Talking Law Dictionary DE and EN

Dieses früher besprochene Wörterbuch ist wahrscheinlich erschienen.

It looks as if the Talking Law Dictionary may have appeared. I mentioned it earlier.

Here are pictures of all the speakers. Do they get to speak one word at a time?

bq. Sprecher: Prof. Dr. Jutta Limbach, Präsidentin des Goethe Institutes, vormals Präsidentin des BVerfG; Prof. Dr. Günther Hirsch, Präsident des BGH; Prof. Dr. Udo di Fabio, Richter am BVerfG; Prof. Dr. Hoffman-Riem, Richter am BVerfG; Lord Hope of Craighead, Richter am House of Lords; Lord Rodger of Earlferry, Richter am House of Lords; Lord Slynn of Hadley, Richter am House of Lords; Prof. Dr. David A.O. Edward, Richter am EuGH; Prof. Dr. Ninon Colneric, Richterin am EuGH; Lady Justice Mary Arden, Richterin am Court of Appeal; Lord Justice Konrad Schiemann, Richter am Court of Appeal; Dame Rosalyn Higgins, Richterin am Internationalen Gerichtshof in Den Haag; Justice Stephen Breyer, Richter am United States Supreme Court; Professor Thomas Buergenthal, Richer am IGH; Dr. Andrew Cannon, Supervising Magistrate, Magistrate Court Adelaide (Australia); Dr. Peter Jann, Richter am EuGH; Fidelma O’Kelly Macken, Richterin am EuGH; Eckart Hien, Präsident des BVerwG; Prof. Dr. KlausTolksdorf, Richter am BGH

It appears they are also selling the book by Heidinger and Hubalek (I thought it was a CD-ROM at first, but it isn’t). Any legal translator who doesn’t know the book should take a look at it, but it’s not quite free of Germanisms (Austriacisms?). It’s Anglo-Amerikanische Rechtssprache (sold under a different title that sounds like a dictionary in the USA).

10 thoughts on “Talking Law Dictionary DE and EN

  1. I have Heidinger/Hubalek, and it’s not particularly good. It probably has it’s use as a sort of introductory coursebook (I obtained mine when hearing classes at the university) to the subject, but apart from that does not go into too much detail.

    Although Heidinger is a legal translator here in Vienna, I would not recommend his book to translators in general.

    Just my € 0.02, of course.

  2. I didn’t take time to describe Heidinger and Hubalek. It’s basically a collection of boilerplate, and although some of it consists of translations, there are genuine documents in both languages, and the few pages summarizing types of contract clause I think are very useful, though I admit I’ve never used it for any length of time. I’ve got the second edition and I think there’s a third. It’s much better than the bilingual contracts book by Dieter Stummel published a year or two ago by Beck. I’m surprised anyone would describe it as an introductory coursebook, but I see it calls itself a Praxis-Handbuch für Rechtsanwälte, Wirtschaftsjuristen und Wirtschaftstreuhänder, and that is going too far. I see it as a book for training translators in practical translation.
    What would you recommend, if anything?

  3. I agree with IG. I was on the parallel, brilliant Spanish law course at the Juridikum Law Faculty in Vienna. The course book used was the excellent Einführung in die spanische Rechtssprache – Beck-Manz-Stämpfli – as supplemented by copious handouts.

    I know you asked IG, Margaret, but my recommendations would be original Eng. law sources: the Inns of Court (Bar) School of Law, London, (Low-Cost) Drafting & Opinion Writing Manuals. Publishers are now OUP and no longer the Blackstone Press. Drafting exercises for Bar Students, HLT/OBP, may well be out-of-print.

    For the better-off or those within easy reach of a UK ref. library, there is Bullen, Leake & Jacob’s Precedents of (Civil) Pleadings or Archbold’s Criminal Pleadings.

  4. Do you mean to say there’s a course on English law at the Law Faculty based on Heidinger and Hubalek? I don’t know the Spanish book but I know Daum and I know a couple of other books by him, including the introduction to Gerichts- and Behördenterminologie for translators in Bavaria. I know the books on legal German and ‘Anglo-American’ law in that series and I would find the latter hard to base a course on because it’s very American and it consists of lumps of texts that wouldn’t be my choice, but it would be better than the Heidinger / Hubalek. But IG says it is perhaps OK as an introductory coursebook, and AMM says it isn’t.

    AMM, you’re assuming with your suggestions that the students know all about the divisions of English law, the history, common law and equity? I can’t imagine people deriving equity from a drafting manual.

  5. From the Beck Verlag description of the Spanish law book – this mixture of texts sounds excellent.

    Fit im spanischen Recht
    Wer mit dem spanischen Recht zu tun hat, muss die jeweilige Rechtssprache beherrschen. Mit der Neuauflage dieses Rechtswörterbuches ist man auf der sicheren Seite: Anhand von Originaltexten (Gesetze, Kommentare, Verträge, Gerichtsurteile und Zeitungsartikel sowie Auszüge aus Lehrbüchern) erhält man einen optimalen Einstieg in das fremde Recht. Erklärt werden nicht nur grundlegende Prinzipien und Rechtsinstitute, sondern auch die Unterschiede zwischen der spanischen und der deutschen Rechtsordnung. Hilfreich dabei ist die ausführliche Fachterminologie am Ende eines jeden Textes. In einem gesonderten Teil finden sich ein Glossar, kurze Hinweise zur Lösung von Fragen zu den T
    exten und zu den grammatikalischen Übungen.

  6. I always intended to gatecrash the Englisch für Juristen – USA – and Anglo-Amerikanische Rechtssprache I, both taught at the Juridicum – not Juridikum BTW – by Franz J. Heidinger, but never made it. Hubalek doesn’t show up on the Vienna Uni. website. However, I’d be surprised if their book wasn’t used on the course.

    I can’t comment on the value of their book as an intro course – IG knows better – as I thumbed through it for DE>BRIT. not AM EN law trans. ref. only and decided against buying it.

    As for understanding Eng. law and equity, the books of pleadings precedents i.e. for procedural use are, by and large, stand-alone as drafting-style manuals. NO knowledge of UK substantive law is required. However, the admiralty (shipping) and equity/regd. charity claims are so eccentric that some explanation might be needed.

  7. Yes, there is a course at the University of Vienna taught by Haidinger, and he makes extensive use of his book.

    I see it’s called “Anglo-Amerikanische Rechtssprache” now, it used to be called “Introduction to the Law and Language of the US” if I remember correctly. Since the book was in use there, I described it as “introductory coursebook”, but was not too impressed by it. I must add that I have the frist edition, though, so a number of things may have changed.

    As to other books on the subject: Sorry, I don’t know of any myself, I usually use in-house templates and forms when I have to.

  8. Yes, IG. I also mentioned Haidinger’s other taught course: Englisch für Juristen.

    Don’t worry about not knowing the other books. They are well-kept secrets and mail order OUP or Thomson/ Sweet & Maxwell. You won’t find them at any Vienna bookshop – whether at Jurbooks on the Wollzeile, Manz Bookshop off the Graben or at either of the British Bookshops.

  9. All I would teach out of that book would be the contract types, I think. It’s the sort of thing that might be useful at home for reference. With the Internet it’s easier to find good boilerplate examples than it was when the book first appeared. Of course, you’ve got to recognize them when you see them. Can imagine it would be difficult to use as a course book. Mind you, my own teaching script had a very good reputation in Munich, but less so in Erlangen among my students.

    Looks as if Heidinger spells his name differently outside Vienna.thanks, I was just wondering what you would think was a good book to teach legal English or English law from.

  10. Whoops! I meant Heidinger. I keep getting mixed up with the spelling of Dr of Law Jörg Haider and the more entertaining Austrian cabaret artist, Alfons Haider.

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