Legal Translation in the Realm of Comparative Law Research: Approaches and Challenges

Abstract

Building on prior studies that suggest that the topic of translation lacks a solid foundation in comparative law methodology, in this paper, we delve into the matter of translation in the realm of comparative legal research, exploring its nature and examining its treatment from the perspective of comparative law theory. To this end, we analyze a wide range of handbooks by Western legal scholars on the theory of comparative law, along with scholarly papers and book chapters in English, German, Spanish and French that address translation in the context of comparative law research. Our findings indicate that, in order to conduct comparative legal research, comparatists must be able to access a broad range of legal text genres from the foreign legal culture they are studying. Our research also shows that many comparatists are aware of the language problem. Regardless, there seems to be no consistent or organized method for addressing translation in comparative law methodology, and many comparative law scholars appear to have doubts about the translation process and feel that employing translated legal texts could compromise comparative legal research. By shedding light on the translation process involved in every comparative legal endeavour and the challenges and concerns legal comparatists have regarding the issue of translation for comparative law research, our findings pave the way for closer collaboration between comparative legal studies and translation studies. In particular, we conclude that the principal paradigm of the functional approach to legal translation studies, according to which there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ translation technique but rather different translation techniques may be combined in the translation of a legal text, depending, above all, on the function of the translation, could give more transparency and consistency to the translation endeavours that take place in the realm of comparative legal studies. It could also ease the reluctance of comparative lawyers to accept translation as a natural component of comparative legal research.