T.B. May 27, 2011:

I got your point. A felony warrant is the subcategory of an arrest warrant in some states. If you translate a context stating about the felony warrant in a state where it is important to tell felony from misdemeanor in issuing arrest warrants, you may use 重罪 in your translation. And it is proper to do so only in that case. No one would put 逮捕状 into the felony warrant. Moreover, the title of a court order needs to be clear and defined when the fundamental rights are concerned. The translated term should contain 逮捕, which indicates that the document is authorizing the apprehension of an individual. So I would say 重罪逮捕状 to incorporate 重罪 into the translation. Even though, in an actual translation, the context with the felony warrant would be sophisticated in Japanese if it reads, for instance, as follows: 警察は重罪である強盗の疑いで逮捕状を請求した。

Other than above, the format of glossary building questions requires a definition in target language. I don't know any reliable source that defines 重罪令状 in Japanese. I could not find example sentences in Japanese that actually use this term, not sentences appeared to be translated into choppy Japanese.

Amy Franks May 26, 2011:

I understand, and I see what you mean. "Juzai reijo" is not a term that is typically used, even though "juzai" is consistently translated as "felony." "Taihojo" may be more appropriate in the Japanese context, and yet it does not accurately reflect the nature of a "felony warrant." I guess there are two issues: the first is how to translate the word into Japanese in a context Japanese will understand, and second, how to describe a concept that has no Japanese counterpart.

T.B. May 26, 2011:

A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. In Japan, a civil law country just like Germany, criminal law has developed under the influence of German criminal law, and they treat both an arrest warrant and a felony warrant as 逮捕状 and ein Haftbefehl, respectively. There is not the felony-and-misdemeanor distinction in Japan and Germany as in the United States. In the States, the federal government defines a felony as a crime punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year. 逮捕状 is issued in Japan for similar purposes and under similar conditions when a felony warrant is issued in the States. 逮捕状 serves what a felony warrant does.

The same question for English to German translation will help understand. See:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/english_to_german/law_general/4354...