Legal Translation of Stipulate: convenir, prévoir or revendiquer?

⚠️ A formal word… often mistranslated

The verb stipulate often causes trouble for French-speaking legal translators. It seems to suggest: to demand, to claim, to impose a condition. But in Anglo-American law, to stipulate simply means to expressly provide for a clause in a contract, or to formally agree on a precise point.

👉 It is not a unilateral declaration of intent, but a mutually agreed provision within a contractual or procedural framework.

⚖️ In law: prévoir in writing, formally

In contracts, regulations, or procedural agreements, stipulate signals the parties’ intent to record a specific element, often in mandatory terms.

Examples:

• The contract stipulates that payment must be made within 30 days
  → Le contrat prévoit que le paiement doit intervenir sous 30 jours

• It was stipulated that delivery would take place on Monday
  → Il a été convenu que la livraison aurait lieu lundi

• The parties stipulated to the admissibility of the evidence
  → Les parties ont convenu de l’admissibilité des preuves

🧾 Typical contexts

• Contracts: mandatory clauses expressly convenues

• Procedural agreements: parties conviennent on a procedural point (e.g. evidence, deadlines)

• Regulations: rules prévoient obligations or exceptions

✅ In summary

• Stipulate = prévoir, convenir formally in a legal instrument

• ❌ Not a unilateral revendication or demand

• Implies an explicit agreement, often in writing, between the parties

📌 TransLex’s Advice

Before translating stipulate, ask yourself:

• Is it a formally prévue contractual clause?

• Does the text refer to a written provision convenue by the parties?

• Is the context legal, procedural, or regulatory?

👉 In law, stipulate = to formulate an express clause — not revendiquer or impose unilaterally.
👉 Prefer translations such as prévoir, convenir, or stipuler (in the strict legal sense).