Comparativists Beware.docx
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Comparativists Beware.docx
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ComparativistsBeware
69La.L.Rev.715,*
Copyright(c)2009LouisianaLawReview
LouisianaLawReview
Summer,2009
69La.L.Rev.715
LENGTH:
15170words
ARTICLE:
TheEnglishFoxintheLouisianaCivilLawChausse-Trappe:
CivilLawConceptsintheEnglishLanguage;ComparativistsBeware!
NAME:
AlainLevasseur*andVicen?
Feliu**
BIO:
Copyright2009,byALAINLEVASSEUR&VICENCFELIU.
*HermannMoyse,Sr.ProfessorofLaw;DirectorofEuropeanStudies;LSU,PaulM.HebertLawCenter;President,LouisianaChapterAssociationHenriCapitant;Member,ScientificCouncilFoundationforContinentalLaw.
TheArticlepresentedhereinEnglishisbasedonanarticlebyProfessorLevasseurpublishedinFrench,intheJanuary2009issueoftheRevueInternationaledeDroitCompar?
(R.I.D.C.).ThetitleoftheArticleintheR.I.D.C.isLesmauxdesmotsendroitcompar?
ProfessorLevasseurfeltthatthisArticlewouldbeofinteresttoLouisianalawyersandlegalscholarsandheaskedMr.Feliu,becauseofMr.Feliu'sbackgroundinLinguisticsandtheCommonLaw,toworkwithhimintranslatingandredactingtheoriginalFrencharticleforpublicationinEnglish.
**AssistantDirectorforPublicServicesandAssociateLibrarianforForeignComparativeandInternationalLaw;LSU,PaulM.HebertLawCenter;J.D.,FranklinPierceLawCenter,2004;LL.M.,FranklinPierceLawCenter,2009;M.L.I.S.,UniversityofWashington,2005.
SUMMARY:
...Where"basicconceptsofFrenchlaw"didnotexistinthecommonlaworwheretheseconceptscouldnotbetranslatedintowordsoutofthelegallanguageofthecommonlaw,thetranslatorsoftheCivilCodesofLouisianaof1808and1825didnothesitatetousethevocabularyofcivillawconceptstogivetothe"translatedtext"thefullcontentofthecivillawlegalculturewithwhichthoseconceptswereidentified....TheEnglishversions,translatedfromtheFrench,ofthosesamearticlesusedtheterm"insolido"whereverthesearticlesreferredtosolidarity,exceptinonesinglearticleoftheCodeof1825,article2088,whichstatedthat"theobligationisinsolido,orjointandseveralbetweenthecreditors...."...Sincewearemakingcomparisonsbetween,ononehand,the"legalFrench"andthe"legalEnglish"oftheCivilCodesofLouisianaand,ontheother,thelegalFrenchandthetwo"legal"EnglishtranslationsoftheAvant-ProjetCatala,wehaveintentionallychosenconceptsthatarefoundinthetextsoftheCivilCodesofLouisianaandinthetextoftheAvant-Projet....Whatwewerehopingtofindamongthese"allies"was,ofcourse,uniformityandconsistencyinthetranslationsintoEnglishofthesameconceptsandinstitutionsofthecivillaw,especiallywhenthecivillawsofour"allies"allconvergedtowardsthesameorigin,thesamesource....Assuggestedabove,thereareincompatibilitiesbetweencertainfundamentalconceptsandinstitutionsofthecivillawofobligations,asitisreferredtointhecivillawtradition,withconceptsandinstitutionsofthe"LawofContracts,"thewholeinclusivetitlegenerallyadoptedbythecommonlaw....In1984,theLouisianaLegislature,ontherecommendationofacommitteeoflawyersandlegalscholars,chosetosubstitutetheEnglishword"duress"fortheFrenchandEnglishword"violence"prevailinginLouisianasince1808.
TEXT:
[*715] I.INTRODUCTION
TheAvant-ProjetoftheFrenchLawObligationsandtheFrenchLawofPrescriptions,whichwewillciteastheProjet-Catala,1isamonumentalundertakingtomodernizePartsIIIandIVofBookThreeoftheFrenchCivilCode,"Obligations,"andtocontinuetheworkofJeanCarbonnierwhodemonstrated"intransfiguringthefirstBook"thatitwaspossibleto"rehabilitate"theCodeof1804"withoutdamagingitsstructureorform."2"Theprogrammobilizedthirty-fourpersons"3underthesponsorshipoftheAssociationHenriCapitantandwaspresentedintheformofa"Rapport?
MonsieurleGardedesSceaux"4inSeptember2005.Afewmonthslater,thisdraftoftheProjet-Catalawassenttoseveralforeigncomparativelawscholarsthroughouttheworldforthedualpurposeoftranslatingit,ifpossible,intotheirnationallanguagesand,onthatoccasion,tocontributetheircomments,observations,andremarksastheyconsideredappropriate,especiallyasregards [*716] thecontentofthispreliminarydraftofalawthatcouldbecomeincorporatedintotheFrenchCivilCode,shoulditbeapprovedbytheFrenchParliament.
Theseforeigncomparativelawscholarswereadvisedthat,infulfillingtheirtasks,theauthorsofthePreliminaryDrafthadnotbeenmotivatedbyany"plan...toopposethatwhichisoranythingofwhatshouldbetheideaoftheCivilLaw"andthat"themodernizationoftheCivilCodewillcontinueasthehubofprivatelaw,thesturdytrunkofatreewhosebranchescanstretchoutwithoutlosingtheirstrength"sothatthemodernCivilCodebecomes"thenaturalrecourseofthejudgefacedwiththesilenceofstatutesandconventions,thepoolofourlegalreason."5Theinstructionsreceivedinformedusthat"theProjet-CataladoesnotproposeabreakingoftheCode,butanadjustment"andthat"it(theProjet)issupportiveofdoctrineandjurisprudence."
Thesegoalsweremadecleartoall,amongthecomparativists,twosetsofscholarswereaskedtoundertakeanEnglishtranslationoftheProjet:
onesetofEnglishlegalscholarstrainedintheCommonLawofEnglandandtwoLouisianascholars6trainedbothinthecommonlawandinthecivillaw,bothtotallyfluentintheFrenchlanguageoftheprojetCatalaaswellasintheEnglishlanguageofthetranslatedversionofthatprojet.
ThefocusofthisArticleistoexpressthereasonswhyatranslationoftheFrenchCivilLawofObligationsintotheEnglishlanguageisanundertakingthatcanonlybeassignedtothosewhohaveexperiencedthe"civillawinEnglish,"i.e.,Louisianalegalscholars.ThelegalsystemofLouisianaisoneofahandfulintheworldinwhichthecivillawispracticedinEnglishasamatterofroutine.Thesuccessofthisexperience,now200yearsold,illustratesthattheLouisianalegalprofessionshavefoundawaytoshapetheEnglishlanguageofthecommonlawtofitthecivillawoftheState.ThefundamentalissuethatthereaderwillbejugglingthroughoutthisArticleiswhether,ontheonehand,thetranslationofcivillawconceptsintoEnglishCommonLawwordsand [*717] conceptscanbecomeanaccuratereflectionandtranspositionoftheessenceofcivillawconceptsorwhether,ontheotherhand,theLouisianaCivilLawexpressedinitsnaturalEnglish"garment"hasnotalreadycreatedthenaturalandonlyproperlegallanguagetoaccomplishthegoalsoftheProjetCatalaandofthe"Instructions."Inotherwords,canthereexisttwodifferentEnglishversionsofoneandthesamecivillawtext?
Theconclusionwehavereached,andthatwehopewillbeconvincing,isthatthelegallinguisticvocabularyofanEnglish-writtencivillawhasbeeninexistenceinLouisianaforthelast200yearsandthatthereisnoneedtoresorttothelegalvocabularyfoundintheCommonLawofEnglandtoexpressthe"civillawinEnglish."Actually,weareissuingastrongwarningagainstanysuchattempt.ThesurvivalofthecivillawsystemintheEnglishlanguageoftheLouisianaCivilCodesince1808isavividtestimonythatthecivillawcanexistin"English"aslongasitisanEnglishthathasbeentestedandtriedinacivillawenvironment.
II.THELOUISIANACIVILCODEORDIGESTOF1808:
TWOHUNDREDYEARSOFCIVILLAWINENGLISH
AbriefhistoryofthecivillawinLouisianawillhelpillustrate,ontheonehand,theverycloseinterrelationshipthatexistsbetweenalegalcultureandthelegallanguagethatservesasitsexternalmanifestationand,ontheotherhand,thedilemmafacingatranslatorcaughtbetweenthepoliticalandlegallanguagesoftheissuinglegalcultureandthetargetlegalculture.
A.History
Theyear1682markedthebeginningoftheofficialpresenceofFranceontheimmenseterritorialexpansefromtheshoresoftheGulfofMexicototheGreatLakes.Aroyaledictof14September1712,entrustedtheeconomicexploitationoftheroyalcolony,Louisiana,namedinhonorofKingLouisXIV,toAntoineCrozatandplaceditunderthelegalruleoftheCoutumedeParis.ByLettersPatentofDecember18,1717,aHighCouncilforthecolonywasentrustedwiththeadministrationoftheCoutumeaswellastheCivilandCriminalOrdinancesof1667and1670.TheprocedurethenineffectbeforethecourtswasthatoftheCh鈚eletinParis.Inthatsameyear,1717,theCompagniedesIndesassumedoperationofthecolony.FinancialdifficultiesforcedtheCompagnietoreturntheadministrationofthecolonytothe [*718] crown.7OnNovember3,1762,theKingofFrancecededtheterritoryofLouisianatohiscousin,theKingofSpain,bymeansofthe"secret"TreatyofFontainebleau.TheTreatyofParisof1763officiallyconfirmedthetransferofLouisianatoSpain.ThenewsofthistransferwasnotverywellreceivedbytheFrenchinhabitantsofLouisianawhowereveryapprehensiveaboutwhatwouldbecomeoftheirformsofgovernment,theirlaws,andtheircustoms.Duringthissameperiodoftimetherewasawaveof"forced"immigrationofseveralhundredAcadiansfromtheCanadianprovinceofNovaScotiaorAcadiawhohadfledtoLouisianaafterbeingforcedfromtheirlandsbyBritishtroops.ThefirstSpanishGovernorofLouisiana,DonAntoniodeUlloa,wasverybadlyreceivedbyhisFrenchsubjectsandhadtoleavetheterritoryingreathasteaftertheLegislativeCouncilvotedhisexpulsionfromLouisianainOctoberof1768.TheSpanishgovernmentresortedtodr
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