Things Legal Translators Need to Know: What’s in the Código Civil? (Part 1)

Part I—Derecho de la persona and Derecho de familia

By Rebecca Jowers

I’m a firm believer that legal translators and interpreters need to learn loads of law to be able to do our jobs properly. And if we have a firm grasp of the core concepts and terminology of the Civil Code, that’s half the battle. That’s because in all Spanish-speaking jurisdictions the Código Civil governs so many crucial areas of private law that crop up in our translations, such as the law of persons (Derecho de la persona) (including all aspects of family law—Derecho de familia); contracts (contratos), obligations (obligaciones), property law (derechos reales or Derecho de cosas), and inheritance law or the law of succession (sucesiones).

A colleague once asked me about the content of the Spanish Civil Code and if it had ever been amended. The original Código Civil was passed in 1889, so obviously the answer to that question is “Yes! Of course it’s been amended many times.” Relevant examples in family law alone include amendments legalizing divorce in 1981, providing for no fault divorce (divorcio no causal) in 2005, and legalizing same-sex marriage (matrimonio igualitario), also in 2005. More recently in the property law section, a 2021 amendment provides protection for animal rights, recognizing them as sentient beings (seres vivos dotados de sensibilidad) and no longer classifying them as simple property (bienes or cosas).

In the event it may prove useful to ES-EN legal translators and interpreters, in this and in future entries for the ATA Law Division Blog I’d like to offer a systematic overview of some of the terms and concepts of the Civil Code as presented in Spanish civil law textbooks (manuales de Derecho civil). And, having reviewed the civil codes of Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia, I think it’s safe to say that, with logical exceptions, the content of the civil codes of other Spanish-speaking jurisdictions is quite similar to Spain’s. After all, to a greater or lesser extent they were all influenced by the Napoleonic Code. It should perhaps also be noted that certain areas of Spain have their own civil law, known as Derecho foral in the Basque Country and Navarre and Derecho especial in Aragon, Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and Galicia.

What follows is a brief run-down of a few of the major concepts (there are many more!) of two areas of law addressed in the Spanish Civil Code (the Law of Persons and Family Law). I’ve included possible English renderings, but appropriate translations may vary from country to country. And, as is often the case, when there is no reasonable kindred concept in Anglo-American law, I’ve provided a possible definitional translation. Terms most often used in the United States are marked “US,” while those that are perhaps more common in the UK or specifically in England and Wales appear as “UK” or “E&W.”

Derecho de la persona (Law of Persons)

Concepto jurídico de persona (legal concept of person)

• persona física; persona natural (person; individual)
• persona jurídica (legal entity; artificial person)

Capacidad (Capacity)

• capacidad jurídica (legal capacity; capacity to be the subject of rights and obligations)
• capacidad de obrar (capacity to exercise rights and assume obligations)

Incapacitación (Adjudication of Incompetence)

• incapaz (incompetent; person adjudicated incompetent)

Edad (Age)

• minoría de edad (minority; age of minority)
• emancipación de menores (emancipation of minors)
• mayoría de edad (age of majority; legal age)

Nacionalidad (Nationality/Citizenship)

• nacionalidad de origen (nationality/citizenship acquired at birth)
  • ius soli (jus soli; birthright citizenship; citizenship determined by one’s place of birth)
  • ius sanguinis (jus sanguinis; bloodline citizenship; citizenship determined by the nationality of one’s parents)
• adquisición de la nacionalidad (acquisition of nationality/citizenship)
• pérdida de la nacionalidad (loss of citizenship)
• recuperación de la nacionalidad (reinstatement of citizenship)
• doble nacionalidad (dual citizenship)
• apatridia (statelessness)
  • apátrida (stateless person)

Domicilio (Domicile; Residence)

• domicilio habitual (main residence)
• domicilio para requerimientos (residence for service of process)
• domicilio a efectos fiscales (residence for tax purposes; tax home)
• domicilio conyugal (marital home)

Vecindad civil (Regional Domicile, which in Spain determines whether a person is subject to the Código Civil or to another civil law, the Derecho foral or Derecho especial mentioned above)

Ausencia (Absence)

• desaparecido (missing person)
• ausente (person legally-declared missing)

Declaración de fallecimiento (Declaration of Death)

Muerte (Death)

Representación (Power of Attorney)

• poderdante (principal–US; grantor; donor–E&W)
• apoderado (legal representative; attorney-in-fact–US; agent; attorney–E&W)
• apoderamiento (grant of power of attorney)

Registro Civil (Civil Register; Civil Registry; Office of Vital Records–US; General Register Office–E&W)

Derecho de familia (Family Law)

Familia y parentesco (Family and Kinship)

Matrimonio (Marriage)

• capacidad matrimonial (capacity to marry)
• prohibiciones matrimoniales y dispensa de impedimentos (prohibitions to marry and dispensation of impediments)
• consentimiento matrimonial (consent to marriage)
• formas matrimoniales (forms of marriage)

Uniones de hecho (nonmarital unions)

Crisis matrimoniales (breakdown of marriage)

• nulidad matrimonial (nullity of marriage)
• separación matrimonial (legal separation)
• disolución del matrimonio (dissolution of marriage)[1]
• divorcio (divorce)
  • custodia de hijos menores (custody of minor children)
  • custodia compartida (shared custody)

Regímenes económico-matrimoniales (marital property arrangements)

• capitulaciones matrimoniales (prenupcial/postnuptial agreements)
• sociedad de gananciales (community property marriage)
• régimen de separación de bienes (separate property marriage)

Filiación (Parent-child Relationships)

• patria potestad (legal custody; parental rights and responsibilities)
• acogimiento (foster care)
  • acogimiento familiar (family foster care)
  • acogimiento en familia extensa (kinship foster care—placement of the minor in the care of an extended family member)
• adopción (adoption)
  • adoptantes; padres adoptivos (adoptive parents)
  • adoptado/a (adopted child)

Alimentos entre parientes (Family Support/Maintenance Obligations)

• alimentante; deudor alimentante (support/maintenance provider)
• alimentista (support/maintenance recipient)

Instituciones tutelares (Protective Care Arrangements)

• tutela (guardianship)
  • tutor (guardian)
  • tutelado (ward)
• defensor judicial (court-appointed advocate; guardian ad litem)
• guarda de hecho (de facto guardianship)

(Coming in Part II: Obligaciones y Contratos)

[1] It should perhaps be noted that under Spanish law disolución del matrimonio is a broad term encompassing three legal means by which a marriage may terminate (disolución de matrimonio por muerte, por declaracion de fallecimiento de uno de los cónyuges o por divorcio). In contrast, in many English-speaking jurisdictions the expression “dissolution of marriage” is used almost exclusively as a synonym (or perhaps a euphemism) for “divorce” and may be limited to that meaning. Thus, “dissolution of marriage” may often be correctly rendered in Spanish as divorcio while, depending on the context, the appropriate English translation of disolución del matrimonio may either be “divorce,” “termination of marriage by death” or “termination of marriage by the judicial declaration of death (of a missing spouse).”

About the Author

Rebecca Jowers is a Spanish-English freelance legal translator and professor of Legal English in an LL.M. program (Máster en Asesoría Jurídica de Empresas) at the Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, having previously worked as an in-house legal translator in the Elzaburu intellectual property law firm. She is the author of two reference works for translators and interpreters: Léxico temático de terminología jurídica español-inglés and Diccionario de términos y conceptos jurídicos español-ingles (Tirant lo Blanch, 2015, 2023), as well as a 300-entry blog on ES-EN legal terminology at https://rebeccajowers.com.