The Problem of Equivalence of Translation and Interpretation of Authentic Texts of the Agreement on Legal Assistance in Civil Matters (Madrid, 1990) in Russian and Spanish

УДК 81.25, ББК 81.472.1

Abstract

The article considers the problems associated with the imperfections of legal technique in the preparation of authentic texts of the current Treaty on Legal Assistance in Civil Cases, concluded between the USSR and the Kingdom of Spain in 1990, in Russian and Spanish languages. The relevance of the research topic is conditioned by the importance of ensuring maximum equivalence of the terms used in the texts of international treaties in different languages, which are equal in legal force, because the terminological contradictions embedded in them lead to the impossibility of forming a uniform judicial practice of interpretation of the Treaty by the courts of two states when solving the issue of recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. In addition, the lack of equivalence of the terms used in the international treaty manifests itself in the formation of the practice of refusal to recognise and enforce foreign judgments, which contradicts the main objectives set by the States at the conclusion of the Treaty on Legal Assistance. Using the example of a specific decision of a Spanish court refusing to recognise and enforce a Russian arbitration court award, the authors examine the problem associated with inaccurate translation of a name of a Russian judicial authority into Spanish and propose their own translation to prevent Spanish courts from refusing to recognise and enforce Russian arbitration court awards. As a result of the study, the authors have established insufficient equivalence of certain lexico-grammatical units used in the Russian and Spanish versions of the Treaty in question, identified the problems of its application arising in this connection and for-mulated practical recommendations for clarification of terms in Russian and Spanish.