la jurisprudence qui a prévalu

English translation: the "AAA" and "BBB" precedents that prevailed

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:les jurisprudences « AAA » et « BBB » qui prévalaient
English translation:the "AAA" and "BBB" precedents that prevailed
Entered by: Conor McAuley

18:55 Feb 11, 2021
French to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Law (general)
French term or phrase: la jurisprudence qui a prévalu
Planning law stuff.

This is in a footnote.

"C’était les jurisprudences « AAA » et « BBB » qui prévalaient en la matière. CE 13 octobre 1932 AAA, req. n° 0000 : Une décision créatrice de droit illégale peut être rapportée par son auteur tant que le délai de recours contentieux n’est pas expiré ou que le juge, saisi d’un tel recours formé dans le délai légal, n’a pas statué – CE Ass 15 mars 1975 BBB, req. n° 0000 : le juge a ensuite admis le retrait d’une décision individuelle créatrice de droit illégale, tant qu’elle n’est pas devenue définitive, faute de publicité à l’égard des tiers, et alors qu’elle serait devenue définitive pour son destinataire auquel elle aurait été régulièrement notifiée. ... [and on and on ...]"

The meaning is clear. But what verb do we use with case law? "Prevail"? "Won out"? "Set a precedent"?

Actually if you search on "case law prevail" the results tend to be "case law which prevailed prior to...", so I suspect this English verb ain't the right one.

Incidentally, the text to which the footnote applies is:

"En outre, avant le 26 octobre 2001, date de la jurisprudence « Ternon », il convient de noter que l’administration n’avait pas connaissance de cette jurisprudence, bien que ses effets soient rétroactifs. Aussi, le respect du délai de retrait de quatre mois à compter de la délivrance de l’autorisation ne peut être garanti pour les autorisations qui pouvaient être retirées avant cette date."

I also have a slight niggle with the tense here: why not "... qui ont prévalu"? I'm assuming this is slightly flowery lawyerish "use of the imperfect when you really mean the perfect" to help convey the momentousness of the event. Because if the meaning is really the imperfect it is a whole other problem. The fact that dates are given is fairly conclusive: I surmise that this is a "perfect" meaning.
Mpoma
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:55
the case law that applied
Explanation:

Simple as, I think.

Decent amount of ghits.

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Note added at 52 mins (2021-02-11 19:47:45 GMT)
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the case law established by..., that applied

to fit the exact structure required by you

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Note added at 1 hr (2021-02-11 20:04:51 GMT)
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AAA and BBB are regarding two points of law relevant in the case in question, maybe -- adjust wording to fit.


Case law is the law created by the courts
By deciding a disputed point of law a senior court (known as a court of record) can change or clarify the law, thereby setting a precedent which other courts are bound to follow or apply in later cases.

What is case law? - ICLR
Selected response from:

Conor McAuley
France
Local time: 01:55
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +2the case law that applied
Conor McAuley
4the cases [which are] considered authoritative
Eliza Hall
3the case law that predominated/that was predominant
AllegroTrans
4 -1in this matter, it's (the rulings from) the cases AAA and BBB that were relevant / applicable
Daryo
3the leading case decision/precedent
AllegroTrans


Discussion entries: 23





  

Answers


57 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
the case law that predominated/that was predominant


Explanation:
I think this is saying that the case law of the AAA and BBB predominated, i.e. theses were the cases considered most relevant (possibly from among others - it's not uncommon for a whole raft of case law to be submitted by the parties' lawyers)

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:55
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 1355

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Daryo: very good explanation, only one small detail: in this text you'll find **LES** jurisprudences - can you have a general legal concept in plural? How many "case law" you can have in ONE country? => so HERE it's a reference to "precedents" AAA and BBB.//yes
17 hrs
  -> I think so, in this case not meaning "case laws" but "case law decisions"

neutral  Eliza Hall: Same comment as for Conor: Case law doesn't exist in civil-law countries the way it does in US/UK. A case X years ago doesn't lay down the law for a case today; FR courts do not make law. But "predominated" is ok.
1 day 2 hrs
  -> "A case X years ago doesn't lay down the law for a case today"; it can lay down the principles but the French don't use the term "binding precedent"; it is still case law
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11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
the case law that applied


Explanation:

Simple as, I think.

Decent amount of ghits.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 52 mins (2021-02-11 19:47:45 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------



the case law established by..., that applied

to fit the exact structure required by you

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2021-02-11 20:04:51 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------


AAA and BBB are regarding two points of law relevant in the case in question, maybe -- adjust wording to fit.


Case law is the law created by the courts
By deciding a disputed point of law a senior court (known as a court of record) can change or clarify the law, thereby setting a precedent which other courts are bound to follow or apply in later cases.

What is case law? - ICLR

Conor McAuley
France
Local time: 01:55
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 210
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Daryo: "Decent amount of ghits" proves absolutely NOTHING as far a specific text is concerned // You have MT available to "translate by statistics" ... you are in effect saying we should all pack our bags and be replaced by MT, you realise that?
6 mins
  -> I am not saying that at all. I'm saying that the word does not merit such deep thought, looking for "midi à 14h", to quote someone.

agree  Adrian MM.: as an answer to the question asked in the singular and imperfect tense as 'prevailing' at the time. Otherwise, perhaps, a line or a couple of cases that held sway or had set a precedent.
35 mins
  -> Thanks Adrian MM.!

agree  SafeTex: This is my preferred solution and it is ridiculous that Daryo has handed out yet another disagree while having a rather dubious suggestion up himself
50 mins
  -> Thanks SafeTex!

agree  philgoddard: Prevailed would be fine too. It's a shame Daryo can't be bothered to explain what's wrong with your answer.
52 mins
  -> Thanks Phil!

agree  AllegroTrans: Yes, and maybe "precedents" would be the operative word
23 hrs
  -> Thanks Chris!

disagree  Eliza Hall: Case law doesn't exist in civil-law countries the way it does in US/UK. A case X years ago doesn't lay down the law for a case today; FR courts do not make law. See discussion for more.
1 day 3 hrs
  -> See discussion. Otherwise, Larousse, jurisprudence: "Ensemble des décisions judiciaires et administratives, qui constitue une source du droit."
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30 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
les jurisprudences « AAA » et « BBB » qui prévalaient en la matière
in this matter, it's (the rulings from) the cases AAA and BBB that were relevant / applicable


Explanation:
the way "jurisprudence" is used in this sentence

les jurisprudences « AAA » et « BBB »

"jurisprudence" clearly refers HERE to 2 specific cases, NOT to the general concept of "case law".

Or more accurately to the points of case law that can be deducted from the rulings in these two cases.

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Note added at 18 hrs (2021-02-12 13:36:04 GMT)
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my mistake:

... the points of case law that can be deduced / extracted / inferred from the rulings (/ legal reasoning, arguments) in these two cases.


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Note added at 19 hrs (2021-02-12 13:56:23 GMT)
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a better variant:

in this matter, it's the cases AAA and BBB that were the (most) relevant precedents

Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:55
Native speaker of: Native in SerbianSerbian, Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 196
Notes to answerer
Asker: Yes, specific cases... of course. But why not "set precedents"? ... pondering on it since I posed the question, I've become fairly convinced this is probably the best translation. NB minor lapse: "deducted", when I think you mean "deduce". My Serbian is very basic by the way.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Conor McAuley: My "applied", your "applicable"... / To Mpoma: at some stage I was told that "case law" HAD to be used or "precedents" could not be allowed, or both. Can't remember any more, unfortunately.
27 mins
  -> how about ckecking the actual ST? Ghits are surely every useful for that!

neutral  AllegroTrans: I think it's stronger than this, perhaps more like "the most relevant" and you really cannot omit "case law"
28 mins
  -> the concept of "case law" is certainly not "omitted" - it's implicitly there: what's the meaning of "(the rulings from) the cases AAA and BBB that were relevant "? // in fact "precedents" AAA and BBB is far better.

disagree  philgoddard: This is an inappropriately colloquial rehash of Conor's answer.
35 mins
  -> I deeply impressed by your grasp of "nuances" in legal text ...

disagree  SafeTex: To refer to two previous cases as relevent but not to accept "case law" makes no sense to me. This has led you into a long-winded and clumsy translation that is neither legalese nor standard English. This is why you should give some consideration to ghits
38 mins
  -> how about ckecking the actual ST, it's meaning? Google hits not good for that, so just skip that bit? You keep that "method" for yourself ...

agree  Nikki Scott-Despaigne: "AAA and BBB applied in this instance" is a possible rendering.
15 hrs
  -> Thanks!
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1 day 3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
the cases [which are] considered authoritative


Explanation:
"C’était les jurisprudences « AAA » et « BBB » qui prévalaient en la matière." > The AAA and BBB cases were considered authoritative on [the issue/that issue].

As explained in the discussion, in general "la jurisprudence [Case Name]" could be translated as "the [Case Name] line of cases," but it doesn't sound like that's correct here since your text is referring specifically to those two cases--down to the point of referencing the date of one of them--and we have no way of knowing if there even is a "line of cases" flowing from either of them. All we know from the text is that each of these cases reached a decision that was considered preeminent in the field. So I would just say "the cases" (meaning, in this context, the opinions written by the judges in those cases).

As for "prévalaient," to my ear as a lawyer that's meaning I(B) here:
"Avoir plus d'importance, jouer un rôle prééminent."
https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/prévaloir
In other words, "en la matière"--on the legal issue in question--these two cases are the ones considered authoritative.

"Considered authoritative" is not a common translation for prévalait, but it's your best bet here, for two reasons:

(1) "Authoritative" is a word we use frequently in legal English for any source of law that is widely cited and considered more or less the last word on a given legal issue. However, in a civil-law system, cases are not literally authoritative. Unlike in common-law systems, lower courts are NOT required to follow the rules set forth by higher courts. So, for your text we need a modifier that makes clear that they're not literally authoritative.

(2) In English legalese, when we're talking about things that are considered to be the last word on XYZ issue but don't actually have the force of law--for instance, certain legal treatises (McCarthy on Trademarks is one: courts hearing trademark cases cite to it all the time, but they are not required to follow its rules)--we often say they're "considered authoritative."

Here's an example: "Brownlie's Principles of Public International Law, 8th ed. 2012. Brownlie and Crawford. (KZ 3225 .B76P75). Not as detailed as Oppenheim’s, but updated more frequently and still considered authoritative." https://law.indiana.libguides.com/PubIntLaw-SecondarySources



Eliza Hall
United States
Local time: 20:55
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 145

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  AllegroTrans: they are cases that apply but they are not case law? Huh??
2 hrs
  -> There are two cases that were considered authoritative on XYZ legal issue. That's not the same thing as "case law applying" to current cases.
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6 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
the leading case decision/precedent


Explanation:
Just thought I would throw this into the ring

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:55
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 1355
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