The translation of sexual offences in the EU: a comparison of court rulings in Spain, Germany and Ireland

Abstract

The fourth wave of feminism in Spain, Germany and Ireland has been marked by thesexual offence cases of La Manada, Kölner Silvesternacht and «The Lacy Thong», respectively.They resulted in unprecedented judgements that have been fiercely debated in media andhave brought to light two important fractures: the first one between the EU society andthe judicial system, and the second between different legal cultures within the EU. Thesedisjunctions are best observed in the interpretation of legal terms and their translation.Thus, our aim is threefold: first, we examine the terminological disparities between Spanish,German and Irish criminal law and provide a list of (in)equivalences; second, we identify theway the law is applied and interpreted on the judgements. Finally, we extract key fragmentsof the Spanish judgments and translate them into English to verify how jurisprudence, in linewith social and feminist evolution, has forced interpretative and even normative changes insome countries.