Albergue Sagrado Corazón Pro Migrante IAP

Migration-Related Legal Terminology Spanish to English

1. Demandante  — petitioner, complainant or plaintiff

2. Acusado/a — state of being accused or the person who is accused

3. Abogado/a — attorney/lawyer

4. Juez — judge (noun)

5. Policía — the police force as a group or individual officers

6. Jurado — jury or individual jurors. It can also act as an adjective, meaning “sworn” when referring to things like statements or testimony.

7. Tribunal/juzgado — court. Tribunal can also refer to a jury or panel, but this meaning is rarely used in a legal context—jurado is the more common word for a legal jury. Juzgado can also mean “courthouse.”

8. Palacio de justicia — courthouse. It literally means “palace/center of justice” (which really has more of a ring to it).

9. Sala de justicia/tribunal — These can both be used to mean “courtroom.” You can also just use the word sala (room), but this could also be misinterpreted, so you might want to play it safe.

10. Crimen/delito — legal violation or crime

11. Infraccióninfraction or offense — This is used when referring to things like traffic violations or other non-violent crimes.

12. Arrestar/detener — to arrest/detain

13. Arresto/detención — (an) arrest/detention

14. Juicio — trial (It can also be used to mean “opinion.”)

15. Pedimento — motion/petition

16. Mandato/mandato judicial — mandate/warrant

17. Afidávit — affidavit

18. Multa — fine/fee

19. Ley — law (It can refer to specific laws or the law in general.)

20. Juramento — oath Bajo juramento therefore means “under oath” or “sworn statement.”

21. Investigar — to investigate

22. Acusar — to accuse. In a legal context, acusar can also mean “to charge.” The reflexive, acusarse, can also mean “to confess.”

23. Apelar — to appeal

24. Absolver — to acquit (In other contexts, it means “to absolve.”)

25. Alegar — to allege/claim

26. Fianza — bail/bond

27. Prueba — evidence (It can also mean “proof” or “test.”)

28. Admisible — admissible. It’s often used in phrases like ser admisible (“to be admissible”) and prueba admisible (“admissible evidence”).

29. Carga de la prueba — burden of proof

30. Causa/proceso judicial/pleito/acción judicial/caso — court case. Context is really important because these terms have more than one meaning. Proceso judicial and pleito are the least likely to be misinterpreted, though, because they have fewer meanings. Acción judicial means “legal action.” Pleito usually means “lawsuit” or “action.”

All the other words for “court case” have additional meanings. For instance, causa can also mean “cause,” proceso also means “process” and caso can mean “case” or “fact.”

Still, all these terms are frequently used interchangeably to refer to a “court case.”

31. Delictivo — criminal (adjective). It’s usually used to describe various acts. For instance, acto delictivo means “criminal act.”

32. Daños y perjuicios — damages. Both daños and perjuicios mean “damages,” but perjuicios can mean “losses,” so daños y perjuicios can more literally translate to “damages and losses.”

33. Revelar — to reveal (In a legal context, its meaning is closer to “to disclose.”)

34. Sobreseer — to dismiss

35. Entrar en vigor — to take effect. Literally translates as “to enter in vigor/force.”

36. Testigo — witness

37. Hecho — fact (However, it can also mean “incident,” “event,” “made” or “done,” so always pay attention to context.)

38. Archivo/expediente — archive, file or record

39. Determinación/sentencia/decisión/fallo — ruling. Fallo most literally means “ruling.” Determinación more literally equates to “determination.” Sentencia means” sentence” and decisión means “decision.” Still, all of these terms can be used to mean “ruling.”

40. Aconsejar — to advise