Data protection law

The fourth entry is la base légale, and the adjective inside it belongs to a set of three where English keeps only one. « Legal » does every job at once in our language: a legal requirement, a legal career, legal proceedings. French divides that ground and does not let the pieces overlap. Légal means laid down by a statute, and by extension allowed by one: le taux légal, le délai légal, and la base légale of this entry, which is the provision that permits the processing at all. Juridique belongs to law as a field of study and work: un conseil juridique, le service juridique, la personnalité juridique, une analyse juridique. Judiciaire belongs to the courts and to nothing else: une décision judiciaire, le casier judiciaire, la police judiciaire. Two things follow. La base juridique is also written, and it is not an error, but it names a footing in law rather than the named provision, so the two are not interchangeable in a notice. And un conseiller légal, the obvious rendering of « legal » adviser, is not French at all: that post is un conseiller juridique.