Arabic term (edited): بالتناوب

Whenever a petition or a motion is filed, the applicant (petitioner or movant) is seeking some kind of relief or remedy. The petition or motion must state what relief or remedy is being sought. In making such a request, the petitioner or movant must be cognizant of what the court is willing to grant, and should anticipate reluctance on the part of the court to grant the relief being sought. That is why petitioners and movants present the court with an alternative remedy or relief. In essence, they say: We seek remedy XXX. Alternatively (or "in the alternative," we seek remedy YYY. In plain English, this means: We seek remedy XXX, but if the court is not willing to grant us this remedy, we seek remedy YYY. Here are samples of such language:

http://www.nocode.org/articles/NCI_opp_Gerstenschlager.pdf

6. By virtue of the redundant nature of the Gerstenschlager “Petition” relative to the previously filed “Wormser, Adsit, and Dinelli” Petition NCI, respectfully requests that the Commission either designate the Gerstenschlager “Petition” as simply “Comments in support of the previously filed Wormser, Adsit, and Dinelli Petition” or, alternatively, DENYthe Gerstenschlager Petition without delayin order to avoid any further confusion in the amateur community or delay in the implementation ofthe Commission’s decisions, as outlined in the Report and Order.

http://www.plf.net/motions/courtofa.htm

Petition for Writ of Mandamus or in the Alternative, a Writ of Prohibition

COMES NOW, Relator Robin C. McDermott, pursuant to Rules 94 and 97 and petitions this Court to issue a Writ of Mandamus to order the Honorable Max Bacon to enforce upon the Greene County Prosecutor, J. Ronald Carrier, Supreme Court Rule 23.01 (b) of the Rules of Court to compel said Prosecutor to file the information in the above-referenced case in proper legal form, or in the alternative, for this Court to issue a Writ of Prohibition to the Honorable Max Bacon from proceeding against Relator in the above-referenced case for lack of jurisdiction resulting from failure of the Prosecutor to file and issue an information in compliance with the Rules of Court.

It is obvious that the Arabic expression بالتناوب is a very poor, in fact incorrect, translation of the intended meaning. Yet, it is commonly found not only in translations, but also in seemingly "original" documents. The reason is that many "Arabic" legal documents are actually written by British or American lawyers, then translated to Arabic by incompetent translators.