THE TRANSLATION OF SEXUAL OFFENCES IN THE EU: A COMPARISON OF COURT RULINGS IN SPAIN, GERMANY AND IRELAND

Abstract

The fourth wave of feminism in Spain, Germany and Ireland has been marked by the sexual offence cases of La Manada, Kölner Silvesternacht and ‘The Lacy Thong’, respectively. They resulted in unprecedented judgements that have been fiercely debated in media and have brought to light two important fractures: the first one between the EU society and the judicial system, and the second between different legal cultures within the EU. These disjunctions are best observed in the interpretation of legal terms and their translation. Thus our aim is threefold: first, we examine the terminological disparities between Spanish, German and Irish criminal law and provide a list of (in)equivalences; second, we identify the way the law is applied and interpreted on the judgements. Finally, we extract key fragments of the Spanish judgments and translate them into English to verify how jurisprudence, in line with social and feminist evolution, has forced interpretative and even normative changes in some countries.

Keywords

• fourth-wave feminism
• sexual violence
• consent
• comparative law
• translation of jurisprudence
• translation of inequivalences