Specialized Communication (Legal Translation English-Portuguese)

Code:

MTSL073

Acronym:

TJIP

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Translation

Instance: 2014/2015 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Anglo-American Studies
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Translation and Language Services

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MTSL	10	MTSL - Study Plan	2	-	3	30	81

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

Students who successfully complete this class will be able to:
- Understand of specific legal concepts
- Recognise the function of the various types of legal documents in order to optimise the final translated version
- Use specialised translation skills in both English legalese and legal Portuguese, and knowledge on how to formally reply to requests for court translations or notary services performance;
- Identify equivalent legal terms by searching specialised documentation (namely by parallel templates, bilingual legal dictionaries, glossaries and legal online tools);
- Develop a personal legal glossary and table for equivalent legal terms.

Learning outcomes and competences

The knowledge acquired of the different legal systems and their different judicial organizational structures, in terms of equivalence variables when translating legal terms and by practicing legal translation, will lead the students to achieve a higher level of professionalism and an optimised translation product when dealing with specialized texts. They will also learn to respect the requirements for both certification and sworn translation.
All students enrolled in this module will be able to:
- Adapt their accuracy when translating legal documents according to the specifics of the legal language, whether in Legal English (or legalese) or in Legal Portuguese;
- Identify legal terms and find their respective equivalences or use compensatory strategies;
- Adapt the translation product to its function and purpose of the document (effectiveness as evidence or as mere information);
- Produce a final translation that respects legal translation procedures in accordance with European Quality Standard EN 15038.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

A good knowledge of both working languages.
An understanding of textual analysis and of translation.

Program

Main judicial systems around the world: common-law and civil law;
- courts organic structure in the UK, USA and Portugal;
- different legal professional roles;
Analysis of legal terms and their equivalents;
Certified and sworn translation procedures;
- certified document vs authenticated document vs Hague Convention
Function of a letter rogatory when issuing judicial requests and intervening as a court translator/interpreter;
Exposure to text analysis and active translation of official legal documents:
- civil and criminal record certificates, incorporation files and memoranda of association, labour, insurance and property contracts, judicial reviews, judgments and decisions.
Lexical resources in legal translation and quality criteria according to effectiveness of the document;
Research and evaluation of both online information resources, specific dictionaries and glossaries;
translation strategies and intersection of parallel legal templates.

Mandatory literature

Alcaraz Varó, Enrique; Legal translation explained. ISBN: 1-900650-46-0
Asensio, Roberto Mayoral; Translating official documents. ISBN: 1-900650-65-7
Evans, Keith; “The language of Advocacy. What to say and how to say it in the English-Speaking Courts”, Blackstone Press , 1998
Hickey, Leo.; Aproximación didáctica a la traducción jurídica. , Castelló de la Plana: Universitat Jaume I., 1996
Krois-Lindner, Amy and Translegal; International Legal English , Cambridge University Press , 2007
Long, Peter ; Language, Culture and the Law, 2008
Martin, Elizabeth A. (ed.); Oxford Dictionary of Law. , Oxford: Oxford University Press., 2002
¦arčević, Susan.; New Approach to Legal Translation. , Haia: Kluwr Law International., 1997

Teaching methods and learning activities

The methodology consists of theoretical classes on Law and tutorials where students will be invited to produce small translation tasks and terminological research for specific legal concepts. Students will be expected to produce a personal glossary for the branches of Law taught and explained during the lectures. This will be accompanied by translation work on official legal documents templates.

At the end of the semester, students will organize small simulations of a courtroom environment, where they are distributed according to a thematic proceeding and where they intervene as sworn translators, controlled on the quality of their services by their peers.

Software

Todas as aulas decorrem em sala equipada com computadores para auxiliar a pesquisa activa.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	20,00
Teste	60,00
Trabalho escrito	20,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	33,00
Frequência das aulas	28,00
Trabalho de investigação	20,00
Total:	81,00

Calculation formula of final grade

Tests - 60%
Written work - 20%
Class participation - 20%