Legal Translation

Legal Translation Skill — 法律术语中英互译

Overview

This skill provides authoritative Chinese-English legal terminology lookup based on:

Coverage: Civil law, criminal law, commercial law, procedural law, constitutional/administrative law, international law, plus Latin legal terms.

Limitations: The general glossary leans toward common law terminology (Hong Kong origin). For PRC-specific socialist legal system concepts, supplement with mainland_terms.csv.

信息来源 / Information Sources

通用法律术语 (glossary.csv ~34,000条)

清洗策略详见 scripts/clean_glossary.py，完整说明见 references/source-guide.md

中国大陆法律术语 (mainland_terms.csv ~950条)

核验方式

• 北大法宝 (PKULaw) MCP 工具 — 逐条核验中文术语在现行法条原文中的存在性
• 英文翻译基于 全国人大 (NPC) 官方公布的英文译本
• 法院系统术语依据 最高人民法院法〔2021〕184号通知

Quick Start

Basic Lookup

# Chinese → English
python "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/lookup.py" -q "不可抗力"

# English → Chinese
python "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/lookup.py" -q "force majeure"

Fuzzy Search

python "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/lookup.py" -q "合同违约" --fuzzy

Domain Filtering

python "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/lookup.py" -q "证据" --domain 诉讼法 -n 10

JSON Output (for programmatic use)

python "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/lookup.py" -q "tort" --format json

Lookup Workflow

When a user requests legal terminology translation, follow this priority:

1. Determine Query Direction

• Chinese query → Search cn field → return English equivalents
• English query → Search en field → return Chinese equivalents
• Mixed or uncertain → Search both fields

2. Search Strategy (in order)

Exact match → Substring match → Fuzzy match

1. Exact match first: lookup.py -q "term" --exact
2. If no result: lookup.py -q "term" (substring mode, the default)
3. If still no result: lookup.py -q "term" --fuzzy
4. For domain-specific queries: Add --domain filter

3. When to Use Domain Filtering

User mentions specific legal area → use --domain flag:

• 民法 → Civil law (contracts, torts, property, family, succession)
• 刑法 → Criminal law
• 商法 → Commercial law (companies, securities, insurance, IP)
• 诉讼法 → Procedural law (litigation, arbitration, evidence)
• 宪法行政法 → Constitutional & administrative law
• 国际法 → International law (treaties, maritime, extradition)

4. For Mainland PRC Law

When users work with PRC law specifically, load both glossaries:

python "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/lookup.py" -q "物权" -g "$SKILL_DIR/references/mainland_terms.csv"

The mainland terms cover PRC-specific concepts NOT found in the general HK-sourced glossary:

• 物权 (Real Rights), 用益物权 (Usufructuary Rights)
• 人民调解 (People's Mediation), 行政复议 (Administrative Reconsideration)
• 审判委员会 (Judicial Committee), 指导性案例 (Guiding Case)
• Socialist legal system concepts unique to PRC

Output Format

Standard Text Output

查询: "tort"
找到 3 条结果:
------------------------------------------------------------

[1] 侵权法
    EN: tort
    来源: HK Ordinance
    标签: 民法, 单词

[2] 侵权行为
    EN: tort
    来源: HK Ordinance
    标签: 民法, 单词

[3] 侵权（行为）
    EN: tort
    来源: 英汉民商事法律词汇
    标签: 民法, 短语

Presenting Results to Users

When relaying results back to the user:

1. Single exact match: Present directly with source and domain
2. Multiple matches: List all, noting differences in context/usage
3. Partial/fuzzy matches: Clearly indicate match quality
4. No match found: Suggest trying broader terms or alternative expressions

Important Translation Conventions

PRC Legal English vs HK Legal English

The same Chinese term may have different English translations in different contexts:

Latin Legal Terms

The glossary includes ~430 Latin legal terms with bilingual annotations. These are marked as type 拉丁术语. Example:

CN: 不可抗力
EN: vis major ["superior violence"]
CN: 不可抗力
EN: force majeure ["superior strength"]

Dual Translations

Some terms have multiple valid translations — present all options when relevant and note the context.

Integration with PKULaw MCP Tools

This skill complements the PKULaw MCP tools already configured. For legal research tasks:

1. Term lookup first: Use this skill to find English equivalents
2. Statutory verification: Use mcp__pkulaw-law-search__search_article to verify the term's usage in actual statutes
3. Citation validation: Use mcp__pkulaw-citation-validator__adjust_provisions to check legal references
4. Case reference: Use mcp__pkulaw-case-search__search_case for how terms appear in judicial decisions

Example workflow:

User: "How do you say 善意取得 in English?"
1. lookup.py -q "善意取得" → "Bona Fide Acquisition / Good Faith Acquisition"
2. (Optional) mcp__pkulaw-law-search__search_article → verify in Civil Code Art. 311

Reference Files

Scripts

Data Cleaning (Reproducible)

To regenerate the clean glossary from the raw DOJ CSV:

python "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/clean_glossary.py" /path/to/doj_glossary.csv

The cleaning pipeline:

1. Filters out Hong Kong-specific institutions, roles, and concepts
2. Removes report/consultation paper sources
3. Filters template/placeholder patterns
4. Deduplicates by (CN, EN) with source priority
5. Classifies by legal domain and term type
6. Outputs references/glossary.csv

Source priority for deduplication: 英汉民商事法律词汇 > 刑事诉讼词汇集 > PRC Law > HK Ordinance > Other