> > Could I therefore be legally forced to provide
> > a translation of what I write in Lojban?
>
>
IANAL, and all that, but.....
It's my understanding that there's a precedent in which
a government audit of a merchant was halted, or at
least seriously delayed, when it was discovered that all
of his business records where in Hebrew. The court
ruled that (1) He had no obligation to keep records in
English, and (2) He had no obligation to provide a
translation.
While the courts have ruled that government agents
can seize or copy any physical object they have a
warrant for, or subpoena or use discovery to force
turning over of records, the government, at least in a
criminal case, cannot require you to provide them with
an *interpretation* of what they have obtained, just as
they cannot force a defendant or suspect to answer
questions without a grant of immunity.
While venal judges, prosecutors and LEAs might
try to argue otherwise, I suspect that you'd have a
strong case that you do *not* have to translate
information for them.
(maybe I should brush up on my Estonian :-)
Again, IANAL.
Peter Trei
