Jana Garnsworthy (asker) Mar 1, 2013:

Thank you both. I posted it because I wasn't 100 % sure and thought there might be someone here that deals with divorce decrees on a regular basis. Thanks again x

Stuart Hoskins Mar 1, 2013:

Agree with Barbora, in this case Jana had an acceptable answer all along.

Barbora Tite (X) Mar 1, 2013:

Yes, I don't see why it could not be just "legal verification" in this case.

Jana Garnsworthy (asker) Feb 28, 2013:

Hi guys, I feel like I should contribute as I was the one asking the question. Just to be more specific: the decree (or judgement) was issued on 8 Aug 2011, the solicitor put his stamp on it on 23 Aug 2011 and the court put its stamp on it on 29 Aug 2011 (the court's stamp read: "this decision was validated on 23 Aug 2011, Prostejov District Court on 29 Aug 2011"). The whole Czech sentence reads: "...manželé jsou povinni dostavit se s tímto rozsudkem opatřeným doložkou právní moci, kterou jim na jejich žádost na předloženém rozsudku vyznačí zdejší soud..." So the solicitor's stamp is what made the document legally valid and the court stamp just verifies that really, doesn't it. The court stamp is the "doložka", I think, so that was why I suggested "legal verification".

Stuart Hoskins Feb 28, 2013:

Exactly, Barbora. It would be fitting to find what is perhaps a country-specific solution that is not misleading to an expert in the field. And that’s precisely why I am opposed to “clause” (surely a lawyer would be surprised to read “clause” and then see what this dolozka actually is) and to “order” (the court does not render an usneseni in this case). If anything, some sort of “confirmation” might be closer.

Barbora Tite (X) Feb 28, 2013:

Yep, thank you for the comment Stuart. I do not think it is necessarily bad if there is a special English term that is used only for a specific Czech legal notion (because very often this notion is not comparable to anything else in the jurisdictions of other English speaking countries and using a "foreign" term would be horribly misleading). However, that special term should be able to clarify the notion in an understandable manner to an English speaking lawyer, so if this is not the case, then it is not a very good choice of course.

Stuart Hoskins Feb 28, 2013:

Chroma Chroma did a great job at the time, but (as noted by others) in many respects her dictionary has had its day. Googling her translation suggestions for “dolozka…” turns up only references to Czech judgments (evidently inspired by her very dictionary). “Clause” is more of a klauzule and “order” is more of an usneseni (i.e. arguably neither is applicable here). It would be great if a legal expert could do (has done?) some detailed research into other jurisdictions to identify how use of a similar stamp elsewhere is treated in English.

Jana Garnsworthy (asker) Feb 27, 2013:

Thank you Hannah and Goldilocks :-) I had done a term search but obviously must have done something wrong as it didn't come up...

Hannah Geiger (X) Feb 27, 2013:

Jana had asked only for the legal force clause, so I answered just that...

Stuart Hoskins Feb 27, 2013:

this has been asked recently http://www.proz.com/kudoz/czech_to_english/law_general/45809...