Translating the criminal caution into Chinese

[LarryH]

Hi all, I'm looking for some assistance with something that is a bit beyond my skill level. My background is that I lived in China for just over four years and I work in UK law enforcement. I managed to attain HSK Level 4 before I returned to the UK I am trying to maintain my Chinese skills levels by doing some (mainly Chinese to English) translating of legal articles etc. One of the things I am currently having a stab at is translating the UK criminal caution into Chinese... and it is proving harder than I anticipated. This is basically the form of words that you say to people when they are arrested or interviewed for a suspected criminal offence. Obviously it's not just an issue of getting the words and grammar right, it is also important that I retain the meaning of the key legal information. Strangely, I can't find anything already in existence, although I'm aware that there are formal translations into French, German, Spanish etc.

 

The English version is: "You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

 

My initial attempt at translation is: 你不只得说话。不过你不把问题回答，以后当庭依靠解答，可损害抗辩。你什么也说得，针对你可见证。

 

见笑！

 

Any feedback, however blunt, would be much appreciated!

[889]

The American equivalent is the Miranda warning. Compare various ways it's been translated by searching something like "Miranda 你“ on Google.

Is this customarily spoken to the suspect or printed on a card he's given to read? If spoken, you might want to use slightly less formal syntax.

[LarryH]

Generally this is spoken, although in reality if an officer were arresting someone and issuing the caution in Chinese, they are more likely to show them this on a card (we're pretty short of Chinese-speakers in UK law enforcement!) The other scenario is that a Chinese speaker being interviewed would have an interpreter present, in which case the officer would caution them in English and ask the interpreter to convey the information to them in Chinese - in which case depending on the skill of the interpreter, it is likely to be useful if they have the caution in Chinese to refer to and explain to the suspect.

[guest1234]

See Code's of practice. Code C covers it' below for full Code in Chinese .

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/315775/PACE_CODE_C_UPDATED_APRIL_2014_Simplified_Chinese.pdf

 

you are looking for this bit.

 

你可以不说任何话。

然而,当你被询问到你今后会在法庭之上所依赖的某些事宜时,假如你不予提及, 那么这可能会不利于你届时的辩护。

  你所说的任何话,都有可能被作为证据。

It is not a good idea to give this unless you are near/native speaker . Or to show it on a card to someone. An interpreter will read the codes to a suspect and translate what is said but can not explain anything, They can only translate what is said by both parties.

 

Hope that is of some help.

 

Regards

 

Phil.

[coolnicholas]

你有权保持沉默,但是你所说的一切都将作为呈堂证供。

[vellocet]

Honestly you always want a native speaker of the target language to translate the source documents.  This is how we wound up with Chinglish.  

[Angelina]

Not exactly, vellocet.

 

Good translators are under appreciated. 

[Lu]

Coolnicholas, that seems to be the American version. What OP writes in the first post is something different.

 

LarryH, if this is just for you as an exercise, good luck and 加油! But if the English police force wants to have a version to use officially or semi-officially, I'd really advise them to get a native speaker knowledgeable on the subject to translate this. Otherwise you'll likely end up with something that probably gets the meaning correct, but will look like the brave attempt of a student of the language. Most Chinglish is understandable enough and gets the message across just fine, but we still laugh at it.

[Angelina]

I agree

 

 

I'd really advise them to get a native speaker knowledgeable on the subject to translate this.   

 

 

 

with an emphasis on knowledgeable 

[LarryH]

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks for all the answers and the steer to the existing version. This is an academic exercise on my part, bearing in mind the difficulties I have had over the years explaining the caution in English to English speakers I have no intention of trying my luck with cautioning anyone in Chinese! It does raise some interesting issues about translating/interpreting for legal purposes - how well do concepts like the "right to silence" get explained to people for example by an outstanding interpreter who has a limited or no background knowledge of local law? Along the same lines, I'm currently trying to translate some Chinese articles about 地下钱庄 - similarly, the challenge isn't just with the grammar (which is challenging enough a lot of the time at my level) but with grasping cultural and historical concepts that are presumably a lot more familiar to the Chinese-speaking target audience. Any steers on credible material on that subject?!

[guest1234]

POSTED BEFORE ABOVE POST.

 

 

 

What I posted above is the official translation taken from the document given to a person arrested when at the station . It sets out rights and entitlements under PACE (Police and Criminal Evidence Act )

As far as giving the caution on the street, if you are not native speaker or very, very near this is a very bad idea. the caution is a legal requirement and what is said after this must be correctly recorded.

 

you must be able to fully understand what is said after caution. ( as it may be used in court )

 

You must also be able to explain the caution if the person says they do not understand what it means before their answers are usable. 

 

showing a written copy is only ok if you can then ask about their understanding of it ( as people may not be able to fully read it ) and again record correctly what is then said. 

 

 

Regards

 

Phil

[Lu]

It does raise some interesting issues about translating/interpreting for legal purposes - how well do concepts like the "right to silence" get explained to people for example by an outstanding interpreter who has a limited or no background knowledge of local law?

Usually, for police and other legal purposes, only certified interpreters are used, and they are tested on their interpreting skills in speficically this field. Of course, interpreters are only human, harder to find for some languages than for others, etc etc, but generally, you don't need to worry about you cautioning a Chinese suspect and the interpreter messing up because she usually interprets chemistry conferences and not police work.

 

If you're interested in this subject, consider following the related news from Belgium. Apparently the court interpreters there are badly underpaid, and that is starting to cause serious problems. Because the pay is much worse than for other interpreting work, fewer and fewer interpreters are willing to do it, and some suspects have already had to be set free because they couldn't get a trial for lack of an interpreter.

[dwq]

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/米兰达警告

[Lu]

dwq, that's the American version, different from the UK version the OP is asking about.