French Legal Translation of "Derogatory": désobligeant or dérogatoire? A corrosive false friend

⚠️ Yet another classic false friend in legal translation: “derogatory” does not mean dérogatoire, but rather désobligeant, péjoratif, or even downright injurious.

🗣️ “Derogatory” = désobligeant, péjoratif

In both general and legal English:

• derogatory remark → propos désobligeant

• derogatory term → terme péjoratif

• in a derogatory tone → sur un ton méprisant

📌 The employee made derogatory comments about his manager
➡ Le salarié a tenu des propos désobligeants à l’encontre de son supérieur.

❌ Absolutely not to be confused with “dérogatoire”!

⚖️ So how do you say “dérogatoire” in English?

Depending on the legal context, two main options are used:

• ✅ exception
  By way of an exception to Section 15
  → Par dérogation aux stipulations de l’article 15

• ✅ exemption
  He was granted a tax exemption
  → Une dérogation fiscale lui a été accordée

🚫 The typical trap: “derogatory conditions”

Translating conditions dérogatoires as derogatory conditions would amount to… an insult to your translation.

✅ Prefer instead:

• exceptional conditions

• special terms

depending on the formality required.

🧠 Key takeaway

• Derogatory = péjoratif, désobligeant

• Dérogatoire = exception or exemption (context-dependent)

• Conditions dérogatoires ≠ derogatory conditions

👉 A striking example of how false familiarity can conceal a real legal mistranslation.