Legal Catalan must state when a rule applies, what defeats it, and which other rights or duties remain untouched. The connectors si, sempre que, llevat que, and sens perjudici de encode different operations; confusing or misattaching them can change the rule.
Controlled drafting favors a visible agent, a stable term for each participant, and one scope relation at a time. Grammatical complexity is justified only when it preserves legal structure.
Four operations, four forms
| Form | Legal operation | Typical complement | Usual mood |
|---|---|---|---|
| si | states an open condition | finite clause | indicative for a real/open rule |
| sempre que | makes compliance a prerequisite | finite clause | subjunctive |
| llevat que | creates an exception | finite clause | subjunctive |
| sens perjudici de | preserves another rule, right, or power | noun phrase or infinitive | none |
Sens perjudici de is not a grander synonym of “unless.” It says that the current provision coexists with another legal effect. Llevat que says that the current rule ceases to apply in the exceptional case.
Si: an open legal condition
Normative prose commonly uses the present indicative in both the condition and the rule. The present expresses a recurring legal relation, not only present time.
Si la sol·licitud compleix els requisits, l'òrgan competent l'admet a tràmit.
If the application meets the requirements, the competent authority admits it for processing. (formal)
La persona interessada n'ha d'informar l'administració si canvia de domicili durant el procediment.
The interested person must inform the administration if they change address during the procedure. (formal)
In the second example, en resumes the fact expressed by the following si-clause or the relevant change: informar l'administració del canvi. The actor remains explicit, while ha de expresses obligation. Legal English shall should not be copied mechanically with a Catalan future. Depending on function, use present indicative for the rule, haver de for duty, pot for power, and no pot for prohibition.
Do not put the future after conditional si in a real/open condition:
❌ Si la persona sol·licitant aportarà la garantia, es formalitzarà el contracte.
Incorrect—the open si-clause takes the present indicative, not the future.
✅ Si la persona sol·licitant aporta la garantia, es formalitzarà el contracte.
If the applicant provides the guarantee, the contract will be formalized.
The main clause may use the future for a later event; normative present es formalitza often states the consequence more directly.
Sempre que: a necessary prerequisite
Conditional sempre que means “provided that” and normally selects the subjunctive because the main rule depends on compliance with a requirement not independently asserted.
L'entitat pot subcontractar el servei sempre que garanteixi la confidencialitat de les dades.
The entity may subcontract the service provided that it guarantees the confidentiality of the data. (formal)
Es pot ampliar el termini sempre que la pròrroga no perjudiqui drets de terceres persones.
The period may be extended provided that the extension does not prejudice third-party rights. (formal)
A condition should be testable. Sempre que sigui convenient gives no decision-maker, criteria, or threshold and is legally weak despite being grammatical.
Sempre que can also mean temporal “whenever” with the indicative. That ambiguity is undesirable where both readings are plausible:
L'òrgan revisa l'autorització sempre que rep una denúncia.
The authority reviews the authorization whenever it receives a complaint.
L'òrgan pot revisar l'autorització sempre que rebi una denúncia fonamentada.
The authority may review the authorization provided that it receives a substantiated complaint.
Mood distinguishes repeated practice from a prerequisite. Where ambiguity matters, use a condició que and state the criterion.
Llevat que and llevat de: carving out an exception
Llevat que + subjunctive creates a possible world in which the main rule does not apply. Llevat de + noun phrase excludes a named category.
La llicència caduca al cap de dos anys, llevat que una norma sectorial n'estableixi una vigència diferent.
The license expires after two years unless sector-specific legislation establishes a different term for it. (formal)
Totes les dades són públiques, llevat de les que contenen informació protegida.
All the data are public except those containing protected information. (formal)
In n'estableixi una vigència diferent, en resumes de la llicència. The exception has narrow scope over the two-year expiry rule. If placed after several coordinated rules, it might appear to suspend all of them.
Tret que and a menys que can express the same general exception relation in neutral prose. (formal) Llevat que is particularly established in legislative and administrative drafting. The choice should remain consistent within a document. For the broader mood system, see conditional connectors beyond si.
Sens perjudici de: preserving another effect
The formula (formal/legal) sens perjudici de means “without prejudice to.” It prevents the present provision from being read as displacing another rule, right, sanction, or power.
L'autorització té una vigència de cinc anys, sens perjudici de la facultat de revocar-la quan s'incompleixin les condicions.
The authorization is valid for five years, without prejudice to the power to revoke it when the conditions are breached. (legal)
This does not mean that revocation is an exception to the five-year term in the same logical form as llevat que. It preserves an independent power that may end the authorization earlier.
La mediació no suspèn el termini, sens perjudici del dret de les parts a sol·licitar-ne la suspensió d'acord amb l'article 18.
Mediation does not suspend the period, without prejudice to the parties' right to request its suspension under section 18. (legal)
The preposition de introduces the preserved right. When the relationship needs a full proposition, a plainer reformulation is often easier to process:
La mediació no suspèn el termini; això no impedeix que les parts en sol·licitin la suspensió d'acord amb l'article 18.
Mediation does not suspend the period; this does not prevent the parties from requesting its suspension under section 18. (plain formal revision)
The revision exposes two propositions and uses en to recover del termini. Plain legal language is not less precise when it makes the preservation relation explicit.
Definitions establish local meaning
A definition fixes how a term is to be interpreted within a specified instrument. State that scope rather than implying a universal lexical truth.
Als efectes d'aquest reglament, s'entén per «operador» qualsevol persona física o jurídica que gestioni la plataforma.
For the purposes of this regulation, ‘operator’ means any natural or legal person that manages the platform. (legal definition)
The initial phrase is a scope frame, not the subject of s'entén. Subjunctive gestioni defines an open class rather than asserting a fact about a known individual.
Definitions should use the same term consistently. Alternating persona usuària, client, and beneficiari for stylistic variety risks creating three legal categories. Ordinary prose values synonymy; controlled drafting values stable reference.
Scope: place the condition beside the rule it limits
Compare a neutral integrated condition with a fronted wide-scope frame:
L'administració reemborsa l'import si la resolució anul·la la taxa.
The administration reimburses the amount if the decision annuls the fee. (condition attached to one consequence)
Si la resolució anul·la la taxa, l'administració reemborsa l'import i rectifica l'assentament comptable.
If the decision annuls the fee, the administration reimburses the amount and corrects the accounting entry. (condition scopes over both consequences)
Fronting is not mere stylistic variation: it makes the condition the frame for the coordinated main predicates. The initial clause is not their subject; l'administració is.
A defined or previously mentioned object may be left-dislocated and resumed:
Aquest import, l'administració l'ha de reemborsar en un termini de trenta dies.
This amount, the administration must reimburse within thirty days. (marked topic order)
Aquest import is the topic, l'administració the subject, and l' the direct-object clitic. Omitting l' would imitate English topicalization rather than standard Catalan resumption.
A bracketed provision
L'entitat ha de conservar els registres durant cinc anys, sempre que no s'hagi establert un termini superior, llevat que l'autoritat n'autoritzi la destrucció anticipada.
The entity must keep the records for five years, provided that no longer period has been established, unless the authority authorizes their early destruction. (legal)
One possible intended analysis is:
[Rule conservar els registres durant cinc anys] [qualification sempre que no s'hagi establert un termini superior] [exception llevat que l'autoritat n'autoritzi la destrucció anticipada].
But the sentence makes the reader calculate how the prerequisite and exception interact. A controlled revision separates the priority rule:
L'entitat ha de conservar els registres durant cinc anys. Si una norma estableix un termini superior, s'aplica aquest termini. L'autoritat pot autoritzar-ne la destrucció anticipada en els casos previstos a l'article 12.
The entity must keep the records for five years. If a rule establishes a longer period, that period applies. The authority may authorize their early destruction in the cases provided for in section 12.
The revision reveals three rules and limits the discretionary power by a cross-reference.
An ambiguity diagnosis
L'òrgan pot suspendre l'autorització de l'empresa si incompleix els requisits de solvència.
The authority may suspend the company's authorization if it fails to meet the solvency requirements.
The null subject of incompleix is grammatically recoverable as either l'òrgan or l'empresa. World knowledge favors the company, but legal drafting must not delegate syntax to world knowledge. Repeat it:
L'òrgan pot suspendre l'autorització de l'empresa si l'empresa incompleix els requisits de solvència.
The authority may suspend the company's authorization if the company fails to meet the solvency requirements.
If repetition feels heavy, define l'empresa as l'entitat autoritzada and use that stable term. A passive such as si els requisits són incomplerts would hide the responsible actor and weaken the rule.
A drafting dialogue
—He escrit que l'ajut es manté sempre que l'entitat presenta els justificants. —Si és una condició pendent, escriu «sempre que els presenti» i fixa'n el termini.
—I wrote that the grant remains in force whenever the entity submits the supporting documents. —If it is a pending condition, write ‘provided that it submits them’ and set the deadline for doing so.
—També hi he afegit «sens perjudici de les sancions». —Aclareix quines sancions es conserven i segons quin article; la fórmula tota sola no en resol l'abast.
—I have also added ‘without prejudice to the penalties.’ —Clarify which penalties remain applicable and under which section; the formula alone does not resolve their scope.
The exchange moves from grammar to controllability. Subjunctive presenti marks the prerequisite, els resumes els justificants, and -ne in fixa'n and no en resol maintains explicit relations without repeating whole complements.
Regional and register guidance
The logical distinctions are shared across Catalan standards. (regional: Valencian) AVL-standard forms such as complisca, puga, siga, establisca, and perjudique correspond to Central compleixi, pugui, sigui, estableixi, and perjudiqui. They do not alter scope or legal force. (formal, IEC/AVL) Llevat que and sens perjudici de are established throughout formal administrative language. For public-facing documents, a plain paraphrase may improve accessibility without sacrificing precision.
Common Mistakes
1. Using the future inside an open si-condition.
❌ Si l'empresa incomplirà el termini, perdrà la garantia.
Incorrect—the condition takes present indicative.
✅ Si l'empresa incompleix el termini, perd la garantia.
If the company misses the deadline, it loses the guarantee.
2. Using indicative after prerequisite sempre que.
❌ La cessió és vàlida sempre que el titular dona el consentiment.
Incorrect for 'provided that'—the unfulfilled prerequisite takes the subjunctive.
✅ La cessió és vàlida sempre que el titular doni el consentiment.
The transfer is valid provided that the holder gives consent.
3. Treating sens perjudici de as an exception.
❌ El registre és públic, sens perjudici de contenir dades protegides.
Illogical drafting—the phrase does not itself exclude protected data from public access.
✅ El registre és públic, llevat de les dades protegides per la legislació aplicable.
The register is public except for data protected by the applicable legislation.
4. Omitting object resumption after a legal topic.
❌ Aquesta documentació, l'entitat ha de conservar durant cinc anys.
Incorrect left dislocation—the direct object must be resumed by la.
✅ Aquesta documentació, l'entitat l'ha de conservar durant cinc anys.
This documentation, the entity must retain for five years.
5. Hiding the obligated actor in a passive.
❌ Haurà de ser comunicada la incidència quan sigui detectada.
Poor controlled drafting—the future passive leaves the responsible notifier unstated.
✅ L'operador ha de comunicar la incidència tan bon punt la detecti.
The operator must report the incident as soon as it detects it.
Correction tasks
Exception scope: Revise Les persones residents i les empreses poden sol·licitar l'ajut llevat que tinguin deutes if only companies are meant to be excluded:
Les persones residents poden sol·licitar l'ajut. Les empreses també poden sol·licitar-lo, llevat que tinguin deutes exigibles.
Residents may apply for the grant. Companies may also apply for it unless they have enforceable debts.
Preserved power: Revise El permís dura cinc anys llevat que l'administració el pugui revocar when revocation is an independent power, not a condition that automatically defeats the rule:
El permís té una vigència de cinc anys, sens perjudici de la facultat de l'administració de revocar-lo en els supòsits previstos per la llei.
The permit is valid for five years, without prejudice to the administration's power to revoke it in the cases provided by law.
Key Takeaways
- Si states an open condition; sempre que makes a fact a prerequisite; llevat que creates an exception.
- Sens perjudici de preserves an independent rule, right, or power; it does not itself express “unless.”
- Use present indicative for general legal rules and haver de for a clearly assigned duty.
- Definitions have local scope and require stable terminology throughout the instrument.
- Put each condition or exception beside the provision it limits, and split stacked rules when scope becomes calculative.
- Repeat actors and use resumptive clitics when null subjects or fronted topics would otherwise be ambiguous.
Related Topics
- Conditional ConjunctionsA2 — Build open and restrictive conditions with si, sempre que, a condició que, tret que, and llevat que while matching mood to the speaker's stance.
- Real and Open ConditionalsB1 — Build Catalan conditionals for real possibilities, habits, instructions, and provisos with si plus the indicative and alternatives such as sempre que.
- Conditional Connectors beyond SiB2 — Choose Catalan conditional linkers for prerequisites, formal suppositions, contingency plans, and exceptions, with the appropriate mood.
- Epistemic, Deontic, and Dynamic ModalityC1 — How Catalan distinguishes probability, obligation, permission, willingness, and ability through modal verbs and related constructions.
- Administrative and Institutional CatalanB1 — Draft Catalan requests, notices, and resolutions with conventional structure, consistent address, visible agency, precise terminology, and plain-language revisions.