La figura de la adopción.

Discussion in 'Legal Terminology' started by Cathoos, Sep 15, 2012.

  1. Cathoos Member

    USA, English
    Hi everyone,

    I'm translating an article from Mexico (in Spanish) about adoption and there is in the title and in other parts of the article, the phrase: "La figura de la adopción".
    The title of the articles is: "Marco jurídico estatal referente a la figura de la adopción" which I have translated as: "Framework of State Laws with Reference to Adoption" since "la figura" doesn't really seem to make sense.

    Another paragraph where "la figura" appears is:
    En los últimos treinta años, la adopción ha pasado a ocupar un puesto de primer orden en el derecho de familia (De Pina, 1992: 372), pero hasta antes de la promulgación del Código Civil de 1928, la figura no aparecía en los Códigos de 1870 y 1884, ni en la Ley de Relaciones Familiares de 1917.

    I translated that as:
    In the last thirty years, adoption has come to be exceedingly valuable as a family right (De Pina, 1992:372), but not until the promulgation of the 1928 Civil Code did adoption appear. It wasn’t in the Civil Codes of 1870 and 1884, nor in the Family Relationship Law of 1917.

    I didn't include the word "figura" because I'm not sure if that means "notion" the "idea" or what? Can anyone help shed some light on this? Should I just leave "figura" out as I have or is there a good translation for it? Thank you so much!
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 27, 2014
  2. montanera New Member

    castellano, España
    I think it´s refers to a legal figure like marriage or lease, well, I don´t know the correct word in English but it´s not a "idea", it´s a kind of legal figure.
  3. Cathoos Member

    USA, English
    Thank you for your input, but I decided to actually use the word "concept" because it doesn't refer to a legal figure, it is referring to the very notion/concept of adoption not being written into law in Mexico until 1928. "Figure" just isn't a good fit in English, but "concept" is the best word.
  4. JenCor Member

    Just a thought: derecho de familia should translate to family law... That's my thought.
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 27, 2014
  5. robjh22 Senior Member

    U.S.A. & English
    I have always thought that when Spanish speakers refer to a "figura," they mean what we mean by "institution."

    I don't see a problem with concepto, and it may be better.

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