The second edition of the English-Chinese Glossary of Legal Terms goes a long way in addressing the need for more Chinese entries The second edition of the English-Chinese Glossary of Legal. Terms was published by the Legal Department on 24 June. This edition draws terms and their translations from bilingual laws as at 31 December 1995. The Glossary contains about 15,000 Chinese entries, more than three times the volume of Chinese entries found in the first edition published in April last year. The terms are selected from a variety of ordinances and their subsidiary legislation. These ordinances include the Companies Ordinance, the Conveyanccin and Property Ordinance, the Inland Revenue Ordinance, the Crimes Ordinance, the Magistrates Ordinance, the Employment Ordinance and the Road Traffic Ordinance. Many entries have been revised in accordance with the development of the laws authentication programme. For instance, in the first edition the short title of the Customs and Excise Service Ordinance (Cap 342) was translated as '^HDiM]' in accordance with the authentic Chinese short title declared in the Interpretation and General Clauses (Chinese Version of Short Titles) Notice (Legal Notice (Chinese) 1 of 1992). The short title has been revised to read 'Uttfftil •$ki$' in the second edition, which is taken from the authentic Chinese text of the Ordinance gazetted on 10 November 1995. A Handy Reference The glossary is intended to be a handy reference tool for practitioners, law translators and others who have to deal with Chinese legal texts or use Chinese in legal matters. However, it is hoped that the reader will refer to the original provision where it is necessary or desirable to do so in Page 48 order to fully understand why a particcula translation is adopted. This may be particularly importaan if the translation appears to be an unusual one. The term 'exception' which appears in the Third Schedule to the Conveyancing and Property Ordinance (Cap 219) demonstrates this point quite well. For the ordinaar reader, it would be difficult to conceive how this term could be translated as 'iifiI?iifiigff!liC', but when read in conjunction with the term 'reservation', in the context of conveyancing, the translation appears more comprehensible and reasonable. Although we advocate the princippl of consistency in translation, and take this approach in the translation of legislation, we acknowledge the importance of context and linguistic requirements and we are flexible if different translations do not distort the correct legal implications. There are many instances of multiple LAW entries for one single English term in the glossary for different contexts. Tool For the convenience of the .reader, the glossary contains many 'non-legal', but relevant, phrases and terms, such as 'To all intents and purposes' ('^$f I'TfflSXnW). In addition, 'crossentrries have been extensively made. For example, 'innocent misrepresentatiions can be found under both the .letters T and 'M'. Some terms appearing in repealed provisions are still contained in the second edition to help those referring to repealed provisions or working on documents containing such, terms. Some standard phrases which are quite lengthy but which are frequently used as set phrases are included in the glossary without any editing. The offence of 'assault occasioning actual bodily harm' is one such example. For ease of reference, we have also incluude in the glossary some angliciise Chinese expressions together with their Chinese 'translations', eg, 'tin fong wife' ('JjlJi-') and 't'ong' ('S'). In the course of preparing authentti Chinese texts, we have developed some sort of standard treatment of particular English syntactic structures. For example, we think that the 'subjunctive conditional' which is indicated by the 'past perfect tense' might be lost in translation if we do not also provide some marker for the 'tense'-(which does not really exist in a similar form in Chinese) and spell out the subjunctive nature of the conditiional In this connection, we have developed standard translations for phrases like 'but for ... would have', such standard, translations are also included in the glossary. The second edition of the English-Chinese Glossary of Legal Terms is available at government publication centres and leading book stores, priced at HK$80. We hope readers will find it a worthy book to keep. Chinese Drafting and Translation Unit Legal Department Hong Kong Lawyer September 1996, '^"^•^^&^& . 41 HCS) (tsrjig) E^ 6 M 24 H it* ° 199S >J 12 J3 31 HSlhWt1i.ftW » IfciKlr't • iWi5ffilJiI[t& 15.000 « > p 4 ;3tt mn g-4l» -t » li > ' if 219 exception ° -Ho«g Kong Lawyer September 1996 11 lit] > m but for ... would have" fS . 55--A'l) ' ^ //ffii!;f -SKI > fS ^SJ ^#U^>Ffs}sS)B2T ' W* "innocent misrepresst'ntitio.n.s'' ^if"!f»jHfMlt ''innocent* ^ "misrepresentation'' ffHHiMB±"K •> Wist* ' W £mffi~ iff ' Hf H»*5 ' WWff > so After 16 years nearly 18,§0tt investigations,,,,.. Bangkok Borubuy CoJurnrx: Kandy Kaohstsing Karachi Manila New Delhi Pattaya Seoul Tai -Ching Taipei Haadyai Ho Chi Minh City Katmandu Macau Penang Pliukel Tokyo Vieritiafinc Baoan Beihai Beijing BengBu Shantou Dailian Dangdong Dongguaog Foshan Fozhou Guangzhou Guilin Harbin Nanjing Nmgbo Qingdao Shanghai Shekou Shenzhen Tianjin Wei Hai Wuxi Xiamen Xian Van Tai . Fact Finders Ltd. Is still going FACT FINDERS LTD. S/F GOLDFJELD BUILXXNG 42 -44 CONNAUGHT ROAD WEST G. P, O. BOX 11422 HONG KONG TEL: (852) 2540 2333 FAX: (852) 2858 3676 INVESTIGATIONS IN HONG KONG, CHINA AND THE FAE EAST SINCE 1080 .Page 49