De Aequalitate latinitatis jurisperitorum (Le latin juridique dans les grandes familles de droit contemporaines à la lumière des dictionnaires spécialisés)

Abstract

This article examines the value of legal Latin as an instrument of communication between lawyers of different countries. The author asks : Is legal Latin homogenous, and what are the risks of misunderstanding ? In this respect, the opinions presented by comparativists and legal linguists have differed. New light is therefore needed, and this may be shed by empirical studies. Comprehensive studies are lacking for the time being, but a comparison of legal Latin dictionaries published in different countries gives a rough idea of the international value of legal Latin. The results of such a study, described in this article, show that there are clearly visible differences between the major legal families in so far as their usage of legal Latin is concerned. This is especially true for the relationship between Civil Law and Common Law countries. But there also are differences between countries of the same family. At the end of the article, the author puts forward a proposai to compile an international dictionary of legal Latin.

A Canadian Classic of Legal Latin Updated

“…9 Schwab and Pagé [26], a second Canadian dictionary, is also based on a study of court decisions. 10 A comparison of various dictionaries shows that this is rare but not unprecedented. Bruss [3], for instance, gives the basic forms of the Latin verbs used in the maxims and locutions included in his dictionary.…”

“…Some other dictionaries also include grammatical explanations of the maxims and locutions, but this is not done in Mayrand. 10 There is one appendix in the dictionary: an index in which the book's Latin maxims and locutions are placed under keywords in French. Some other dictionaries include more appendices.…”

“…A good example of the systematic use of electronic case-law banks, outside of Canada, comes from Poland [30, pp [10][11]. and[31, pp.…”