Abstract

The translation of law has played an integral part in the interaction among nations in history and is playing a greater role in our increasingly interconnected world today. The book investigates legal translation in its many facets as an intellectual pursuit and a profession. It examines legal translation from an interdisciplinary perspective, covering theoretical and practical grounds and linguistic as well as legal issues. It analyses legal translation competence and various types of legal texts including contracts, statutes and multilateral legal instruments, presents a comparative analysis of the Common Law and the Civil Law and examines the case law from Canada, Hong Kong and the European Court of Justice. It attempts to demonstrate that translating law is a complex act that can enrich law, culture and human experience as a whole.

"Law has a vital part to play in reinforcing communication between nations and peoples. Building the international rule of law is a mighty challenge for the 21st century. We cannot achieve this goal by simply talking away to ourselves, confined within in our own legal jurisdictions and linguistic groups. We must cross the barriers of language. For this we need expert translators of language. And, as Dr Cao points out, we must also be ready to cross the barriers erected by history, culture and institutions. We must hope that when the bridges of understanding are built, there will yet be sufficient commonality to bind humanity together. Law has a part to play in the achievement of this goal. That is why this book addresses a problem of great importance for the future of law and life on this planet." from the Foreword THE HON JUSTICE MICHAEL KIRBY AC CMG

The book has been written in an accessible style, despite the complex nature of the subject of legal translation that it deals with. Though its targeted readers are "general translators to be trained to become legal translators, and lawyers or people with legal training intending to become legal translators" (p.4), it is also recommeded for use in the teaching of legal translation.

Deborah Cao is affiliated with the School of Languages and Linguistics and the Socio-Legal Research Centre, Griffith University, Australia. Originally trained and qualified as a United Nations simultaneous interpreter, she was educated in China and Australia. She holds PhD in translation studies and LL.B (Hons), and has published in the areas of translation studies, legal translation, semiotics and philosophical and linguistic analysis of Chinese law and legal culture. Her books include Chinese Law: A Language Perspective (Ashgate, 2004), Translation at the United Nations (in Chinese, 2006, China Foreign Translation and Publishing Corporation, co-authored with Zhao Xingmin), and Interpretation, Law and Construction of Meaning (Springer, 2006, a joint editor).