Translation Approach to Terminology Related to Trial by Jury in Russian and American Legislative Texts

УДК 811.111, ББК 81.18

Abstract

The paper studies terminology related to the trial by jury in Russian and American legislative texts with respect to translation. The work highlights the cross-system nature of legal translation. It is for this reason why the primary condition for high-quality legal translation is the understanding of legal concepts and the ability to use terms accurately within a specific legal system. The authors point out that ensuring terminological equivalence is achieved by taking into account a complex of factors: socio-cultural and historical features, the particularities of the legal system, stylistic norms, as well as requirements for precision, unambiguity, and consistency of terms. In the course of the study, the authors identified only two terms possessing direct, stylistically neutral, and culturally unmarked equivalents: присяжный заседатель / juror and коллегия присяжных / jury panel. This result once again underscores the complexity of legal texts translation, where the replacement of legal reality during translation is impossible. The paper also analyzes the specifics of translating the key terms “суд присяжных” and “trial by jury”. Despite their shared semantics, Russian legislation maintains a distinction between the common term “суд присяжных” and the official term “суд с участием присяжных заседателей”, which influences the choice of translation equivalent. Furthermore, the authors draw attention to the problem of calquing syntactic structures and dictionary equivalents of legal wordings when translating from Russian into English. This technique can violate the norms of the target language. Additionally, the work examines legal culture-specific terms that serve as designations for concepts specific to a particular legal system.