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Finca/Motor:
Jul 24, 2019 21:56
4 yrs ago
4 viewers *
Spanish term

Considerando

Spanish to English Law/Patents Government / Politics Resolutions
I recently proofread a translation of a government resolution into UK English.

I am famililar with the use of "WITNESSETH" for "CONSIDERANDO", followed by "Whereas,...." at the beginning of each of the following paragraphs that begin with "Que,..." in Spanish, so I replaced the "Whereas" with "WITNESSETH" in the heading, and used "Whereas,...." in the following paragraphs, but then my client said this wasn't used in British English.

Can anyone of my colleagues from the UK confirm whether or not this formula is actually used in UK English?

Thank you in advance for any ideas and comments.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +5 Whereas

Discussion

Muriel Vasconcellos Jul 25, 2019:
witnesseth I think it's quite rare in US documents as well. But then I don't do very many contracts.
Giovanni Rengifo (asker) Jul 25, 2019:
@ all I'm very grateful to all of you for your comments, but especially to Charles for being so thorough. From now on, I'll use "witnesseth" only for US contracts.
Charles Davis Jul 25, 2019:
2 He defends its use, referring to “blog posts by self-proclaimed contract drafting authorities telling you it’s wrong to use WITNESSETH”; he’s referring to people like Bryan Garner, editor of Black’s 9th edition, who must have written the “antiquated relic” comment.
https://witnesseth.typepad.com/blog/2012/07/why-witnesseth.h...

The general issue of “legalese” is often discussed on Kudoz and there’s a lot of support here for the “plain English” approach. Be that as it may, “witnesseth” is much less common in UK contracts nowadays than in the US. But in any case, the document you’re translating is not a contract but a government resolution. Comparable UK government documents are generally drafted differently, so they don’t offer a useful model here. English versions of EU examples, as Muriel points out, normally do it your client’s way, with “WHEREAS” followed by 1., 2., 3… That’s the way I myself handle “CONSIDERANDO” in this type of document.

“And upon” is only found in court judgments, as far as I know. It’s a matter of genre.
Charles Davis Jul 25, 2019:
Hi Giovanni A disclaimer: I don't consider myself an expert on legal drafting, UK or otherwise. But that said, I would do this the way your client has suggested, that is, with "Whereas", as a heading, followed by the succession of paragraphs. Not on the grounds that "clients are always right, even when they're wrong". If the client is clearly wrong, then as a matter of professional ethics one should point this out. But that's not the case here. It's not entirely true that "Witnesseth" is not used in British English; examples can be found. Here’s a UK model that does it your way:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/documents/change-order-template-for-m...

But it's not common and is generally confined to particular types of documents.

The way you did it, with "Witnesseth" and then "Whereas" before each of the following paragraphs, is a common way of drafting contracts in the US. I was amused to read the following blog by a US law professor, who points out that the use of “Witnesseth” is actually staging a comeback after a period of decline and notes that Black’s Law Dictionary, 9th edition, defines it but then describes it as an “antiquated relic”.

(continued in next comment)
David Hollywood Jul 25, 2019:
no doubt about it in Int Org speak
Muriel Vasconcellos Jul 25, 2019:
Synonyms I've encountered maybe a dozen synonyms (I once had to review the text of over 1,000 resolutions), but 'whereas' is your international standby.
David Hollywood Jul 25, 2019:
It's "whereas" for sure
philgoddard Jul 24, 2019:
I'm from the UK, and I've never seen "and upon" before.

Witnesseth (which sounds silly in my opinion) means the same as whereas, so it's wrong to use them both. I would use 'whereas"- your client is incorrect.
Giovanni Rengifo (asker) Jul 24, 2019:
@lorenab23 Hi Lorena, I'd never seen "and upon" before - interesting.
Do you know if that's UK English?
I hope our British colleagues will help me "unravel the mystery" here.
lorenab23 Jul 24, 2019:
Hi Giovanni I wonder if this can help you. Please read the text in English provided by the asker, do not know if this fits your context: https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english-to-spanish/law-general/56...

Of course we need our usual suspects from the UK(i.e. Charles Davis) to confirm or deny.
Hope you are well!

Proposed translations

+5
2 hrs
Selected

Whereas

I'm not sure if this answers your question because you specifically asked about UK practice. I've spent my career working for UN agencies, which tend to follow modified form of UK English (e.g., they use the '-ize' ending). If they are an example, they usually translate "considerando" as 'whereas' without "witnesseth'.

I don't think you can go wrong with 'Whereas' standing alone.

Here are two examples from the European Parliament:

F. Whereas the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) has performed well both in relation to [...] europarl.europa.eu
F. Considerando que la Administración de Transición de las Naciones Unidas en Timor Oriental (UNTAET) ha realizado un [...] europarl.europa.eu

G. Whereas the United Nations World Food Programme has highlighted that, in Latin America, climate change is expected to [...] europarl.europa.eu
G. Considerando que el Programa Mundial de Alimentos de las Naciones Unidas ha destacado que se espera que en América Latina [...] europarl.europa.eu

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Note added at 2 hrs (2019-07-25 00:16:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Another example:

Considerando que la libertad, la justicia y la paz en el mundo tienen por base el reconocimiento de la dignidad intrínseca [...] html.knowyourrights2008.org

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is [...] html.knowyourrights2008.org



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2019-07-25 00:18:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

My apologies! The last example is a non-match.
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard
7 mins
Thank you, Phil!
agree David Hollywood : absolutely
1 hr
Thank you, David!
agree Charles Davis
5 hrs
Thank you, Charles! We were waiting for your input.
agree AllegroTrans
8 hrs
Thank you!
agree Clarkalo
18 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks again Muriel!"
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