Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

Tribunal

English translation:

multi-judge court

Added to glossary by Rebecca Jowers
Feb 27, 2019 19:41
5 yrs ago
42 viewers *
Spanish term

Tribunal

Spanish to English Law/Patents Law (general) Justice System
I am translating a law text from Argentina and I do not know how to make a differenc between the term "Juzgado" presided by one Judge and a "Tribunal" composed of three judges.

I have been using the term "court" for Juzgado but I cannot find a good option for "tribunal".

"....se logró avanzar con el tratamiento de muchos casos que habían quedado paralizados por la falta de integrantes en los Tribunales Orales en lo Criminal Federal y los Tribunales Orales en lo Penal Económico...Por otro lado, se ha dotado a los Juzgados Nacionales con los recursos necesarios para...."

Thank you for your help.
Change log

Feb 28, 2019 20:16: Rebecca Jowers Created KOG entry

Discussion

678 (asker) Feb 28, 2019:
Thank you very much for your valuable comments!
Catherine Earle Feb 27, 2019:
Right you are, Charles! As I found to my chagrin when I went down the same research trail as 678. There was a connection in my mind, which I have rooted out! My supplementary arguments in my 2nd comment still stand, however.
Charles Davis Feb 27, 2019:
Etymologically, tribunal has nothing to do with the number three. It comes from Latin tribunus, 'chieftain' or 'magistrate', which in turn is derived from tribus, 'tribe'.
Catherine Earle Feb 27, 2019:
Hi 678 and Wilsonn, Your reply sent me into a search for why I believed that a tribunal is a 3-judge panel. As a result, I have updated my knowledge of the origins of the word. It does indeed have the 5 meanings you listed. I too was unsuccessful in finding a definition that specifies 3 judges. Nonetheless, the tradition from ancient Roman mythology is connected to the 3 judges who were said to preside over judgement of the dead (see, https://www.yourdictionary.com/tribunal). In addition, the ICC requires a 3 person panel for international commercial arbitration, which is also called a tribunal (see, https://iccwbo.org/dispute-resolution-services/arbitration/i... Deep L gives us "tribunal" and "cour", and "tribunal" and "court" as synonyms for each other in French and English respectively, meaning they are also interchangeable in translation. Given both cultural contexts and formal definitions, I believe you are entirely justified in using 'tribunal" in this case, if you wish to do so.
678 (asker) Feb 27, 2019:
Thank you for your comment Catherine. Yes, I have thought about using "tribunal" but I could not find a definition that indicates the idea of a 3-member court:

a. A law court.
b. The bench where a judge or other presiding judicial officer sits in court.
c. The place where a session of court is held.
2. A committee or board appointed to adjudicate in a particular matter.
3. Something that has the power to determine or judge: the tribunal of public opinion.
Wilsonn Perez Reyes Feb 27, 2019:
I agree with Catherine.
Catherine Earle Feb 27, 2019:
"Judicial panel" is good, but why not just use the English cognate, "Tribunal". The word originally meant a group of three judges, and that certainly applies here.

Proposed translations

+3
59 mins
Selected

multi-judge court

Publications from the US Federal Judicial Center use "single-judge court" for what in most Spanish-speaking jurisdictions are called "juzgados," and "mult-judge court" for "tribunales" (courts with more than one sitting judge, often three, who sit in panels).

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Note added at 1 hr (2019-02-27 20:47:01 GMT)
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I don't think I would use the English term "tribunal" here, since tribunals are often not courts, but rather non-judicial entities that exercise quasi-judicial functions. An example would be the Employment Tribunals in England and Wales.
Peer comment(s):

agree Yvonne Gallagher : Yep!//And term "Tribunal" often collocated with "of Inquiry". And nothing to do with 3 as Charles pointed out.
27 mins
Thanks, Yvonne
agree Charles Davis : Clear and straightforward. The number shouldn't be mentioned; it can be 3, 5, 7 or even 9, depending on context. (I like the photo!) // Exactly: seven in the current Catalan case, for example.
31 mins
Thanks, Charles. And, certainly, judges often sit in panels of three but, in the Supremo for example, there may be five or seven magistrados
agree AllegroTrans
1 day 13 hrs
Thanks, Allegro
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you for your response and comments!"
3 mins

Full Court

Perhaps the distinction between the one-judge and three-judge court could be made by referring to the former as a "Court" and the latter as a "Full Court", explaining in parentheses the first time you use this term.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Court
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12 mins

judicial panel

It might be like this.
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+1
1 day 51 mins

If you are sure

If you are sure that in your text “juzgado” refers to a “one-judge court”, and “tribunal” refers to a “three-judge court”, you will be safe using these terms.

But this is not necessarily the case.

“Tribunal” and “juzgado” are used interchangeably in Venezuela, and I understand that it is more or less the same in Argentina.

The Diccionario de Ciencias Jurídicas, Políticas y Sociales de Manuel Ossorio (Edit. Heliasta, Buenos Aires, 2004) defines these terms as follows:

Tribunal: Magistrado o conjunto de magistrados que ejercen la función jurisdiccional, sea en el orden civil, en el penal, en el laboral, en el administrativo o en otro fuero, y cualquier que sea su categoría jerárquica.
Se llama unipersonal cuando está constituido por un solo juez, y colegiado cuando lo integran tres o más jueces.

Juzgado: Tribunal de un solo juez
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This Argentinean site also deals with the concepts of “juzgado” and “tribunal”:

La Jurisdicción Penal: (http://www.eco.unlpam.edu.ar/objetos/materias/abogacia/3-ano...
(See “El Tribunal – Concepto” and “El Tribunal – Su Composición”)
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In English, I have seen “one-judge court” for “juzgado/ tribunal unipersonal”, “three-judge court * three-judge panel” for “tribunal colegiado (de tres jueces)”
(http://www.txcourts.gov/media/1243989/December-11-2015-Trans... and “multi-judge court” for courts with more than three judges (such as Supreme Courts, which have 15 or more judges).
Peer comment(s):

agree AllegroTrans : If
59 mins
Thank you, Chris
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