Resumen de Loyal to Different Exclusive Masters: Language Consistency at the National and Supranational Level
The special language of the law needs to be consistent, in order to enable citizens to predict the consequences of their actions. For this reason, the legal style is specific, precise and unfamiliar to non-specialists. Efforts to simplify legal texts sometimes run the risk of omitting important information (as in the case of EU directive 261/2004 on air passenger’s rights). Translators face the problem of vague texts, as not all languages accept the same level of vagueness, of missing conceptual equivalents in the target language, and of ‘false friends’. Translations of EU directives or regulations provide numerous examples. While lawyers working in their domestic systems find support in their legal system, in the EU context frequent borrowings from Member States’ traditions occur and this causes uncertainty in understanding European provisions; those interpreting them experience some difficulty in ignoring their national backgrounds. One word may convey both a domestic and an international/supranational meaning. Translators should avoid amphibologies as far as possible; they may also find useful support in networks established in some countries, especially in Scandinavian Member States, where systems of resources have been established to assist those working in EU institutions in identifying neologisms and effective translations.
