If you have, for example, §XXX Abs. 1, Satz 1, Nr. 3 HGB, you would translate this as

section XXX (1) sentence 1, no. 3 of the Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB - German Commercial Code).

HTH

Alison

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 26 mins (2004-02-29 15:24:33 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

A quote from Margaret Marks Weblog on the matter of section and paragraph...

\"In BE, Paragraf, or §, becomes section or s. , and Absatz becomes subsection.

It has become conventional to use section. The symbol § is not normally recognized as a paragraph symbol in English, except in mathematics. I have encountered translators who heatedly argue that the symbol is OK, but I think they are in the minority\"

She goes on to say...
\"I see no problem with translating Satz as sentence and Alternativ as alternative. The problem arises with Absatz.

In BE, sections have subsections, not paragraphs. A paragraph is a division in normal text, not in a statute. (The abbreviation ss. means sections - there is no abbreviation for subsection, but this doesn’t matter, since in running text we use no abbreviations - in footnotes the word can be avoided by writing .1 or (1) for Absatz 1.\"

http://www.margaret-marks.com/Transblawg/archives/000076.htm...

To avoid the proliferation of unnecessary definers.