Globalization has intensified cross-border transactions, international arbitration, foreign investments, and multinational business structures. As a result, EnglishโTurkish legal translation plays a central role in ensuring clarity, accuracy, and legal certainty between two fundamentally different legal traditions: Common Law (English Law) and Civil Law (Turkish Law).
This article explores the main distinctions between these systems and explains why understanding these differences is essential for accurate legal translation.
๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐๐๐ฐ (๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ฐ): ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ญ
The English legal system is defined by its reliance on precedent, judicial interpretation, and the historic development of law through case decisions.
Key characteristics:
โ Precedent (Stare Decisis)
Court decisions bind future cases with similar facts. This is why Common Law documents frequently contain:
- case citations,
- judicial principles,
- reasoning-based definitions (e.g., reasonable person, duty of care),
- equity-based concepts.
โ Judge-made law
Courts actively shape the law. Legal concepts evolve over time based on judgmentsโsomething Civil Law does not emphasize.
โ Extensive contract drafting
Because fewer rules are codified, English contracts tend to be:
- longer,
- more detailed,
- explicit about risk allocation.
๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐๐๐ฐ (๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฐ): ๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค
Turkey follows the Civil Law tradition, heavily influenced by Swiss, German, and French legal codes.
Core features:
โ Primacy of Statutory Law
The main source of law is written legislation. Judges must first look to:
- Codes,
- Custom (if applicable),
- Equity (as a last resort).
โ No binding precedent
High court opinions are guiding but not formally binding. Therefore, the Common Law notion of precedent has no direct counterpart in Turkish law.
โ Shorter contracts
Civil Law assumes general provisions already exist in the code, so contracts include fewer auxiliary clauses.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
Legal translation between English and Turkish is not a simple linguistic task โ it is the act of bridging two different legal cultures.
Below are the main translation challenges.
๐๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ง-๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐: ๐๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐จ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ
Many Common Law concepts are not codified in Civil Law, making literal translation impossible.
Examples:
- Consideration
- Equity
- Estoppel
- Fiduciary duty
- Trust law
- Duty of care (only partially overlaps with รถzen borcu)
These terms require:
- descriptive translation,
- functional equivalence,
- or explanatory footnotes depending on the context.
๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฌ
Common Law examples:
- Injunction vs. Turkish ihtiyati tedbir (not identical)
- Liquidated damages vs. Turkish ceza koลulu
- Indemnity clauses (much broader under English Law)
- Tort principles developed through case law
Civil Law examples:
- Turkish separation of ihtiyati haciz and ihtiyati tedbir
- Codified liability regimes
- Narrower interpretation of penalties
- Less reliance on judicial history
These asymmetries require translators to understand functional differences, not just terminology.
๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐: ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฌ. ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐
English contracts (Common Law):
- long,
- detailed,
- clause-heavy (risk allocation must be explicit).
Turkish contracts (Civil Law):
- concise,
- rely on statutory provisions,
- contain fewer scenario-based precautions.
In translation:
- A word-for-word approach fails.
- An English contract translated into Turkish may seem repetitive โ but this repetition must be preserved.
- A Turkish contract translated into English often needs structural expansion to meet Common Law expectations.
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ค๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ ๐ ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐
Legal translation requires more than bilingual ability. A qualified legal translator must master:
- comparative legal research,
- system-to-system equivalence,
- contextual term selection,
- legal risk awareness,
- contract and litigation terminology.
Because a mistranslated term can lead to financial loss, unenforceable agreements, or litigation, subject-matter expertise is indispensable.
๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง: ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฌ, ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ฌ
English and Turkish legal systems differ in structure, philosophy, and application. Therefore, translating between them requires not only linguistic competence but also comparative legal understanding.
A skilled legal translator connects two different worlds โ ensuring clarity, accuracy, and legal certainty across jurisdictions.
