In a previous post we discussed the concept of amparo, an extraordinary legal remedy intended to safeguard constitutional rights, peculiar to certain Spanish-speaking countries. The terms medida cautelar and medidas cautelares also name a form of legal protection in Spanish-speaking countries that is notoriously tricky to render into English as there is no single, system-neutral equivalent. 

The nature of medida cautelar / medidas cautelares 

While amparo is a legal protection enshrined in the constitution that makes it possible to challenge actions that violate constitutional rights as well as potentially unconstitutional laws, medida cautelar / medidas cautelares refer to provisional, court-ordered measures, designed to preserve the effectiveness of a future judgment. 

Medida cautelar / medidas cautelares are characterized by their being:  

• Instrumental: as their entire purpose is to ensure the normal development of proceedings and the eventual enforcement of a possible favorable judgment, in civil and criminal matters. 
• Provisional and precautionary: as they are ordered before or during the main proceedings, without prejudging the existence of the underlying right (fumus boni iuris) and based on a risk of harm in delay (periculum in mora). 
• Exceptional: as they restrict rights and are therefore subject to strict legality. Only measures provided for by law may be adopted.

Typical examples of medidas cautelares include seizure or freezing of assets, provisional arrest or travel bans, suspension of corporate resolutions, or orders to cease an activity while the case is decided. 

As an illustration, in a damages suit over IP infringement, a court may order a provisional seizure of allegedly infringing goods or a provisional cease-and-desist order so that, if the claimant finally wins, the judgment is not rendered meaningless.

The translation problem

As stated, the main problem when translating these terms into English is that there is no one-to-one functional equivalent. While the common-law term “interim injunctions” is often used, these are only one subset of Spanish medidas cautelares: some measures are closer to asset-freezing orders, attachment, or even protective orders, so any single English term risks under- or over-specifying.

Indeed, the uncritical use of expressions rooted in common-law doctrine and procedure such as “provisional remedies”, “injunctive relief”, or “protective order” to render medidas cautelares can mislead readers into assuming identical legal effects where the Spanish concept works quite differently.

Moreover, in Spanish criminal law, the same umbrella of medidas cautelares covers both measures affecting the person (e.g. pretrial detention, travel bans) and those affecting property (embargoes, guarantees). By contrast, common-law English usually describes these with separate, more specific terms, so a blanket translation may blur important procedural distinctions.

Another difficulty is that Spanish routinely uses the singular medida cautelar to refer both to individual orders and to the category that encompasses them, whereas English usually differentiates between the generic category (“interim measures”, “provisional remedies”) and specific instruments (“freezing order”, “protective order”, “interim injunction”). This forces the translator to choose between a generic and a specific rendering, depending on the context.

Potential translation strategies 

• English renderings of medida cautelar / medidas cautelares tend to use general category terms, such as “provisional remedies”, “interim remedies”, “interlocutory remedies”, or “interim relief.” 
• When the measure specifically takes the form of an order to do or not do something, especially in common-law style drafting, translators often use “injunctive relief” or simply “injunction.” 
• Finally, in more EU-style or international law contexts, the terms “interim measures” and “precautionary measures” are often found. 

Because each term carries system-specific overtones, many translators choose a generic, relatively neutral umbrella term such as those given above for the first occurrence (e.g. “interim measures” or “provisional remedies”) and, where precision matters, add the Spanish term in brackets or as a gloss the first time it appears: “interim measures (medidas cautelares).”

When the type of measure is clear from the context, the umbrella term can also be combined with a more specific label, with or without the original term as a gloss, e.g. “interim asset-freezing measures,” “interim attachment,” “pretrial detention order (medida cautelar personal),” or “protective order (medida cautelar).”

Finally, in the same way as amparo is often left untranslated and glossed, in particularly sensitive contexts (e.g. expert reports, opinions), medida cautelar / medidas cautelares can too be left in Spanish, briefly explaining the nature and effects of this legal measure in a footnote.