La traducció jurídica, paraula de traductor?

Resum

Translation users evaluate the success of a given translation according to how equivalent and faithful the translated text is to its original, although these terms are misleading due to the different definitions they have received. In the first part, the article analyzes how within translation studies the concepts of equivalence and faithfulness have developped. In a first stage translation was considered to operate between languages, afterwards between texts and then the communicative factor inherent of any linguistic interchange was analyzed. The latest research is interested in the external factors which influence decisions translators take in their activity. It is somehow easier to give a definition for the terms equivalence and faithfulness when applied to specialized texts and specifically to legal texts. Nevertheless, the various variables that operate on the different elements of legal texts which affect the process of translation have to be taken into account: format of the text, syntax, terminology and standarised phrases. However, at present, translators must go on taking decisions while doing their work according to the sucess criteria they think their client will apply to the translation.