Every legal document involves different stakeholders and actions, depending on the situation. To best define the scope of a contract and limit potential legal risks, it is crucial to define the terms specific to the document.
1. Why do we define specific terms?
Defining specific terms in the document helps to remove ambiguity and gives the term a precise meaning. As explained earlier, the use of defined terms is also useful for applying a clear and solid framework to the contract.
All definitions of specific terms appear in a dedicated section or when the defined term is first used. In the rest of the document, the term continues to have the meaning given by its definition. To enable the reader to quickly identify defined terms from other words, the editor uses a graphic device, usually capitalisation.
2. How to use this effectively
Although the definition of specific terms remains necessary, certain practices create confusion in the reader's mind. As the proper understanding of a legal document is crucial, the following rules should be followed to optimise the reading of a legal text:
- Define a term when its meaning may be ambiguous. Avoid defining words whose meaning can be easily established from the context of the document.
- Keep your definitions short and clear. Be as concise as possible and use simple words, bearing in mind that some parties may not be familiar with the document's technical vocabulary.
- As far as possible, do not change the meaning of a commonly used word. If the defined term refers to a commonly used word, the reader is likely to forget the new meaning after a certain amount of time spent reading the document and spontaneously revert to the familiar meaning.
- Define recurring terms directly in the body of the document. This will enable the reader to understand what the term refers to when it occurs occasionally in the text.
3. Capitalisation: when to use it
These are very important but be careful to avoid overuse!
The French rule is that only the first word of a phrase is capitalised. However, thanks to our experience in this field, we've found that many of our customers prefer to use English-style double-casing in their legal documents.
At Legal 230 we take your preferences into account, so don't hesitate to let us know your preference 😉.
Here are the various cases in which capitalisation is required for words other than defined terms:
- Codes, such as the Civil Code, the Penal Code, etc., are capitalised. Other legal texts are not capitalised. The only exception is the Constitution.
- Abbreviations for legal entities, e.g. SA, SAS, etc.
- The sector of activity of a minister, such as the Minister of Justice, the Prime Minister, etc.
- French courts, with several points to note:
For single state bodies, the rule in French is to capitalise only the first word making up the name, for example, "Conseil constitutionnel" (Constitutional Council) or "Cour de cassation" (Supreme Court).
Multiple state bodies are not considered proper nouns in French, so they are not capitalised, for example, "conseil des prud'hommes de Paris" (employment tribunal).
The Conseil d'Etat (Council of State) is the only exception to these rules, with both nouns capitalised.
4. The legal expertise of Legal 230 specialist translators
At Legal 230, our expert translators in your field are proficient in the use of capitalisation. The translation of your legal document will be carried out with care, respecting your defined terms.
We offer you the option of creating a customised glossary for your projects, to include your own defined terms and vocabulary. In this way, all your projects will be translated consistently, taking into account your terminology preferences.