonly used in contracts, can be rendered into
‘the two contracting parties hereto declare that they are legally
competent to enter into this contract and hereby agreed upon the
following’
Or: ‘the two contracting parties hereto declare that they have the legal
capacity to enter into this contract and hereby agreed upon the
following’.
! The word ش١ٔظ, which means ًِمبث, lends itself to ‘in consideration
of’, ‘for’, or ‘in consideration of and for’.
! The expression خ١بئٙٔ ؼذّ ِخبٌقخ٠ can be rendered into ‘to be
considered an acknowledgement of the safe receipt of’ or ‘to be
considered an acquittance of’.
Acquittance means a written receipt
attesting the settlement of a fine or debt.
! The verb ٍَزض٠ can be translated into ‘shall comply with’, ‘shall
undertake’, or just ‘shall’.
48 Chapter Four
! The phraseعت ٘زا اٌؼمذّٛ( ثalso ٘زا اٌؼمذٝ )ثّمزنlends itself to „as per’,
‘under’, ‘in accordance’, ‘by virtue of’, and the like.
! The phrase ٞش اٌؼمبسٙ( اٌؾalso ٞ دائشح اٌؼمبسor ٞش اٌؼمبسٙ )ِقٍحخ اٌؾlends
itself to Real Estate Publicity Department.
! َٚب ػٕذ اٌٍضٙعجّٛ ٌىًّ ىشف ٔغخخ ٌٍؼًّ ثcan be rendered into ‘one (copy)
per each party for necessary action’.
! The sentence ٖثقّبٚ ،ّبٙش اٌيشفبْ ٘زا اٌؼمذ ثئِنبئِٙ ،َّ ِب رمذٍٕٝبء ػ٠ٚ
.ٖٓ أػال٠سٛاٌغٕخ اٌّزوٚ َٛ١ٌ اّٟب فٙ١ّ ثخبرCan be translated into ‘In witness
whereof, the said parties have hereunto set their hands and sealed
the day and year mentioned hereinabove’.
EX: translate the following sentences into Arabic, paying extra attention to
the technical terms used:
Contract for Sale of Land
This agreement made and entered into this day of by and between, the party of
the first part, and, the party of the second part,
Witnesseth:
1. The said party of the first part, for and in consideration of the sum …
to be paid as hereinafter provided, hereby agrees to sell unto the party
of the second part the following tract of land.
2. The said party of the second part hereby agrees to purchase said
premises at said consideration of … and to pay the same as follows….
3. The said party of the first part, upon receiving the final payment
mentioned hereinabove, shall execute and deliver to the said party of
the second part, or to his assigns, a duly acknowledged Warranty Deed,
conveying to him or them the fee simple title to said premises, free
and clear from all encumbrances.
In witness whereof, the said parties have hereunto set their hands and seals the
day and year first above written.
Homework
Ali Almanna Legal translation 49
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and syntactic
structures.
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and
syntactic structures.
Revision
EX: Translate the following contract into English, paying extra attention to
the technical terms used.
52 Chapter Four
The connector ْ( ثّب أalso ْ )ثّب إcan be rendered into ‘whereas’.
The verb ٍّه٠ in such a context can be rendered into ‘to own’.
The phrases ٟفٛبسح خق١ عand ِّٟٛبسح ػ١ عlend themselves to ‘private
car’ and ‘public car’ respectively.
The technical words ِحشّن, ٟؽبف, and ً٠دِٛ can be rendered into
‘engine’, ‘chassis’, and ‘model’ respectively.
The verb زٕبصي٠
The verb ٓ٠ ػبcan be rendered into ‘to examine’.
The phrase بٌخٙخ ٌٍغ١ٕخ ربِخ ٔبف٠ ِؼبcan be translated into the adverb
‘fully’ or ‘fully and carefully’, as in ‘the car was fully and carefully
examined by the buyer’.
Ali Almanna Legal translation 53
Your glossary
CHAPTER FIVE
CRIMES
Test yourself …
More …
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
More …
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Ali Almanna Legal translation 55
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and
syntactic structures.
Theft crimes
Semantics
The denotative meaning of the lexical item ِىزجخin Arabic is wider and less
specific than its counterparts in English as it refers to bookshop, library and
bookcase. Therefore, translating the word bookshop into ِىزجخis an example
of generalizing translation.
Building on this, how would you translate
these?
ُ حُى، عشق،َ ِحب،ْٛٔلب
56 Chapter five: Crimes
EX: Translate the following text titled اع اٌغشلبدٛٔ أinto English, paying
attention to the linguistic and stylistic differences between the languages:
EX: Translate the following text titled Types of Theft Crimes into Arabic,
paying attention to the linguistic and stylistic differences between the
languages:
Types of Theft Crimes
In this article, four crimes will be touched on, namely
shoplifting, burglary, robbery and embezzlement.
In this text, is
To begin with shoplifting, it refers to the act of there any
stealing items from shops. The person committed such sentence in the
a crime is called a shoplifter. When a person steals passive form?
things, such as a wallet, purse, and the like out of
people‟s pockets or bags, especially in a crowd, s/he is
called a pickpocket.
However, when a deadly weapon, such as a gun, pistol, etc. is used by the
offender, then it is a crime of robbery. Unlike burglary, the crime of robbery
almost always requires the presence of a victim.
Finally, the crime of embezzlement refers to the act of secretly stealing money
to which you are entrusted or money that belongs to a company you work for.
The person committed such a crime is called an embezzler.
! The phrasal verb ‘to touch on/upon’ lends itself to ٌٝزيشّق إ٠.
! The verb ‘to steal’ lends itself to غشق٠.
! The lexical item ‘item’ in this context can be translated into عٍؼخ.
! While the lexical item ‘wallet’ lends itself to خ١ٌِحفظخ سعب, the lexical item
‘purse’ lends itself خ١ِحفظخ ٔغبئ.
! The word ‘pickpocket’ can be translated into ٔؾّبي.
EX: Replace the following words and expressions with their synonyms:
to touch (line 1) _______________________________
namely (line 1) _______________________________
to begin with (line 3) _______________________________
especially (line 6) _______________________________
finally (line 10) _______________________________
58 Chapter five: Crimes
EX: Translate the following text titled ً ٌغذُ عبسِلبinto English to a professional
level:
! The verb ً دخcan be translated into ‘to walk in’ in the past.
! The phrase خ اٌّشوّضح٠ اٌؼٕبlends itself to ‘intensive care’.
! The verb خشطwhich is followed by the adverb ً ِغشػبcan be translated into ‘to
walk out of the shop quickly’, ‘to dash out of the shop’, and so on.
! The phrase ِٓ سعً األcan be rendered into ‘the security man’.
! The lexical item بصح١ح, which literally means ‘possession’, lends itself here to
‘holding’.
! The verb ذ١ لcan be translated into ‘he was taken to’.
! ك١ ثؼذ إعشاء اٌزحمcan be translated ‘After having investigated with’.
! ٗز١ٔ ٟىٓ ف٠ ٌُ lends itself to ‘he did not intend to’.
! The lexical item ذ٠رغش, which is derived from the verb عشّد, lends itself to ‘to
deprive of’, ‘dispossess of’, ‘take away from’, etc.
Correlative conjunction
The correlative conjunction ٝ حز... ْ ِب إ... can be translated into
No sooner______________________ than ________________________
Hardly ________________________ when ________________________
Barely_________________________ when ________________________
Scarcely________________________ when________________________
Or just
As soon as___________________________________________________
Once_______________________________________________________
Soon after___________________________________________________
The moment _________________________________________________
Ali Almanna Legal translation 59
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and
syntactic structures.
EX: Translate the following text titled Money laundering into Arabic to a
professional level:
Money laundering
In the crime of money laundering, there are three main steps. They are:
1. The money is deposited into a financial institution, such as a bank.
2. The money is separated from its illegal origin by a number of complex
transactions, thus making it difficult to trace the „dirty‟ money.
3. The „dirty‟ money is mixed with legally obtained money.
! The phrase ‘money laundering’ lends itself to ايًِٛ األ١ غغor ايًِٛ األ١ّخ غغ٠عش.
! The verb ‘to deposit’, which is in the passive form, can be translated into دِعُٛ٠
)(اٌّبي.
! The phrase ‘financial institution’ can be translated into خ١ٌِؤعغخ ِب.
! The adjective ‘illegal’, which is the opposite of ‘legal’, can be translated into
ٟش ؽشػ١ غor ٟٔٛٔش لب١غ.
! The phrase ‘complex transaction’ lends itself to خ ِؼمّذح٠ِؼبِالد رغبس.
! The lexical item ‘dirty’, which literally means عخٚ or ُِزّغخ, lends itself in
such a context to ِٖٛؾج.
Vocabulary focus
Lauder (v.) means to wash clothes or to wash and iron clothes. It also
means to disguise the source of illegal or secret funds or profits,
usually by transmittal through a foreign bank or complex network of
intermediaries.
Laundry (n.) refers to the act of washing clothes or washing and ironing
clothes. It also refers to a room or area in a house or hotel where
clothes can be washed.
To air one's dirty laundry in public (idiom) means to discuss very private
matters, especially that which may be embarrassing in public.
Consider this example:
I wish you wouldn’t air your dirty laundry in public in such a way.
Ali Almanna Legal translation 61
EX: Translate the following text titled طٚبٔخ ص١ خinto English to a professional
level:
! ش٠ٚ لبَ ثزضsimply means ّسٚص, thus lending itself to ‘to forge’.
! The phrase وبٌخ ػبِخٚ can be translated into ‘power of attorney’.
! The verb ّيٛخ٠ lends itself here ‘to authorize’.
! The phrase ٌخٛش ِٕم١غٚ ٌخٛ ِّزٍىبد ِٕمcan be translated into ‘movable and non-
movable properties’. It is worth noting that ٌخٛش إٌّم١ اٌّّزٍىبد غcan be
translated into ‘real properties’ too.
Correlative conjunction
The correlative conjunction ... ٝ حز... ٍٝ ػ... ِّل٠ ٌُ lends itself to
It wasn't long since __________before/when _______________________
It was only _________ since __________before/when ________________
EX: translate the following text into English, paying extra attention to
correlative conjunctions used:
62 Chapter five: Crimes
EX: Translate the following text titled The Murderers into Arabic to a
professional level:
The Murderers
In the last few months, ten terrorists have murdered many local people,
including a 12-year old boy. It wasn't long before the the policemen caught
three of them. They admitted they had committed many crimes, including
several murders. A week later, the three terrorists were convicted of murder
and sentenced to death.
! The lexical item ‘terrorist’, which is derived from, lends itself to ٟإس٘بث.
Related words include the verb ‘to terrorize’ َأس٘ت, ّعٚس, etc. and the noun
‘terrorism’ إس٘بة.
! The verb ‘to murder’ and its noun ‘murder’ can be translated into ً لزor َلب
ً ثمزand ًّخ اٌمز٠ عشrespectively. Related words ‘murderer’ ً لبرand
‘manslaughter’ ش اٌّزؼّّذ١ّخ اٌمزً غ٠عش.
! The verb ‘to admit’ lends itself to ؼزشف٠/اِػزشف, ّمش٠/ّلش, etc.
! The verb ‘to convict’ can be translated into ٓ٠ أٌدor ٗرّذ إدأز.
! The verb ‘to sentence’ lends itself to ٗ١ٍحىُِ ػ
ُ.
EX: translate the following text titled اٌزشفّذٚ لزً ِغ عجك اإلفشاسinto English to
a professional level:
EX: translate the following text titled Arson into Arabic to a professional level:
Arson
A building in the heart of London was burnt out six Is there any
months ago. The cause of the fire was not difference between
determined at that time, but the police suspected 'a building was
that somebody had intentionally set fire to the burnt' and 'a building
building. was burnt out'?
It was only two months since setting fire to the building before the police
caught the offender. At the court, he was convicted of arson.
EX: Translate the following text titled بٙؼ٠صٛرٚ االِرغبس ثبٌّخذسادinto English to a
professional level:
! The phrase ً اٌّضبي ال اٌحقش١ عجٍٝ ػcan be rendered into ‘for example but not
limited to’.
! The verb دٚزفب٠/دٚ رزفبcan be rendered into ‘to range’.
EX: Translate the following text titled حّٛخ اٌشؽ٠ أسوبْ عشinto English to a
professional level:
106 47 1936
1
66 Chapter five: Crimes
Bribery, bribe, bribee (a public official being bribed), the bribing party or the
party offering the bribe (an idivudual who bribes a public official)
Bribe (v.) to make someone do something for you by giving him/her money,
presents, or something else that they want.
e.g. He bribed imgration officials to let him enter the country illegally.
Bribe (n./c.) means money or a present that you give to someone else so that
s/he will do something for you, usually something dishonest حٛسؽ. Related
words include bribery which an uncountable noun.
e.g. The public official was accused of accepting/taking bribes from a
business man.
e.g. The company was rife with bribery and corruption.
Revision
EX: Translate the following sentences into Arabic, paying extra attention to
the technical terms used.
1. The accountant embezzled a huge amount of money while working for
the wealthy family.
2. Yesterday evening, the policemen caught the armed robber who raided
a supermarket a week ago.
3. The gang admitted they had committed two recent bank robberies.
They have been convicted of robbery. As such, they will serve ten
years in prison for robbery.
4. He broke into the house and stole the lady‟s jewelry. A week later, he
was charged with burglary.
5. A 35-year old man was convicted of assaulting a police officer
yesterday.
EX: Translate the following sentences into English, paying extra attention to
the technical terms used.
Ali Almanna Legal translation 67
EX: Translate the following text titled bribery into Arabic to a professional
level (www.crimnal.findlaw/crimnal-charges/bribery.html)
Bribery is the offer or acceptance of anything of value in exchange for
influence on a governmental/public official or employee. In general, bribes
can take the form of gifts or payments of money in exchange for favourable
treatment, such as awards of government contracts.
At the most fundamental level, charges of bribery need only to prove that an
agreement for the exchange of something of value (political influence, for
example) for a sum of money or something else of value. There need not be a
written agreement, but prosecutors must be able to prove that an agreement
was actually made. For example, a taped phone call between a politician and
the party offering the bribe may be sufficient evidence.
Broadly speaking, bribery can happen in many different spheres of influence.
In the sporting world, for example, one boxer might offer another a payoff to
'throw' (deliberately lose) an important fight.
68 Chapter five: Crimes
Your glossary
! theft عشلخ !
! robbery )ذ٠ذٙعشلخ (ثبٌز !
! burglary ) (ِغٍّحٛعي !
! shoplifting عشلخ اٌّحالد !
! pickpocketing ًٔؾ !
! fraud بي١احز/ٔقت !
! scam غؼ !
! forgery ش٠ٚرض !
! murder ًلز !
! manslaughter )ش ِزؼّّذ (ثبٌخيأ١لزً غ !
! blackmail اثزضاص !
! impersonation )ّخ١أزحبي (ؽخق !
! harassment رحشّػ !
! drug possession بصح ِخذساد١ح !
! drug trafficking اٌّزغبسح ثبٌّخذساد !
! drug distribution غ ِخذساد٠صٛر !
! bribery حٛسؽ !
! domestic violence ٌٟاإلػزذاء إٌّض !
! perjury ٓ اٌىبرثخ١ّ١ٌا/سٚبدح اٌضٙؽ !
! hijacking )ًاخزيبف (ىبئشح ِضال !
! Kidnapping اخزيبف !
! money laundering ايًِٛ األ١غغ !
! rape اغزقبة !
! sexual assault ٟرحشّػ عٕغ !
! embezzlement اخزالط !
! tax evasion شّة ِٓ اٌنشائتٙاٌز !
! assault ح ثبالِػزذاء٠ٍٛاٌز !
! battery ٍٟاإلػزذاء اٌفؼ !
! defamation ٗ اٌغّؼخ٠ٛرؾ !
! libel )ٟش (وزبث١ٙ اٌزؾٚلزف أ !
! slander )ٟٙ اٌغت (ؽفٚح أ٠اٌزغش !
! bribery حٛسؽ !
More …
CHAPTER SIX
Test yourself …
More …
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More …
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70 Chapter six: People & law
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and
syntactic structures.
! The verb ‘to retire’, which means to leave the court room and go to
the jury room to decide the case, lends itself to سفغ اٌغٍغخ. However, in
the Arab world the decision is made by the judge. With this in mind,
the verb ‘to retire’ can be translated into ُْٙ ثأٔفغٍٛخز٠.
! The verb ‘to deliberate’ here means to discuss and consider the case
with members of the jury, thus lending itself to يٚزذا٠, as in سفؼذ اٌغٍغخ
ٌخٌٍّٚذا.
! The verb ‘to pronounce’ قذس٠, which collocates well in legal English
with the noun ‘sentence’ ُحى, can be replaced here with the verb ‘to
deliver’.
72 Chapter six: People & law
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and
syntactic structures.
Subject of appeal
! My appeal shall be !
accepted formally and
substantively.
Witness (n.)
a. is a person who provides testimony ٗبدرٙ ثؾٌٟذ٠ in a court case. ؽب٘ذ
b. is a person who is asked to be present at a particular event and sign
his/her name in order to prove that things have been done
correctly. ؽب٘ذ
Witness (v.)
a. to see something happen, especially an accident or a crime.
ؾب٘ذ٠/ؽب٘ذ
b. to be present at an event and sign your name as a proof that
something was done correctly.ذٙؾ٠/ذٙؽ
EX: translate the following sentences into Arabic, paying extra attention to
the technical terms used:
1. According to the witnesses who provided testimony in the law case,
the robbery was carried out by three young people.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
2. You have to sign the contract in the presence of two witnesses.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
3. More witnesses are expected to testify at the trail today.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
4. A doctor was called as an expert witness for the defense دفبع/ٟؽب٘ذ ٔف.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
5. While I was in the city at the time of the riots أػّبي اٌؾغت, I witnessed
many street battles.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
6. New witnesses have cast doubt on some of the evidence أدٌخ/ً١ٌ دthat
sent the 25 year old to jail.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
7. The key witness for the prosecution َؽب٘ذ اإلدػبء اٌؼب/ ؽب٘ذ إصجبدwas
offered police protection after receiving death threats.
Ali Almanna Legal translation 75
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
8. I arrived home in time and sadly witnessed how my son was taken
away by the police.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
9. The judge reminded the witness for prosecution ؽب٘ذح اإلصجبدthat she
was under oath.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
10. There must be at least two witnesses present when you sign the
contract.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and
syntactic structures.
Judge (n.)
a. is a person who is responsible for running a trail in court. In the
criminal court, s/he often makes a decision as to whether the
crime has been committed by the offender or not. However, in
some countries, the judge does not make this decision. Instead, a
jury ٓ١ئخ ِحٍف١٘ will make the decision.
b. a person who officially decides who is the winner of a
competition ِغبثمخٟ)حىُ (ف
Judge (v.)
a. to form, give or have an opinion ًقذس حىّب٠ or ٞؼجّش ػٓ سأ٠
b. to decide about something or somebody, especially after thinking
carefully ) ؽخـ ِبٚء ِب أٟمشس (ثؾأْ ؽ٠
c. to decide who is the winner of a competition )مشس (َِٓ اٌفبئض٠
EX: Translate the following sentences into Arabic, paying extra attention to
the technical terms used:
1. Having examined the eye witnesses and ear witnesses for the defense,
the judge will pronounce sentence on the defendant this afternoon.
_______________________________________ The phrases eye
_______________________________________ witness and ear
_______________________________________ witness can be
_______________________________________ translated as ؽب٘ذ
_______________________________________ ْب١ ػand ٟؽب٘ذ عّبػ
respectively.
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and
syntactic structures.
Having listened to the witnesses for
defense and prosecution and
examined their testimonies, the judge
pronounced a five year imprisonment
sentence on the defendant.
EX: Translate the following text into Arabic paying extra attention to the
differences between the interfacing languages:
! The phrase ‘the public prosecutor’ can be translated into َٔبئت اإلدػبء اٌؼب.
Related words include „the public prosecution‟, which can be translated into
بثخ اٌؼبِخ١ٌٕا, َاإلدػبء اٌؼب, َخ اإلدػبء اٌؼبٙع, and the like.
! The phrase ‘on behalf of’, which can be replaced with ‘in the interest of’, can
be rendered into ٓبثخ ػ١ٌٕ ثبor ٌقبٌح.
78 Chapter six: People & law
EX: Translate the following text into English, paying extra attention to the
differences between the interfacing languages. Then annotate your own
translation according to Catford's (1965) shift theory:
! The phrase لبػخ اٌّحىّخٟ فcan be translated into ‘at the court’, ‘at the law
court’, „at the court room‟, and the like.
! The verb ُٙ اِرand اِسرىتcan be translated into ‘to prosecute’ and ‘to commit’
respectively.
! The phrase ( ؽب٘ذ اإلصجبدalso َ )ؽب٘ذ اإلدػبء اٌؼبlends itself to ‘the witness
for prosecution’.
Your translation:
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Annotation:
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______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
80 Chapter six: People & law
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and
syntactic structures.
! The defendant !
The defendant is a person who has been
accused of committing a crime. The
accused person is innocent until proven
guilty.
! The lexical item ‘defendant’ lends itself to ِٕٗ ٛ ِؾىin criminal cases and ِٟذّػ
ٗ١ٍ ػin civil cases.
! The translator needs to distinguish among lexical items, such as ُّٙ‘ اٌّزthe
accused person’, ٗ‘ اٌّؾزجٗ ثthe suspected person’, and ْ‘ اٌّذاthe convicted
person’.
! The verb )ًّخ ِضال٠ اسرىت (عشcan be translated into ‘to commit’ (a crime).
! The lexical item ِزٔت, which is the opposite of ءٞ‘ ثشinnocent/not guilty’,
lends itself to ‘guilty’.
! The phrase ٗ١ٌثخ إٛإٌّغ, which collocates well with the noun ُٙر/ّخٙ‘ رcharges’,
can be ignored in such a context as the adjective ‘innocent’ in English is
followed by the preposition ‘of’, as in:
The court found him innocent of the crime. Such a sentence can be translated in this
way:
Ali Almanna Legal translation 81
EX: Translate the following short texts into Arabic, paying extra attention to
the differences between the interfacing languages:
1. The word jury refers to a sworn body of people (usually 12) who have
been chosen to hear the case and decide whether the defendant is
guilty or innocent.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
2. In his office, the lawyer warned his client that any manufacturer who
does not conform to the standards could be prosecuted under the
Consumer Protection Act, 1999.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
3. Court ushers make sure that everyone involved with a court case is
present. Further, they make sure that they have to know what they
have to do during the hearing. In other words, they carry out various
tasks to help the process run smoothly.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
EX: Translate the following short texts into Arabic, paying extra attention to
the differences between the interfacing languages:
A barrister, on the other hand, provides specialist legal advice and represents
individual people, private companies, or public sector organisations in courts
and through written legal advice.
! The word ‘solicitor’ can be translated into ٟ ِحبَ ِىزجto differentiate from
the word ‘barrister’ ِحبَ ِزشافغ. In the USA, two different terms are used,
namely ‘counselor’ and ‘attorney’.
! The lexical item ‘professional’ as a noun can be translated into ٟحشف
or ِٟٕٙ, but here it lends itself to ؽخـ, as in ًٔبٛٔؽخـ ِؤً٘ لب.
! The discourse marker ‘broadly speaking’ can be translated into ًِبّٛػ,
ًإعّبال, َثؾىً ػب, etc.
! The word ‘procedure’ lends itself to إعشاءاد.
! The verb ‘to represent’ can be translated into ًّّض٠.
Ali Almanna Legal translation 83
Revision
EX: Translate ten of the following sentences into Arabic, paying extra
attention to the technical terms used.
1. According to the witnesses who provided testimony in the law case,
the robbery was carried out by three young people.
2. You have to sign the contract in the presence of two witnesses.
3. More witnesses are expected to testify at the trail today.
4. A doctor was called as an expert witness for the defense.
5. While I was in the city at the time of the riots, I witnessed many street
battles.
6. New witnesses have cast doubt on some of the evidence that sent the
25 year old to jail.
7. The key witness for the prosecution was offered police protection after
receiving death threats.
8. I arrived home in time and sadly witnessed how my son was taken
away by the police.
9. The judge reminded the witness for prosecution that she was under
oath.
10. The jury passed a verdict of guilty حىُ اإلدأخ, appealing to the judge for
clemency ُٙاٌشأفخ ثبٌّز.
11. The jury reached a unanimous verdict of not guilty.
84 Chapter six: People & law
Your glossary
CHAPTER SEVEN
TORT
Test yourself …
More …
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tort, damage, causation, civil wrong, defendant, the injured person, plaintiff,
injury-producing action, …
More …
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86 Chapter seven: Tort
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and
syntactic structures.
! The verb ‘to sue somebody for/over’, which means to make a legal claim
against somebody, especially for money, can be replaced with more formal
verbs such as ‘to litigate’ or ‘to enter into litigation’.
! خ١ لنبئٜٛشفغ دػ٠ can be translated into ‘to take an action against’, ‘to ‘sue
somebody for’, ‘to bring a civil case to court’, ‘to bring a case against’,
Ali Almanna Legal translation 87
EX: Translate the following text into English, paying extra attention to the
technical terms used and differences between Arabic and English.
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and
syntactic structures.
EX: Translate the following text into Arabic, paying extra attention to the
technical terms used and differences between Arabic and English.
Intentional Torts
An intentional tort is an act that is intentionally committed against another
person with the aim of causing harm. There are several intentional torts that
fall into this category, such as assault, battery, conversion, fraud, false
imprisonment, trespassing and invasion of privacy. Not every injury-
producing action is cause for an intentional tort lawsuit. However, the court
will look into the case brought by the plaintiff to determine whether the action
committed by the defendant is, in fact, an intentional act or just mere
wanton act not specifically meant to cause fear or injury, but is considered
reckless.
EX: Translate the following case into English, paying extra attention to the
technical terms used and differences between Arabic and English.
! Here ٓ ِٓ ػّش٘ب١ اٌخّغٟ فcan be translated into ‘at the age of fifty’.
! ُ١ ألlends itself to ‘to hold’, as it collocates well with words like ‘race’
عجبق, ‘marathon’ ِْٛبساص, etc.
! The correlative conjunction ... ٝ حز... ْ ِب إcan be translated into ‘no
sooner … than …’, ‘hardly … when …’, ‘scarcely … when …’, ‘barely
…when …’, and the like.
! The word ػذّاءlends itself to ‘runner’.
! ٗٔاصٛ فمذ رcan be translated into ‘to lose his footing’, ‘to lose his balance’,
and the like.
! ً ِغججبlends itself to ‘causing’ or ‘thus causing’.
! The correlative conjunction ... ٍٝخ حز١ٍبَ ل٠ ٌُ رّلِ أlends itself ‘it wasn’t
long before/when …’, ‘no sooner had a few days passed than …’, etc.
! ـ١ رُ رؾخlends itself to a passive form: ‘it was diagnosed that …’.
! The word كٛ سمcan be translated into ‘bruises’.
! ثحكcan be translated into ‘against’, in particular when verbs like ‘to take’
or ‘to bring’ (an action against the negligent person) is used. However,
when the verb ‘to sue’ (somebody for …) is used, it is ignored.
! ّخ١ ِذػlends itself to ‘claiming’.
Ali Almanna Legal translation 91
! The verb )عٛلٌٛ رؼّّذ (اcan be translated into ‘to intend to fall’, ‘to fall
deliberately’, ‘to fall willfully’, etc.
! ايٛ حبي ِٓ األحٞ ثأcan be translated into ‘at any rate’, ‘in no way’, etc.
! بِٙالثغبرٚ ّخ١ اٌمنٟ ػٕذ إٌظش فcan be translated into ‘when the case along with
its accompanying circumstances was looked into (by the judge)’.
EX: Translate the following text into Arabic, paying extra attention to the
technical terms used and differences between Arabic and English.
Due to the high cost of legal action and complexity of EX: In a group
many civil cases, both parties may well try to reach a of two, identify
settlement, that is, an agreement to resolve a dispute non-finite
before being taken to court, thus saving their time, clauses.
money and energy.
If the parties do not settle the case out of court, then a court hearing
organized in a similar fashion to criminal cases will be held. There, each side
can state his/her case and present evidence. The court will ask witnesses to
provide their testimony. After the plaintiff and the defendant have presented
their cases, a jury or judge will decide the verdict. If they do not find that the
plaintiff has proven his/her case, then the case will be dismissed. Alternatively,
if the plaintiff has proven his/her case, then damages are awarded.
However, if the defendant disagrees with the verdict, then s/he might choose
to file an appeal to have the verdict overturned or to reduce the amount of
damages that s/he is liable for.
EX: Translate the following sentences into Arabic, paying extra attention to
the technical terms used:
! The verb ر٘تhere lends itself to ‘to hold’, ‘to argue’, and the like.
! The word بءٙ فمcan be translated into ‘scholars’.
! The phrases ٟمشس ؽخق, ٌٟ مشس ِبand ٕٞٛ مشس ِؼcan be rendered into
‘personal damage’, ‘property damage’ and ‘damage to reputation’.
! The verb ت١ق٠ in ًئب١ت ؽ١ق٠ مشسٛ٘ٚ can be ignored as in ‘a harm to
something’.
! The word ( ػمبسalso ٓ١ )ػcan be rendered into ‘real’ or ‘real estate’.
! The phrase خ١ً اٌضساػ١ اٌّحبفcan be translated into ‘agricultural products’,
‘crops’, etc.
! The phrase ّخ٠ ػب٘خ ِغزذcan be translated into ‘bodily infirmity’, ‘permanent
disability’, etc.
! ّخ١( اٌّّزٍىبد اٌؾخقalso ّخ١)اإلِالن اٌؾخق can be translated into ‘personal
properties’.
Ali Almanna Legal translation 93
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and
syntactic structures.
Defamation
The verb )ٜٛشفغ (دػ٠ can be translated into The word ل٠ٛ رؼin such
to bring a case cases can be translated into
to sue (somebody) for/over compensation or damages.
to take an action against
to take a legal action against
to bring a civil case to court
to bring a case against
to file a suit (claiming a breach of
a contract)
to litigate
to enter into litigation
Revision
EX: Translate the following sentences into Arabic, paying extra attention to
the technical terms used.
1. Our company has been recently sued for damages by the injured
workers.
2. If you decide to enter into litigation with her, you need to consult a
lawyer.
3. In some civil cases, the court may order the defendant to pay some
money called „damages‟ to the plaintiff for being harmed by the
defendant.
4. In some cases, a judge may issue a judicial order demanding the
defendant to stop infringing the plaintiff‟s legal rights. Such a judicial
order is called an „injunction‟.
EX: Translate the following civil case into English, paying extra attention to
the technical terms used.
Your glossary
CHAPTER EIGHT
Test yourself …
More …
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Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the following
legal text, paying extra attention to the technical terms and
syntactic structures.
EX: Translate the following royal decree into English, paying extra attention
to the technical terms used and differences between Arabic and English.
Homework 97 65
96 101
.76 45
. 77 20
97 15
.
Ministry of Heritage
and Culture :
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Ali Almanna Legal translation 99
Dear instructors: evaluate with your students the translation of the English
text adapted from Dickins et al. (2002: 196), paying extra attention to the
technical terms and syntactic structures.
EX: Translate the following legal text, paying extra attention to the technical
terms used. Before embarking on translating the text, try to be familiar with
the technical terms used in this text and similar texts:
Declaration
The World Conference to combat Racism and Racial Discrimination,
Having met at Geneva from 14 to 25 August 1978 in accordance with General
Assembly by Resolution 32/129,
Recalling that the Charter of the United Nations is based on the principles of
the dignity and equality of all human beings,
Further recalling the designation by the General Assembly of the period
beginning on 10 December 1973 as the Decade for Action to Combat Racism
and Racial Discrimination,
Determined to promote the implementation of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights,
Noting the vital need for the mass media to inform public opinion objectively
about the liberation struggle in southern Africa,
Noting further with the gravest concern that racism, racial discrimination and
apartheid, which continue to afflict the world, are crimes against the
conscience and dignity of mankind,
Solemnly Declares,
Any doctrine of racial superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable,
socially unjust and dangerous, and has no justification whatsoever.
! The main verb of the declaration ‘to declare’ along with the adverb
‘solemnly’ lends itself to ًب١ّرؼٍٓ سع.
! ‘Any doctrine of racial superiority is scientifically false, morally -
condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous’ can be translated into
) ُِغحِف:ٚش ػبدي (أ١غٚ ،ًب١ِذاٌْ أخاللٚ ،ًب١ٍّ صائفٌ ػٛٙ فّٞق اٌؼٕقشّٛ ِز٘ت ِٓ ِزا٘ت اٌزفٞأ
.ش١خيٚ ،ًب١اعزّبػ
! ‘has no justification whatsoever’ can be rendered into
. اإلىالقٍٝجشسٖ ػ٠ ظ ٌٗ ِب١ٌ ، اإلىالقٍٝظ ٌٗ ِجشسٌ ػ١ٌ ، اإلىالقٍٝال ُِجشس ٌٗ ػ
Dear students: evaluate the translation of the following legal text titled „The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights‟ ٌّٟاإلػالْ اٌؼب
ْق اإلٔغبٌٛحم, paying extra attention to the technical terms
and syntactic structures. Then, design your own English-
English mini-dictionary as shown below:
Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent
dignity and of the equal and
inalienable rights of all members of
the human family is the foundation of
freedom, justice and peace in the
.
world,
Inherent (adj.): existing as a natural or basic part of something
inherently (adv.)
inalienable (adj. also 'unalienable'): unable to be removed.
alien (adj.): coming from a different country, race, etc., that is, foreign;
strange or not familiar
alienate (v.): to cause someone or a group of people to stop supporting
and agreeing with you.
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and
equal in dignity and rights. They are
Ali Almanna Legal translation 105
Article 2.
.
106 Chapter eight: decrees & constitutions
Revision:
EX: Complete the translation of the following legislative decree No.19 of the
year 2001 with respect to promulgating the civil code:
We, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Amir of
the State of Bahrain
________________________________ 1969
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________ 12
________________________________ 1971
________________________________
________________________________ 1979 15
And having sought the opinion of
_______________________________,
.
108 Chapter eight: decrees & constitutions
Your glossary
References
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Adab, B. J. (1997). Translation Strategies and Cross-Cultural Constraints: A
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Almanna, A. (2005). Aspects of Cohesion in Translating Legislative Texts
from Arabic into English. Unpublished MA thesis: University of
Westminster.
_____. (2014). Translation Theories Exemplified from Cicero to Pierre
Bourdieu. München: Lincom Europa Academic Publishers.
_____. (2016a). The Routledge Course in Translation Annotation: Arabic-
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_____. (2016b). Semantics for Translation Students. Arabic-English-Arabic.
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Alcaraz Varó, E. and Hughes, B. (2002). Legal Translation Explained,
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Baker, M. (1992). In Other Words. London/New York: Routledge.
Bell, R. T. (1991). Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice.
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Catford, J. C. (1965). A Linguistic Theory of Translation. Oxford: Oxford
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Crystal, D. and Davy, D. (1969). Investigating English Style. London:
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Danet, B. (1980) „Language in the Legal Process‟. Law and Society Review,
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______ . (1985). "Legal Discourse". In van Dijk, T. A. (ed.), Handbook of
Discourse Analysis, Vol. 1, pp. 273–291.
Dickins, J., Hervey, S., & Higgins, I. (2002). Thinking Arabic Translation.
London/New York: Routledge.
110 Chapter eleven: contract