Contract translation. The Code of Obligations, from one language to another

A lease, general terms and conditions, a loan agreement: every clause refers to a concept of the Code of Obligations (CO), which is published in German, French and Italian. Corrext keeps the layout and uses the wording of the official text.

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Each term, in the official text

Highlight a term from the Code of Obligations: CHnell shows its German version in the same official text, with its source.

clause pénaleFrenchGerman8 results

Les dispositions concernant la clause pénale sont applicables à la convention par laquelle les versements partiels effectués restent, en cas de résiliation, acquis au créancier.

Die Abrede, dass Teilzahlungen im Falle des Rücktrittes dem Gläubiger verbleiben sollen, ist nach den Vorschriften über die Konventionalstrafe zu beurteilen.

SR-220 OR-CO-CO-CO - Source: fedlex.admin.ch - Data Set: Neur.on

Toute stipulation contraire s’apprécie conformément aux dispositions qui régissent la clause pénale.

Eine entgegenstehende Vereinbarung ist nach den Grundsätzen über Konventionalstrafe zu beurteilen.

SR-220 OR-CO-CO-CO - Source: fedlex.admin.ch - Data Set: Neur.on

Si le conseil d’administration se propose de déclarer les actionnaires en demeure déchus de leurs droits de souscripteurs ou de leur réclamer l’exécution de la clause pénale prévue par les statuts, il doit publier un appel de versements dans la Feuille officielle suisse du commerce et, au surplus, en la forme prévue par les statuts, en leur impartissant un nouveau délai de 30 jours au moins à compter de la publication.

Beabsichtigt der Verwaltungsrat, den säumigen Aktionär seiner Rechte aus der Zeichnung verlustig zu erklären oder von ihm die in den Statuten vorgesehene Konventionalstrafe zu fordern, so hat er im Schweizerischen Handelsamtsblatt sowie in der von den Statuten vorgesehenen Form eine Aufforderung zur Einzahlung zu erlassen, unter Ansetzung einer Nachfrist von mindestens 30 Tagen, von der Veröffentlichung an gerechnet.

SR-220 OR-CO-CO-CO - Source: fedlex.admin.ch - Data Set: Neur.on

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Contract vocabulary, in all four languages

The German, French and Italian equivalents are those of the three official versions of the Code of Obligations, at the article shown. The English column uses the translation published by the Confederation on Fedlex, which has no legal force.

German	French	Italian	English	Reference
Konventionalstrafe	clause pénale	pena convenzionale	contractual penalty	art. 160 CO
Verzugszins	intérêt moratoire	interessi moratori	default interest	art. 104 CO
Verzug des Schuldners	demeure du débiteur	mora del debitore	default of obligor	art. 102 CO
Schadenersatz	dommages-intérêts	risarcimento del danno	damages	art. 107 CO
Verjährung	prescription	prescrizione	prescription	art. 127 CO
wesentlicher Irrtum	erreur essentielle	errore essenziale	fundamental error	art. 23 CO
Gewährleistung wegen Mängel	garantie en raison des défauts	garanzia per i difetti	warranty of quality and fitness	art. 197 CO
Mietvertrag	bail à loyer	locazione	lease	art. 253 CO

Equivalents taken from official Swiss texts, published in German, French and Italian. In Corrext, each term opens in context in Fast lookup CHnell, with its source.

The acts a contract cites every day

The Code of Obligations holds most of the Swiss vocabulary of contracts. But a contract cites other acts as soon as it touches on ownership, non-payment or a party based abroad.

Code of Obligations (CO)

DEORFR · ITCO

It governs the formation, performance and extinction of contracts, as well as company law

Swiss Civil Code

DEZGBFR · ITCC

It sets out the concepts of persons, ownership and good faith, which contracts refer to without redefining them

DEBA

Federal Act on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy

DESchKGFRLP

It governs what follows a payment default, from the summons for payment (Zahlungsbefehl) to bankruptcy

PILA

Federal Act on Private International Law (PILA)

DEIPRGFR · ITLDIP

It determines the applicable law and the place of jurisdiction as soon as a party or a performance is located abroad

Translating a contract, in practice

Translating a contract under Swiss law means carrying obligations that have legal effect into another language. Each term refers to a concept defined by the Code of Obligations, published in German, French and Italian. The translation keeps the wording of the official text and leaves article references, time limits and amounts untouched.

Contracts and their schedules

Lease and annexes
Upload the lease, the handover report and any addenda in File translation. Each document comes back in its original format, with references to the CO intact. Formats .pdf .doc .docx .xls .xlsx .ppt .pptx, up to 25 files of 50 MB per upload.
General Terms and Conditions
General terms and conditions are rewritten block by block from one version to the next. In Standard confidentiality, the project feeds a translation memory that only your organisation can reuse.
Framework agreement and amendments
An amendment must use the exact vocabulary of the original contract. The term chosen the first time is one highlight away in Fast lookup CHnell.
Clauses with figures
Interest rates, notice periods for termination and amounts bind the parties. In a Full review, a legal translator checks them line by line. The delivery time is shown before you approve the quote.

What Corrext brings to this area

One term, one legal definition

Default interest under Article 104 CO is not translated by guesswork. CHnell shows the article in the three official languages, side by side.

Document for the other party

In Translation projects, you order a Light review or Full review by a legal translator, or Double review & certified translation when the text leaves the company.

Confidential negotiation

Highly sensitive content mode requires storage and processing in Switzerland only, with no reuse of the content in a translation memory. Available in German, French, Italian and English.

Supporting document for the contract

When a company signs, the other party often asks for a commercial register extract. A certified translation of it can be ordered online, notarisation and apostille included.

Three situations where contract translation gets complicated

Commercial lease

Zurich landlord, French-speaking tenant

The lease is drafted in German, the property manager replies in French, and both parties cite the same articles of the CO. The translation uses the official wording of each concept rather than an approximate equivalent, and the document comes back in its original layout.

Financing

A loan agreement to sign tomorrow morning

The machine translation goes out in the evening with LexMachina, the Full review is ordered straight away and the delivery time is shown before you approve. The borrower receives a text reviewed by a legal translator, not a draft to correct.

International

Swiss law, negotiated in English

The parties' English has no official version: each concept must be tied to the German, French or Italian term of the CO. CHnell shows the original article, the Alternatives panel shows up to four competing wordings, and the legal expert decides.

Frequently asked questions on contract translation

Why not translate a contract with a general-purpose translation tool?

The Swiss vocabulary of contracts is fixed by legislation published in three languages. A general-purpose tool offers a plausible translation, not the wording of the Code of Obligations. Then there is the question of where the data is processed. With Corrext, storage is in Switzerland in every case, and processing stays in Switzerland with LexMachina or in Highly sensitive content mode.

Is the layout of the contract preserved?

Yes. The document comes back in its original format, with its articles, paragraphs and annexes. The application recommends uploading the native file, Word or Excel, rather than a PDF when you have it. For a scanned contract, the PDF to Word tab first produces an editable document.

Who reviews a contract before it is signed?

A legal translator: in a Light review for a consistency check, or in a Full review for a line-by-line check. For a document that binds the company towards a third party, Double review & certified translation involves two translators and a specialised agency, with a certificate. You choose the level for each document.

Are my contracts used to train an engine?

No. Client content is not used to train the engines. Projects in Standard confidentiality can feed a translation memory that only your organisation can reuse. Projects in Highly sensitive content mode are never reused, not even internally.

How do I keep the same term from one amendment to the next?

Check the term chosen the first time. Highlight a word and Fast lookup CHnell opens it in context, with its official source. The concordancer also accepts your own terminology resources, on top of the 30 domains it already covers. Projects in Standard confidentiality also feed a translation memory that only your organisation can reuse.

Can I translate an excerpt from a contract without uploading a file?

Yes. Text translation, in Text and document translation, accepts up to 10,000 characters pasted directly, with a choice of engine and up to four alternative wordings. It is the right tool for a single clause under negotiation. You copy the result straight into the document you are drafting.