meter mano a la justicia

17:16 Feb 17, 2011

Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Government / Politics

Spanish term or phrase: meter mano a la justicia

Sin irnos tan lejos a lo va a ocurrir en el futuro, el asunto de la Constitución de Montecristi tiene ya veintiocho meses de aplicación y sin embargo, el Poder Judicial al que no metió mano, la Constituyente, está aplicando disposiciones del Código Penal sobre sabotaje, terrorismo y desacato, aunque el artículo once, numeral cinco de la Constitución ordena a los jueces no aplicarlas. O sea, si eso ya está ocurriendo, sin que oficialmente y por referéndum se le meta mano a la justicia, ¿cuál es, entonces, el panorama que tenemos?

SanchoP

Summary of answers provided

5 +1

touching justice

Alejandro Field

4 +1

get involved in justice

Denise DeVries

4 +1

[without] the judiciary having any role

Muriel Vasconcellos

4 +1

interfering in the judicial process/es

neilmac

3 +1

intervening in the justice system

Dr Trevor Stack

(and the official rule of law) does not apply to the Judiciary

James A. Walsh

the judiciary remaining untouched

Tatty

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

10 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

get involved in justice

Explanation:
take action

Reference: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/spanish_to_english/mechanics_mech_...

Denise DeVries
United States
Local time: 20:46
Native speaker of:

English

22 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

touching justice

Explanation:
The idea in the phrase is to "put your hand to" something, so using "touching" is closer to the intended meaning

Reference: http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?LEMA=mano

Alejandro Field
Local time: 21:46
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish,

English

26 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

[sin] meter mano a la justicia [without] the judiciary having any role

Explanation:
Or: 'without the judiciary in the picture'
'without any involvement on the part of the judiciary'

Muriel Vasconcellos
United States
Local time: 17:46
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 468

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

intervening in the justice system

Explanation:
The first use of meter mano in the excerpt might be better translated as "the only judicial organ on which he/it did not put pressure..." but I think this second use is better translated as intervening in the justice system. If the author were critical, it would be "interfering in the justice system" but he or she seems to be advocating intervention (presumably to stop judges applying those measures that were forbidden in the Constitution? or to require a change in the Constitution?)

Dr Trevor Stack
United Kingdom
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 8

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

interfering in the judicial process/es

Explanation:
I propose that "justice" is NOT the correct term here. In vulgar spoken Spanish, "la justicia" is commonly used to refer to the legal sphere in general and aspects thereof.
My take on the "meter mano" is that it refers to negative interpretation or influencing (inteference) of legal processes.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2011-02-17 18:20:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Scuse typo, that's "interference"...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2011-02-17 19:15:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

O sea, que se esta saltando la ley (nº 5 citado) extraoficialmente en algunos casos, es como lo entiendo. Que el Poder Judicial Consituyente "está aplicando disposiciones ...aunque el artículo once, numeral cinco de la Constitución ordena a los jueces no aplicarlas".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2011-02-17 19:15:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or even "riding roughshod over the judicial processes"...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2011-02-17 19:17:24 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

To ride roughshod over something/somebody = to act in the way you want to, ignoring rules, traditions, or other people's wishes They accused the government of riding roughshod over parliamentary procedure....

neilmac
Spain
Local time: 02:46
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 200

5 hrs confidence:

(sin que oficialmente y por referendum) se le meta mano a la justicia (and the official rule of law) does not apply to the Judiciary

Explanation:
The Oxford Spanish dictionary has the following definition:

meterle mano a algo (familiar) to get to work on something

I had to translate the whole passage to get my head around the use of this term in your text, so thought I’d explain my understanding of that usage by way of posting my efforts.

Here goes:

“Sin irnos tan lejos a lo va a ocurrir en el futuro, el asunto de la Constitución de Montecristi tiene ya veintiocho meses de aplicación y sin embargo, el Poder Judicial al que no metió mano, la Constituyente, está aplicando disposiciones del Código Penal sobre sabotaje, terrorismo y desacato, aunque el artículo once, numeral cinco de la Constitución ordena a los jueces no aplicarlas. O sea, si eso ya está ocurriendo, sin que oficialmente y por referéndum se le meta mano a la justicia ¿cuál es, entonces, el panorama que tenemos?”

“Without venturing too far into the future, at present, the Constitution of Montecristi has been implemented some 28 months, but because the Constituent Assembly has done nothing to prevent it, the Judiciary is [still] implementing provisions of the Penal Code on sabotage, terrorism and contempt, even though Article 11.5 of the Constitution instructs judges not to apply such provisions. So, if this is already taking place, and the official rule of law does not apply to the Judiciary — just what is the position/outlook here?”

My take, hope it helps.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2011-02-17 23:03:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The "official rule of law", of course, being the Constitution.

James A. Walsh
Spain
Local time: 02:46
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 100

18 hrs confidence:

the judiciary remaining untouched

Explanation:
Judicial deference comes to mind. I think here that "justicia" is another way of refering to the poder judicial.

Good luck

Tatty
Local time: 02:46
Native speaker of:

English

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