Invaluable addition to any law library
English-Sinhala Dictionary of Law
Editors: U.D.J. Jinadasa and Arjuna Udawatta (Attorneys-at-Law)
Publishers: Sarasavi Publishers, Nugegoda
Price Rs. 750
459 PP
Review: Indra Samarasinghe
LLB (SL), LLM (Monash), Deputy Legal Draftsman
LAW: One of the draw backs against the adoption of Sinhala as
the language of the Law is the paucity of retrained translators
competent to translate legal literature into Sinhala.
And, for the translators there are hardly any books published
explaining the English legal terms and expressions in the Sinhala
language. The legal glossaries published by the Official Languages
Department sometime ago provide some assistance to the Sinhala writer in
preparing legal documents; but unless the Sinhala terms are discretely
and distinctly used to fix the context, irretrievable mistakes can occur
in the Sinhala version.
Legal writing
The first ever English-Sinhala dictionary authored by two senior
lawyers is, therefore, a vital contribution for the corrective and
effective use of the Sinhala langauge for legal writing.
As Justice Dr. A.R.B. Amarasinghe states in his forward to this work,
the preparation of a dictionary is no easy task, and endeavouring to
explain English legal term in another langauge is indeed more difficult.
Quirks of legal jargon, the peculiar idiomatic expressions are
sometimes difficult to understand by a person not trained in law. In
preparing the Sinhala version the authors have simplified them, thus
making them understandable even by a layman.
Their efforts in that direction, therefore is commendable. Simplicity
and directness are in fact two of the touch-stones of good writing.
With more than 3,000 entries within its 450 pages the Dictionary is
unique in certain aspects. The transliteration of Latin and French terms
followed by definitions provides the user with the accurate
pronunciation of such terms.
Local terms
The inclusion of local terms which are often encountered in legal
writings is useful even for the general user. The citation of case law
to elaborate certain definitions could help those who are interested in
deeper studies. The inclusion of an Appendix of foreign words and
phrases which are often used in legal writing enhances the value of the
Dictionary.
As a source book this dictionary could be an invaluable addition to
any library. It lays no claim to comprehensiveness. That apart, the
authors deserve to be complimented for undertaking this pioneering work
of preparing this first ever bilingual dictionary in the discipline of
law. |
