Master of Arts in Legal Translation | The Open University of Hong Kong

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Master of Arts in Legal Translation

accredited by the Law Society of Hong Kong

For enquiries about the programme, please contact: Dr Emily POON Wai Yee Tel: (853) 2768 5710 Email: epoon@ouhk.edu.hk

MA IN LEGAL TRANSLATION

法律翻譯文學碩士課程

The change in Hong Kong’s sociopolitical climate since 1997 has triggered the Government to implement a bilingual legal system using Chinese in addition to English as the language of law. As a world city, Hong Kong is in need of competent professional translators for both the public and private legal sectors.

The Open University of Hong Kong has a strong tradition in offering postgraduate and undergraduate programmes in language studies and translation. In addition to its BA (Honours) in Language and Translation and MA in Applied Translation, the School of Arts and Social Sciences will offer a specialised programme, the Master of Arts in Legal Translation (MALT), from September 2008. This programme is designed to meet the growing demand for translators in the legal profession. For students interested in language, the study of legal translation will enhance their knowledge of a specialised field of language use.

This programme aims to provide students with professional skills in legal writing, legal translation and bilingual drafting. Upon successful completion of the programme, students should be able to demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the common law system and the general concepts in constitutional & administrative law, criminal law, contract law, company law and property law. They should also be equipped with the techniques to translate different types of legal documents to meet the challenges arisen as a result of Hong Kong’s transformation from a monolingual to a bilingual legal system.

Application Form (for New Students) Course Registration Form (for Continuing Students)

Distinctive Features

Renowned experts in the fields of law and legal translation will teach this programme. Honorary professors and advisors include Sir TL Yang 楊鐵樑爵士, Dr The Honourable Justice Patrick Chan 陳兆愷終審法院常任法官, Mr Suen Wai Chung 孫衛忠副首席政府律師 and Mr Lee Yuk Ming 李育明先生.
Convenient schedule with classes in the evenings and/or Saturday/Sunday afternoons/evenings will be arranged.
Mainland and Hong Kong students can apply. Full-time students may be supported with tutorship at OUHK.
Students will be taught the basic concepts by legal experts so that they can apply the knowledge learned to translation tasks.
Students will be given an overview of the features of legal Chinese in Mainland China and Hong Kong to sensitize them to the linguistic problems that may arise when translating a legal text.
Students will be taught the linguistic and interpretation problems inherent in legal translation from the perspectives of drafting and statutory interpretation. Students will undertake translation tasks on statutes and judgments and translate texts relating to contractual, property, company and criminal issues.
OUHK library will provide students with sufficient law- and translation-related materials.

Mode of Study:

Tuition Fee:

Application:

Admission:

Face-to-face teaching

1-year full-time / 2-year part-time

around HK$80,000

From January to August

(Interviews will begin in March)

September every year

Language of Instruction:

Chinese and English

Entry Requirements

* A Bachelor’s degree;

* Candidates with equivalent qualifications and relevant translation experience

Students pursuing the MALT programme must successfully complete 60 credits as follows:

(a) At least 50 credits of compulsory courses:
TRAN A802BF	Principles of Translation	翻譯原理	5
TRAN A803BF	Hong Kong Legal System and Legal English	香港法制與英文法律	5
TRAN A804BF	Translation and Use of Chinese in Law	翻譯與中文法律	5
TRAN A806BF	Legal Bilingualism in Hong Kong	雙語法律文書	5
TRAN A807BF	Legal Translation in Hong Kong	香港法律翻譯	5
TRAN A808BF	Advanced Legal Translation in Hong Kong	香港高級法律翻譯	5
TRAN A809BF	MA Project	碩士論文	10
TRAN A816BF	Principles of Constitutional & Administrative Law and Criminal Law in Bilingual Context	憲法、行政法及刑法雙語研究	5
TRAN A817BF	Principles of Contract Law in Bilingual Context	合約法雙語研究	5
TRAN A818BF	Principles of Company Law in Bilingual Context	公司法雙語研究	5
TRAN A819BF	Principles of Property Law in Bilingual Context	財產法雙語研究	5

(b) Additional 5 credits or 10 credits from:
TRAN A811F	Critical Readings for Translators (English)	文選評析 (英文)	5
TRAN A812CF	Critical Readings for Translators (Chinese)	文選評析 (中文)	5
TRAN A832BF	Advanced Translation	高級翻譯	10

MALT Presentation Schedule
	*September*
TRAN A803BF	Hong Kong Legal System and Legal English	香港法制與英文法律	5
TRAN A804BF	Translation and Use of Chinese in Law	翻譯與中文法律	5
TRAN A816BF	Principles of Constitutional & Administrative Law and Criminal Law in Bilingual Context	憲法、行政法及刑法雙語研究	5
TRAN A802BF	Principles of Translation	翻譯原理	5
TRAN A811F	Critical Readings for Translators (English) [elective course]	文選評析 (英文)	5

	*January*
TRAN A807BF	Legal Translation in Hong Kong	香港法律翻譯	5
TRAN A817BF	Principles of Contract Law in Bilingual Context	合約法雙語研究	5
TRAN A818BF	Principles of Company Law in Bilingual Context	公司法雙語研究	5
TRAN A809BF	MA Project (first semester)	碩士論文	10
TRAN A812CF	Critical Readings for Translators (Chinese) [elective course]	文選評析 (中文)	5
TRAN A832BF	Advanced Translation [elective course]	高級翻譯	10

	*May*
TRAN A806BF	Legal Bilingualism in Hong Kong	雙語法律文書	5
TRAN A808BF	Advanced Legal Translation in Hong Kong	香港高級法律翻譯	5
TRAN A809BF	MA Project (second semester)	碩士論文	10
TRAN A819BF	Principles of Property Law in Bilingual Context	財產法雙語研究	5

Master of Arts in Legal Translation

Master of Legal Translation Teaching Team:
From left	Ms Garfield Lau
	Dr Kelly Chan
	Prof Kwok-kan Tam (Dean)
	Dr Emily Poon (Programme Leader)
	Ms Teresa Wang

“Literary works allow a translator to have his/her own interpretation and to develop creativity. The scope of interpretation for a legal translator, however, is restricted. Interpretation is the job of judges who can give new meanings to legal terms and adopt the appropriate rules of interpretation as s/he thinks fit.

Interpretation of legal texts makes legal translation unique and challenging. On the one hand, a translator has difficulty anticipating how a court will interpret the source text, and on the other, s/he has to bear in mind that a court will make an authoritative interpretation of the source text not written by itself and therefore s/he has to translate the text in a literal way as far as possible so that the same effect can be achieved.”

~ Dr Emily Poon ~　