Category: Legal

The biggest mistake many people make about ethics is to confuse ethics and the law. Many people assume that because something is legal that it is ethical. They also make the often equally big mistake of assuming that whatever is illegal is unethical.

The sad truth is that the law and ethics are often two separate things. There are many illegal activities that are unethical, murder and theft for instance. Yet there are also many illegal activities that may not be unethical such speeding in your car or smoking in a restaurant.

Being legal does not make an activity ethical because the law is not always based on ethics. Many unethical business practices such as making false claims in the name of customer service may not be illegal for example.

Just because something is legal does not mean you should engage in it. Even though it can be legal to make questionable claims to sale your product you shouldn’t do it. Another example is in journalism, even though it is legal for journalists to use anonymous sources it is not necessary ethical to do so.

Always Be Aware of the Difference between Ethics and the Law
A person, especially a business person, should always be aware of the difference between the law and ethics. Many unethical business practices are not illegal, for example a restaurant could sell cheap cuts of meat as premium cuts of meat. This wouldn’t be illegal but it would certainly be unethical.

Do not use the law as an excuse to indulge in unethical behavior. In particular don’t use it as license to engage in questionable or unethical business practices.

Lies and deception are almost always unethical especially in business, even though they are usually legal. Not servicing products you sell and not making refunds or returns is also usually legal but it is certainly unethical.

Simply obeying the law does not constitute ethical behavior. Ethical people should always try to obey the law but they should realize that the law does not constitute a set of ethical guidelines.

Legal translation is the process of changing the texts within the field of law. For law is a culture dependent subject, legal translation is not that easy. The skilled translators who specialize in this profession can translate texts and writings. As soon as there is a mistranslation, there may be law suits and tons of money will be gone.

Once a translator changes a document in the field of law, the translator has to bear in mind some things. First, the legal translation technique is made in relation to the way of life and this can be discovered in the legal language. Similarly, the target text must be read by a person who has been familiarized with another language or legal system.

A specialized translator has to be a linguist or a legal person with a little detective work in hand so that he can gather the major points in a text. Furthermore, the translator has to study the methods on how to explain legal thoughts in the native language of a document which are different from the target language or legal system. In addition, the translator must be up to decode the source text and recreate its meaning in the target text. In lots of situations, a translator can really be limited in searching for appropriate words, phrases and parenthetical clarifications. This is due to the fact that precise translation is not genuinely possible.

Legal text translators of text such as birth certificate translation normally seek aid from law dictionaries like bilingual law dictionaries. Nevertheless, the translator must be cautious because a number of bilingual law dictionaries are of inferior quality and they can only cause mistranslation. Each translator must retain the rules whenever they decode a text. The translations have to be decoded from the original text and they should be translated fully and accurately. They also must have the layout and format of the native text as well. The translator must not alter any names of persons, marks of nobility, titles, and not even the correct spelling of a name and it must be taken frankly from the original text.

A skilled legal translator who works with certificate translation must know that there are different vicinities of law that show particular translation methods. A contractual writing has a small thing in common with determination, administrative certificate, and a judicial conclusion or statute. One translator has to be familiar with how to consult a monolingual legal dictionary and at the same time a dissertation about the subject matter. Also, bilingual dictionary can also be utilized but they must be utilized with care.

Aside from terminology lacunae or lexical gaps, a translator can focus on some facets. Textual conventions that are in the native language are typically culture-dependent and will not coincide with the textual conventions in the target culture. There is no similarity between the linguistic structures of the source language and the target language. That is why the translator ought to look for the structures in the target language that is similar to the tasks of the structures of the local language.

Once an argument regarding various legal structures of languages take place, a legal adviser and the clients will be suggested to get translation services that bridge effectively the separation of legal systems, culture, and language and provide literate instead of literal translations.

Many people associate Oakland with some of the most storied ball clubs in the US. The Oakland Raiders in football and the Golden State Warriors in basketball are just two of the most popular franchises that the city has to offer. While sports are a major crowd draw in Oakland, there are also other notable features in the city.

As Oakland’s economy is partly dependent on the marine cargo sector, traffic to the bay area always remains heavy. Major roads can sometimes go get gridlocked during rush hours and the holiday season. Motorcycle riders are especially vulnerable because accidental collisions have a greater chance of seriously injuring them.

If you’re a motorcycle driver who’s recently gotten into an accident, it’s time to consider hiring a lawyer. If you are being falsely accused of causing the incident, a good attorney can help prove your innocence. An Oakland lawyer use the following arguments to help your position.

Right of way

This is a common issue for most motorcycle accidents in the US as other motorists fail to recognize the right of the passing motorcycle. An Oakland motorcycle accident attorney can argue that it was the other driver that was on the wrong side of the road. Arguing right of way is fairly easy especially if witnesses can also corroborate the police report.

Negligence

Sometimes the other driver failed to see you while they’re driving because they were probably distracted with something else. This is another possible argument an Oakland motorcycle accident lawyer can use. If your legal counsel can prove that the other party was using his or her mobile phone while driving, you’ve practically won the case. Driver negligence is one of the major causes of motor vehicle accidents in the US. Texting, eating or talking on the phone are the common culprits.

DUI

An Oakland motorcycle accident attorney can also argue that the other party was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Breathalyzer test results from the local traffic enforcers who handled the incident are crucial pieces of evidence. Finding empty beer cans or liquor bottles in the other driver’s vehicle are also key item that can prove your innocence.

You can arrange to have legal research and writing done by a variety of services. One might think that nowadays in the democracy that we live in all the laws would be easily accessible to any ordinary citizen, but unfortunately that’s not true. Of course, you might be able to do some kind of limited legal research on your own but that’s all. For instance, if you know the number of a specific law you’d like to read, then you might stand a chance. However, if you are searching to find how a genuine law applies to your area of concern, then you’d have to read hundreds of pages until you find it and that simply won’t do.

Outside legal research is very useful especially when you want to research a whole area of law. In case you know how the law is organized, you might try, otherwise don’t waste your time as you won’t succeed. There is only one reason why our laws are so arduous, concealed and complex and it is because it gives power to legal professionals such as lawyers and legislators. This is how they get work which we could have otherwise done by ourselves. Consequently, if you need to understand a specific area of law concerning your business or rights, then you’d better consult a professional who will do your advanced search, or else you might waste many hours in vain trying to do it by yourself.

Generally you can try to cope without legal researchers. Often there are times when you can learn how to do legal research on a certain topic and you might be quite successful at it. For instance, I once fought for saving some of the last wetlands in the San Francisco bay. As our campaign lacked money for legal researchers we did it by ourselves. However, in our case there has already been much pioneering environmental work done, so it was not that difficult to do advanced legal search; we even managed to find the existing endangered species laws we needed. Legal research can easily frighten you and make you quit when you try it for the first time, that was the situation with us. However, we were determined to succeed and didn’t give up. After all, if you put some considerable efforts into fighting with the legal system, then even you, an ordinary citizen can take part in the democratic process.

Legal representation of your case in the court is very important. If you are trying to save some legal fees by not taking legal representation that is your attorney to the court, you will end up paying more amounts if you make a compromise with your rights and interests. The Commission notes the importance of legal representation as a means of enforcing rights. The Commission points out that ‘rights are useless unless the people who have those rights are aware of them, their significance, and how to use them effectively’. We would suggest that this view applies equally to the victim and the accused. The Commission further recognises that it is not the primary function of either the presiding officer or the prosecutor to act as protector of the victim’s rights.

Indeed, it is explicitly noted that there are times when the victim’s interests and those of the prosecution may substantially diverge, with the Commission stating that ‘the role of the prosecutor is not that of a legal representative for the victim’. This condition is applicable in special cases of crime done by the accused person. Furthermore, the adversarial nature of our trial process means that victims, as main state witness are often subject to gruelling cross-examinations by defence attorneys, charged with protecting the interests of their clients. Given that sexual offences are treated as a crime against the State and that neither the prosecutor not the presiding officer carries any responsibility for protecting the rights and interests of the victim, it’s not surprising that we see the levels of secondary victimisation that we do.

The Commission points to a number of instances where the victim’s rights or interests may be infringed upon throughout the criminal justice process. This can happen to anyone who is under trial. These include limited access to information from the time that the victim reports the crime through to sentencing, parole and release Inappropriate questioning from the accuse (both in terms of content and manner) during the trial And limited input at some crucial stages of the proceedings, such as bail and sentencing(which are very important), which can result in weakening of the case that is charged on you. We have, throughout our submission made a number of recommendations for improving the victim’s position. We believe that the presence of a legal representative charged with protecting the victim’s interests will substantially bolster the effect of both our recommendations and the many positive changes recommended by the Commission. This will help you as the case can take some remarkable turns in your favour and more is your possibility of winning the case than in the absence of any of your legal representative.

We recommend therefore that a legal representative for the victim be present throughout the pre-trial process, at the trial (where necessary and appropriate) and at sentencing. The lawyer will help you, guide you and will find justice for you.