Logic Approach To Legal Rules Translation (C-E)

The translation of Chinese laws and regulations is increasingly crucial while China is furthering the reform and doing more and more foreign trade. To improve the quality of legal translation, the relevant theoretical research must be attached importance. But this important research is far behind in China where most present work is done only on the level of words, sentences and legal text style and little efforts are made to search for enough applicable theories. Starting with the logic nature of legal rules' construction and based on the logic approach of translation research proposed by Yan Desheng and the legal translation research conducted by Sarcevic, this paper shows the essential importance of applying logic to legal translation, especially legal rules translation and provides a feasible way of such application.This paper consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 probes the intimate relation between translation and logic and introduces Yan Desheng's logic approach of translation research. The process of translation, including comprehension of the source text, expression of the target text, and the final target text evaluation, is dependent on logic. For this reason Mr. Yan Desheng proposes the logic approach of translation research to guide the translation activities. Chapter 2 investigates the special relationship between the legal rules translation and logic, and presents the unavoidable necessity of applying logic to legal rules translation. On the one hand, the essential principle of drafting legal rules is precision, on the other hand, translators play a special role. So it's especially necessary to apply logic to legal rules translation.Chapter 3 probes the application of logic concepts to legal rules translation on the level of concept. Different legal systems consist of different legal concepts which impose difficulties on translators. Translators should analyze the conceptual components of words and conceptual relations between legal terms so as to obtain the conceptual equivalents.Chapter 4 aims to apply logic propositions to legal rules translation. The inner logic structure of legal rules is the propositional contents. They're simple propositions such as categorical propositions and normative propositions, compound propositions such as conjunctive propositions, disjunctive propositions and conditional propositions, and complex propositions. Translators must be able to recognize the propositional contents and relationship so as to offer clear and correct translations.Chapter 5 probes the application of presumptions of laws. Legal drafters can't avoid those ambiguous expressions completely. In this case some presumptions of laws, including the Presumption of Consistent Expression, Presumption against Tautology, and Presumption of Last Antecedent, come into being on the basis of logic inference. Translators shall be acquainted with these presumptions to solve similar translation problems.The above research proves the urgent demand for the application of logic to legal rules translation. Legal translators can't ensure the adequacy and accuracy of the translation without equipping their mind with logic knowledge, which also proves it's quite necessary to develop logic approach to translation.