I’ve decided my entries are not getting shorter, so I am splitting them into one part on this page and the rest to be reached by clicking.

There are notaries in the City of London called scrivener notaries who are Latin notaries / civil-law notaries. They are full members of the Union Internationale du Notariat Latin. These notaries are trained in both law and language. They have a five-year traineeship and they have to pass two exams. They differ from German notaries in that they are not integrated into the English legal system – if you buy a house you may use a solicitor, but you don’t need a notary. However, they prepare documents that are accepted abroad. If a UK resident has property in Spain, a scrivener notary can draw up a will in Spanish that is registered in the registry of wills in Spain as if it had been made in Spain. So traditionally these are notaries in the City of London who draft documents with a foreign element or in foreign languages. They also translate. Continue reading →

I’ve decided my entries are not getting shorter, so I am splitting them into one part on this page and the rest to be reached by clicking.

There are notaries in the City of London called scrivener notaries who are Latin notaries / civil-law notaries. They are full members of the Union Internationale du Notariat Latin. These notaries are trained in both law and language. They have a five-year traineeship and they have to pass two exams. They differ from German notaries in that they are not integrated into the English legal system – if you buy a house you may use a solicitor, but you don’t need a notary. However, they prepare documents that are accepted abroad. If a UK resident has property in Spain, a scrivener notary can draw up a will in Spanish that is registered in the registry of wills in Spain as if it had been made in Spain. So traditionally these are notaries in the City of London who draft documents with a foreign element or in foreign languages. They also translate. Continue reading →

Apparently the American Attorney General, John Ashcroft, started a trend to use the term ‘person of interest’ to mean a suspect. It sounds rather like what in Britain is expressed as ‘a man is helping the police with their enquiries’ (well, it’s usually ‘a man’). To quote AP:

“Person of interest” has no legal basis but it has become a new part of American law enforcement vernacular.’

Thanks to Jane Rosenthal, who posted it on the Forensic Linguistics list.

A Google search on “person +of interest” reveals more. One result leads to a site about John Ashcroft and the ‘missing Bill of Rights’ since 9/11.

Unfortunately I couldn’t trace the article quoted, which says that ‘person of interest’ is used to mean a potential suspect, and is possibly a dangerous term.

‘Richard Uviller, a Columbia Law School professor and former prosecutor and Justice Department lawyer, said the term is not necessarily bad.

“It seems to me we really need a term to describe a person who might turn out to be a witness and might turn out to be a suspect, but at this stage is only thought to be a person who knows something,” Uviller said.’

Elsewhere, Eric Umansky explains the term, again quoting a law professor and also the FBI, who claim not to use the term.

Apparently the American Attorney General, John Ashcroft, started a trend to use the term ‘person of interest’ to mean a suspect. It sounds rather like what in Britain is expressed as ‘a man is helping the police with their enquiries’ (well, it’s usually ‘a man’). To quote AP:

“Person of interest” has no legal basis but it has become a new part of American law enforcement vernacular.’

Thanks to Jane Rosenthal, who posted it on the Forensic Linguistics list.

A Google search on “person +of interest” reveals more. One result leads to a site about John Ashcroft and the ‘missing Bill of Rights’ since 9/11.

Unfortunately I couldn’t trace the article quoted, which says that ‘person of interest’ is used to mean a potential suspect, and is possibly a dangerous term.

‘Richard Uviller, a Columbia Law School professor and former prosecutor and Justice Department lawyer, said the term is not necessarily bad.

“It seems to me we really need a term to describe a person who might turn out to be a witness and might turn out to be a suspect, but at this stage is only thought to be a person who knows something,” Uviller said.’

Elsewhere, Eric Umansky explains the term, again quoting a law professor and also the FBI, who claim not to use the term.

Thanks to Josh Dillon for the following link to a superb Dutch site with information in English and Dutch about Dutch notaries, who are similar to German notaries. Click on ‘a Dutch notaris’. It has a glossary (‘List of terms’) in English, with Dutch terms in brackets.
They write in English ‘a notaris’. That’s another way of handling the problem.

Thanks to Josh Dillon for the following link to a superb Dutch site with information in English and Dutch about Dutch notaries, who are similar to German notaries. Click on ‘a Dutch notaris’. It has a glossary (‘List of terms’) in English, with Dutch terms in brackets.
They write in English ‘a notaris’. That’s another way of handling the problem.