Translation as Transplant in Contemporary Law
Translation as Transplant in Contemporary Law

Summary/Abstract: The present paper aims at exploring legal translation under the more comprehensive umbrella-concept of ‘legal transplant’. The main objective hereby pursued is to depart from an analysis of the theory of legal translation based on linguistics, to a larger framework which allows for a consideration of other crucially important elements to be accounted for in the process of translating law. Thus, understanding the cultural, social, political, economic, historical, geographical and identity-related peculiarities of a given legal system is indispensable in the process of legal translation. The above are all key factors which either allow the success or bring about the failure of the transplant. By adopting an interdisciplinary methodological framework, the present paper reaches the conclusion that the process of translating, or ‘transplanting’, law from one legal system to another is inextricably linked to non-linguistic phenomena, to be carefully taken into account, if a successful outcome is desired.

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