Glossary entry

español term or phrase:

sigue en uso de la palabra

inglés translation:

NXBE then went on to read / then read

Added to glossary by Manuel Cedeño Berrueta
Dec 4, 2018 03:59
5 yrs ago
13 viewers *
español term

sigue en uso de la palabra

español al inglés Otros Derecho: (general) exercising right to speak at a meeting
At a board of directors’ meeting, a director [NXBE] has taken the floor and read the text of the call for meeting.
Then,
“A continuación, sigue en uso de la palabra la ciudadana NXBE, quien lee…”

How should I translate the phrase “sigue en uso de la palabra”?
Continued on the floor?
Continued making use of her turn to speak?
Continued speaking?
Something else?

Many thanks in advance

Discussion

Charles Davis Dec 4, 2018:
@Manuel Even there I rather doubt it should be translated directly, though I'm not sure because I haven't translated any court records of this kind. But I think the convention in English would simply be to record what each lawyer said and take it for granted that each of them spoke when the judge called on them to do so. I defer to more experienced legal translators on this.
Manuel Cedeño Berrueta (asker) Dec 4, 2018:
“Tomar la palabra” is used very often not only in minutes of meetings but also in other proceedings. A few months ago I translated some criminal trial proceedings where this phrase was used several times, such as:

“Toma la palabra la defensa del imputado y señala al tribunal y las partes presentes que el imputado es quien va a narrar los hechos y en consecuencia debe tener conocimiento del contenido de las actas.
(…)
De seguidas, se le concede la palabra a la defensa privada, Abg. IP, quien manifestó:
(…)
A continuación se le cede la palabra a la Abg. privada LRGI, quien expuso:”

Proposed translations

+3
4 horas
Selected

NXBE then went on to read / then read

Years ago I was the secretary of a staff association at work and took the minutes of the meetings. Recently I've been translating quite a lot of Spanish minutes of meetings. Minutes in each language are very formulaic. "La palabra" ("tomó la palabra") is used a great deal by Spanish minute-takers, but "taking/having the floor" hardly ever occurs in English minutes. Formally speaking, it is out of order to speak unless you have the floor, and the chair of the meeting says who has the floor, but in English this is not recorded in the minutes unless there is a special reason to do so, which will rarely be the case.

Here, it could not be more routine: it's the start of the meeting and NXBE reads the order of business. It sounds as though NXBE is in the chair. It would be very unusual, I think, for anything equivalent to "sigue en uso de la palabra" to be written in English at this point, and frankly it has no function in the source; it's just a formula. The only reason for saying that NXBE did not yield the floor would be because someone asked to speak at this point and NXBE refused to take interruptions, but if this happened, I don't think it would have been expressed like this; the Spanish minute-taker would have recorded the incident more explicitly.

So I think that an English translation of this element of the minutes should simply say that NXBE continued speaking. Presumably she read the agenda/order of business at this point, or perhaps a report of some kind.
Note from asker:
Many thanks, Charles. Your explanation is very clear and helpful. Indeed, she is the chair of the meeting and at this is about to read the items on the agenda
Peer comment(s):

agree AllegroTrans : Yes, we would hardly ever use "take the floor" in standard minute writing
4 horas
Thanks, Chris.
agree philgoddard
6 horas
Thanks, Phil
agree Robert Carter : A very sound approach to the problem.
1 día 14 horas
Thanks very much, Robert :-)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks, Charles! "
25 minutos

without yielding [the floor]

I think that ought to do it, Manuel.
Peer comment(s):

neutral philgoddard : Though really you could leave it out, because it just means she continued speaking.// Sorry, I'm changing to a neutral. :-)
1 hora
Thanks anyway, Phil.
neutral Charles Davis : I'm with Phil this time.
3 horas
Thanks, Charles, I thought I'd stumbled on a clever solution, but on reflection you're probably right. Emphasis-wise, it's not exactly "not yielding," even if she quite clearly didn't yield :-)
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4 horas

(citizen XXX) then takes the floor

Example sentence:

The Chairman of the Board of Statutory Auditors then takes the floor and confirms that the share capital of €3,968,400.00

Mr BROWN then takes the floor to suggest an amendment:

Something went wrong...
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