In this entry, we use the specific example of the Spanish term ‘procurador’ to highlight a common translation difficulty, in this case from Spanish to English; namely, finding an ‘exact’ English translation of a term that is highly specific to the Spanish legal system and denotes a function that has no exact equivalent in the case of the UK, or any near equivalent in the case of the US legal system.

What then is a procurador? And here we are referring to procuradores in Spain specifically, as elsewhere their functions are very different. In Mexico, for example, the term is used to refer to prosecutors. In Spain, procuradores are legal professionals who must necessarily be engaged to represent the client in court. Their involvement is largely procedural; they act as liaisons between the client’s lawyer (abogado) and the court, file pleadings and other documents that are normally prepared by the lawyers, receive court orders and documents and perform other largely formal functions. They do not prepare pleadings or advise clients; in fact, normally they have little or no direct contact with the client. Procuradores are generally engaged by the client’s lawyer and deal only with the lawyer and the court.

(For more details on this legal profession and the difference with abogados in Spain, click on this link in English or here in Spanish.)

In the UK, there is an at least superficially similar distinction between two categories of lawyers: barristers and solicitors. Briefly, solicitors advise, defend and assist clients, while barristers represent clients in court. (For more on the differences between barristers and solicitors, go to this link in English) So it may be tempting to translate procurador as ‘barrister’, given that the realm of action of both is essentially in and before courts and tribunals. But there are major differences between the functions, authority, status, qualifications, remuneration, organisation and regulation of procuradores in Spain and barristers in the UK. So major, in fact, that treating them as translation equivalents can mislead the reader-user of the translation and thus do them a disservice. 

This touches on a more general question that we wish to address here: how do we translate legal terms that have no exact equivalent in the legal system of the target language? The truth is that, quite often, the problem is not one of linguistic differences, but rather of differences between different legal systems, between different jurisdictions. There are countless examples of such terms and we will post more entries on some of them in the future.

There are two basic approaches we may take here. One is not to translate, i.e., simply use the original term and include—in a footnote, endnote or translator’s note, for example— an explanation or description of what the term means. This is not always practicable or desirable for the translation client. The second and most common option is to find a term as close as possible in meaning to the original, but, and this is the most important point we want to emphasise here, making sure to include the original term in parentheses, at least at the term’s first appearance in the text. The user of the translation thus sees that the term is specific to the legal system of the source language and will be able better to investigate or engage someone to investigate further. 

To return to the specific example we are discussing here, many alternatives have been proposed and used as a translation for procurador:  ‘legal representative’, ‘court representative’, ‘court agent’, ‘paralegal’, ‘registered agent’, ‘process server’, ‘attorney’… But all of these fall short in one way or another, either inviting confusion with other legal professions or remaining too vague to
convey the essential meaning. All the more if they are not accompanied by a reference to the original term procurador.

Keeping all of the above in mind, we propose using the English term ‘procurator’. Black’s Law Dictionary gives several definitions for this term, including: “1. Roman law. A person informally appointed to represent another in a judicial proceeding… 3. His. English law. An agent, attorney or servant… 5. An agent or attorney-in-fact. 6. Scots law. A solicitor who represents clients in the lower courts…”. Again, none of these aligns exactly with what procuradores do in the Spanish legal system or conveys the exact meaning, but we feel that procurator is ‘close enough’, especially if followed at first appearance by the original term italicised in parentheses. 

For a fuller discussion on the translation difficulties posed by procurador, Rebecca Jowers has an interesting discussion here in her legal translation blow. In Spanish we recommend this blog entry.