The German language service of the Swiss Federal Chancellery publishes details of books, articles, conferences, judgments etc. on language and law in Switzerland and elsewhere. The details are in German, and you have to register (no charge). Every few months they send an email indicating there has been an update. They are responsible for translation too. DORES gives details, for example, of

bq. Dingwall, Silvia: English in Switzerland – is it legal? In: Murray, Heather (Hg.): anglais, Englisch, inglese, Englais, … English! (= Bulletin VALS/ASLA 77). Neuchâtel: Institut de linguistique 2003, 165 S..
and of

bq. Cotterill, Janet (Hrsg.) : Language in the Legal Process. New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2002, 296 S..
(Aus der Linguist-List 13.3371, Dez. 2002)Linguists and lawyers from a range of countries and legal systems explore the language of the law and its participants, beginning with the role of the forensic linguist in legal proceedings, either as expert witness or in legal language reform. Subsequent chapters analyze different aspects of language and interaction in the chain of events from a police emergency call through the police interview context and into the courtroom, as well as appeal court and alternative routes to justice.

and of

bq. Jowett, Ben: Workbook for Lawyers using English as a Foreign Language. Zürich: Schulthess 2003, 74 S..

Here is another description of the latter, at Schulthess.

The Wired Interpreter’s Page is the site of a professional conference interpreter turned IT consultant, subtitled ‘A website for conference interpreters and other language professionals’. It links to Vincent’s Glossblog, ‘Blogging the Web’s flotsam and jetsam on language’, which alas hasn’t been updated for a year, but there are good links. (Thanks to Alison Penfold).

Legal translators nowadays often encounter cross-border leasing schemes. There is an article in German about cross-border leasing at LEGAMedia. Duefinance in Düsseldorf has English materials on cross-border leasing and other German financial matters. They also have a German site. The Guardian had an article about the problems of the procedure. German and U.S. law see the transaction differently, but the U.S. permits it. But what if the U.S. stopped permitting it? Fürth withdrew from a projected scheme last year after Bavarian legislation banned it.

For those who are irritated by the public confusion between interpreters and translators (numerous ‘translators’ who were really interpreters have been killed in Iraq), here is a picture from Lower Saxony – text in German – showing two ‘translators’ sitting in a booth. An overall term in East Germany was Sprachmittler (language mediators), and some academic tomes in West Germany use the term ‘der Translator’ for both. I’m not sure what the English term for both is.

A Google image search for translator is quite amusing. There are a few ‘translators’ in booths there, but they’re outnumbered by handheld devices. This picture of ‘our new translator’ is my favourite. But the mad translator (Kenneth Kronenberg, of the New England Translators Association) looks more like my everyday life.

The BKA is looking for translators – more details on their website (in German – from William J. Hadfield-Burhardt on CompuServe). These are fixed-term jobs, not very well-paid (BAT IVa), requiring two languages in addition to German, and translating in both directions. I think it’s relevant to mention it, though. Deadline is 29th August and they want a passport photo, but it doesn’t say copies have to be certified. They would prefer three native speakers of English and one each of French and Spanish.

ADDED LATER: William says the deadline is going to be extended – I wonder why?

Keeping on the New Zealand theme, the Independent has an article on the use of a traditional Maori style of justice to deal with juvenile offenders, successful in New Zealand and apparently to be tried in Britain.

bq. As Saga Manu, a Samoan who is one of Porirua’s youth justice co-ordinators, explains: “Where I come from, we don’t go to the police. If my son commits a crime against you, then your family seeks restitution from mine. It’s up to the families and the village elders to sort it.”

I found this via the UK Criminal Justice Weblog.

I can’t help feeling that traditional Maori, Tongan and Samoan society is different from ours. Would it help in the latest Nuremberg incident? In the empty streets in the remains of the Nazi party rally grounds, youths have been racing souped-up cars at night. Up to a thousand people have been watching, and the police have removed 30 cars and 50 driving licences. On Saturday, a 15-year-old pedestrian was run over and killed by a 27-year-old driving a Golf at 120 kph. Here’s an article (in German).