Language-bound terms—term-bound languages: the difficulties of translating a national civil code into a lingua franca

The present paper—taking the example of the English translation of the Hungarian Civil Code of 2013—aims to give an overview on the legal and terminology-related challenges and pitfalls that might occur during the process of translating a civil code with civil law traditions into the language of the common law world. An attempt is made to categorise terminology-related conceptual problems and elaborate how the different types of translation methods (functional equivalence, paraphrasing and neologism) could be applied; moreover, how a kind of legal-linguistic checks-and-balances can be achieved through the well-dosed combination, having also the ratio of similarities to differences (SD-ratio or SD-relationship) of legal concepts behind the respective terms in mind. Legal translators must act beyond the role of a simple translator: they must be comparatists, being aware of the legal origin of the relevant concepts and using the methods of comparative private law and translation studies at the same time, since both law and language are system-bound and are heavily influenced by the cultural and social environment. The authors strive to identify the significance of those problems (and possible solutions) from the perspective of how language-related aspects can perform some fine-tuning on the comparative methodology and findings, whether they are barriers only or provide also an opportunity to verify or refute prima facie comparative results. Comparative law—no doubt—supports legal translation, but their relationship is reciprocal: legal-linguistic subjects and problems emerging in the course of legal translation supply valuable feedback and further sources of inspiration.

     

Municipal Governance,Environmental Management and Disaster Risk Reduction in Chile

Given the vulnerability of Latin American countries to extreme events of climatic and geophysical origin and the frequency of these events, how do local governments manage environmental and disaster risk reduction? This article contributes to the Latin American literature about environmental management and disaster risk reduction at the local level. Employing a comparative perspective, the article examines and explains the responses of Chilean municipalities and the role of municipal commitments and social capital.     

No Common Ground: A Spatial-Relational Analysis of EU-China Relations

Journal of Chinese Political Science - It is no secret that EU member states cannot come to terms on a unified China-policy. Most studies on EU-China relations come to the conclusion that...     

DECOMPOSING THE PEER EFFECT ON ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE USE: MEDIATION,NONLINEARITY, AND DIFFERENTIAL NONLINEARITY*

Although the correlation between peer delinquency and delinquency is one of the most consistently demonstrated findings in delinquency research, researchers have focused primarily on the direct, linear, and additive effects of peers in statistical models, rather than on empirically modeling mediating, nonlinear, and moderating processes that are specified by theory. To address these issues, we measure respondent delinquency and peer delinquency with illegal substance use and then decompose the effect of peer substance use on self‐reported substance use. Logistic hierarchical models on a sample of adolescents from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) indicate that the effect of peer substance use on self‐reported substance use is partially mediated by perceptions of the health risks of substance use. In addition, the direct statistical effect of peers is nonlinear: On average, the peer effect decreases at higher values of peer substance use, which is consistent with a “saturation” effect. We also find that the functional form of the peer substance use/substance use relationship is dependent on the neighborhood context. In neighborhoods with more opportunities for crime, the peer effect is initially strong but decreases as peer substance use increases, which is consistent with a saturation effect. Conversely, in neighborhoods with fewer opportunities for crime, the effect of peers is initially small, but as delinquent peer associations increase, the peer effect increases multiplicatively.     

A Review of Forensic Science Higher Education Programs in the United States: Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees*

Abstract: As the number of forensic science programs offered at higher education institutions rises, and more students express an interest in them, it is important to gain information regarding the offerings in terms of courses, equipment available to students, degree requirements, and other important aspects of the programs. A survey was conducted examining the existing bachelor’s and master’s forensic science programs in the U.S. Of the responding institutions, relatively few were, at the time of the survey, accredited by the forensic science Education Programs Accreditation Commission (FEPAC). In general, the standards of the responding programs vary considerably primarily in terms of their size and subjects coverage. While it is clear that the standards for the forensic science programs investigated are not homogeneous, the majority of the programs provide a strong science curriculum, faculties with advanced degrees, and interesting forensic‐oriented courses.     

Community benefit activities of private, nonprofit hospitals

The definition of hospital community benefits has been intensely debated for many years. Recently, consensus has developed about one group of activities being central to community benefits because of its focus on care for the poor and on needed community services for which any payments received are low relative to costs. Disagreements continue, however, about the treatment of bad debt expense and Medicare shortfalls. A recent revision of the Internal Revenue Service's Form 990 Schedule H, which is required of all nonprofit hospitals, highlights the agreed-on set of activities but does not dismiss the disputed items. Our study is the first to apply definitions used in the new IRS form to assess how conclusions about the adequacy of nonprofit hospital community benefits could be affected if bad debt expenses and Medicare shortfalls are included or excluded. Specifically, we examine 2005 financial data for California and Florida hospitals. Overall, we find that conclusions about community benefit adequacy are very different depending on which definition of community benefits is used. We provide thoughts on new directions for the current policy debate about the treatment of bad debts and Medicare shortfalls in light of these findings.     

Political Institutions,Policymaking, and Policy Stability in Latin America

In some Latin American nations, policy change occurs frequently, while in others it is stable, less prone to shifts with the prevailing political climate or shocks. The conditions under which institutional rules and the powers of key actors influence the capacity for governance vary, and this variation is seldom addressed in the literature. This project examines the effects of the interactions between key policymakers (the executive and the legislature) in Latin America on policy stability across different institutional frameworks. Countries with simultaneously strong executives and weak legislatures are shown to have unstable policy environments, as are countries with a history of unified government and, to a lesser extent, candidate‐centered electoral systems.