The principle of double criminality in international judicial cooperation. The translation of Ḥudūd crimes from Arabic to Spanish

Abstract

The different instruments of judicial cooperation between States aim, among other objectives, at mutually recognizing criminal judicial decisions, the fulfillment of sentences handed down in another State or the extradition of an accused or convicted person. However, the divergences of legal cultures mean that the effectiveness and validity of the judicial aid instrument are subject not only to the correct translation of the criminal types and / or penalties described in the request issued by the requesting State, but also to pertinent issues to public order such as the death penalty, reason for refusing an extradition. These divergences are more notable between the criminal justice systems of continental law and those of Islamic law. For this reason, this work proposes the legal and terminological analysis of Ḥudūd crimes, subject to the Shari‘a (expressed in Arabic), in relation to their legal transfer in the target language (Spanish). Next, the legal and / or translational equivalence of these into Spanish will be checked, taking into account the legal context of each criminal code studied here.