“Literary works allow a translator to have his/her own interpretation and to develop creativity. The scope of interpretation for a legal translator, however, is restricted. Interpretation is the job of judges who can give new meanings to legal terms and adopt the appropriate rules of interpretation as s/he thinks fit. Interpretation of legal texts makes legal translation unique and challenging. On the one hand, a translator has difficulty anticipating how a court will interpret the source text, and on the other, s/he has to bear in mind that a court will make an authoritative interpretation of the source text not written by itself and therefore s/he has to translate the text in a literal way as far as possible so that the same effect can be achieved.”

~ Dr Emily Poon ~

MA in Legal Translation 法律翻譯法律翻譯法律翻譯法律翻譯文學文學文學文學碩士課程碩士課程碩士課程碩士課程

The change in Hong Kong’s sociopolitical climate since 1997 has triggered the

Government to implement a bilingual legal

system using Chinese in addition to English as

the language of law. As a world city, Hong

Kong is in need of competent professional

translators for both the public and private legal

sectors.

The Open University of Hong Kong has a strong tradition in offering postgraduate and

undergraduate programmes in language

studies and translation. In addition to its BA

(Honours) in Language and Translation and MA

in Applied Translation, the School of Arts and

Social Sciences will offer a specialised programme, the Master of Arts in Legal

Translation (MALTF), from September 2008. This

programme is designed to meet the growing

demand for translators in the legal profession.

For students interested in language, the study of

legal translation will enhance their knowledge

of a specialised field of language use.

This programme aims to provide students with professional skills in legal writing, legal

translation and bilingual drafting. Upon

successful completion of the programme,

students should be able to demonstrate an

in-depth understanding of the common law

system and the general concepts in constitutional & administrative law, criminal law,

contract law, company law and property law.

They should also be equipped with the

techniques to translate different types of legal

documents to meet the challenges arisen as a

result of Hong Kong’s transformation from a monolingual to a bilingual legal system.

THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG (Government established)

MA IN LEGAL TRANSLATION

��� _____________________________________________

______________________________________________

� SCHOOL OF ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES

http://www.ouhk.edu.hk/ass

For enquiries about the programme,

please contact Dr Emily Poon Wai Yee 潘慧儀博士

Tel: (852) 2768 5710

Email: epoon@ouhk.edu.hk School website: http://www.ouhk.edu.hk/ass

Distinctive Features

� Renowned experts in the fields of law and legal

translation will teach this programme. Honorary professors and advisors include Sir TL Yang 楊鐵樑

爵士 , The Honourable Mr Justice Patrick Chan

陳兆愷法官, Mr Suen Wai Chung 孫衛忠先生 and

Mr Lee Yuk Ming李育明先生.

� Convenient schedule with classes in the evenings

and/or Saturday/Sunday afternoons/evenings will

be arranged.

� Mainland and Hong Kong students can apply. Full-time students may be supported with tutorship

at OUHK.

� Students will be taught the basic concepts by

legal experts so that they can apply the

knowledge learned to translation tasks.

� Students will be given an overview of the features

of legal Chinese in Mainland China, Taiwan and

Hong Kong to sensitize them to the linguistic

problems that may arise when translating a legal

text.

� Students will be taught the linguistic and interpretation problems inherent in legal

translation from the perspectives of drafting and

statutory interpretation. Students will undertake

translation tasks on statutes and judgments and

translate texts relating to contractual, property,

company and criminal issues.

� OUHK library will provide students with sufficient

law- and translation-related materials.

Students pursuing this programme must successfully

complete 60 credits of compulsory courses.

Contents of the programme are outlined below.

Numbers within brackets denote credit weighting.

COURSES OFFERED

Hong Kong Legal System and Legal English (5)

香港法制與英文法律 (5)

Governance and Politics of Greater China (5) 大中華地區的管治研究 (5)

Principles of Constitutional & Administrative Law

and Criminal Law in Bilingual Context (5)

憲法、行政法及刑法雙語研究 (5)

Translation and Use of Chinese in Law (5)

翻譯與中文法律 (5)

Legal Bilingualism in Hong Kong (5)

雙語法律文書 (5)

Principles of Contract Law in Bilingual Context (5)

合約法雙語研究 (5)

Principles of Company Law in Bilingual Context (5)

公司法雙語研究 (5)

Legal Translation in Hong Kong (5)

香港法律翻譯 (5)

MA Project (10)

碩士論文 (10)

Principles of Property Law in Bilingual Context (5)

財產法雙語研究 (5)

Advanced Legal Translation in Hong Kong (5) 香港高級法律翻譯 (5)

MA in Legal Translation 法律翻譯法律翻譯法律翻譯法律翻譯文學文學文學文學碩士課程碩士課程碩士課程碩士課程 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mode of Study: Face-to-face teaching

1-year full-time / 2-year part-time

Tuition Fee: HK$75,200

Application: From January to August

(Interviews will begin in March)

Admission: September every year Language of Instruction: Chinese and English

Entry Requirements � A Bachelor’s degree;

� Candidates with equivalent

qualifications and relevant

translation experience

The change in Hong Kong’s sociopolitical climate since 1997 has triggered the

Government to implement a bilingual legal system using Chinese in addition to

English as the language of law. As a world city, Hong Kong is in need of competent

professional translators for both the public and private legal sectors.

The MA in Legal Translation aims to provide students with professional skills in

legal writing, legal translation and bilingual drafting. Full-time students can

complete the programme in one year. Upon successful completion of the

programme, students should be able to demonstrate an in-depth understanding of

the common law system and the general concepts in constitutional & administrative

law, criminal law, contract law, company law and property law. They should also be equipped with the

techniques to translate different types of legal documents to meet the challenges arisen as a result of Hong

Kong’s transformation from a monolingual to a bilingual legal system.

Renowned experts in the fields of law and legal translation will teach this programme. Honorary

professors and advisors include Sir TL Yang楊鐵樑爵士, The Honourable Mr Justice Patrick Chan

陳兆愷法官, Mr Suen Wai Chung 孫衛忠先生 and Mr Lee Yuk Ming李育明先生.

Financial support in the form of tutorship will be available.

For enquiries about the programme, please contact

Dr Emily Poon Wai Yee 潘慧儀博士

Tel: (852) 2768 5710

Email: epoon@ouhk.edu.hk School website: http://www.ouhk.edu.hk/ass

New, to be offered

in 2008