英文摘要 |
In this study I compare the two Chinese versions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) from the perspective of both translation studies and international law. Currently in the knowledge of the author, the controversy arising from the usage of the words in the treaties are mostly related to interpretation of a certain term according to international law. It is quite rare to see a treaty come up with two versions in one official language, like what happens to the Chinese ICCPR. The earliest Chinese version of ICCPR was first drafted by the United Nations in 1967. Another Chinese version was completed in 1973, and since 1978 this new version2 was found to be included in the United Nations corpus on human rights, and is currently the version which appears on the official website of the United Nations. There are five parts in this paper. In the first part I present the purpose and background of the study. In the second part I review important concepts of international law. In the third part I compare a number of articles with discrepancy in meaning in the two Chinese versions. In the fourth part I summarize the differences between the two Chinese versions, and collate the legal terminology. Results show that there are some divergent renderings in the later version, which might lead to different legal effects. Originally, the ICCPR has authentic texts in five languages, which are English, French, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. Now there appears a Chinese version which is different from the original Chinese version. It therefore deserves our attention according to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). As the pace of globalization quickens, multilateral treaties are becoming important. I hope such a study will help to enrich the field of translation studies, especially the emerging field of legal translation in Taiwan. |