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Off the record / On the record

Spanish translation: No constar en acta / constar en acta

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:Off the record / On the record
Spanish translation:No constar en acta / constar en acta
Entered by: Toni Castano

22:49 Dec 22, 2023
English to Spanish translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Law (general)
English term or phrase: Off the record / On the record
Hello,

I hope this isn't a repeat question, but I'm not able to find any information about how to translate this exact usage of the above phrases. The context is, at the beginning of a hearing, the judge says "Before we go on the record, [asks question]" and then afterwards she says "On the record, now, [asks a related question]."

How are these particular thoughts expressed in Spanish? I've found a few closely related ideas, but none of them quite seem to match the context and delivery of this particular usage. Thank you in advance!
Nicholas Boline
United States
Local time: 10:15
No constar en acta / constar en acta
Explanation:
To go on the record: constar en (el) acta.
To go off the record: sin constar en (el) acta, de forma extraoficial.

The context is obviously of legal nature, and so must be the translation too: Pure legalese. The standard correspondence of “on the record” in the Spanish legal jargon is “constar en acta”, and the opposite, “off the record”, is “sin constar en acta” or to say something “de forma extraoficial”. I do not see “off the record” anywhere in your excerpt, perhaps you have forgotten it or the second instance should be “then afterwards she says "OFF the record, now”. This is a bit confusing, but be that as it may, you have the two phrases available now.

Yes, there are several KudoZ entries that tackle this same issue or similar, but the only one that might be applicable to this specific context (a hearing in court) is the following (hope not to have overlooked any other…):
https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english-to-spanish/law-patents/14...


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 51 mins (2023-12-22 23:40:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Nicholas, my immediate reply (still online). No, of course, we don´t say "antes de que constemos en acta", that´s wrong Spanish and doesn´t make any sense. What is for the record (to be taken, registered) is the content of the hearing, which is the subject of the sentence. Example:
"Antes de que la audiencia/el diálogo/el interrogatorio (whatever) CONSTE en acta (...)".
I hope to have made myself clear enough.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 54 mins (2023-12-22 23:44:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Another example:
Before going on record (...)
Antes de que [subject] conste en acta (...)
Or:
Antes de que [subject] se haga constar en acta (...)

In Spanish, a subject is required. Something must be the subject.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2023-12-22 23:52:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Alternative (by eliding the subject in the Spanish):
Before going on record (...)
Antes de que conste en acta (...)

However, the subject does exist, athough it isn´t expressed, it isn´t visible. The subject could be the hearing itself, a questioning, just a question, the statement of a witness, whatever! You can omit the subject in the Spanish counterpart, of course, but it does exist grammatically even if it isn´t expressed.
Selected response from:

Toni Castano
Spain
Local time: 17:15
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6No constar en acta / constar en acta
Toni Castano
3(sin) dejar constancia en autos
Adrian MM.
Summary of reference entries provided
Para fines del registro
Sandro Tomasi

  

Answers


35 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
off the record / on the record
No constar en acta / constar en acta


Explanation:
To go on the record: constar en (el) acta.
To go off the record: sin constar en (el) acta, de forma extraoficial.

The context is obviously of legal nature, and so must be the translation too: Pure legalese. The standard correspondence of “on the record” in the Spanish legal jargon is “constar en acta”, and the opposite, “off the record”, is “sin constar en acta” or to say something “de forma extraoficial”. I do not see “off the record” anywhere in your excerpt, perhaps you have forgotten it or the second instance should be “then afterwards she says "OFF the record, now”. This is a bit confusing, but be that as it may, you have the two phrases available now.

Yes, there are several KudoZ entries that tackle this same issue or similar, but the only one that might be applicable to this specific context (a hearing in court) is the following (hope not to have overlooked any other…):
https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english-to-spanish/law-patents/14...


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 51 mins (2023-12-22 23:40:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Nicholas, my immediate reply (still online). No, of course, we don´t say "antes de que constemos en acta", that´s wrong Spanish and doesn´t make any sense. What is for the record (to be taken, registered) is the content of the hearing, which is the subject of the sentence. Example:
"Antes de que la audiencia/el diálogo/el interrogatorio (whatever) CONSTE en acta (...)".
I hope to have made myself clear enough.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 54 mins (2023-12-22 23:44:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Another example:
Before going on record (...)
Antes de que [subject] conste en acta (...)
Or:
Antes de que [subject] se haga constar en acta (...)

In Spanish, a subject is required. Something must be the subject.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2023-12-22 23:52:32 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Alternative (by eliding the subject in the Spanish):
Before going on record (...)
Antes de que conste en acta (...)

However, the subject does exist, athough it isn´t expressed, it isn´t visible. The subject could be the hearing itself, a questioning, just a question, the statement of a witness, whatever! You can omit the subject in the Spanish counterpart, of course, but it does exist grammatically even if it isn´t expressed.

Toni Castano
Spain
Local time: 17:15
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Spanish
PRO pts in category: 228
Notes to answerer
Asker: Right, but is the subject of the verb constar the speakers or their speech? In English, the judge says "Before going on record", which I interpret to mean something like "Before we go on record", but in Spanish, I don't think I can say "Antes de que constemos en acta", can I?


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Juan Jacob: "Antes de/sin constar en actas" Toni.
1 hr
  -> Hola Juan. La forma de expresión depende del país. En España es como he comentado.
agree  Sandro Tomasi: Yo pensé que un acta en lo forense es un documento donde un secretario o fedatario consigna por escrito el resultado de las deliberaciones, no todo lo dicho, palabra x palabra, como lo hace una estenógrafa.
3 hrs
  -> En España, el juez es quien determina lo que debe constar o no en acta, y desde luego no es él quien realiza el registro formal, sino el ahora llamado "letrado de la Administración de Justicia" (antes "secretario judicial") con apoyo de otro personal.
agree  abe(L)solano: más ejemplos (para el asker, puesto que es la expresión correcta: https://es.glosbe.com/es/es/para que conste en acta
9 hrs
  -> Hola Abe(L). Sí, hay muchos ejemplos, pero la expresión concreta depende de cada país. Hay variaciones, por lo que puede verse por lo que ha comentado Juan Jacob.
agree  Juan Gil
11 hrs
  -> ¡Felices fiestas, Juan!
agree  Víctor Zamorano
3 days 18 hrs
  -> Víctor, felices fiestas y mis mejores deseos para ti y los tuyos en 2024, que ya es inminente.
agree  María López-Contreras Conde
5 days
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14 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
(before going) off the record / on the record
(sin) dejar constancia en autos


Explanation:
Thanks to Toni C. and Sandro T. We still, though, have to incorporate a verb of going on and off....

Quaere (for our fans of Latin): go off th record > renunciar a o prescindirse de constancia.

Que conste !

Example sentence(s):
  • ... presentó una copia de la página de inicio del sitio Internet de la demandante, de todo lo cual se dejó constancia en el acta de la vista.
  • IATE: communications [EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATIONS] en off the record es atribución reservada con reserva off the record

    Reference: http://www.proz.com/personal-glossaries/entry/22276414-off-t...
    Reference: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/english-to-spanish/journalism/5481...
Adrian MM.
Austria
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 60
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Reference comments


4 hrs peer agreement (net): +1
Reference: Para fines del registro

Reference information:
In the linked video, you will hear the Chilean judge say, “para fines del registro” twice (at 1:15 - 1:33), which I believe is a natural equivalent for “for the record.”


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XStHYbgUCGI
Sandro Tomasi
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 384

Peer comments on this reference comment (and responses from the reference poster)
agree  Toni Castano: El lenguaje judicial es arcaico en todas las jurisdicciones. En España, también se registran electrónicamente las audiencias, pero la expresión habitual de los jueces es "que conste (o no) en acta".
5 hrs
  -> Ah, bueno. Gracias por la explicación, Toni.
neutral  Jennifer Levey: The Chilean judge says 'para fines del registro' merely to put non-contentious contextual info onto the audio record, so that people listing to the recording later can understand how the process unfolded.
12 hrs
  -> Thank you for the explanation, Jennifer.
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