中西法律词语及其翻译(之二十一)meritsofthecase等法律概念的翻译.doc

中西法律词语及其翻译（之二十一） merits of the case等法律概念的翻译 北京外国语大学高级翻译学院 李长栓，北京外国语大学高级翻译学院教授 1ichangchuan@gmai1. com 本文探讨了 merits of the case、legal representation、attribution、 coordination和harmonization等概念的含义和译法，分析了这些概念翻译中 的一些网境。 merits of the case衆件的实体（实质）问题 merits of the case在联合国文献屮有多种译法，比如“案件的是非曲直”“案 情” “案情实质” “案件实质”等。比如，在联合国内部使用的机辅翻译系统e Luna中，可以看到以下句对： ◎The State party reserved the right to makeobservations on the merits of the case at a later date, if relevant. 缔约国保留日后对案件的是非曲直提出意见的权利。 ?It nevertheless provides an overview of itslegislative and institutional framework for protecting and supporting victims of domestic violence and makes comprehensive observations on the merits of the case. 尽管如此，它概述了其保护和支助家庭暴力受害人的法律和制度框架，并就本 案案情提出Y综合性意见。 ◎ Therefore，the author deems the State partyessubmission as misleading, given that she has topursue further processes after the accused hasbeen acquitted on the merits of the case. 因此，来文人认为，缔约国的呈文有误导作用，因为在宣告被告人对案情实质 无罪之后，来文人就无权采取进一步的程序。 ◎As a matter of fact， the formulation of paragraph56 of the advisory Opinion makes it clear thatthe Court did not actually pronounce itself onthe merits of the case.事实上，咨询意见第56段的措辞明确指出，法院并没有就案件实质表明立场。 笔者建议将merits of the case翻译为“案件的实体问题”或“案件的实质问 题”，与程序性或技术性问题相对。请看以下资料对on the merits的解释： “On the merits” is a term that has its roots in the law:a judge，having reviewed the materials relevant to a lawsuit, may render a verdict based not on issues of procedure or other technicalities, but strictly on the facts introduced into evidence and the law as it applies to those facts. A judge who decides a case on the merits considers that any technical or procedural issues that have been raised are either dealt with or irrelevant. The purpose of deciding cases in this way is to ensure that justice is done, rather than reward or punish one of the parties unfairly because of adherence to, or failure to follow, procedural requirements. (Wisegeek, 2017) 笔者译文： on the merits的说法来自法律:法官在审查案件相关材料之后，不是根据程序 性问题或其他技术性问题作出裁判，而是严格按照作为证据采纳的事实