There are a number of articles in the Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German) on references. German job references are written in a sort of code, a secret language known to those who write them and those who receive them. You can buy books about it. The employee can sue for a better reference, but not insist on the best.

§ 630 of the German Civil Code gives a right to a reference. Here’s the original with Simon Goren’s translation:

Pflicht zur Zeugniserteilung. Bei der Beendigung eines dauernden Dienstverhältnisses kann der Verpflichtete von dem anderen Teile ein schriftliches Zeugnis über das Dienstverhältnis und dessen Dauer fordern. Das Zeugnis ist auf Verlangen auf die Leistungen und die Führung im Dienste zu erstrecken. Die Erteilung des Zeugnisses in elektronischer Form ist ausgeschlossen.
(The last sentence is post-Goren)

Duty to give a testimonial. On the termination of an ongoing employment relationship the employee may demand from the other party a written testimonial as to the employment relationship and its duration. The testimonial shall, on demand, contain a statement as to his performance and conduct at work.

I have twice been asked to translate such a reference into English, and both times I had doubts. In both cases the clients changed their minds. Now I think I would translate them literally, but first tell the client (as I did then) to consider the problems that might arise. Who is the translation for? Should I put a footnote indicating ‘this would be better if the word “always” was there’?

Interview with Andreas Mauritz, a lawyer who has written a book about references.

The closing wording is important: if there have been no problems: the employer writes that he very much regrets the employee is leaving, thanks the employee for the work done and wishes the employee all the best for the future. – If this wording is missing, something must be wrong.

The words ‘reliable’ (zuverlässig) and ‘honest’ (ehrlich) must be there.

Expressions like ‘He was popular (Er war beliebt) and ‘He was always held in great regard’ (Er wurde stets sehr geschätzt) are ambiguous (Was he sociable, or was his work top-notch? Was he helpful or a spineless idiot?) For an executive, this would be lethal: he mustn’t be popular, but fair.

Here’s a list of ‘grades’:

His/her conduct towards superiors, colleagues , subordinates and customers …
… was always exemplary (very good conduct, grade 1)
… was exemplary (good, grade 2)
… was always irreproachable / correct (grade 2- – vollbefriedigend, a grade usually only used for law students)
… was irreproachable /correct (grade 3)
… was without fault (grade 4, pass)
… gave no occasion for complaint (grade 5, fail)
… Nothing negative has been learnt of her/him (grade 6, very poor)

There is also a long list of terms with explanations of their meaning.

e.g ‘The atmosphere at work was improved as a result of his sociability’ (Durch seine Geselligkeit wurde das Betriebsklima verbessert) means he sometimes drank alcohol on the job.
And an article introducing the topic.

Yesterday Martin Hohmann, a member of the CDU, was expelled from the party for remarks he made in a speech on October 3rd, which are seen as anti-Semitic. I don’t intend to discuss the speech itself, which I have skimmed. Its main point was that Germans ought not permanently to be seen as beyond the pale, and that other nations could get away with things Germans couldn’t. The comparison that most struck me was a reference to the way Napoleon is remembered in France, with an implied comparison to Hitler – but surely Napoleon’s legacy and Hitler’s were somewhat different?

Anyway, Hohmann said the Jews could just as much be considered a Tätervolk (race of perpetrators) as the Germans. I wondered if there were varying translations – the word Täter can be a problem, but perpetrator seemed the right choice. The Independent had race of perpetrators. The BBC didn’t mention the term. The Guardian had nation of perpetrators. The New York Times wrote:

bq. As an example of those other people, Mr. Hohmann singled out the Jews, whom he called Tätervolk, a German term that has been widely translated as “race of perpetrators” but is probably more accurately translated as “nation of perpetrators.”

It also called Hohmann a legislator, which was a new term to me in this context.

I found nothing in the Telegraph online, but there was an article about the poor quality of German pop music:

bq. So dire has the situation become that some German chart toppers pretend they are foreigners. The red-haired Kelly Family pretend to be Irish, while the singer Sascha hints that he is Canadian….
Predictably, American and British acts are hogging the current top ten, while only three are German. But who has heard of Alexander, Jeanette or Sarah Connor?

Cat recommends bird: The IPKAT recommends Media Beak in the following terms:

bq. What do Larry Flynt, Jessica Lynch, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Gail Hipgrave, Prince Charles and a High Court judge have in common? They all get a mention on Media Beak, a new blog, recommended by the IPKat, which bills itself as “the new hot-off-the-press top topic discussion forum for media law”. The IPKat wishes the Media Beak well, and looks forward to reading his views and news.

The Herald reports that many Scottish lawyers think a new UK supreme court would be unconstitutional in Scotland. (via An Oasis)

The 1707 Act of Union provides that no Scottish case can be heard in an English court. It also removed Scotland’s parliament, but left it its judicial independence. The Faculty of Advocates, the equivalent of the Bar Council in England and Wales, says the supreme court would be unlawful and unconstitutional.

Apparently the Act of Union is entrenched, so it should not be possible for it to be amended (but it must have been an amendment when Scotland was given a parliament). That is one question. Another is, why would the supreme court be an ‘English’ court? It would be for the whole of the UK. And another: how is it that some Scottish appeals (in civil matters) go to the House of Lords?

In fact, the Herald article suggests that the main difficulty is with the proposals for a supreme court in their present form. There have always been one or two Scottish law lords, and similar provisions need to be made for a UK supreme court (if there ever is one). And perhaps the court is too closely integrated into the system of English and Welsh courts for the Scots to accept.

Delia Venables, in her portal for UK legal resources, reports on The Oxford Standard Citation of Legal Authorities, OSCOLA for short, the nearest equivalent in the UK to the U.S. Blue Book (or ALWD, I might add – see earlier entry).

It was produced by the Oxford Law Faculty in consultation with leading academic law publishers and serves as the style guide for the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal, as well as for theses written in the Law Faculty.

There is a big OSCOLA and a small OSCOLA, both PDF files, 103 pages and 32 pages in length respectively.

Like everything else, these are house style guides. In particular, many British people don’t like to spell using -ize rather than -ise (but I do), as is the Oxford University Press standard. That’s a peripheral issue, however. Here is a quote from the big OSCOLA:

1 Pinpoint References in Statutes
Rules: Abbreviations are only to be used in footnotes. They adopt the
following format:
section s
sections ss
sub-section sub-s
sub-sections sub-ss
paragraph para
schedule sch
part pt
article art
articles arts
There are no full stops after abbreviations.

Harvard Law School has a good summary of books on this topic.

Via Legal Memo-Randum, The Smoking Gun quotes a genuine job application :

bq. Matthew Toll is in his final year at the Tulane University School of Law and, like many fellow students approaching graduation, is seeking an associate’s position paying at least $70,000 per year. The 25-year-old, though, has taken a unique approach to that hunt. Last month, he sent 20-30 law firms his resume and a five-page interview request drafted to resemble a legal filing … Noting that, “I am VERY hungry right now,” Toll promised prospective employers that, “If my mother’s funeral was the day of a key deposition, I would do the eulogy via teleconference after the deposition.”

Here’s the beginning:

bq. Plaintiff, Matthew S. Toll, pursuant to his lifelong dream of practicing law, hereby requests Defendant, Wolff & Samson, PC, to provide Plaintiff with an interview, whether in person, or via telephone, in Response to Plaintiff’s First Request for an Interview.

The Smoking Gun (mentioned here before) has a big collection of genuine but bizarre legal documents.