engleski

Is Multilingualism an Asset or an Obstacle to Legal Translation in the EU Context

An inherent characteristic of European law is its multilingual nature. The latter is manifested in equal authenticity of legislative texts in all official languages of the European Union. Multilingualism and linguistic diversity are matters often addressed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereinafter: CJEU), as well as by national courts of EU Member States. In fact, courts are often faced with the formidable task of adjudicating cases involving divergences between the language versions. From the perspective of Translation Studies and legal translation it is therefore interesting to examine the guidelines followed by the courts when dealing with such cases. The CJEU’s approach to interpreting meaning of concepts of EU law in particular might prove helpful for legal translation. With this in mind, the author explores multilingualism from a cross-disciplinary perspective employing both legal and linguistic theories and attempts to answer the following questions: Does the CJEU consult other language versions in its interpretation? Do national courts consult other language versions? Are some languages more equal than others? Do courts take other methods into account in their search for meaning of EU legal concepts?

multilingualism; legal translation; EU context

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