{"id":869,"date":"2023-12-05T11:55:52","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T16:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/?p=869"},"modified":"2025-02-11T13:10:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T18:10:33","slug":"things-legal-translators-need-to-know-whats-in-the-codigo-civil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/LawD\/things-legal-translators-need-to-know-whats-in-the-codigo-civil\/","title":{"rendered":"Things Legal Translators Need to Know: What\u2019s in the C\u00f3digo Civil? (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part I\u2014Derecho de la persona and Derecho de familia<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Rebecca Jowers<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a firm believer that legal translators and interpreters need to learn loads of law to be able to do our jobs properly. And if we have a firm grasp of the core concepts and terminology of the Civil Code, that\u2019s half the battle. That\u2019s because in all Spanish-speaking jurisdictions the C\u00f3digo Civil<\/em> governs so many crucial areas of private law that crop up in our translations, such as the law of persons (Derecho de la persona<\/em>) (including all aspects of family law\u2014Derecho de familia<\/em>); contracts (contratos<\/em>), obligations (obligaciones<\/em>), property law (derechos reales<\/em> or Derecho de cosas<\/em>), and inheritance law or the law of succession (sucesiones<\/em>).<\/p>\n

A colleague once asked me about the content of the Spanish Civil Code and if it had ever been amended. The original C\u00f3digo Civil<\/em> was passed in 1889, so obviously the answer to that question is \u201cYes! Of course it\u2019s been amended many times.\u201d Relevant examples in family law alone include amendments legalizing divorce in 1981, providing for no fault divorce (divorcio no causal<\/em>) in 2005, and legalizing same-sex marriage (matrimonio igualitario<\/em>), also in 2005. More recently in the property law section, a 2021 amendment provides protection for animal rights, recognizing them as sentient beings (seres vivos dotados de sensibilidad<\/em>) and no longer classifying them as simple property (bienes <\/em>or cosas<\/em>).<\/p>\n

In the event it may prove useful to ES-EN legal translators and interpreters, in this and in future entries for the ATA Law Division Blog I\u2019d like to offer a systematic overview of some of the terms and concepts of the Civil Code as presented in Spanish civil law textbooks (manuales de Derecho civil<\/em>). And, having reviewed the civil codes of Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia, I think it\u2019s safe to say that, with logical exceptions, the content of the civil codes of other Spanish-speaking jurisdictions is quite similar to Spain\u2019s. After all, to a greater or lesser extent they were all influenced by the Napoleonic Code. It should perhaps also be noted that certain areas of Spain have their own civil law, known as Derecho foral <\/em>in the Basque Country and Navarre and Derecho especial <\/em>in Aragon, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and Galicia.<\/p>\n

What follows is a brief run-down of a few of the major concepts (there are many more!) of two areas of law addressed in the Spanish Civil Code (the Law of Persons and Family Law). I\u2019ve included possible English renderings, but appropriate translations may vary from country to country. And, as is often the case, when there is no reasonable kindred concept in Anglo-American law, I\u2019ve provided a possible definitional translation. Terms most often used in the United States are marked \u201cUS,\u201d while those that are perhaps more common in the UK or specifically in England and Wales appear as \u201cUK\u201d or \u201cE&W.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Derecho de la persona<\/em><\/strong> (Law of Persons)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Concepto jur\u00eddico de persona<\/em> (legal concept of person)<\/p>\n