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Tuesday, 3 July 2007

Englsh/Italian Law Dictionaries - Giuffrè editore's Dizionario Giuridico

The only English/Italian, Italian/English law dictionaries I know are Giuffrè editore's Dizionario Giuridico. There are two volumes, one is Italian/English and the other, as you might expect, is the English/Italian version.

These, literally, weighty tomes are both translation dictionaries and guides to British/American legal systems and principles. You could also say that they can act as something of a comparative law guide too.

It is slightly inaccurate to call them English/Italian, Italian/English law dictionaries, seeing as the definitions/explanations provided are mainly in Italian. This, of course, makes them highly useful for Italian lawyers, but not much use for non-Italian speaking lawyers who want to understand Italian legal terms.

However, if you are an Italian lawyer, either look around your offices for these dictionaries or buy them. The cost is around €180 for both. If you are a law student, try to find these dictionaries in your law faculty library - or convince someone in your family to buy you a copy.

PS I have both volumes.

By Alex Roe

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2 comments:

Ali said...

Dear Mr. Roe,

Is there any English-Italian law Dictionary for non-Italian speaker who wants to understand Italian legal terms?

Ali Hanjra

8 November 2008 at 18:56
Alex Roe said...

Dear Ali,

Herein lies a problem. The best English Italian and vice versa legal dictionary I know of is the dictionary mentioned in this post, but if you do not know Italian, you may have a problem. I don't know if there is a 'real' English version.

The only alternative I know of is a multi-lingual dictionary:

West's Law and Commercial Dictionary in Five Languages: English to German Spanish French Italian : Definitions of the Legal and Commercial Terms and Phrases ... English, and Civil Law jurisdictions (Hardcover)

However it is not easy to find - try Amazon USA - there may be some copies available. I have seen something similar, but while it is OK, it's not that good at explaining the subtle differences between 'English' and Italian legal terms. This is why the odd Italian dictionary mentioned in this post is useful - but only really for Italians.

I do think there is a market for this kind of dictionary, but it must be limited, which is why nobody has got round to translating the de Franchis dictionary into 'real' English.

I wish I could be more helpful.

Kind regards,

Alex Roe

13 November 2008 at 11:08

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