Abstract

What makes legal language and legal texts unique is the heavy usage of field-specific terminology. These terms create problems for the translator while translating legal texts. The fact that some terms are very similar to each other in meaning and some do not have any equivalents in the target language proves to be one of the most problematic characteristics of legal translation. In Turkish and French legal languages, various terms can mean ‘judicial decision’, which makes translating these terms to and from each of these two languages quite troublesome. Dictionaries also offer similar definitions and do not provide any distinct differences between these terms, making translators’ jobs even harder. In this study, the terms used for ‘judicial decision’ are defined, information regarding both legal systems are provided and various terms that correspond to various judicial decisions and their equivalents are analyzed in depth. Problems that might arise due to the usage of dictionaries without any prior field knowledge or research are also examined. The challenges that are caused by the similarity of these terms are discussed and some methods that might be used to overcome said challenges are suggested.

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