French to English legal translation. Swiss French-language case files for an international audience
Geneva and Lausanne work in French and often argue their cases in English. The translation makes Swiss law understandable, while making clear that no English version of a Swiss act is authoritative.
Request a demoEach term, in the official text
Highlight a French word: CHnell shows the English translation published by the Confederation, with its source.
powered by Neur.onb. si la convention d’arbitrage ne désigne aucun tribunal arbitral, dès qu’une partie engage la procédure de constitution du tribunal arbitral ou la procédure de conciliation préalable convenue entre les parties.
b. if no arbitral tribunal is designated in the arbitration agreement: when a party initiates the procedure to constitute the arbitral tribunal or the preceding conciliation proceedings agreed by the parties.
SR-272 ZPO-CPC-CPC-CPC - Source: fedlex.admin.ch - Data Set: Neur.onLe canton dans lequel le tribunal arbitral a son siège désigne un tribunal supérieur compétent pour:
The canton in which the arbitral tribunal is located shall designate a superior court that shall have jurisdiction:
SR-272 ZPO-CPC-CPC-CPC - Source: fedlex.admin.ch - Data Set: Neur.onLe canton du siège du tribunal arbitral désigne un tribunal différent ou composé différemment, qui, en instance unique:
The canton where the arbitral tribunal is located shall designate a different court or a differently composed court to have jurisdiction as the sole instance for:
SR-272 ZPO-CPC-CPC-CPC - Source: fedlex.admin.ch - Data Set: Neur.onThe official equivalents, in all four languages
The German, French and Italian columns come from the official versions; the English column follows the translations the Confederation publishes for information only.
| German | French | Italian | English | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schiedsgericht | tribunal arbitral | tribunale arbitrale | arbitral tribunal | art. 176 LDIP |
| Bundesgericht | Tribunal fédéral | Tribunale federale | Federal Supreme Court | art. 188 Cst. |
| Beschwerde | recours | ricorso | appeal | art. 72 LTF |
| Verzugszins | intérêt moratoire | interessi moratori | default interest | art. 104 CO |
| Bankgeheimnis | secret bancaire | segreto bancario | banking secrecy | art. 47 LB |
| Konkurs | faillite | fallimento | bankruptcy | art. 197 LP |
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.
This language pair in practice
Swiss acts are authoritative in German, French and Italian; their English versions are published for information only and have no legal force. A French to English translation therefore serves to understand, negotiate or argue a case, and always refers back to the French text when a citation must be binding.
No English version is authoritative
English translations of Federal Acts are provided for information only. A binding citation stays in French, German or Italian, followed by its translation where useful. The caveat appears on the English translations published by the Confederation.
What gets converted
Federal Supreme Court
The Federal Supreme Court
The Confederation's English texts call the institution the Federal Supreme Court. Supreme Court alone can be confused with other courts.
ATF
Citing a decision
A decision published in the official collection is cited by its reference, ATF or BGE, with its volume, part and page. Converting it into a common law style citation makes the decision impossible to find for the opposing party and for the tribunal.
attachment
Concepts without an equivalent
Poursuite (debt enforcement), séquestre (attachment), ordonnance pénale (summary penalty order): these concepts have no exact counterpart in common law. They are rendered with an explanation, then with one consistent term throughout the case file.
tribunal arbitralarbitral tribunal
International arbitration
A Swiss seat of arbitration falls under the chapter on international arbitration of the Federal Act on Private International Law. Jurisdiction, award and appeal each have a fixed term there. An appeal against an award is brought before the Federal Supreme Court.
What Corrext guarantees for this pair
Finance and reporting
Prospectuses, annual reports and compliance documents circulate in English. Swiss financial terminology can be checked in CHnell, which covers 30 domains drawn from official sources.
Volume in an arbitration
Exhibits run to hundreds of pages and often arrive as PDFs. Text and document translation accepts up to 25 files of 50 MB per upload and converts a scan into an editable Word document before processing.
Confidentiality
French and English are among the four languages of Highly sensitive content mode: storage and processing in Switzerland only, with no reuse as translation memory.
Three French-language case files that move into English
Arbitration
A Geneva submission argued in English
Citations of decisions and articles stay in French, with their translation. The rest of the submission reads in English, with arbitration vocabulary kept consistent from the first exchange to the award.
Banks
A file for a foreign regulator
Banking secrecy, anti-money laundering and due diligence obligations have fixed terms. Highly sensitive content mode keeps processing in Switzerland while the file circulates.
Organisations
A text published in two languages
Both versions are released together and must stay aligned, paragraph by paragraph. Translation projects organises the review and shows the delivery time before you confirm.
Frequently asked questions about French to English translation
Can I cite a Swiss act in English in a submission?
You can cite it in English for the reader's benefit, but the English version cannot be relied on for what the law says. English is not an official language of the Confederation, and the English versions of Swiss acts are published for information only. The safe approach is to cite the French, German or Italian text, then give its English translation.
How do I cite a Federal Supreme Court decision in English?
The reference is not translated: an ATF reference, BGE in German, keeps its form, with its volume, part and page, and the court is called the Federal Supreme Court. Only the quoted passage is translated, with a note that it is a courtesy translation.
Is arbitration vocabulary consistent from one case to the next?
It must above all be consistent within a single case file. Jurisdiction, award, appeal and interim measures each receive one term, used in every exchange. Fast lookup CHnell shows the official usage of each term, and your own resources sit alongside the public sources.
What about concepts that do not exist in common law?
Keep them and explain them. Poursuite (debt enforcement), séquestre (attachment) and ordonnance pénale (summary penalty order) have no exact counterpart: the Swiss term is kept, explained at its first occurrence, then reused as it is. Translating them with a similar common law concept creates a mistranslation that the reader cannot see.
Where are the documents processed?
On Swiss servers in every case. With LexMachina or in Highly sensitive content mode, processing stays in Switzerland only and the content is not reused as memory. Third-party engines hosted abroad trigger the Attorney-Client privilege notice, which reminds users of your organisation's policy: pseudonymisation first.