Legal translation is a specialist field that lots of people have heard of but not many people know exactly what it is and what is involved. Let’s have a look at what makes legal translation different from regular translation work.
What do you mean by legal translation?
Legal translations are often simply translating anything that will be used within the legal system. This means having to prepare any legal text, legal document, or other files that might be needed for legal rulings or other legal purposes.
Sometimes, legal translation goes beyond simple text translation. Legal translation can include transcription and translation of audio or video files – for example, witness reports, recordings of hearings, or CCTV footage for use in legal proceedings.
While the legal system obviously has a lot to do with the criminal system, there are other uses for legal translations. A lot of the work that is involved with legal translation services is focused on civil matters, proof of identity, contracts, and more. Even in civil cases, an understanding of the legal system and procedures involved is essential to do effective legal translations.
What is a certified legal translation?
If you are looking into legal translation you will probably have come across the term Certified Legal Translation. Certified translation means that the translation process has to guarantee an accurate and true translation of the original document. This is especially important when translating legal documentation, as even a small change could have huge legal consequences.
In order to certify a translation, a legal translator may need to have proof of their qualifications or language fluency. This means they can prove that their translation will be accurate. Typically the requirements for providing certified translations are different in different countries, so it is important that a translator knows the rules to be able to sign and confirm that their translation is certified.
What is legal translation and what are some examples?
What does legal translation mean? As we’ve already discussed, legal translation means translating any files or paperwork for use in the legal system, but it can be hard to know exactly what kind of documents may require legal translation by a professional legal translator. Some of the most common items translated are:
- Birth certificates
- Marriage and divorce certificates
- Immigration paperwork
- Contracts
- Financial documents that require certification
- Litigation papers
- Witness reports, testimonies and other official reports
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list. Anything that has a legal implication or anything that uses legal terms can be handled by a legal translator.
What is legal document translation?
Legal document translation refers to translations that are done on legally binding documents. Some documents require legal translation, such as birth certificates and other identity documentation.
What is different about translating legal documents?
Almost all the documents handled by a qualified legal translator are legally binding or have a legal requirement for accuracy. This means that if there are any errors on the translated document it could be completely invalid. These documents often have to be certified in order to make sure that there are no inaccuracies or attempts at fraud – a faked birth certificate, marriage certificate or other paperwork is a common way for people to try to gain entry into other countries, so certification by legal translators ensures this.
On top of this, legal translation has a lot of differences to regular document translation. Let’s look at how it differs.
How does legal translation differ from standard or regular translation?
As already mentioned, translating legal documents requires a lot of accuracies. However, legal translation is not just different from regular translation because of the emphasis on accuracy and certification. There are some other differences that not everyone in the translation industry will be familiar with.
One of the biggest differences with legal translation is the use of legal expressions. Most people know that legal documents have some strange words. These words will be commonplace to anyone in the legal system, and anyone working on the translation of legal documents will have to at least recognize every legal expression used. Ideally, they would also know the legal definition of terms in order to make sure that the finished translation is correct.
Another difference is in the style and tone. Legal translators must make sure that the translations are in the correct passive voice for use in the legal field of a foreign country.
What are the differences between legal and literary translation?
Literary translation is a field where there is a lot more emphasis on the flow and feel of a piece of text. This often means that the text will be in an active voice, rather than the passive voice of legal translations. While they might be similar in complexity, legal translations and law-based scholarly writings have a lot more specialist terminology and must be presented a certain way.
What are the differences between legal translations and technical translations?
Technical translation is another specialist field within translation services. In order to give a proper translation of a technical text, there are more specific terms that a translator must know, usually terms related to the field of the document, whether that is engineering, chemistry, medicine, or another discipline. Technical translation is similar to legal translation, but the knowledge needed is different.
When do you need legal translation?
Legal translation services are needed across many fields, industries and sectors for various purposes. Companies and individuals may require these services.
Business Legal Translations
Here are some examples when a business may need professional legal translation services:
- A company looking to set up operations in another country will have to provide official documents including legal, financial, technical, and other business documents. These will all need to undergo translation before presenting them to the local authorities.
- Employment contracts for employees who do not speak the local language.
- Business contracts, agreements, and technical information, for international partners or clients.
- Tax returns, investment reports, and insurance papers to meet legal requirements and keep shareholders up to date with the latest information.
Apart from those listed above, many other legal translations may be required by a business operating across international borders. Any translation that requires legal know-how can be classed as a legal translation.
Legal Translations for Personal Use
Here are some examples of when you may need a legal translation for personal reasons:
- Immigration documents, including certified translations of passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.
- Disputes or court cases
- Marriage in a foreign country
- Adoption of children outside the US
- Buying property in another country
If you need a legal translation, choose professional translators, like Espresso Translations, with the linguistic and legal expertise to ensure the translated documents are accepted by whoever requests them.
Why is legal translation Important?
The importance of legal translation cannot be over-stated. Poor quality or inaccurate legal translations may cause legal consequences for those governed by the documents, be they business partners or an individual employment contract. That’s why legal translation should only be done by experienced legal translators with the necessary knowledge of legal terminology and the judicial systems involved.
Legal translations must be treated with strict confidentiality, and relevant data protection policies must also be in place. Legal translation has to be accurate so that the document remains fit for purpose and to prevent any potential litigation, loss, or other adverse impact on the client.
The translation should always be handled by a someone who is a native speaker of the source language, has fluent command of the other language, and has relevant industry experience.
What skills do legal translators need to have?
Legal translators need to have several key skills:
- Knowledge of the different languages as well as fluency in both. Legal translators should possess adequate knowledge concerning legal language, technical terms in the source and target languages he or she translates in.
- Attention to detail. Accurate legal translation from one language to another needs precision to maintain the meaning and legality of the original document after translation.
- Legal and technical knowledge. This includes different terminologies, legal systems involved and structure of power in legal systems. In addition, service providers should know the legal systems, laws, regulations and processes of all the languages into which they translate.
- Subject matter expertise. A legal professional who translates may have a general practice, but more often they specialize in certain areas like corporate law, criminal law, patents/intellectual property, etc. This deep understanding of legal context helps in generating higher quality translation works.
- Technology skills. Computer technology is often employed by legal translators through translation memory software, machine translation tools or CAT. Knowing how to effectively use these tools is a desirable skill.
The best professional legal translators, like those at espresso Translations, perform translation tasks to the highest levels of accuracy as they translate legal documents. Due to their efficiency, the services of our translators are much sought-after by law firms as well as multinational companies and governments.
Is legal knowledge beneficial for legal translators?
Yes, having knowledge of legal concepts is very useful for those who want to work in this type of translation. A translator who knows different legal systems is more likely to translate accurately as they will be familiar with the specific terminology. But it goes beyond knowing the laws of one country. A translator must know the legal framework of both languages they are working with – this would mean knowing the US legal system and that of the other country involved. Whatever the pairing, legal translation involves in-depth knowledge of the legal principles and official language of both jurisdictions.
What is translation theory and why do legal translators need it?
Translation theory is useful for any translator to know in order to make sure they make an accurate translation. It means knowing how best to translate things from a source language into a target language, including how to deal with any unique features of the language or any aspects of translation are that culture-dependent.
What languages do legal translators need to know?
A legal translator needs to know the source language and target language well. Typically, the target language will be their native language, while they should know the source language fluently. They will also need to know all the legal language used for legal matters.
What challenges do translators face in legal translation?
Experts in this field must have great language skills and legal knowledge as they deal with documents that are legally binding. So legal translation must only be done by professional legal translators like those at Espresso Translations.
Accuracy and attention to detail combined with the need to meet tight deadlines can be tough for translators working in the legal translation field. As already mentioned, the potential consequences of bad translations can be severe and long term. Therefore, ensuring translation accuracy is a must in each project.
Translating documents to be used in a foreign language and legal system demands that translators make sure all translated documents are legally and linguistically correct.
At Espresso Translations, our team has many years of experience dealing with such challenges, and guarantee the highest quality legal translation work.
Conclusion
Legal translation is simply turning a target text into a translated text, but what makes legal translation different is the specialist terminology that is found within the legal field. A professional translator with legal translation expertise is the person best placed to handle legal translations to avoid legal or financial complications. The legal field relies on specifics and accuracy, so experience in the legal field is needed for the translation of legal documents.
