Legal System and Legal Translation: Juror or Assessor?

Abstract

This paper tries to deal with the problems encountered in legal translation by legal translators working from Chinese to English. The Chinese legal system is a socialist system of law with Chinese characteristics, which is based primarily on the civil law model. The language of Chinese is far different from English. In addition, the legal system of the two languages is from two different legal families. Therefore, it is necessary to approach the problems from the comparative point of view. Finding an equivalent English translation, not only involves looking for accurate language but also a close look at the legal systems.