Lost in Translation? Linguistic Diversity and the Elusive Quest for Plain Meaning in the Law
Document Type
Book Chapter
Abstract
It has long been recognized that legal translation -- the creation of equivalent legal texts in different languages -- poses a series of formidable challenges to the translator, some grounded in the nature of language, some in the relationship of language to culture, and some inherent in the nature of language use within the domain of law. This paper explores some of those challenges in the context of the developing norms of legal translation used within the European Union’s legal system and suggests that its practices have not been entirely successful in overcoming those challenges. It also suggests that a careful examination of the processes through which legal transplants are assimilated into national legal cultures shows that the theoretical problems inherent in legal translation are also at play in the reception of legal transplants, using contemporary Chinese business law as its example.
Recommended Citation
Janet Ainsworth,
Lost in Translation? Linguistic Diversity and the Elusive Quest for Plain Meaning in the LawAshgate Handbook of Legal Translation
(2014).
https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/faculty/1021
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2568893