Sandro Tomasi Nov 1, 2017:

@Rebecca Perhaps:

“Condena” o “declaración de culpabilidad” deberá entenderse según lo establecido, respecto de conviction, en la Ley de Rehabilitación de Delincuentes de 1974 (Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974).

Rebecca Jowers Nov 1, 2017:

@Sandro Hi, Sandro. I completely understand the difference you are underscoring here and am merely suggesting that "condena" might be the closest rendering for "conviction" in this context. But perhaps you can offer an alternative so that Alicia will have another option to choose from.

Sandro Tomasi Nov 1, 2017:

@Rebecca The use of condena in the certificados de antecedentes penales that you cited is equivalent to “sentence”: “el presente certificado incluye, en su caso, las CONDENAS impuestas por otros Estados”. Sentences are imposed, not convictions.

Rebecca Jowers Nov 1, 2017:

Use of "condena" (in this context) In Spanish criminal procedure the term “condena” can indeed refer both to a conviction (“condena”) (convicted of bribery/theft/murder = condenado por cohecho/hurto/asesinato) and to the sentence (punishment) imposed (“la pena”) (sentenced to 10 years’ incarceration = condenado a 10 años de prisión). At any rate, in this context I believe “condena” is the appropriate translation for “conviction,” since, for example, the convictions listed on Spanish criminal records (“certificados de antecedentes penales”) are called “condenas.” Indeed, all “certificados de antecedentes penales” include a statement indicating that “el present certificado incluye, en su caso, las CONDENAS impuestas por otros Estados miembros de la Unión Europea, en los mismos términos en que tales CONDENAS hayan sido notificadas, sin que exista necesariamente una equiparación entre los tipos delictivos del Estado de CONDENA y los tipos delictivos nacionales.”

Sandro Tomasi Nov 1, 2017:

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 After reading it, I find no particular or obvious definition of conviction. But I do see the following context where translating “convicted” as “condenado” would be problematic (my translations to demonstrate, in brackets).

“specified information” means information imputing that a named or otherwise identifiable rehabilitated living person has committed or been charged with or prosecuted for or convicted [declarado culpable] of or sentenced [condenado] for any offence which is the subject of a spent conviction.

Sandro Tomasi Nov 1, 2017:

Problems with translating “conviction” A conviction is neither a finding of guilt (of the facts) nor a judicial decision to impose a penalty, but something in between, i.e., after deciding upon the facts that a person is guilty (the verdict), a decision is made on whether the verdict is lawful. If it is, that is called a conviction. Once convicted, sentence may be imposed.

En español, condena equivale a sentencia o a la parte dispositiva de la misma, constituye el pronunciamiento contenido en la parte de la decisión judicial donde, en una causa criminal, se impone la pena al acusado. Asimismo, condena funciona como contraparte de absolución (o condena o absuelve).

Conviction can either be translated as declaración de culpabilidad or condena.

Sentence can either be translated as condena or pena.

There is a lot of overlapping and context is everything.