PROJECT 5A
ENGLISH
SPANISH
A. International Legal Treaty
United Nations Convention against Corruption
Original language: English
Organization: United Nations
Adopted: October 31, 2003
Article selected: Article 1 – Statement of purpose
The United Nations Convention against Corruption is a multilateral international treaty adopted in New York in 2003. Its purpose is to establish measures for preventing and combating corruption, promoting international cooperation, and encouraging proper management of public affairs and public property. The Convention entered into force in 2005.
Original English text
From Article 1 – Statement of purpose:
“The purposes of this Convention are:
(a) To promote and strengthen measures to prevent and combat corruption more efficiently and effectively;
(b) To promote, facilitate and support international cooperation and technical assistance in the prevention of and fight against corruption, including in asset recovery;
(c) To promote integrity, accountability and proper management of public affairs and public property.”
The official UN Spanish version uses essentially this same legal terminology.
Translation techniques
1. Transposition
Transposition occurs when the grammatical structure changes between the source and target languages while maintaining the meaning.
For example:
* English: “the prevention of and fight against corruption”
* Spanish: “la prevención y la lucha contra la corrupción”
The English construction uses “prevention” and “fight” as nouns, while Spanish maintains a noun-based structure but reorganizes the phrase to sound natural in Spanish.
Another example is:
* English: “to promote, facilitate and support”
* Spanish: “promover, facilitar y apoyar”
The verb structure is maintained because it is natural and appropriate in Spanish legal language.
2. Modulation
Modulation involves expressing the same idea from a slightly different perspective.
For example:
* English: “more efficiently and effectively”
* Spanish: “de manera más eficaz y eficiente”
The order and grammatical presentation are adapted to natural Spanish usage while preserving the meaning of the original.
Another example is:
* English: “asset recovery”
* Spanish: “recuperación de activos”
Rather than translating the expression word-for-word in an unnatural way, the established Spanish legal term “recuperación de activos” is used.
3. Terminological equivalence
This is especially important in legal translation because legal terms need consistent and recognized equivalents.
For example:
* “public affairs” → “asuntos públicos”
* “public property” → “bienes públicos”
* “international cooperation” → “cooperación internacional”
* “technical assistance” → “asistencia técnica”
A. Documento jurídico internacional
Convención de las Naciones Unidas contra la Corrupción
Idioma original: Inglés
Organización: Naciones Unidas
Fecha: 31 de octubre de 2003
Tipo de documento: Tratado internacional multilateral
La Convención de las Naciones Unidas contra la Corrupción es un tratado internacional adoptado por las Naciones Unidas en Nueva York el 31 de octubre de 2003. Su objetivo es promover medidas para prevenir y combatir la corrupción, fomentar la cooperación internacional y promover la adecuada gestión de los asuntos y bienes públicos. La Convención entró en vigor el 14 de diciembre de 2005 y cuenta con versiones auténticas en inglés y español, entre otros idiomas.
Artículo 1 – Finalidad
Los propósitos de la presente Convención son:
(a) Promover y fortalecer las medidas para prevenir y combatir la corrupción de manera más eficiente y eficaz;
(b) Promover, facilitar y apoyar la cooperación internacional y la asistencia técnica en la prevención y la lucha contra la corrupción, incluida la recuperación de activos;
(c) Promover la integridad, la rendición de cuentas y la debida gestión de los asuntos públicos y los bienes públicos.
Técnicas de traducción utilizadas
1. Transposición
La transposición consiste en cambiar la estructura gramatical del texto original sin cambiar su significado.
Por ejemplo:
English: “the prevention of and fight against corruption”
Spanish: “la prevención y la lucha contra la corrupción”
La estructura se reorganiza para producir una expresión natural en español y conservar el significado jurídico.
2. Modulación
La modulación consiste en expresar una misma idea desde una perspectiva o estructura diferente.
Por ejemplo:
English: “more efficiently and effectively”
Spanish: “de manera más eficiente y eficaz”
La expresión se adapta a la forma más natural de expresar esta idea en español, manteniendo el mismo significado.
3. Equivalencia terminológica
Esta técnica es especialmente importante en la traducción jurídica porque determinados términos tienen equivalentes establecidos.
Examples:
“international cooperation” → “cooperación internacional”
“technical assistance” → “asistencia técnica”
“asset recovery” → “recuperación de activos”
“public affairs” → “asuntos públicos”
“public property” → “bienes públicos”
El uso de equivalentes jurídicos adecuados ayuda a mantener la precisión y coherencia del documento.
PROJECT 5B
Original language: Spanish
Country: Panama
Law: Law No. 81 of March 26, 2019
Subject: Protection of personal data
For the local example, I selected Law 81 of 2019 on the Protection of Personal Data, published in Panama's Official Gazette. The law establishes principles, rights, obligations, and procedures concerning the protection of personal data and regulates its treatment by public and private individuals and organizations.
The selected provisions establish the purpose of the law and the conditions under which personal data may be processed. These paragraphs are particularly useful for translation because they contain formal legal terminology and long syntactic structures that require careful adaptation into English.
Article 1. The purpose of this Law is to establish the principles, rights, obligations, and procedures governing the protection of personal data, taking into consideration its relationship with privacy and other fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, as applicable to natural or legal persons, whether governed by public or private law, and whether operating for profit or not, that process personal data under the terms established by this Law.
Any natural or legal person, whether governed by public or private law and whether operating for profit or not, may process personal data, provided that such processing complies with this Law and is carried out for purposes permitted under the legal system. In all cases, the full exercise of the fundamental rights of data subjects and the powers granted to them by this Law must be respected.
1. Transposition
The Spanish expression “tiene por objeto establecer” is translated as “the purpose of this Law is to establish.” The grammatical structure changes from a Spanish legal construction to a more natural English legal construction.
Another example is “el tratamiento de datos personales,” which is translated as “process personal data.” The Spanish noun “tratamiento” becomes an English verb, making the sentence more natural without changing its legal meaning.
2. Adaptation
The expression “personas naturales o jurídicas” is translated as “natural or legal persons.” This is an example of legal adaptatibecause the translator uses terminology recognized in English legal contexts instead of translating the words in an unnecessarily literal way.
Similarly, “ordenamiento jurídico” is translated as “legal system.” This is a conventional equivalent that communicates the legal concept naturally to an English-speaking reader.
3. Literal translation with terminological control
Some expressions can be translated relatively directly because they have clear legal equivalents. For example, “derechos fundamentales” becomes “fundamental rights,” and “datos personales” becomes “personal data.” However, the translator must maintain consistency throughout the document because legal terminology should not change unnecessarily from one provision to another.
Ley 81 de 2019 – Protección de Datos Personales
País: Panamá
Idioma original: Español
Ley: Ley 81 de 26 de marzo de 2019
Tema: Protección de datos personales
La Ley 81 de 2019 sobre Protección de Datos Personales establece los principios, derechos, obligaciones y procedimientos relacionados con el tratamiento y la protección de los datos personales en Panamá. La ley se aplica tanto a personas naturales como jurídicas, públicas o privadas, que procesen datos personales bajo las condiciones establecidas por la legislación panameña.
Texto original en español
Artículo 1.
Esta Ley tiene por objeto establecer los principios, derechos, obligaciones y procedimientos que regulan la protección de datos personales, considerando su interrelación con la vida privada y demás derechos y libertades fundamentales de los ciudadanos, por parte de las personas naturales o jurídicas, de derecho público o privado, lucrativas o no, que traten datos personales en los términos previstos en esta Ley.
Toda persona, natural o jurídica, de derecho público o privado, lucrativa o no, puede efectuar el tratamiento de datos personales, siempre que lo haga con arreglo a la presente Ley y para los fines permitidos en el ordenamiento jurídico. En todo caso, deberá respetar el pleno ejercicio de los derechos fundamentales de los titulares de los datos y de las facultades que esta Ley les reconoce.
Translation techniques used
1. Transposition
Transposition is used when the grammatical structure of the original language is changed in order to produce a more natural structure in the target language.
example:
Spanish: “puede efectuar el tratamiento de datos personales”
English: “may process personal data”
The Spanish noun phrase “el tratamiento” is transformed into the English verb “process.”
2. Adaptation
Adaptation is used when a legal expression needs to be expressed using terminology that is appropriate and understandable in the target legal language.
For example:
Spanish: “personas naturales o jurídicas”
English: “natural or legal persons”
This expression is adapted to established English legal terminology rather than being translated word-for-word.
Another example is:
Spanish: “ordenamiento jurídico”
English: “legal system”
The translation uses the conventional English legal expression that communicates the same concept.
3. Legal equivalence
Legal equivalence consists of finding a target-language term that carries the same legal meaning as the source-language term.
Examples include:
* “datos personales” → “personal data”
* “derechos fundamentales” → “fundamental rights”
* “personas jurídicas” → “legal persons”
* “ordenamiento jurídico” → “legal system”
* “tratamiento de datos personales” → “processing of personal data”