Uzbekistan state world languages university translation faculty english language translation theory department

CHAPTER II. Features of the translation of legal texts

2.1. Key Concepts of Translation of Legal Texts

Translation is an activity that consists in the variable recoding of a text generated in one language into a text in another language, carried out by a translator who creatively chooses an option depending on the variable resources of the language, the type of translation, the tasks of translation, the type of text and under the influence of his own personality. ; translation is also the result of the activity described above. At the same time, the term "text" is understood extremely broadly: it means any oral statement and any written work.

It is natural to assume that the theoretical model of translation activity should, first of all, be based on the study of the semantic side of the original and translated texts. Speaking theoretically, it can be argued that the equivalence of the content of two texts (including two texts in different languages) implies the identity or a fairly close similarity of all or some of the semantic elements that make up the content of these texts. The translation process in this case will be reduced to the selection of semantic elements in the original and the choice of TL units that express the same elements of meaning in the translation to the maximum extent.
The main task of the translator in achieving adequacy is to skillfully perform various translation transformations so that the translated text conveys all the information contained in the original text as accurately as possible, while observing the relevant norms of the target language.
As you know, specialized translations are the most difficult and have certain features. Many mistakenly believe that for a successful translation it is enough to know the terminology of a particular subject perfectly. But in reality, it turns out that this is not enough. For example, a translator familiar with legal terminology can easily translate such combinations as therapy, peace officer, profiling, police discreteness, health screening, which in a legal text mean re-education, police officer, psychological testing of prisoners, police powers, medical examination.
However, it is not always easy to find an equivalent for any fixed combination or encountered term. Mainly, problems for a translator of a legally oriented text arise due to the fact that the target language lacks verbal constructions that could accurately describe the terms of the source language. In addition, the dependence of the text on the cultural characteristics and mentality of the people, as well as on its existing legal system, can lead to the fact that the meaning of the text in the source language will not correspond to the meaning in the target language, even with an absolutely literal interpretation. Therefore, the translator has to enrich his knowledge by studying the possible lexical equivalents of words and whole phrases.
Consider the translation of such phrases as limited divorce, indeterminate sentence, Department of the Interior, Index crimes, Crime index, sensibility training, verbal judo. In all these cases, phrases denote realities that do not exist in the practice of the Russian judicial and legal system and therefore require compensation for the objective inaccuracy of the translation with a cultural commentary. So, limited divorce – это раздельное проживание супругов по решению суда, indeterminate sentence – это приговор суда с неопределенным сроком тюремного заключения, когда реальный срок пребывания в тюрьме определяется тюремной администрацией или специальной комиссией, принимающими во внимание поведение заключенного, состояние его здоровья и другие обстоятельства.
The Department of the Interior, translated as the Департамент (Министерство) внутренних дел, обязательно предполагает уточнение, что в США и Узбекистане – это органы, наделенные разными полномочиями: в США Департамент внутренних дел отвечает за состояние дорог, охрану окружающей среды, соблюдение экологических законов и потому не является силовым правоохранительным ведомством.
Crime Index – это список из 8 наиболее тяжких преступлений, среди которых 4 типа преступлений против личности (murder, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault) и 4 - против собственности (burglary, larceny, car theft, arson). Accordingly, Index crimes are the types of crimes listed above. This example is interesting in it clearly demonstrates the discrepancy between certain norms of criminal justice in the United States and the Republic of Uzbekistan. Thus, when translating legal texts, specialists are perplexed as to why such grave crimes from the point of view of our legislation as kidnapping of children (похищение детей), all drug offenses (все преступления, связанные с незаконным оборотом наркотиков), unlawful use of weapons незаконное применение оружия), are not included in the "index".¹²
Understanding and, therefore, presenting an equivalent translation of such phrases as sensibility training or verbal judo requires the translator not only to have linguistic competence, but also to penetrate into the sphere of police professional culture. These are the most difficult cases for a general translator who does not specialize in translating any particular type of text, since the linguistic context itself does not help to find an equivalent translation. Thus, sensibility training – это курс обучения общению полицейского с различными группами людей в кризисных ситуациях (ведение переговоров с террористами; опрос потерпевших, находящихся в состоянии психологической травмы, и т.д.). Verbal Judo, - словесное дзюдо, требует уточнения, типа методика применения определенных языковых средств с целью достижения полицейским результатов в общении с людьми.
On the example of legal translation, one can definitely state that it is also necessary to thoroughly understand the cultural characteristics of native speakers of the source language, in specific constructions that are unique to them.
As an area of ​​practical linguistic activity, legal translation is one of the types of special translation, which has as its object the transfer of various written and oral legal texts by means of another language.
The study of linguistic features of written and oral speech on legal topics is of great importance for a lawyer with knowledge of a foreign language.
These features include:
1. Great saturation of legal materials with legal vocabulary, the main part of which is legal terms, many of which are translated into Russian in phrases and descriptively (remedy - средство судебной защиты, deterrence - средство удержания устрашением от совершения преступных действий, indictment - обвинительный акт, etc.).
2. The presence in written and oral speech on legal topics of special idiomatic expressions and phraseological combinations that are not used or rarely used in general literary language (to make default — I. не исполнять обязанности, 2. не являться в суд; Marshal of the court - судебный исполнитель; to meet claim - оспаривать иск, etc.).
3. The presence of some stylistic deviations from general literary norms, sometimes quite significant. They may include:

• 
  the widespread use of elliptical constructions in English (abbreviated, without articles), especially in periodically compiled standard documents, the form and content of which change within small limits (summaries, messages, decisions, conclusions);
  
• 
  the presence of turnovers of official clerical style in documents devoted to general or administrative and economic issues;
  
• 
  strictly regulated use of verb forms and turns of speech of special terminology in certain legal documents.
  

4. The use of Latin words and expressions in legal texts: mens gea - виновная воля, вина; stare decisis - обязывающая сила прецедентов, etc.
5. The presence of abbreviations, most of which are used only in legal texts and documents: (English) ALJ - Administrative Law Judge - судья административного суда; USJC - United States Judicial Code - кодекс законов США о судоустройстве; CtApp - Court of Appeal - Court of Appeal, - апелляционный суд etc.
6. When translating legal texts, one should not forget that each country has its own legal system, corresponding legal terminology and its own realities. So, for example: город-графство в Англии - County of city (of town), county is a графство, а город - округ в США - a metropolitan town; county - округ, court of error - апелляционный суд (в ряде штатов США), etc.
The style of presentation of a legal document should correspond to the style of the same material in the language into which the translation is being made, however, when translating a number of documents and texts, the style of the original may be preserved in the translation.
When translating legal texts, it should be remembered that many ordinary words in legal texts can have a terminological meaning and, in order to avoid interference, in this case, the interference of some known meanings of words and expressions of general or special meaning in a legal text, it is necessary to use the appropriate dictionaries and reference books. .

2.2. Analysis of Difficulties in Translating Legal Texts

The difficulties of translating legal terminology are determined by a complex of reasons. The main ones include:

1. difficulties due to the linguistic nature of the term;
2. difficulties associated with the specific characteristics of a legal term;
3. difficulties arising from the discrepancy between the legal systems of states, therefore, due to the discrepancy in the scope of concepts conveyed by analogue terms, the existence of units specific to one terminological system and the lack of translation correspondences in another;
4. finally, there are difficulties of a subjective nature, due to insufficient training of persons involved in translation activities.
Let's take a closer look at each of the issues related to their translation difficulties and outline some possible ways to overcome them.
1. More P.A. Florensky wrote that the meaning of science lies in the construction of terminology. Terms are designed to clearly express phenomena and define the relationship between them, they can be understood as a model of reality created specifically for study, it is possible to explore it from the standpoint of philosophy, logic and linguistics.¹³
The term must have a clear definition, correlate with one specific concept from the relevant field of science, i.e. not be ambiguous, not have synonyms and homonyms. These requirements for an ideal term are well known. It is also well known that in the vast majority of cases they are not observed in practice.
The translation of a term, in contrast to the translation of commonly used words, is based on a strong, regulated connection between the name and the thing, the phenomenon. When translating a term, it is extremely important to take into account that the place of the term in the terminological series of one language corresponds to the place of the term in another language.¹⁴
2. A legal terminological system is a set of lexical means of a language used to accurately express legal concepts.
An important characteristic of a legal text is its standardization. It uses stereotypical phrases and expressions, clichés, set phrases. Some of them can be included in the terminology. Knowledge of the translation correspondences of such units, knowledge of “how they say” in the language of jurisprudence is a paramount requirement for a translator of such a text.
Texts on jurisprudence are also characterized by expressive neutrality, officiality, imperativeness, impersonality. Imperativeness is achieved by high-frequency use of language units with the meaning of obligation. Impersonality is due to the nature of the author and addressee of the legal text: legal norms are formulated on behalf of the state and apply to a wide range of performers. The expressive neutrality of legal texts is manifested in the absence of emotional and evaluative components in the semantics of words, the absence of expressiveness and stylistic individuality. At the same time, these texts should be accessible and understandable to citizens who do not have a special legal education.
Legal terms have a legal content that is not always clear to non-specialists. The peculiarity of the use of legal terminology is that it is used not only by professionals, but also by ordinary citizens who, due to the specifics of the field associated with it, use these terms much more often than, for example, scientific and technical ones. At the same time, the specificity of communication in the legal sphere is that a professional and a non-professional act as communicators more often than two professionals. The success of communication in this area, as in no other, is determined by an adequate understanding of the text by the participants in communication. If we take into account the fact that even when using the native language, adequate understanding is not always achieved due to the characteristic features of the legal text, the presence of a large number of complex terms in it, one can imagine how difficult it is to achieve this adequate understanding when using a foreign language. And here the role of the translator is huge. The translator must not only have a perfect knowledge of the legal terminology of the two languages ​​and navigate the specifics of the two legal systems, but also be creative in the process of choosing the most appropriate correspondence for a particular context, in introducing an explanatory translation commentary. This truly requires a high "legal erudition" of the translator. The translator must not only have a perfect knowledge of the legal terminology of the two languages ​​and navigate the specifics of the two legal systems, but also be creative in the process of choosing the most appropriate correspondence for a particular context, in introducing an explanatory translation commentary. This truly requires a high "legal erudition" of the translator. The translator must not only have a perfect knowledge of the legal terminology of the two languages ​​and navigate the specifics of the two legal systems, but also be creative in the process of choosing the most appropriate correspondence for a particular context, in introducing an explanatory translation commentary. This truly requires a high "legal erudition" of the translator.
By origin, both English and Russian legal terms can be divided into native and borrowed. In legal terminology, a significant place is occupied by borrowings, primarily from Latin. As you know, modern jurisprudence is based largely on the provisions of Roman law. Latin was and remains the language of jurisprudence. It is still the basis for the formation of new terms. Accordingly, Latin terms are often present in legal texts and create a certain difficulty for the translator, especially when interpreting. Latin terms can be pronounced in Latin, but there is also an English pronunciation that differs significantly from native Latin. In some cases, there are several pronunciations. The translator must be familiar with Latin terms,
By structure, legal terms, like the terms of other sciences, are divided into words and phrases. Terms-phrases, in comparison with single-word terms, allow a more detailed and precise definition of the object of thought. They also allow the translator in some cases to guess the meaning of the term based on its literal meaning. However, in some cases, the terminological meaning is incorrect.
Legal terms, like the terms of other sciences, can be ambiguous. Therefore, when they emphasize the need for the unambiguity of a legal term, they mean, first of all, the same and uniform perception and interpretation by native speakers.
One of the common methods of legal technique, widely used in legislative activity, is the inclusion of legal definitions in normative texts. The presence of definitions is a necessary condition for an accurate understanding of the normative text, which helps to improve the legal culture of the communicants. The purpose of these definitions is not to comprehensively reveal the scientific concept, but only to give its definition sufficient for the realization of the law. In connection with the question of definitions, the question arises of the translation commentary introduced by the translator into the translation text in the form of a definition in order to clarify the meaning of the translated term. Due to the frequent discrepancy between the volumes of concepts correlated with the corresponding terms in the two languages, due to the existence of legal concepts inherent in the jurisprudence of only one country,
3. The third group of difficulties in translating legal terminology that we have identified above is related to differences in the legal systems of different countries. For translations from English and into English, this means the need to take into account the specifics of the legislative and legal system of a particular English-speaking country, as well as Russian jurisprudence. Taking into account the specifics, of course, implies that the translator has background knowledge, the ability to navigate the intricacies of the legal systems of the source language and the target language. First of all, this knowledge is necessary in relation to the legal systems of Great Britain and the United States.
4. Shortcomings in the preparation of a translator inevitably lead to shortcomings in the implementation of interlingual communication. The importance of knowing the area in which the translation is carried out cannot be underestimated. It is not for nothing that such a “thematic” specialization is present in the leading Western schools for the preparation of translators.
Possession of the technique of legal translation can be defined as the ability to implement successful and effective intercultural communication in the field of jurisprudence based on knowledge of legal terminology and the style of legal texts of various varieties in the source language and in the target language, with the indispensable possession of the concepts of law and free orientation in the conceptual legal pictures of the world of both communicators.

2.3. Features of the Translation of Legal Terms and Expressions