In 2014, the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure was published in European standard English, thus bringing the unique nature of the Italian civil law to a wider audience. Despite the difference between Italian civil law and English common law, cooperation between countries within the European Union means that the differences between common and civil law legal systems is not as profound as was once the case. This is particularly the case in the criminal sector, which covers such activities as immigration, organised crime, and trafficking in both drugs and human beings.) There is also the requirement for police and judicial cooperation between countries and European Union member states.
In Italy, an alleged offender is designated the term of the “indigato” during the investigative phrase, and once charges have been filed, he will become an “imputato”.
The procedural distinctions between these two phrases are not, of course, found only in Italian and the Italian legal system. They may be summarised as the difference between the “suspect” and the “accused”. Interestingly, two of the European Statutes which has been responsible for the increased harmonisation of criminal law within the European Union are
Directive 2010/64/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings, and Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings.
It must be noted, however, that some terminology used in the Italian legal system may be translated, but finds no equivalent in other legal systems such as the English one. One such is the term “incidente probatorio”. This term has proven quite a challenge for translators. It refers in general to preliminary rulings, and it has been translated variously as “special evidentiary hearing” and “pre-trial hearing”. Yet the Italian term “istruzione dibattimentale” also refers to a similar hearing. Yet the difference between these terms is important; technically, the “istruttoria dibattimentale” refers to a hearing which includes all the evidence pertaining to the case. Furthermore, in the Italian criminal legal system, it is the “Udienza Preliminare” which signals the end of the pre-trial phrase. There is nothing preliminary, therefore, about the “istruttoria dibattimentale”.
There are also Italian legal terms which have no equivalent in English. One such term is “persona civilmente obbligata per la pena pecuniaria”, which refers to the accused person or subject who is obligated to pay the penalty if he is insolvent. Terms such as these present difficulties, because there is no direct equivalent. Another term, “persona civilmente obbligata” literally means a person who has civil liability, and the challenge would be to translate this in the way that is most elegant and appropriate to the translated sentence.
Therefore, even though there is a certain level of legal convergence occurrig at the supranational level, it is evident that legal traditions are rooted firmly in language, and it is not sometimes possible to provide a simple translation. This demonstrates that a firm knowledge of the legal systems of both the source and the target language, Italian and English, is invaluable.
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