Disappointed by Civil Code translation

Disappointed by Civil Code translation

I have just bought The Indonesian Civil Code, an English translation of the Indonesian Civil Code, published by PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama (June, 2004).

To my amazement, I have found the following mistakes in the first few pages:

* "... is not dependent to" ... (Article 1, page 3) * " ... as never being existed". (Article 2, page 3) * " ... the punishments, which shall be penalized to the "offences conduct" by the civil registry, ... (Article 5, page 4) * "Nobody else may alter his surname, or to add other name ..." (Article 6, page 4) * "The "obtained" of a name ... (Article 10, page 5)

I don't know why such a careless translation has been allowed to see the light of day. Further reading, I bet, will provide you with more mistakes in the translation. It is really a shame.

As I believe this book will be widely read by many people, particularly those involved in legal matters, businesspeople and entrepreneurs -- indigenous as well as foreign -- it should be void of unnecessary grammatical mistakes or possible misinterpretations of any parts of our Civil Code.

I certainly have no intention whatsoever of belittling the publisher's efforts to provide people with such important legal materials, but I might suggest that the book be reprinted and have all of the mistakes -- typographical or structural -- corrected. Only then will the book serve the public as all concerned desire.

SUSANA D.
Jakarta