The unclear use of a verdedigbaar mistranslation arises from time to time in the English writing of Dutch lawyers. In an earlier post, we looked at this problem in detail. Here we continue by looking at a few examples of mistranslations of verdedigbaar and how to repair them. First example (unclear whether “verdedigbaar” meant as… Read more
In this post, we look at how verdedigbaar can be properly expressed in English, especially in the phrase “het is verdedigbaar dat“. Example of a statement that a lawyer may wish to hedge When a lawyer discusses a possible position or argument, one problem that arises is that, merely by stating it, the lawyer appears to be… Read more
How should onverminderd artikel X be translated into English? This is a tricky translation point, perhaps one of the trickiest. How is onverminderd artikel X used in legal Dutch? This is surprisingly difficult to ascertain. Despite its ubiquity, there appears to be no authoritative or universally applicable definition. Indeed, the meaning seems to depend on the… Read more
