Terminological equivalence in European, British and Italian criminal law texts: A case study on victims of crime

Since the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs has become a matter of high priority for all Member States of the European Union. This cooperation finds its concrete expression in a number of important legal instruments adopted by the Council of the European Union, which are already, or are currently being, implemented in the Member States. Framework decisions represent a single source of law used to approximate the laws and regulations of the Member States by binding them as to the result to be achieved but they leave the choice of form and methods to the national authorities. The freedom they provide allows for differences to be identified in the conceptual system resulting from their implementation into the Member States’ legal systems. A terminological analysis of the Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings allows the identification of differences in the Italian and British implementation strategies and in their way of conceptualising even relevant key elements such as “victim”. My paper will show a few examples of such a cultural gap, which necessarily needs to be taken into account when translating or mediating between the two cultures/languages.