Juro lo suficiente en derecho

09:19 Aug 31, 2019 

This is on the swearing- in of MPs after the 2015 election:

"Where 200 years ago all MPs would swear allegiance to the Crown in English, on the Authorised Version of the Bible, today they swear and affirm, in English, Welsh, Gaelic and Cornish, on (or ignoring) an array of scriptures, including the Koran, the Guru Granth Sahib, the Hebrew Bible, and the Christian scriptures in various languages and in Protestant and Catholic editions.

One MP on Tuesday - Kwasi Kwarteng - asked for the Book of Mormon, and the clerk seemed willing to go and have a root around for one, until it turned out he was joking. But there is an actual Mormon MP - Craig Whittaker. He made the same request, this time in seriousness, as Kwarteng, but the clerk did not have the Book of Mormon handy and, rather than hold up his colleagues, Whittaker opted instead for the Bible. MPs are even offered the opportunity to swear on the New Testament alone, an option of which George Osborne availed himself."
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32809040

07:56 Aug 31, 2019 

In Austria, the highest courts now have a copy of both the Bible and the Koran for witnesses to swear evidence on. At my City of London law firm, members of the conveyancing and probate dept., had to have their signatures added to 'Solicitors' Undertakings' - namely given to the seller and a building soc. or bank to pay off mortgages with land sale completion moneys - independently verified by being 'sworn to' by another Sol. acting as a 'Commissioner for Oaths'. So the Solicitors in question often used to pop their heads around our office room door and ask another Sol. (or Notary Public) whether the latter 'could do some swearing' - never an affirmation on oath or otherwise.

00:47 Aug 31, 2019 

You can choose to swear in Cornish, if you wish. I was delighted to read this.

00:41 Aug 31, 2019 

A declaración jurada is a sworn statement. A traducción jurada is a sworn translation. They involve making an oath. Affirmation is an alternative for those who have conscientious objections to swearing. This doesn't necessarily mean being an atheist; in fact affirmation was introduced, in the late-seventeenth century I believe, to enable Quakers to give evidence, as they were unwilling to swear (they took Matthew 5.34 seriously: "But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne"). The point is that whether you swear or affirm you do so under penalty of perjury: a false oath and a false affirmation both incur criminal penalties. But if someone swears, it is wrong to say that they affirm.

00:18 Aug 31, 2019 

You can do either of these things in the UK, in a range of situations. You don't have to swear, but if you do swear, you are not affirming, and if you affirm, you are not swearing.

When you swear, you say: "I swear by Almighty God that...".
When you affirm, you say: "I do solemnly, sincerely, and truly declare and affirm, that...".

I was reminded of this while watching sessions of the Catalan trial on YouTube a couple of months ago. The President asked each new witness whether they wished to "jurar" or "prometer". Same difference, though of course functionally equivalent.

I can't understand how anyone can say that "jurar" is not "swear". They are synonymous.

02:13 Aug 30, 2019 

As the RAE definition makes clear, "jurar" has a precise connection with the word "swear" in English, so explicit instructions from agencies and examples of misuse notwithstanding, I do consider it wholly appropriate to translate "jurar" as "swear" here, precisely to keep that religious connotation and all it entails (i.e., the solemnity of the statement and the implication that the person making it is calling on their deity as a witness to their actions).

02:09 Aug 30, 2019 

Your clarification about the differences between "affirm" and "swear" is quite correct. In fact, I'm quite sure I myself have picked people up on here about the pitfalls of using "swear" as a translation in the past.

However, as I mentioned in my posting, it's often because that the "oath" in question, in Spanish, has no religious connotation whatsoever, particularly because in certain countries (Mexico being one), there is a strict separation of church and state in all things government-related, so you virtually never see or hear the words "jurar" or "juramento" in the law here. In fact, the tedious "juramento a la bandera" recited in many schools every Monday morning is not part of the official protocol of the flag tribute, and it doesn't even mention the word "jurar".

I don't know which country this is from, but I would imagine it's Puerto Rico, which is heavily influenced by the US, where the phrase "I swear" in official documents and acts is fairly commonplace.