Category: Legal Spanish Vocabulary

Masculine noun: Profit or benefit that is derived from something. In Business Spanish we use this noun with expressions such as con/sin fines de lucro, lucro producido, lucro cesante, etc. E.g.: Además, Merck publica información médica imparcial como un servicio sin fines de lucro: Merck also publishes unbiased health information as a not-for-profit service; En el sistema de Alemania se concede una pensión por lesiones además de una pensión por lucro cesante: Germany has a system where the injury pension is awarded in addition to a pension for income loss.
The verb is lucrar and the adjective lucrativo/a/s. dc

Masculine noun. In Legal Spanish arresto is a provisional detention of the accused in a criminal matter or a deprivation of liberty for a short time, as a correction or penalty. E.g.: El arresto del sospechoso salió en las noticias: The detention of the suspect was on the news.
The verb is arrestar: to make an arrest. dc

Verb. This is another Spanish word with no possible direct translation into English. Cobrar means to receive money as payment of a debt or something else. E.g.: La Comisión autoriza entonces al Banco a cobrar los importes correspondientes del Fondo de garantía: The Commission will then authorise the Bank to take the corresponding amounts from the Guarantee Fund. The noun is el cobro.
It is an interesting word, I wonder if it comes from cobre, the Spanish for copper. dc

Feminine noun. In Legal and Business Spanish, cuota can mean three main things: 1. Fixed and proportional part or portion. E.g.: La cuota de mercado de la compañía ha crecido radicalmente: The company’s market share has risen dramatically. 2. Amount that is paid regularly to associations, communities, social security, etc. E.g.: Muchos juegos son gratuitos y otros pueden descargarse pagando una cuota: Many games are free, and you can download others for a fee. 3. Instalment. E.g.: Él había pagado cada cuota de su préstamo: He had paid every instalment of his loan. dc

Verb. This term doesn’t have an exact translation into English. It means to start a conversation, battle, friendship. As you can see, it is an inchoative verb, all the focus is on a beginning. It is very much used in Legal and Business contexts as to arrange, prepare, undertake a claim or a business. E.g.: En este caso se decidió no entablar acción penal, por falta de pruebas: In this case, a decision against initiating criminal proceedings was handed down on grounds of lack of evidence of a crime.
By the way, entablar also means to plank something, as a tabla is a plank. dc

Masculine noun. Imperio de la Ley refers to the primacy of law over any other governmental principle, especially against tyranny and arbitrariness of political power, even if well-intentioned. In a sense, the concept of Impeio de la Ley is similar to the Hellenic concept nomos basileus (‘the law is the king ‘) or the Anglo-Saxon rule of law. E.g.: Ello debe hacerse sin selectividad ni supremacía y sobre la base del imperio de la ley: That needs to be done without selectivity or supremacy and based on the rule of law. dc