Legal English

[Lilian]

Jurisdiction

California

Hi
I'd be grateful if someone could give me the right legal English expression that best conveys the meaning that some decision should be notified and reported to those who should enforce it or implement it.
Does it sound correct and legal to say at the end of a document stating a legal decision:
"This decision is to be reported to whom it may implement"
...?

Thanks

 

[army judge]

Does it sound correct and legal to say at the end of a document stating a legal decision:
"This decision is to be reported to whom it may implement"
...?

The statement above is confusing and awkward.

What is the thought or directive you are attempting to convey to the reader?

 

[zddoodah]

Does it sound correct and legal to say at the end of a document stating a legal decision:
"This decision is to be reported to whom it may implement"
...?

No. That's grammatical nonsense. If the person(s) or entity(ies) who are implementing the decision are known, then why not say, "[Name of person or entity who is responsible for reporting] is to report this decision to [name of person(s) or entity(ies) who will implement it"? Almost always better to use active voice over passive voice.

If those person(s)/entity(ies) are unknown, then you can say, "[Name of person or entity who is responsible for reporting] is to report this decision to the person(s) or entity(ies) who will implement it." I would assume, however, that context would indicate who is doing the implementing. Care to share that context with us?

 

[Lilian]

Thank you very much for taking time to reply.

In fact, it is a legal decision about passing a governmental set of rules, and the persons or entities who should implement this decision are not specified.

I'm wondering if this sentence would be ok:

"Notification shall be reported to all parties responsible for the implementation of the decision"

Or may it's enough to say: "Notification shall be made for implementation"

?

 

[adjusterjack]

If this is a "legal decision" about "passing a governmental set of rules" why isn't somebody with a law degree writing it?

Who made this "legal decision"?

What "rules" were passed? Who passed them?

And who are you in this scenario? Did you make the decision? Did you write the rules? Why are you the one trying to write whatever it is you are trying to write?

 

[zddoodah]

I'm wondering if this sentence would be ok:

"Notification shall be reported to all parties responsible for the implementation of the decision"

It's ok with me.

Or may it's enough to say: "Notification shall be made for implementation"

?

That doesn't make grammatical sense. Whether it's sufficient depends on the context. It's possible that folks who deal with stuff like this every day will understand it.

P.S. I think "adjusterjack's" questions are all good questions.

 

[Lilian]

I'm a translator… translating legal documents from other languages into English

I'm surprised there's no concise expression in English that conveys the above meaning as is the case in other languages where many legal decsions tend to end with such a closing statement.

Thank you all anyway..

zddoodah, I appreciate your detailed replies

 

[adjusterjack]

I'm a translator… translating legal documents from other languages into English

You have my sympathy. It's hard enough to translate legal documents written in English into English.

I'm surprised there's no concise expression in English that conveys the above meaning as is the case in other languages where many legal decsions tend to end with such a closing statement.

There probably is but context is important which is why I asked all those questions.

In most cases in the US a statement like that would not be necessary since the administrative process would already be in place to send the decision to whoever was going to implement it.

Example - last year a law was passed in Arizona. The last paragraph says:

Sec. 5. Legislative intent. It is the intent of the legislature that, for the purposes of collecting the vehicle license tax pursuant to section 28-5805, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act, the director of the department of transportation set the value of a vehicle that is powered by alternative fuel at no more than ten percent of the manufacturer's base retail price of the vehicle.

It wasn't necessary to add instructions to send it to the director of the department of transportation because the legislative process is already set up to send it to him and wherever else is appropriate.

Another example - appeals court decision:

Trial court erred in presenting instructions to the jury. We reverse the conviction. Defendant is entitled to a retrial.

Again, no need to specify who gets that decision for implementation. Distribution would be inherent in the administrative process.

 

[Tax Counsel]

Hi
Does it sound correct and legal to say at the end of a document stating a legal decision:
"This decision is to be reported to whom it may implement"

Grammatically that does not work, the phrase "to whom it may implement" makes it awkward because the "it" would seem to refer to the decision, but the decision does not implement anything.

In American legal documents it is often unnecessary to have the kind of phrase you are asking about. But when translating some foreign document, the best translation would depend on the outset what the meaning of the original document was. That said, something like "This decision shall be reported to the person responsible for implementing it" may come close to what you are looking for. The word person could be substituted with "authority" or "entity" or other appropriate noun to reflect whether it is a person or an organization that is responsible for implementing the decision.

 

[Lilian]

Thank you very much indeed

Your replies are very useful..