Legal translation is a specific field of translation that covers a range of purposes and needs, from contracts and terms and conditions to court judgments.
Every country has a different legal system in place, so it is imperative that the translator is familiar with jurisdiction in both their source and target languages. In this article, we will look at 3 ways to prevent mistakes in legal translation.
EXPERIENCED TRANSLATORS
It is important that translators working on legal projects are qualified in either a translation-related discipline or law. They also need to have previous experience of translating legal documentation. This will ensure that the correct legal terminology is used and the translator has a thorough understanding of the content they are working with, allowing a clear target text to be rendered. The legal text may also cover another specific genre of translation such as a medical claim or a patent, so it is essential that the correct linguist is selected for the project.
LITERAL TRANSLATION
A literal translation of a legal text will undoubtedly lead to an inaccurate and unclear target text. Legal terms in European languages often have Latin roots which means some terms can be retained in the target text, however, often some legal phraseology may not have an equivalent in the target language, for example, a specific law or regulation may not exist in the target language. Therefore, it is necessary for a human translation to be carried out. Machine translation such as Google Translate should be avoided, and translators should thoroughly research the contents of the source text to provide a correct translation.
THOROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF BOTH SOURCE AND TARGET LANGUAGES
It is recommended that translators only translate into their mother tongue, with the exception of rare languages. This will ensure that the translated document is cohesive and coherent. The translator also needs to have an excellent competency of their source language. Project Managers may potentially need to take into account which country the target document will be used in. An example of this is if a legal contract needs to be translated from French-English, the PM must consider which form of English is required (U.K, U.S, AUS), as rules and regulations will vary from country to country in order to assign a suitable translator to the project.
Translation Empire offers legal translations services for a variety of needs, including certified translations, sworn translations and document legalisation. If you are a legal company or an individual requiring this service, please do not hesitate to contact us at translations@empire-groupuk.com or on 0330 2020 273 for a free, no obligation quote.
