Direccion Nacional de Notariado

English translation: National Administration of Civil-Law Notaries

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:Direccion Nacional de Notariado
English translation:National Administration of Civil-Law Notaries
Entered by: Sinead Nicholas

19:14 Oct 8, 2014
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Law (general) / Notaries
Spanish term or phrase: Direccion Nacional de Notariado
This is the heading of a document from Costa Rica with a logo underneath it and the initials DNN beside that.
From doing some research I want to translate this as: National Notary Directorate but I don't know if we have an equivalent here in the U.S. Would others translate it as such?
Or even leave it in Spanish if we don't have an equivalent..?

The contents of the document seem to be about a notary getting his signature authenticated.

The first line reads: Lic. XXX XXX XXX, funcionario autorizado de la Direccion Nacional de Notariado de la republica de Costa Rica, hace constar que la firma del notario publico, XXX XXX XXX, es similar a la que se encuentra registrada en el Registro Nacional de Notarios de esta Direccion.
Sinead Nicholas
United States
National Administration of Civil-Law Notaries
Explanation:
We must acknowledge the importance of highlighting the difference between a notrary public and a notario público on a terminological level. (There may be other options to translate "direccion nacional.")

“In jurisdictions where the civilian law prevails, such as in the countries of continental Europe, a notary public is a public official who serves as a public witness of facts transacted by private parties ... and also serves as impartiallegal advisor for the parties involved .... In colonial Louisiana, the notary public had the same rank and dignity as his continental civilian ancestor .... Although notaries still constitute a protected profession in present-day Louisiana, holding office for life provided they renew their bonds periodically in compliance with the governing statute, the importance of their function has diminished over the years to the point that it has been said that a Louisiana notary is no longer a truly civilian notary. Indeed, the trained lawyer is nowadays the Louisiana, and American, counterpart of the continental civilian notary.”

Saul Litvinoff, Louisiana Civil Law Treatise: The Law of Obligations, 296-97 (2d ed. 2001).
Selected response from:

Sandro Tomasi
Local time: 07:33
Grading comment
Thank you both. I went with "National Directorate of Civil-Law Notaries"
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +1National Directorate of the Notary Profession
Henry Hinds
4National Administration of Civil-Law Notaries
Sandro Tomasi
4Notary National Directorate
tecpluscr


  

Answers


7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
National Directorate of the Notary Profession


Explanation:
Notariado = Notary Profession

Of course there is no such equivalent in the USA, there is not even a "Notary Profession". US notaries are not professionals but in Costa Rica they are Civil Law Notaries. Check out "Civil Law Notary" on Google.

Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 05:33
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 5063

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  AllegroTrans
3 hrs
  -> Gracias, Allegro.
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
National Administration of Civil-Law Notaries


Explanation:
We must acknowledge the importance of highlighting the difference between a notrary public and a notario público on a terminological level. (There may be other options to translate "direccion nacional.")

“In jurisdictions where the civilian law prevails, such as in the countries of continental Europe, a notary public is a public official who serves as a public witness of facts transacted by private parties ... and also serves as impartiallegal advisor for the parties involved .... In colonial Louisiana, the notary public had the same rank and dignity as his continental civilian ancestor .... Although notaries still constitute a protected profession in present-day Louisiana, holding office for life provided they renew their bonds periodically in compliance with the governing statute, the importance of their function has diminished over the years to the point that it has been said that a Louisiana notary is no longer a truly civilian notary. Indeed, the trained lawyer is nowadays the Louisiana, and American, counterpart of the continental civilian notary.”

Saul Litvinoff, Louisiana Civil Law Treatise: The Law of Obligations, 296-97 (2d ed. 2001).

Sandro Tomasi
Local time: 07:33
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 558
Grading comment
Thank you both. I went with "National Directorate of Civil-Law Notaries"

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Henry Hinds: I think "profession" settles that, because notaries in the US are not professionals, and in Costa Rica and Spanish-speaking countries in general, all notaries are civil law notaries.
18 hrs
  -> Your rationale makes sense. But I don't see a government office of the judicial branch using profession in the title of their office. Analogous to "Clerk Profession" inst. of "Office of the Clerk" to distinguish from clerks as clericals (non-professional)

neutral  AllegroTrans: as the text is clearly from a country with a civil law notary profession, I do not think it is necessary to add this to the translation
1 day 1 hr
  -> It's clear to people from that country, but I thought we were translating for people in English-speaking countries. In the US, at least, it would not be clear to the vast majority of readers.
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1701 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Notary National Directorate


Explanation:
I don't agree that the term "Administration" be used because they are controlled and audited by a Directorate.
Also, the US embassy in Costa Rica translates it like this:
Legal Assistance | U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica



    https://cr.usembassy.gov › U.S. Citizen Services
tecpluscr
Costa Rica
Local time: 05:33
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
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