Tribunal

English translation: multi-judge court

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Spanish term or phrase:	Tribunal
English translation:	multi-judge court
Entered by:	Rebecca Jowers

19:41 Feb 27, 2019

Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Law (general) / Justice System

Spanish term or phrase: Tribunal

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.

678

multi-judge court

Explanation:
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.

Selected response from:

Rebecca Jowers
Spain
Local time: 18:03

Grading comment

Thank you for your response and comments!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +3

multi-judge court

Rebecca Jowers

4 +1

If you are sure

Manuel Cedeño Berrueta

Full Court

John Druce

judicial panel

Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón

Discussion entries: 7

678

ASKER

19:08 Feb 28, 2019

Thank you very much for your valuable comments!

Catherine Earle

United States

21:27 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

Spain

21:24 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

United States

20:55 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

20:31 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

El Salvador

20:31 Feb 27, 2019

I agree with Catherine.

Catherine Earle

United States

20:26 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.

Answers

3 mins confidence:

Full Court

Explanation:
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

John Druce
Spain
Local time: 18:03
Native speaker of: English

12 mins confidence:

judicial panel

Explanation:
It might be like this.

Reference: http://https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_panel

Juan Arturo Blackmore Zerón
Mexico
Local time: 11:03
Works in field
Native speaker of: Spanish
PRO pts in category: 57

59 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

multi-judge court

Rebecca Jowers
Spain
Local time: 18:03
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 2222

Grading comment

Thank you for your response and comments!

1 day 51 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

If you are sure

Explanation:
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).

Manuel Cedeño Berrueta
Local time: 12:03
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 402

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