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Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

Persona Cuestionada

English translation:

Questionable Person

Added to glossary by Matthew Docherty
May 3, 2020 10:35
4 yrs ago
51 viewers *
Spanish term

Persona Cuestionada

Spanish to English Law/Patents Law: Contract(s)
Context for term: "El Cliente no incurrirá en ninguna conducta que pudiera constituir causa justificada para que se le considere Persona Cuestionada".

This term is used in a contract governed by Mexican law.

Many thanks in advance!
Proposed translations (English)
3 +4 Person questioned in their moral integrity/of dubious integrity
3 +1 Reword
3 Person of Ill Repute
3 Subject to Investigation / (US) Person of Interest
3 not to be considered as a person of dubious reputation
4 -1 person of interest
4 -2 Questioned/interrogated citizen
2 a Suspect Person
3 -2 the person in question

Discussion

Matthew Docherty (asker) May 6, 2020:
When delivering the translation, I suggested that the client include a definition of the term under the "definitions" section at the start of the contract, which lists most - yet not all - of the other capitalised terms, or otherwise define the term the first time it appears in the body of the text. I will share this definition with you if I get a reply, although for now it seems they are happy with the proposed translation. Thanks again for all your wonderful contributions!
AllegroTrans May 6, 2020:
maybe It's a rather sloppy rendition of PEP (politically exposed person)
Toni Castano May 6, 2020:
@Matthew Do you think your client could be contacted to get a firsthand explanation about the meaning of "persona cuestionada"? We have been all speculating here for days, but we need facts to get out of this entanglement. Thank you.
Adrian MM. May 6, 2020:
'Helping police with their enquiries' Thanks AT and Robert C. for reconsidering my 'suspect' answer, albeit predicated on the assumption that the party concerned is one 'enquired about' or 'subject to enquiry' (pronounced in American for fans of my otiose comments: 'in-queerie') rather than one 'tipped off about'. The only way I could bring that idea back within ENG contract parameters is to resort to a suspect 'causing reasonable suspicion' or 'guilty of unconscionable conduct'.
Robert Carter May 6, 2020:
@Lester I fully agree with you that your reading of this makes sense, and that "undefined, ambiguous terms such as 'questionable person'" are essentially weasel words that have no place in contract drafting. I just can't think of any other way of approaching this in the absence of any definition of the term either in the law or in the contract itself. As a translator, unless you have a high degree of certainty of what the term implies (for example, you're familiar with the relevant civil code so you are fairly certain what the drafter is referring to), there's not a lot you can do in these situations besides contacting the drafter to find out what they meant, or failing that, simply giving an equally vague interpretation of it. If the source text is too vague, it's really up to the contract drafter to do the disambiguation, not us. I must say it's also highly unusual in Mexican contracts, because they nearly always err on the side of redundancy and often go over the top with legal doublets, triplets, and quadruplets if they can think of them (are drafters paid by the word?).
Having said that, it may be a good practice to acknowledge this circumstance in the translation.
Robert Carter May 6, 2020:
@Chris It's an interesting idea from Adrian, and one that might make sense, except I have never seen this expression used in this context, nor can I find any evidence that the term has been used with this meaning in Mexico. If I were I to come across it I certainly wouldn't expect it to have this meaning, especially as there are other more common ways of expressing the idea of a person acting suspiciously ("sospechosa" being the most obvious one).
AllegroTrans May 6, 2020:
Asker I think you should seriously consider Adrian's late contribution. The idea of a "person acting suspiciously" needs to be looked at rather than the notion of "ill repute/disreputable" - in the light of the subject matter of the contract. You didn't tell us this, but if it's some sort of transaction then this could be about the person not being on a black list etc. The context may perhaps suggest a better term than "questionable person".
Michael Grabczan-Grabowski May 3, 2020:
@Robert Not pedantic at all -- that was a rather glaring error on my part :-D. Thanks for that. I was wondering why Grammarly kept nagging me about it. I thought I still had the UK English settings on. ;-)
Robert Carter May 3, 2020:
@Michael Quick point of pedantry: compromise is in fact spelled with an "s" (from the root "promise") in most forms of English (I can't speak to Canadian, but I'd imagine it's the same). Saludos!
Michael Grabczan-Grabowski May 3, 2020:
Disreputable Person or Compromised Person As Robert said, it is somewhat vague, although, in that context, it seems to refer to any person who engages in any shady (dodgy) dealings or actions that bring disrepute to his/her character.

If I were to opt for using a capitalized term, then I would go for "Disreputable Person" or "Compromised Person."

Alternatively, you can avoid using a capitalized term entirely and replace "persona cuestionada" with "any disreputable person" or "any person who has brought himself or herself into disrepute." I'd go this route, as the term isn't properly defined elsewhere, despite being capitalized; this happens all the time in badly written contracts.

"Person" could also refer to a company, so to avoid the himself/herself/itself wordiness, you could also consider using the word "entity" instead.
Robert Carter May 3, 2020:
Thank you. Well, in that case you can be equally vague in your translation. The idea of "persona cuestionada" here is so subjective as to be meaningless, like saying "don't do business with anyone who's a bit iffy". It's terrible contract drafting. I'd probably go for something like "questionable person" myself, as I think even "person of questionable integrity" may be too specific here.
Matthew Docherty (asker) May 3, 2020:
More context Hi all,

Thank you for your contributions. So, the term does reappear in the text, but only in the subsequent sentence, which lists a set of restrictions including:

"vender y/o transferir el Alcance del suministro a cualquier Persona Cuestionada o, en todo caso, involucrar en la transacción a cualquier Persona Cuestionada";

There is no definition of the term provided in the contract itself, despite the capitalization.

I hope this helps!
Matthew (asker)
Robert Carter May 3, 2020:
Hi Toni, don't get me wrong, I do think this probably has the meaning you've suggested, but if there's no definition here then you're really free to translate it any way you like--it will have no virtually bearing on the contractual obligations because there is no definition of the term "persona cuestionada" in Mexico's Civil Code, which governs contracts. Indeed, if the term "Persona Cuestionada" doesn't appear anywhere else in the contract, then you arguably don't even need to refer to a person, but rather the conduct itself.
Regarding whether Matthew would have asked the question if the definition is already in the contract, I have no way of knowing that, which is why I asked the question of him :-) I really just wanted to know either way, i.e., if the term is used throughout the contract or just in this one place.
Toni Castano May 3, 2020:
Capitalization of words, etc. Robert, a couple of good points you mention here. Word capitalization is nothing rare in contract law, including Mexican contracts, sure (you know about this much more that I do). Please note that "Cliente" is also capitalized in the reference phrase, so this phenomenon has no particular meaning here, I believe. As for the definitions of key terms, yes, they do appear sometimes in well drafted documents, at their end normally, but I do not believe this is the case here, otherwise Matthew wouldn´t have asked this question, would he?
As for the meaning itself, when I read "conducta" and then I read "causa justificada para (...), the context seems then quite clear to me, but I might be wrong, I concede.
Robert Carter May 3, 2020:
Yes, Michael thanks. I can think of some reasons why there would be such a clause, but again, it would only work if the contract were to define the conduct in question.
Michael Grabczan-Grabowski May 3, 2020:
@Robert Agreed -- it is rather vague. Some more context would help, as well as some idea as to why such a provision would be in a contract.
Robert Carter May 3, 2020:
@Matthew The term you mention is capitalised, so could it be that there is a definition somewhere else in the contract? If not, the term is so vague as to be virtually useless in a contract, since there is no legal definition in Mexican contract law of a "persona cuestionada", not that I know of anyway.
If it indeed is supposed to mean "person of questionable integrity" (which I sense it might well do, thanks Toni!), then that might also be quite a tall order here in the land of the "mordida" (although, thankfully, attitudes towards corruption are beginning to change under the current administration, the federal one at least).

Proposed translations

+4
39 mins
Selected

Person questioned in their moral integrity/of dubious integrity

I´m not Mexican, but from the context available I infer “cuestionada” refers to moral integrity.

Source text:
"El Cliente no incurrirá en ninguna conducta que pudiera constituir causa justificada para que se le considere Persona Cuestionada".

Translation proposal:
“Client will not incur in any conduct that might constitute a justified ground for them to be considered a Person questioned in their (moral) integrity/with dubious (moral) integrity”.

“Cuestionar” also means to “ask” in a neutral way, but not in this case, I believe “Dubious integrity” means here “questionable honesty and ethics”.



https://dle.rae.es/cuestionar?m=form
Cuestionar
1. tr. Controvertir un punto dudoso, proponiendo las razones, pruebas y fundamentos de una y otra parte.
2. tr. Poner en duda lo afirmado por alguien.


Peer comment(s):
agree Sergio Kot : Well interpreted
58 mins
Thanks for your confirmation, Sergio.
agree EirTranslations
1 hr
Thanks for your confirmation, EirT.
agree Robert Carter : This is the general idea, but Matthew's context means that even this isn't quite vague enough. I'd go with "questionable person" myself.
7 hrs
Thank you Robert. Still, I do not feel quite confident about my own suggestion, just middle confidence level. I think you´re quite right, not an easy question at all.
agree Lydia De Jorge : Agree with Robert. Questionable person has just the right amount of vagueness.
10 hrs
Okay. Thanks, Lydia.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Many thanks!"
-2
37 mins

the person in question

The person to blame

A suspect maybe

check out the link maybe it will help
Reference:

http://www.linguee.com/spanish-english/translation/persona+cuestionada.html

Peer comment(s):
disagree Lydia De Jorge : Does not fit the context.
10 hrs
disagree AllegroTrans : If you read over the sentence this doesn't really make sense in a contract clause
1 day 12 hrs
Something went wrong...
-2
51 mins

Questioned/interrogated citizen

The man was interrogated by the Police about his car
Peer comment(s):
neutral Toni Castano : Do you have any reference or ground to back up this translation with such a high certainty level?
7 mins
disagree Lydia De Jorge : Does not make sense in this context.
10 hrs
disagree AllegroTrans : If you read over the sentence this doesn't really make sense in a contract clause
1 day 11 hrs
Something went wrong...
7 hrs

Person of Ill Repute

Without more context, I would suggest two ways to approach this:

1. If it's not important to repeat the term "Persona Cuestionada" throughout the text, then I would translate the sentence like this:

The client shall not engage in any conduct that would constitute a justifiable cause for it to be deemed to have brought itself into disrepute.

2. Alternatively, if you have to repeat this term throughout the contract, then I would translate it like this:

The client shall not engage in any conduct that would constitute a justifiable cause for it to be deemed a Person of Ill Repute.

I assume the client is a company, otherwise change "it" to "him" or "her".

Is there any particular reason why this provision would be in the contract? Is it meant to protect the reputation of the company? Is it PR-related?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 7 hrs (2020-05-03 17:49:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Another idea: "Compromized Person"

It's about as vague as the original text, and could potentially be defined elsewhere in the contract. ;-)
Note from asker:
Hi Michael, please refer to my reply in the discussion above, which might provide a little more context. Many thanks for your input :)
Peer comment(s):
neutral Toni Castano : Hi Michael, this is going too far. "Cuestionado" just raises a doubt on something, but "ill repute" clears that doubt and makes a statement out of it. Don´t think this is the case here.
14 hrs
Interesting -- thanks for the feedback, Toni. I agree, I realize it is too strong a term. Something more neutral is needed.
Something went wrong...
10 hrs

Subject to Investigation / (US) Person of Interest

I believe this - Persona Cuestionada - has a more or less specific meaning in some Latin American countries.
Not charged necessarily, but under investigation, suspected.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2020-05-03 23:16:07 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A couple of examples showing that "cuestionar" can be a synonym of "investigar".

Chinchilla indicó en un comunicado que Chacón fue "engañado", y resaltó su "profunda preocupación" por la "cadena de fallos" que se produjeron para que no se implementaran "los filtros y los controles" que hubieran dado la alerta sobre el vínculo del avión "con una persona cuestionada por actividades ilícitas".
https://www.eleconomistaamerica.com/politica-eAm/noticias/48...
Pero el presidente Moreno no considera que también es insólito que él haya aceptado que la Cancillería del Ecuador haya concedido la nacionalidad y otras prebendas a un individuo cuestionado por varios delitos, al australiano Julian Assange
https://www.eluniverso.com/opinion/2018/02/13/nota/6621472/b...

Finalmente, aseguró que se llegó a un acuerdo entre los abogados de la persona cuestionada y los abogados del ayuntamiento en frente de la Procuraduría fiscal de Valverde, donde ella se comprometía a devolver el dinero en su totalidad y de no cumplir entonces la justicia actuaría.
http://panoramaazuano.blogspot.com/2014/10/empleada-de-cabil...
Peer comment(s):
neutral Robert Carter : Hi Lester, I almost posted the same thing myself, but in the end I couldn't find any official documentation to support this, at least not in Mexico. It seems to be used in various ways, from "under investigation" to "with question marks about..."
1 hr
Thanks for the comment, Robert.
neutral AllegroTrans : I now think this along the right lines but knowing more about the contract would help
2 days 12 hrs
Something went wrong...
14 hrs

not to be considered as a person of dubious reputation

Something went wrong...
+1
1 day 2 hrs

Reword

"engage in any conduct that might be questionable under the law"

I am rewording this so that "questionable" modifies the conduct, rather than the person. I think this is the real meaning of the Spanish,
Peer comment(s):
agree Michael Grabczan-Grabowski : Yes, I like this solution. Nice one.
2 hrs
Thank you, Michael.
neutral AllegroTrans : Right idea but adding "under the law" is over-translation
10 hrs
Thank you for considering it.
neutral Lester Tattersall : How on earth, AllegroTrans, do you know "under the law" is over-translation? No one here can be sure of what "Persona Cuestionada" means in Mexico.
1 day 5 hrs
Something went wrong...
-1
1 day 6 hrs

person of interest

He visto este término utilizado en contextos judiciales.
Reference:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/person-of-interest

Peer comment(s):
disagree AllegroTrans : If you read over the sentence this doesn't really make snese in a contract clause
6 hrs
neutral Lester Tattersall : not sure
1 day 49 mins
Something went wrong...
1 day 13 hrs
Spanish term (edited): (Mex.) Persona Cuestionada

a Suspect Person

This rang UK *contract* conveyancing bells: register an option to buy land as an *estate contract* primarily if there is reason to suspect the purchaser / buyer or vendor / seller as a 'person acting suspiciously'.

Suspect person is not to be confused witha s 'sales suspect', namely a prospect: 'Simply put, a Suspect is everyone in your target market who could potentially buy.'
Example sentence:

Suspicious transaction is a transaction for which there are reasons for suspicion on money laundering or terrorism financing, or transaction which is performed by a person reasonably suspected to be involved in money laundering or terrorism financing.

Suspect seller: even where an option has been registered as a Class C (iv) land charge, it has been suggested that there is a need for further registration of an estate contract after notice has been given to exercise the option.

Reference:

http://www.apml.gov.rs/REPOSITORY/373_recommendations-for-reporting-strs.pdf

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