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Part of
Handbook of Terminology: Volume 3. Legal Terminology
Edited by Łucja Biel and Hendrik J. Kockaert
[Handbook of Terminology 3] 2023
► pp. 327–350

From the domestic to the supranational

The terminology of “expulsion” as used at the European Court of Human Rights

| European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights uses “supranational” terms to set out its general principles, while also dealing with (and translating) culture-bound terms of domestic law. This Chapter looks at its specific terminology in the field of “expulsion”, including the translation of domestic terms, either from a “third” language into an official language (English/French) or from one official language to the other. The polysemic nature of the relevant terms and overlapping concepts present difficulties for both drafters and translators. The term “expulsion” itself has been given an autonomous meaning by the Court. Imported terminology, whether from EU migration law (return) or international asylum law (refoulement), must also be used correctly. The author advocates accuracy and consistency in this field.

Keywords: supranational terminology, culture-bound terms, expulsion, autonomous concepts
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Overview of the use and translation of terminology at the ECtHR
  • 3.Relevance and issues of expulsion-related terminology
  • 4.Domestic-law terminology
  • 5.Autonomous concepts
  • 6.Other international-law terminology
  • 7.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives (CC BY-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 1 December 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hot.3.dom2
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