Abstract
There are no two identical languages, and there are no two identical legal systems; this is the challenge for both comparative lawyers and legal translators. Legal comparison is necessary to obtain the adequate legal translation, which in turn is applied to give comparative lawyers information about foreign legal systems. Although comparative lawyers and legal translators often face similar quandaries when engaged in the translation of legal terms, they operate within distinct theoretical frameworks and make use of different methodologies. In order to determine whether the functional method developed for comparative legal studies can be a useful tool for legal translators, this paper compares this method with the methodology applied by legal translators to find functional equivalents.
Highlights
Since the cultural turn in translation studies, it has been acknowledged that translation is made between languages and between cultures (Pommer 2008, 17). This cultural transfer is observed especially when legal texts are translated, since legal translation is performed between legal languages, which are deeply rooted in the legal culture and the legal system of a particular country
With no claim to exhaustiveness, this paper aims to analyze whether comparative law can provide legal translators with the knowledge and tools needed to attain an accurate translation of legal system-bound terms
The following question may be faced by a legal translator who applies the results of the functional comparative method: if two institutions responding to the same social problems propose different solutions, may they be regarded as terminological functional equivalents in translation studies? To make a terminological decision in this situation, a legal translator should ascertain whether the function of the institutions that makes them functional equivalents for a comparative legal scholar is the main function and what the other functions of the institutions are, and especially whether the functions of the institutions and differences in their solutions are essential features of these institutions
Summary
Since the cultural turn in translation studies, it has been acknowledged that translation is made between languages and between cultures (Pommer 2008, 17). Marrying a woman while already validly married to another is recognized as an offence (bigamy) in many countries, whereas, in others, especially those governed by Sharia (Muslim) law (e.g., Saudi Arabia) polygamist marriages are considered valid These examples illustrate how differently the concept of marriage can be understood in various legal systems. If we regard translation as a cultural transfer, and legal translation as the translation from one legal system into another (de Groot 1987, 807; Doczekalska 2009b, 120; Šarčević 2000, 13), we must admit that legal translators should know how legal concepts and institutions operate in both the source and target legal systems, or they should at least have a method to acquire this information. Translation for informative purposes usually transfers a legal text from a source legal system into a target legal system and, as mentioned earlier, involves comparison of legal concepts and institutions. Can comparative law provide a translator with such information or with the method to acquire it?
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