Flavio Posse (asker) Nov 15, 2019:

Sandro & Joe Hey guys, I hope you're doing well. Sorry, I didn't "Jump" in the conversation before, you may call me a "Post Jumper". I very much appreciate and value your effort with this so very elusive term. I like "rebelde," Sandro. It would be nice if we could find some words to define the type of "rebeldía/desacato" the jumper's committing. But we can all agree, this on's a bitch to translate... Abrazo a los dos.

Sandro Tomasi Nov 14, 2019:

@Joe In my previous post I said, close, but no cigar. However, I didn't remember or notice that Flavio’s original query had to do with bail jumper, not the crime of bail jumping. So to that effect, I believe the answer is properly rooted, and we could probably cut it down to just rebelde, which the RAE defines as: “4. adj. Der. Dicho de una persona: Que por no comparecer en el juicio, después de llamada en forma, o por tener incumplida alguna orden o intimación del juez, es declarada por este en rebeldía.”

Joseph Tein Oct 29, 2019:

@Sandro Thanks, that expression makes a lot of sense.

(How about a discussion of "bail" in the next edition of your Law Dictionary?)

Sandro Tomasi Oct 29, 2019:

@Joe Thank you for pulling this from the vault because it does need a revision. My previous answer was close, but no cigar. The translation should have been approached with criminal law rather than criminal procedure law (as I had done).

The translation I use these days for the crime of bail jumping is quebrantamiento de la libertad provisional. This is not a functional equivalent I have found from a Spanish-speaking country, but it does cover the crime of not returning to court that a bail jumper committed when released on his own recognizance or on bail.

Joseph Tein Oct 29, 2019:

¿Y qué hacemos con "bail jumping"? Hola caballeros. I don't know how to say "piggyback" in Spanish ... I'd like to piggyback onto this question and see how you would say "bail jumping." I'm proofreading a court form that says: " ... failure to appear as required may constitute the crime of bail jumping" which the translator has translated as: "... se me podrá acusar del delito de falta de comparecencia."

Falta de comparecencia seems too general to me and doesn't sound like a valid name of a crime. Online I also find quebrantar la fianza, saltar la fianza, huir bajo fianza.

Our Revised Code of Washington says " (1) Any person having been released by court order or admitted to bail with knowledge of the requirement of a subsequent personal appearance before any court of this state, or of the requirement to report to a correctional facility for service of sentence, and who fails to appear or who fails to surrender for service of sentence as required is guilty of bail jumping." So they may have been released by court order, without any bail imposed.

Nine years later ... any new thoughts on this? Flavio, I don't think it applies any longer to say you're a rookie, and probably not in 2008 either.

Flavio Posse (asker) Sep 22, 2010:

Query Hey, Robert. I'm learning a lot myself. It's an honor to have you and Sandro contributing to the discussion, you guys are heavy hitters and appreciate your expert opinions. And it's okay to wander off the query too, it's not like we're going to be in contempt of court! LOL

Richard Boulter Sep 22, 2010:

Thanks for the (several) corrections! I'm learning a lot. Meanwhile, I see that I should be careful about what I write when I still have sleepers in my eyes. I even wandered off the Query term and wrote about 'bounty hunters', instead! Sorry about the mistaken take on your experience; it has been several months since I read your impressive Profile and the facts seem to be confused in my mind. Thanks also for the clarification on the purposes of the Query. The Spanish-slang possibilities for the term were attractive, but if no such thing exists I also agree with Sandro's suggestion.

Flavio Posse (asker) Sep 22, 2010:

slang and other things First of all, let me correct "the record", I don't have that many years of experience. I was certified in California in 2006 and by the Federal Court in 2008, I consider myself a rookie...with a big mouth! /// Now about the slang issue. Although I understand Sandro's view about maintaining accuracy by elevating the register which is normal practice in translation, the interpreter in me tells me "if it is slang keep it slang, or you'll be changing the testimony". /// In this case we may say half the term sounds like slang (jumper). But I don't think the term is slang, it's commonly used in criminal proceedings and also written in statutes, as Sandro's quotation demostrates; so it has some sort of legit mainstream connotation. Anyway, I would characterize this one as a "wobbler" and I would consider any term, slang or not, as a viable translation. I think "declarado en rebeldía" fits nicely, it will be difficult to find anything better, slang or not.

Sandro Tomasi Sep 21, 2010:

To Slang or not To Slang... Right off the bat, I do not know of a slang term for bail in Spanish. However, if a bail jumper is a person who has been "declarado en rebeldía," we can colloquialize it a bit by saying that the person is a "rebelde," or for more context, a "declarado rebelde." In any case, I'm not so sold on the keeping-it-slang theory. Sure this is important, but we all know there are plenty of examples in which a SL-to-TL conversion requires a higher register in order to maintain accuracy.

Below is a New York statute that sets forth a person on ROR can commit bail jumping for not comming back to court.

§ 215.55 Bail jumping in the third degree.
A person is guilty of bail jumping in the third degree when by court order he has been released from custody or allowed to remain at liberty, either upon bail or upon his own recognizance, upon condition that he will subsequently appear personally in connection with a criminal action or proceeding, and when he does not appear personally on the required date or voluntarily within thirty days thereafter. Bail jumping in the third degree is a class A misdemeanor.

Richard Boulter Sep 21, 2010:

Flavio's Query Since Flavio is a veteran of some 20 years' high-powered interpreting in the California court system, his Query needs a closer look. First, since the 'bounty hunters' (not 'bail enforcement agents, etc.') are not 'cops' (not 'police officers'), I think Flavio is looking for idiomatic terms for private fighters who seek, apprehend and deliver 'bail jumpers' to police authorities. This is dangerous, smart work by trained professionals and they charge a lot for the service; it is the 'bail bondsman / fiancero' who pays them for doing it. To translate this term consider that, in U.S. law & practice, we only say 'bail' when we mean 'conditional release under financial security' (usually provided through a loan from a bail bondsman, since the price is always set so high). If we mean 'conditional release upon the defendant's personal promise to appear in court' we say '(conditional) release on own recognizance = ROR', not 'bail'. The only entity with the financial interest in returning the defendant to court by hiring the 'bounty hunters' (so that he pays no 'bond') is a 'bail bondsman'. So we need slang terms from Spanish countries for this. Thanks for the Query & the suggestions!

Richard Boulter Sep 21, 2010:

Slangy 'bail jumper' We had an excellent, very educational, discussion about technical translations for 'bail' and 'bail bond' a few months ago for the legalese of various Spanish legal systems. There are 152 other discussions in the KOG (some of which admittedly refer to civil matters, like non-criminal control of property/financial assets) on the term(s). Still, the basic connotation of 'bail' is 'to take out'; if my boat leaks water and I use a bucket to throw the water over the side, we say 'bail out the water from the boat'. Likewise, Sandro's clarification of 'ROR / release on (defendant's own) recognizance or promise to appear' is technically 'bail'. In ancient days, it also included the promise of another person to go to jail or be executed if the defendant didn't appear for judgement. But Flavio's present query is written in modern, U.S., idiomatic English and probably refers to a criminal case under U.S. law and customs.

Flavio Posse (asker) Sep 21, 2010:

Bail (caución) / Bond (fianza) Sandro makes an important distinction in his note to juanripoll. A bail jumper may have been released on his own recognizance (ROR) and never had the need of a bail bond, so when he fails to appear there is no "fianza" to forfeit. Some people have a hard time distinguishing between BAIL and BOND. The judge sets BAIL according to a "bail schedule"; the defendant goes to a Bailbondsman to get a BOND that guarantees bail will be covered in case of flight. To illustrate the difference let's compare it to buying a house, the price of the house is BAIL (CAUCIÓN) and the mortgage you get from the bank is BOND (FIANZA).