| FAMILY AND ESTATE LAW Prenuptial agreement – Divorce - Probate FRENCH > AMERICAN ENGLISH Letter A All rights reserved Sources : |
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| BEAU | Expressions juridiques en un clin d'oeil, Louis Beaudoin et Madeleine Maihot | JURI | Juriterm - CTTJ / Université de Moncton |
| BRAU | Dictionnaire du droit privé, Serge Braudo - http://www.dictionnaire-juridique.com/serge-braudo.php | JURIP | Bulletin sur la terminologie juridique anglais-français, par Frédéric Houbert,traducteur |
| CELD | The Council of Europe Legal Dictionary – Council of Europe Publishin – F.H.S Bridge | JUST | Justice Québec - http://www.justice.gouv.qc.ca/ |
| CLTD | Center for for Legal Translation and documentation | LCDE | Lexique anglais-français du conseil de l'Europe – Ed. du Conseil de l'Europe |
| COLL | Dictionnaire économique et juridique Robert Collins | LXFD | Lexique fédéral — http://www.uottawa.ca/associations/ctdj/lexfed/calfed.htm |
| CORN | Dictionary of the Civil Code, Gérard Cornu, Alain A. Levasseur,Marie E. Laporte-Legeais | MEER | Guide anglais-français de la traduction, R. Meertens |
| CRFJ | Centre de ressources en français juridique https://ustboniface.ca/ | MENA | Dictionnaire de la comptabilité et de la gestion financière, Louis Ménard |
| CTDJ | Centre de traduction et de documentation juridique - http://www.ctdj.ca/ | LJDJ | Dictionnaire économique et juridique, J. Balayte, A. Kurdansky, Ch. Laroche, J. Spindler |
| CTTJ | Centre de traduction et de terminologie juridique - www.cttj.ca/ | NYDFL | New York Divorce and Family Law – http://www.brandeslaw.com/Legal_dictionary/legal.htm |
| DAHL | Dictionnaire juridique/ Law dictionary/ Harrap’s -DAHLoz | ONTA | Lexique bilingue du gouvernement de l’Ontario - http://www.onterm.gov.on.ca/lexicon_e.html |
| DUCH | Le divorce en droit comparé: Vol. 2, Am. du Nord - By B. Dutoit, V. Chetail | PAJL | PAJLO - Promotion de l'accès à la justice dans les deux langues officielles - |
| GDTE | Grand dictionnaire terminologique en ligne – www.granddictionnaire.com | SAXC | Dictionnaire comptable, fiscal et financier du cabinet Saxcé |
| HARR | Harrap's Law Dictionary (DAHLoz) | TERM | Dictionnaire canadien Termium www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca |
| HOUB | Guide pratique de la traduction juridique, Frederic Houbert | UNIT | Uniterm (banque de données terminologique de l'ONU) |
| IATE | InterActive Terminology for Europe - http://iate.europa.eu/ | WIKI | Wikipedia |
| WREF | WordReference - http://forum.wordreference.com | ||
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A large part of the resources listed above are Canadian. Canada is not the only country where two legal traditions —the common law and the civil law— coexist.. Its bilingual drafting requirements is not either unique. But the combination of the two, that is a bijural and bilingual legal system, stands alone. The thirty years old national program for the Promotion of Access to Justice in both official languages in the administration of justice in Canada yielded a considerable wealth of jurilinguistic resources for the US English to French and French to US English translator. Where the Canadian choice sounds odd or unfamiliar, the recent (2014) translation in English of the Vocabulaire juridique1 of Gérard Cornu should be systematically consulted. The second source we used extensively is the Dahl’s Law dictionary2. Explanatory / comparative dictionaries are rare and even rarer those offering explanations and translations referring to the Americansystem. |
Regrettably, the entries tend to explain (long excerpt of the Civil Law Treatise of Planiol, a translation of the Traité Elémentaire de Droit Civil by the Louisiana State Law Institute) rather than translate, and the shortcomings and mistakes are far too numerous. The third major source, The Council of Europe’s French- English Legal Dictionary2 is an excellent legal dictionary, if not the best available. Since it was written exclusively for the European context, the translator for the American market has to correct the British dictionary’s proposition with its American equivalent (see entries acte introductif d’instance or action reconventionnelle. (1)Dictionary of the Civil Code, G.Cornu , A.Levasseur , and M.E.Laporte-Legeais , Lexis-Nexis (2)Dahl’s Law dictionary, Third Edition, by Henry SaintDahl (3)The Council of Europe’s French-English Legal Dictionary,Strasbourg,Council of Europe Press |
| FRENCH | ENGLISH | SOURCE | COMMENTS |
| A | |||
| ab intestat | ab intestat | Inheritance transmitted without a will or when the will was annulled (by operation of law) | |
| abandon | desertion | ||
| abandon d’enfant | abandonment (exposure) of a child | CELD | |
| abandon de domicile | desertion (of the matrimonial home) | CELD | |
| abandon de famille | willful neglect ; desertion | DAHL | Criminal offense committed especially when the father (or mother) is evading for more than two consecutive months its material or moral duties towards his children |
| abandon présumé | constructive abandonment (of a spouse); constructive desertion | CTTJ | |
| absent | absentee | FRCC | Art. 112 of the French Civil Code : "Where a person has ceased to appear at the place of his domicile or residence and has not been heard from, the judge of guardianships may, on the application of the parties concerned or of the Government procurator, establish that there is presumption of absence"
Art. 122 of the French Civil Code: "When ten years have elapsed since the judgment that established the presumption of absence, either in the manner prescribed in Article 112, or on the occasion of one of the judicial proceedings provided for in Articles 217 and 219, 1426 and 1429, absence may be declared by the tribunal de grande instance, on the application of any person concerned or of the Government procurator's office. It shall be the same where, failing that establishment, the person will have ceased to appear at the place of his domicile or residence, without having been heard from for more than twenty years. |
| abus d’influence | undue influence | IATE | |
| accédent | Acquirer | CORN | One to accedes to, one who is in the process of acquiring a right. Ex: to accede to the ownership (of something) |
| accord alimentaire | maintenance agreement | IJDU | |
| accord de règlement | settlement of agreement | CELD | |
| accroissement | accrual | DAHL | Accrual pre-supposes that there are several legatees, all of them entitled to receive the same whole thing. If all claim it together, a distribution among them takes place. If the bequest of one of them lapses, his share accrues to the remaining legatees, so that each of them will receive a little more because there is one less person entitled. Legatees called to take the same bequest together are called cohéritiers ou colégataires (joint legatees) |
| accroissement | accession | ||
| acquêts | acquest | TERM | After-acquired property of a spouse that, because it is linked to marriage as a joint economic endeavor, is susceptible of division or partition in equal shares between the spouses at the dissolution of the marriage. See /régime de la participation aux acquêts |
| acquiescement | acquiescence | TERM | The indication of agreement or consent by permitting things to be done or claims to be made without objection |
| acquiescement | assent | CTTJ | An assent has been defined as "the instrument whereby a personal representative effectuates a testamentary disposition by transferring the subject-matter of the disposition to the person entitled to it" |
| acquit | receipt, discharge | ||
| acte | act | DAHL | In the language of the law, this word has two different meanings. Sometimes it designates a juridical operation and corresponds to the Latin negotium. It then answers to the Latin instrumentum. A sale, a donation, a payment, a remission of a debt, in themselves, without considering their proof, are juridical acts.
A second meaning relates to the writings which establish them, whether notarial or under private signature, which are called instrumental acts. See : à titre *gratuit ; à titre *onéreux ; à titre *particulier ; à titre *universel ; *authentique.*conservatoire ; *constitutif ; de *disposition ; de *notoriété ; *discrétionnaire ; en *brevet ; en *minutes ; *exécutoire ; de *procédure ; *notarié. |
| acte à cause de mort | instrument not taking effect until death | ||
| acte authentique | notarial act | CELD | Officially or “notarially” recorded instruments (UK : deed) |
| acte d’acquisition | conveyance | CELD | |
| acte de cession | deed of transfer | DAHL | |
| action en réduction | action for reduction | DAHL | Action by which a “protected person” (placed under trusteeship for example) requests the reduction of an act she deems excessive in view of her wealth (French Civil code, art. 435, 464 and 488) |
| action reconventionnelle | counterclaim | Bryan Garner: “[i]n most American jurisdictions “counterclaim” refers to a claim by a defendant against the plaintiff used as an offset against the original claim ; and a “cross-claim” is a claim by a co-party against another, as by one defendant against a co-defendant […] Therefore the French term action reconventionnelle can only ne translated as “counterclaim” in American English; the translation of cross-claim (a concept that does not exist in French Law) would be demande entre défendeurs. Thomas L. West in Jurilinguistics/tique, by Jean-Claude Gémar and Nicholas Kasirer, Bruylant, les éditions thémis, p.435 | |
| adjuger | award/to | JUST | |
| administrateur successoral | administrator | IJDU | An administrator is a person to whom representation of the deceased is committed by the court in default of an executor. |
| administrateur-séquestre | custodian | EUR | |
| administration sommaire des actifs | summary administration of estate(s) | CLTD GDT | |
| admissibilité à l’adoption | eligibility for adoption; eligibility to adopt | ||
| adoptabilité | adoptability; suitability for adoption | ||
| adoptant | adopter | ||
| adopté | adoptee | ||
| adoption plénière | full adoption | TERM | |
| affaire | case | BEAU | See: fond de l’affaire; l’affaire est en état; instruire une affaire; renvoyer l’affaire; saisir le tribunal d’une affaire; porter une affaire devant le tribunal; déférer l’affaire; soumettre l’affaire régler une affaire; affaire classée; dans la présente affaire; instruire une affaire |
| affaire en instance | pending proceeding | IJDU | |
| affaire matrimoniale | matrimonial cause | CELD | |
| affidavit de signification | affidavit of service | MANI | |
| agir de bonne foi | act bona fide/to | IJDU | |
| aide juridictionnelle | legal aid | BRAU | Contribution of the State to enable people whose income is insufficient to assert their rights in justice, in graceful as in contentious or non-contentious matter, in demand as in defense, and in all courts. |
| ainsi jugé | entered | ||
| aliénation | alienation | TERM | In real property law, the transfer of the property and possession of lands, tenements, or other things, from one person to another. The term is particularly applied to absolute conveyances of real property. |
| aliéner, transmettre | convey/to | EUR | a property |
| aliments | The mutual obligation of support among family members to provide, according to capacity and need, for each other’s maintenance, clothing, accommodation, health and education, in others words the basic necessities, generally in the form of maintenance payment, taking into account the needs and resources of the maintenance creditor and maintenance debtor. | ||
| aliments | maintenance ; support | IJDU DAHL | See: pension alimentaire (alimony) |
| affidavit de signification | affidavit of service | MANI | |
| agir de bonne foi | act bona fide/to | IJDU | |
| aide juridictionnelle | legal aid | BRAU | Contribution of the State to enable people whose income is insufficient to assert their rights in justice, in graceful as in contentious or non-contentious matter, in demand as in defense, and in all courts. |
| ainsi jugé | entered | ||
| aliments de base pour enfant | base child maintenance; base child support; basic child support | See: pension alimentaire (alimony) | |
| aliments pour enfant | child maintenance; child support | See: pension alimentaire (alimony) | |
| aliments pour époux | spousal support | See: pension alimentaire (alimony) | |
| alliance | relationship by marriage | CELD | A translation does exist. See under |
| alliance | affinity | IATE | The connection existing in consequence of marriage between each of the married persons and the kindred of the other. The tie between one spouse and the blood relations of the other. It is contrasted with consanguinity: it is no real kinship. Ballentine's Law Dictionary, 3eéd., |
| alliance | affinity | Relationship, especially by marriage as opposed to blood ties. Source :The Free Dictionary | |
| apport [en mariage] | contribution | CORN | Assets, property that each spouse owns upon marrying or acquire during the marriageaas a reuslt of donation or succession (to be constrasted with *acquêts) |
| apport en nature | contribution in kind | Goods (as opposed to funds) put in common by associates when creating a company | |
| arrangement de participation | profit-sharing arrangement | IJDU | |
| arrangement de pension | pension arrangement | IJDU | |
| arrêt | judgment | BEAU | There is only one term in English for arrêt and jugement. In French an arrêt designates all decisions pronounced by a court (cour de cassation, cour des comptes, cour d’appel, cour d’assises, etc.) |
| arriéré alimentaire | arrears of support | ||
| ascendance | parentage | Kindred in the direct ascending line. | |
| ascendance parentale | parental ancestry. | ||
| assavoir (il est fait assavoir que) | let it be know that | Less and less used ; same translation for pour que nul n'en ignore | |
| assignation | summons | Document served by the huissier de justice by which the plaintiff cites his adversary to appear before the judge | |
| assignation en divorce | action for divorce | ||
| assignation en divorce | divorce summons | ||
| assigné à parquet | summoned by the prosecutor office | MEER | |
| assigner en divorce/faire | summon for divorce/to | MEER | |
| assigner, intenter une action contre | bring an action against | ||
| astreindre | to compel, to force | CORN | |
| astreinte | Astreinte | CORN | Daily monetary penalty for delaying paying a debt |
| attestation de signification | certificate of service | CTDJ | |
| atteste | witnesseth | ||
| attribution de garde | award of custody; custody award | ||
| audience | hearing | BEAU | See: à l’audience ; date de l’audience; salle d’audience ; lever l’audience ; suspendre l’audience ; reprendre l’audience ; rôle d’audience. Renvoi à l’audience |
| audience à huis clos; | hearing in private | IJDU | |
| audience contradictoire | hearing in the presence of the parties | CELD | |
| audience de conciliation | reconciliation session | See: ordonnance de non-conciliation | |
| audience des mises au rôle | docket court | ||
| audience des référés | at a special term | ||
| audience publique | public hearing; open court | BEAU CELD | |
| audience sur le fond | hearing on the merits | BEAU | |
| audition | hearing | ||
| audition des témoins | hearing (examination) of the witnesses | CELD | |
| audition du public | public hearing | CELD | |
| audition d'une demande | hearing of an application | IJDU | |
| audition des parties | hearing of the parties | ||
| autorité parentale | parental authority | MEER | |
| avancement d’hoierie | advancement | Hoirie is an old French word for hotchpot, the blending of items of property to secure equality of division. Less and les used. Replaced in 2007 by avancement de part successorale (see under) | |
| alliance | relationship by marriage | CELD | A translation does exist. See under |
| alliance | affinity | IATE | The connection existing in consequence of marriage between each of the married persons and the kindred of the other. The tie between one spouse and the blood relations of the other. It is contrasted with consanguinity: it is no real kinship. Ballentine's Law Dictionary, 3eéd., |
| alliance | affinity | Relationship, especially by marriage as opposed to blood ties. Source :The Free Dictionary | |
| apport [en mariage] | contribution | CORN | Assets, property that each spouse owns upon marrying or acquire during the marriageaas a reuslt of donation or succession (to be constrasted with *acquêts) |
| apport en nature | contribution in kind | Goods (as opposed to funds) put in common by associates when creating a company | |
| arrangement de participation | profit-sharing arrangement | IJDU | |
| arrangement de pension | pension arrangement | IJDU | |
| arrêt | judgment | BEAU | There is only one term in English for arrêt and jugement. In French an arrêt designates all decisions pronounced by a court (cour de cassation, cour des comptes, cour d’appel, cour d’assises, etc.) |
| arriéré alimentaire | arrears of support | ||
| ascendance | parentage | Kindred in the direct ascending line. | |
| ascendance parentale | parental ancestry. | ||
| assavoir (il est fait assavoir que) | let it be know that | Less and less used ; same translation for pour que nul n'en ignore | |
| assignation | summons | Document served by the huissier de justice by which the plaintiff cites his adversary to appear before the judge | |
| assignation en divorce | action for divorce | ||
| assignation en divorce | divorce summons | ||
| assigné à parquet | summoned by the prosecutor office | MEER | |
| assigner en divorce/faire | summon for divorce/to | MEER | |
| assigner, intenter une action contre | bring an action against | ||
| astreindre | to compel, to force | CORN | |
| astreinte | Astreinte | CORN | Daily monetary penalty for delaying paying a debt |
| attestation de signification | certificate of service | CTDJ | |
| atteste | witnesseth | ||
| attribution de garde | award of custody; custody award | ||
| audience | hearing | BEAU | See: à l’audience ; date de l’audience; salle d’audience ; lever l’audience ; suspendre l’audience ; reprendre l’audience ; rôle d’audience. Renvoi à l’audience |
| audience à huis clos; | hearing in private | IJDU | |
| audience contradictoire | hearing in the presence of the parties | CELD | |
| audience de conciliation | reconciliation session | See: ordonnance de non-conciliation | |
| audience des mises au rôle | docket court | ||
| audience des référés | at a special term | ||
| audience publique | public hearing; open court | BEAU CELD | |
| audience sur le fond | hearing on the merits | BEAU | |
| audition | hearing | ||
| audition des témoins | hearing (examination) of the witnesses | CELD | |
| audition du public | public hearing | CELD | |
| audition d'une demande | hearing of an application | IJDU | |
| audition des parties | hearing of the parties | ||
| autorité parentale | parental authority | MEER | |
| avancement d’hoierie | advancement | Hoirie is an old French word for hotchpot, the blending of items of property to secure equality of division. Less and les used. Replaced in 2007 by avancement de part successorale (see under) | |
| avancement de part successorale | advancement by portion | An "advancement by portion"; payment or gift to an heir during one’s lifetime as an advance share of one’s estate, with the intention of extinguishing or diminishing the heir’s claim to the estate under intestacy law. advance on inheritance | |
| avantage(s) matrimonial(niaux) | matrimonial benefits | Set of provisions included in a contract of marriage (cohabitants and PACS partners are therefore not eligible) that aim to assign a privilege estate to the surviving spouse, which will thus have a greater share than anticipated inheritance. This privilege can be applied to common household goods such as on private property of one spouse. Depending on the options, the surviving spouse may be required to compensate the other heirs. | |
| avis de comparution | notice to attend | Comparution immediate, comparution volontaire, comparution personnelle, comparution sur reconnaissance prealable de culpabilite (CRPC)... | |
| ayant cause | successor | DAHL TERM | Person claiming through. Person who holds a right or an obligation derived from another, the author. He who cedes or transmits is the « author ». He who acquires or holds from him is the ayant cause.
One who succeeds to the rights of another, such as an heir, next of kin, assign, assignee,devisee or legatee, trustee |
| ayant cause à titre particulier | assignee; assign; successor in title ; particular successor | CELD | The assignee has only acquired one or several rights from the author, whereas the “universal” successor (ayant cause à titre universel) succeeds to the author’s whole estate |
| ayant cause universel | Person succeeding to a person’s whole legal position (assets and liabilities) | ||
| ayant droit | beneficiary | TERM |
