Testing the Precision of Legal Translation: The Case of Translating Islamic Legal Terms into English

Legal translation is viewed as “a category in its own right” (Weston in An English reader’s guide to the French legal system. Berg, Oxford, (1991, p. 2). It is a kind of translation of the language used for specific purposes (Zhao in J Transl Stud 4:28, 2000). Legal translation requires accuracy in relaying the substance of the message, while respecting the form thereof as well as the genius of the target language (Zhao in J Transl Stud 4:19, 2000; Sarcevic in New approach to legal translation. Kluwer Law International, Hague, 1997, p. 52). As generally accepted worldwide, precision is deemed of paramount importance in legal translation. With this in mind, the present paper deals chiefly with the concept of how legal translation can correctly be tested in order to ensure precision and validity for application and implementation. The paper will argue that the main goal of legal translation and the major criterion against which the precision of legal translation should be tested is to reproduce the same legal effect in the target text as that conveyed in the source text regardless of the method(s) used in the translation process.     

Human rights violations and genocide in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The massacres that took place in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 1996 and 2003 have posed an interesting challenge to the global community, specifically to its more powerful members. Ironically, the Tutsi-dominated government of Rwanda enjoys international recognition and benefits based on the genocide, Rwanda suffered in 1994, but continues to deny the same benefit to Hutus as they were accused of leading a counter-genocide campaign then in the DRC. While the people of the DRC, as well as human rights activists, call for justice for all who were affected, the government of Rwanda, strongly backed by a number of powerful international powers, opposed attempts by the international community to pin charges of genocide perpetrated by its army in the DRC on it. Because of the clear negation of the genocide report by the Rwandan government, the nature of human rights, human rights violations, and genocide criteria proposed and defended by key members of the international community in relation to the mass killings in the DRC are examined.     

Book reviews

Anthony Giddens, THE CONSEQUENCES OF MODERNITY (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1990). Anthony Giddens, MODERNITY AND SELF‐IDENTITY: SELF AND SOCIETY IN THE LATE MODERN AGE (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1991)

Robert B. Westbrook, JOHN DEWEY AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991)

David Harvey, THE CONDITION OF POSTMODERNITY: AN ENQUIRY INTO THE ORIGINS OF CULTURAL CHANGE (Oxford: Blackwell, 1989)

Robin Blackburn, ed., AFTER THE FALL: THE FAILURE OF COMMUNISM AND THE FUTURE OF SOCIALISM (London and New York: Verso, 1991)

Andrew Hacker, TWO NATIONS: BLACK AND WHITE, SEPARATE, HOSTILE, UNEQUAL. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992)

Ridgeway, James, BLOOD IN THE FACE: THE KU KLUX KLAN, ARYAN NATIONS, NAZI SKINHEADS AND THE RISE OF A NEW WHITE CULTURE (New York: Thunders Mouth Press, 1991)

Gene H. Bell‐Villada, THE CARLOS CHADWICK MYSTERY: A NOVEL OF COLLEGE LIFE AND POLITICAL TERROR. (Albuquerque, NM: Amador Publishers, 1990)     

Human rights practices and the Indonesian middle class

Abstract

During the New Order we have often witnessed or read in the newspapers or at least heard from various circles about KOPKAMTIB actions such as banning or ordering coverage of a story in the mass media through only a telephone call; carrying out arrests, detention, and interrogation against citizens without regard to the proper procedures delineated in law; inhumane treatment during questioning; carrying out executions performed without regard to legal procedures, more commonly known as “mysterious shootings”; undertaking “political screening” of citizens to determine their loyalty to the government as in the case of prospective nominees in the General Elections; depriving citizens of their civil rights without trial, such as forbidding signatories to the Petition of 50 to leave the country and depriving them of the ability to earn a living by instructing all agencies and state banks not to honor their requests; the arrest and detention of religious teachers and so forth. All of this has been done with the excuse that the individuals involved are suspected of engaging in extremist or other subversive acts.     

The politics of neighbourhood institutions: The Italian case

This account is part of a larger research effort which is aimed at evaluating the significance for Italian society of the introduction of new government institutions at the neighbourhood level and of identifying the circumstances under which they are likely to be promoted and to succeed. The article looks at which types of neighbourhood government have been instituted and which cities in Italy have taken advantage of the provisions following the national legislation on neighbourhoods passed in 1976. An examination of conceptual models of neighbourhood government, secondary and interview data relating to the debate on the law, and neighbourhood electoral data are brought to bear on the two questions.     

Criminality and Armed Groups: A Comparative Study of FARC and Paramilitary Groups in Colombia

Terrorist groups and armed insurgents regularly exploit illicit markets to launder money, traffic illegal goods, and purchase arms. In such an environment, the line between armed political organizations and criminal groups appears to break down. However, through a comparative study of paramilitary groups and Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—FARC) in Colombia, this article finds that group goals, the political environment, and membership strongly influence the types of criminal activities a given armed groups undertakes. Thus, the membership and political agenda of sub-state armed groups not only distinguishes them from criminal groups—organized for and motivated by economic gain—but also shapes their criminal behavior.