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Tribunal vs Cour

English translation: = see detailed suggestion below =

12:48 Mar 22, 2000
French to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents
French term or phrase: Tribunal vs Cour
Hi All, Could somebody please explain the difference between 'Tribunal' and 'Cour'. Here's the context: one company is suing another for breach of contract. The sentence is "Le tribunal a juge et le Cour a confirme..." All the dictionaries I consulted translated both as Court. Given the context, could Tribunal be translated Administrative Tribunal and Cour, Court?. And would this be understood in a British context? Thanks in advance for enlightening me.
CBG
English translation:= see detailed suggestion below =
Explanation:
The French legal system, with its modern roots in the Code Napoleon, is not without its bewildering aspects -- especially in comparison with the jurisprudential system that goes back to English Common Law. There are very few direct equivalents between the two systems (and I always add a note to that effect in my F>E legal translations). The best one can do is offer a reasonable approximation, as you've started to do with "administrative tribunal." -- Given the context of a suit between companies (i.e., a civil suit) and the fact that a second court has confirmed the decision of the first court, a rendering that makes sense to a British reader might go something like this: "The Civil Court has ruled, and the Court of Appeals has upheld the decision..." Hope this helps!
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Heathcliff
United States
Local time: 02:12
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na= see detailed suggestion below =
Heathcliff
nathey're the same, but
Béatrice Huret-Morton


  

Answers


47 mins
= see detailed suggestion below =


Explanation:
The French legal system, with its modern roots in the Code Napoleon, is not without its bewildering aspects -- especially in comparison with the jurisprudential system that goes back to English Common Law. There are very few direct equivalents between the two systems (and I always add a note to that effect in my F>E legal translations). The best one can do is offer a reasonable approximation, as you've started to do with "administrative tribunal." -- Given the context of a suit between companies (i.e., a civil suit) and the fact that a second court has confirmed the decision of the first court, a rendering that makes sense to a British reader might go something like this: "The Civil Court has ruled, and the Court of Appeals has upheld the decision..." Hope this helps!


    Good explanations (if not always direct aswers) can be found in the _Dictionnaire economique et juridique_
    by Baleyte, Kurgansy et al. (Navarre, Paris, 1995).
Heathcliff
United States
Local time: 02:12
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 953
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2 hrs
they're the same, but


Explanation:
They're the same, but in this case, "tribunal" refers to the first court which tried the case. Depending on the case, it may be the "tribunal de commerce" ou a "tribunal d'instance", and "cour" refers to the appellate court which confirmed the case. There again you need to know the nature of the case to know which court it was. For criminal trials, the appellate court would be a "cour d'appel", but for commercial or other matters, it would be another court. If you have no further information, you may translate "tribunal" as court and "cour" as appellate court. Good luck.

Béatrice Huret-Morton
Local time: 11:12
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 300
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