One-day conference: The Role of Legal Translation in Legal Harmonisation

On 21 January 2011 the Centre for the Study of European Contract Law and the Amsterdam Circle for Law & Language (ACLL) hosted an international interdisciplinary conference on the Role of Legal Translation in Legal Harmonisation. The international, interdisciplinary conference examined the function of legal translation in the harmonisation of national laws in the European Union.

Speakers/contributors:

- Ingemar Strandvik (Quality manager of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Translation);
- William Robinson (Sir William Dale Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies);
- Manuela Guggeis (Head of Unit of the "Quality of Legislation Directorate", Legal Service, Council of the European Union);
- Susan Šarčević (Professor in Legal English and EU Terminology, University of Rijeka Faculty of Law);
- Marta Chromá (Law Faculty of Charles University in Prague, Department of Foreign Languages);
- Gerard-René de Groot (Professor Comparative Law and International Law, University of Maastricht);
- Jaakko Husa (Chair of Legal Culture & Legal Linguistics, University of Lapland, Faculty of Law);
- Barbara Pozzo (Professor of Comparative Law, University of Insubria).

When Contracts Mean Different Things to Different People: The Illusion of False Consensus

Date: Monday 1 November 2011
Venue: Room A 1.01, University of Amsterdam Law School
Time: 15:00-16:30
Language: English

This lecture will address the problem when parties to a contract legitimately understand the language differently, and how judges too are susceptible to the bias that their interpretation is the one with which most people would agree.

Speaker: Professor Lawrence Solan (Brooklyn Law School)

[This presentation is organized in cooperation with the Centre for the Study of European Contract Law (CSECL)]

Law and Multilingualism in Historical Context

Law and Multilingualism in Historical Context:
Legal Translation and the Bilingual Publication of Roman Imperial Constitutions

Date: Tuesday 25 May, 2010

Venue: University of Amsterdam Law School

The question whether legal translation can facilitate the communication, implementation and interpretation of multilingual legal acts, is the object of a lively scholarly debate in the European Union today. The speaker contributes to this discussion by looking at the practice in the early Roman Empire of publishing bilingual normative texts in Greek and Latin. By closely analyzing these ancient normative texts, from the perspective of linguistic patterns and translation techniques, the author argues that legal translation may actually contribute to legal communication in Europe

Speaker: Dr. Anna E. Plisecka

Translating the Civil Code of the Netherlands into English: Experiences and Directions

Date: Wednesday 30 September 2009

Venue: University of Amsterdam Law School

In 2009 the new comprehensive English translation of the Dutch Civil Code was published: "The Civil Code of the Netherlands" by Hans Warendorf, Richard Thomas and Ian Curry-Sumner (Kluwer, 2009). In the lecture two of the three authors talked about their experiences and gave indispensible directions for those who write or wish to read about Dutch private law in the English language.

Speakers: Mr H.C.S.Warendorf, Richard L.Thomas MA and Ian Curry-Sumner.

From Legal Language to Computer Language

Date: Thursday 14 May 2009

Venue: University of Amsterdam Law School

The Leibniz Center for Law develops computer models of statutes as well as methods by which the 'translation' from legal language to computer language may become automated. A trustworthy, neutral interpretation of the legal text, without added details, is of great importance. In the presentation the speakers will explain these 'translation'-methods and their 'technical' approach to legal interpretation with examples from various areas of law.

Speakers: dr. R.G.F. Winkels en ir.drs. E. de Maat (Leibniz Center for Law, University of Amsterdam)

Judicial law-making in Labour Law

Date: Wednesday 3 December 2008

Venue: University of Amsterdam Law School

The speaker discusses whether the interpretation of paragraph 7:685(8) of the Dutch Civil Code allows for the 'Joint Small Claims Court Judges' ("Kring van Kantonrechters") to adopt a new formula by which damages are awarded to workers who are fired. This is done within the context of the controversy with regard to the significanse of semantics versus morality in statutory interpretation.

Speaker: professor P.P. Rijpkema (Legal Theory), University of Amsterdam Law School.

Language in Criminal Trial Law - The ‘Recycling' of the Words of the Defendant

Date: Tuesday 21 October 2008

Venue: University of Amsterdam Law School

In this presentation the 'own words' of the defendant in criminal trial cases are followed from the initial police hearings into the ultimate court hearings. With the aid of original recordings of authentic police questionings, copies of the official statements and authentic video recordings of actual court hearings, it is shown how the words of the defendant are 'recycled' in the course of a criminal trial.

Speakers: dr. M.L. Komter, dr. P.W.J. Sneijder, dr. F. van der Houwen en drs. T.C. van Charldorp (VU University School of Language Studies)

Making Sense of Multilingual Law: The European Court of Justice on Language Discrepancies

Date: 21 February 2008

Venue: Columbia University Law School (New York City, US)

The case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has shown that different languag eversions of EU legislation may show linguistic discrepancies. The presentation presented the results of a quantitative research into the interpretation methods of ECJ with regard so such linguistic discrepancies. The presentation was organized in cooperation with the the Department of European Legal Studies of the Columbia University School of Law.

Speaker: C.J.W. Baaij

Fighting Terrorism or Protecting Human Rights? - The Logic of Legal Reasoning.

Date: 12 June 2007

Venue: University of Amsterdam Law School

In its Yusuf & Al Barakaat Judgment, the European Court of First Instance struck a delicate balance between the fight against internation terriorism and the protection of fundamental human rights. In this presentation this judgment is scrutinized from a perspective of argumentation theory.

Speaker: professor A. Soeteman (VU University Amsterdam)

The Language of Souverenity - An Analysis of Meaning in International Law

Date: 2 April 2007

Venue: University of Amsterdam Law School

In this presentation the meaning and function of the concept of souverenity in internation law is analyzed on the basis of the speech act theory of John Searle.

Speaker: professor W.G. Werner (VU University Amsterdam)