Study On The Official Translation Mechanism Of Laws And Regulations In China

Legal translation is a broad concept with many forms,including court interpreting,the translation of legal academic works,contracts and legal documents,laws and regulations etc.For each category,the translation or interpreting can be done from Chinese to English or from English to Chinese.This study examines the Chinese to English translation of laws and regulations in China.We are seeing increasing legal exchanges between China and the rest of the world against the backdrop of "Chinese culture going global".At the same time,the focus of legal translation in China has shifted from translating foreign laws to introducing Chinese laws and regulations.It is China's commitment to join the WTO that China will provide timely and accurate translation of its laws and regulations.It can also facilitate trade exchanges,attract foreign investment and help others to learn about China's legal system and the achievements of socialist rule of law.However,there are many difficulties with the translation of laws and regulations in China.Problems like mistranslation and inconsistent terminology have been existing for a long time.Most scholars tried to improve the accuracy of translation from the perspective of translation studies,while few of them have examined the existing regulations on the translation of laws and regulations in China,to see whether these regulations are clear and comprehensive,whether the definition of relevant standards and responsibilities is clear and reasonable,so as to ensure the efficiency of cooperation between various departments in charge of the translation of laws and regulations and reduce the inconvenience and loss caused by inaccurate translation.The present study examines existing regulations on the translation of laws and regulations in China,analyzes the content and problems of these regulations and provides suggestions for improvement.Qualitative research method such as text analysis is used to examine and code existing regulations,so as to clarify the scope of translation work,the major department in charge of translation,the quality standard,working procedure,support needed,external use and publication of the translation.As a result,the official translation mechanisms of the central and local governments and their differences and problems can be identified.To solve these problems,suggestions regarding policy making,database construction,personnel training and learning from other countries are proposed.Currently,the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is in charge of the translation of laws;the State Council is in charge of the translation of administrative regulations and State Council departmental rules;local governments are in charge of the translation of local regulations,rules and regulatory documents.There are no existing regulations regulating the translation of laws.The State Council issued two regulatory documents regarding the translation of administrative regulations and State Council departmental rules.14 local governments issued 17 regulatory documents on the translation of local regulations and rules.After coding the existing 19 regulatory documents on the translation of laws and regulations in China,we can see that regulatory documents mainly focus on six aspects,including the scope of the translation work,the major department in charge of translation,the quality standard,working procedure,support needed,external use and publication of the translation.Since China joined the WTO,the translation of its laws and regulations began to be more systematic and standardized,as the government started to issue regulatory documents to regulate such project.More importance is attached to the translation of trade related laws and regulations,and developed regions have more comprehensive regulations on the work of translation.Besides,the major principles of the official translation mechanism of laws and regulations in China include:"drafting departments should be in charge of translation","laws and regulations should be translated and reviewed by different parties","the translation of laws and regulations should be done in batches",and "the translation must be accurate,timely and open to the public".However,there are following problems with the translation of laws and regulations in China:relevant regulatory documents are of very low regulatory level;there is also lack of enforcement and supervision mechanism;the introduction of regulatory documents on translation is not timely;not all provinces have introduced such regulatory documents;the scope of laws and regulations that need to be translated is not clear;there is also no unified standard of what kind of local governments need to translate the local regulations and rules that they issued;some of the major principles of the official translation mechanism are not strictly adhered to;it is also difficult to obtain the official translation of laws and regulations.Therefore,this study proposes that the translation of laws and regulations in China should be regulated in the form of administrative regulations.Translation should be included in the legislative process.The six major contents and principles of the translation of laws and regulations should be clearly defined,a supervision mechanism for the translation of laws and regulations should be established,and bilingual database of laws and regulations and terminology should be established.We should also cultivate interdisciplinary talent with both English and legal background and learn from other countries.The present study is innovative as it didn't explore the field of legal translation from the perspective of translation studies.It examined all the existing regulatory documents on this topic and identified the official translation mechanism of both the central and local governments.Due to the limitation of time and ability,this study only focused on the examination of regulatory documents on the translation of administration regulations,State Council rules and local regulations and rules,as there is no regulatory document on the translation of laws.Future studies can focus on the translation mechanism of laws and carry out interviews with experts working for the NPC's Legislative Affairs Commission.