contestada en sentido afirmativo

English translation: a judgment by default shall be entered against the defendant

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Spanish term or phrase:	a la demandada se le tendrá por contestada en sentido afirmativo
English translation:	a judgment by default shall be entered against the defendant
Entered by:	Patricia Silva

22:33 Jul 14, 2008

Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Law/Patents - Human Resources

Spanish term or phrase: contestada en sentido afirmativo

A wrongful dismissal lawsuit - warning to both the Plaintiff and the Defendant of the consequences of not appearing at the scheduled hearing:

Se señalan las DIEZ HORAS DEL DIA CINCO DE FEBRERO..., para que tenga verificativo la audiencia de conciliación, demanda y excepciones, ofrecimiento y admisión de pruebas, a la que deberán comparecer personalmente el actor y el demandado para la celebración de la audiencia en su etapa de conciliación, apercibidas que de no comparecer a dicha etapa, se les tendrá por inconformes con todo arreglo conciliatorio. De igual forma, se les apercibe que para el caso de que no comparezcan a la etapa de demanda y excepciones, a la actora se le tendrá por ratificado su escrito de demanda Y A LA DEMANDADA SE LE TENDRÁ POR CONTESTADA EN SENTIDO AFIRMATIVO, SALVO PRUEBA EN CONTRARIO.

My question: does "a la demandada se le tendrá por contestada en sentido afirmativo" mean that the Court will automatically enter a guilty plea for the Defendant if it fails to appear?

"...the Defendant shall be deemed to have answered (the complaint) in the affirmative (= entered a guilty plea, admitted wrongdoing, acknowledged the Plaintiff's claim as valid), barring evidence to the contrary."

There were Google hits both for "contestada en sentido afirmativo" and "contestada en sentido negativo" for the Defendant in this case, although it is hard to see what kind of punishment "contestada en sentido negativo" (not here, but in those other cases I found online) would be for the Defendant if "contestada en sentido negativo" means that the reward for not attending the hearing is that a negative plea will automatically be entered for it. But by the same token, it is hard to see how "a la actora se le tendrá por ratificado su escrito de demanda" would represent any sort of penalty to the Plaintiff for failing to appear...

Any help will be appreciated!

David Wallace KudoZ activity Questions: 95 (none open) (2 without valid answers) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 30 United States
Local time: 17:14

a judgement by default shall be entered against the defendant

Explanation:
"Guilty plea" se utiliza en el contexto del derecho penal y, por lo que se deduce de tu contexto, esta causa sería de carácter civil, concretamente una conciliación.

Lo que quiere decir es que el "defendant" estará en rebeldía y se considerará que todo lo alegado por la actora en la demanda es aceptado por éste.
De eso se trata un "judgment by default". Yo utilizaría directamente la idea y no haría la traducción de palabra por palabra.

En el caso de la actora "the relief sought in the complaint shall be sustained and judgment....."
Así evitaría la traducción literal.

Selected response from:

Patricia Silva
Argentina
Local time: 18:14

Grading comment

Brilliant! Thank you, both for the tips and for the elegant wording.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +6

a judgement by default shall be entered against the defendant

Patricia Silva

4 +1

held to have no objections to this suit

Henry Hinds

an affirmative response

Pascale Lessard

Answers

15 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

a judgement by default shall be entered against the defendant

Patricia Silva
Argentina
Local time: 18:14
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 16

Grading comment

Brilliant! Thank you, both for the tips and for the elegant wording.

Notes to answerer

Asker: Originally, I was thinking along the lines of "...the Plaintiff's statement of claim shall be deemed to have been upheld and the Court shall find against the Defendant...", but it seemed important to indicate that, formally, the Court would be merely recognizing the Defendant's tacit admission of the facts alleged by the Plaintiff (as implied by the Defendant's failure to appear), thereby awarding the judgment to the Plaintiff...hence my infelicitous literal rendering, "...the Defendant shall be deemed to have answered in the affirmative..." Your simple and elegant phrasing ("a judgment by default shall be entered against the defendant") neatly solves this problem. Thanks also to you and to Henry Hinds, who pointed out my inappropriate use in my explanation of a term from criminal law.

16 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

held to have no objections to this suit

Explanation:
Y A LA DEMANDADA SE LE TENDRÁ POR CONTESTADA EN SENTIDO AFIRMATIVO, SALVO PRUEBA EN CONTRARIO.
and the defendant shall be held to have no objections to this suit unless there is proof otherwise

Not a guilty plea, it appear to be civil. The above is not literal, but it means the same thing.

Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 15:14
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 298

1 hr confidence:

an affirmative response

Explanation:
An affirmative response to the request will be considered, unless there is proof of the contrary (or proof that the response is negative)

Pascale Lessard
Local time: 15:14
Native speaker of:

French

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