I am not finished with Der Fall Collini – there will be one more post with miscellaneous notes. But first, the translation into English by Anthea Bell, which I managed to borrow from the London Library. One of the reviews of The Collini Case I found was at the complete review, which seems all to be the work of one Austrian living in the US. lt comments “The terminology does give Bell some trouble”, and says this is not her finest work. It does also comment on how British her translation is, which is not surprising.
I don’t want to run down Bell’s translation, which is very good and does the job, and even if it were not so good, it would certainly be adequate for a reader – OK, translations always lose something, of course. But I wanted to see how the legal terminology would be a problem for her. And in contrast to Schirach’s short stories, this novel has much more to do with lawyers and courts. It follows the training and experience of a young lawyer in the Berlin criminal courts.
I have looked through the translation and found some peculiarities in the legal terms used, which I will try to set out in a table. (The font changes, but at the moment I can’t see how to harmonize it).
It does seem to me that there are some basic legal terms where Bell flounders, for example the meaning of Rechtsprechung or chambers.
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Schirach |
Bell |
Comment |
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Liste für den Notdienst der Strafverteidigervereinigung |
legal-aid rota |
The reference to legal aid here seems odd. The English equivalent would be “duty solicitor”, which might not work here. |
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Notdienst der Strafverteidiger, Rechtsanwalt Caspar Leinen. |
Caspar Leinen here, on standby duty for legal aid |
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Sie wissen, dass Sie nach der Rechtsprechung nur entpflichtet werden können… |
You know that legally you can be relieved of the duty to give legal aid only if… |
I have the feeling that Bell thinks “legal aid” means acting as someone’s lawyer – in fact it means financial support given to parties.(This is a difficult term to translate) |
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die Kanzlei Leinens |
Leinen’s chambers |
Leinen’s office |
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junge Anwälte |
young defence counsels |
“counsel” is the plural for me, no S |
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Rechtsanwalt Caspar Leinen |
Caspar Leinen, legal adviser |
Caspar Leinen, Rechtsanwalt, or Caspar Leinen, lawyer |
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Ihr erster Schwurgerichtsfall |
Your first big murder case |
Good! |
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schrieben Anträge |
wrote their pleas |
wrote/drafted petitions |
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wenn er in dem Mandat bliebe |
if he stayed in his brief |
if he remained instructed? not easy |
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Post, die kein Richter kontrollieren durfte |
post uncensored by a magistrate |
why not judge? |
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Strafprozessrecht |
criminal proceedings |
criminal procedure |
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Die 12. Große Strafkammer – eines der acht Schwurgerichte am Landgericht Berlin – ließ die Anklage wegen Mordes gegen Collini zu |
The 12th Criminal Court – one of the eight courts of first instance in the Berlin regional judiciary where serious felonies were tried – authorized the arraignment of Collini for murder. |
Schwurgericht is a court that deals with the most serious criminal offences. 12th Criminal Chamber..eight courts of first instance for serious criminal offences at the Berlin higher Regional Court…indictment (arraignment is OK) Not sure what “judiciary” is doing here. |
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ich habe noch eine Besprechung in der Wirtschaftsstrafabteilung |
I have to see someone in the commercial law department |
business/commercial crime department |
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…dass nach der Rechtsprechung nur die höchste Führung der Nazis Mörder waren |
…that in juridical terminology only the top Nazi leaders were murderers |
according to German case law |
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nach der Rechtsprechung …die sogenannten Schreibtischtäter waren…alle nur Gehilfen. Keiner von ihnen galt vor Gericht als Mörder p. 181 |
According to the juridical definition, the people who organized such things from their desks were all just accessories |
according to German case law … |
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Der Empfang für die Besucher war im sogenannten Berliner Zimmer untergebracht, einem großen Raum mit nur einem Fenster, der Vorderhaus mit Seitenflügeln und Rückgebäude verband. |
Reception for visitors was in the Berlin Room, as it was called, a large room with only one window. It linked the facade to the lateral wings and the back of the building. |
I find sogenannt superfluous in the German and “as it was called” even worse in the English. I don’t know why Schirach even needed to define a Berliner Zimmer (I keep reading about them – here is a diagram https://www.tip-berlin.de/stadtleben/architektur/berliner-zimmer/ ) This is probably just part of Schirach’s technique of adding lots of trivial details as if these were evidence of authenticity. |
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Anwalt der Nebenkläger |
counsel in the accessory prosecution |
Romain gives this for Nebenklage, but it might confuse a reader of the English. Hans Meyer was an accessory to murder; this refers to co-prosecution by victims – not easy to translate though. |
