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Legal Translation

Legal translation is quite difficult. Depending on the basis of your culture, the laws can be very diverse. Legal translation is done in the field of law right within the text. The slightest mistranslation in the course of a contract could ultimately pave the way for a lawsuit, not to mention tremendous amounts of dollars lost. Only a translator who specializes in law should attempt to translate legal documents.

Most legal documents are unique to a particular person. In other words, they want to have specifics written in order to define terms of rights or duties. It is a structured form of writing which leaves no room for error. Since it is based on one culture's laws but must reflect the same concepts in another language, it must read as closely as possible to the original document's meaning. You need to remain precise in your translation of any rights and duties described in the source text. Legal translators may also be required to sit in the actual courtroom during a case or be involved in certificates of accuracy, witness statements, depositions, trusts, wills, articles of incorporation, litigation documents, immigration documents, and property/exhibit labels.

Legal translators rely on the use of law dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, and information guides; however, these may not always be accurate and are sometimes poor quality, which, in turn, can lead to misinterpretation or in mistranslation of the text. These are the types of mistakes that have to be carefully avoided.

In some cases, the legal translator needs to find the structure of the targeted language that has the same tone that the source language has. Sometimes the structures that are located in the source language have no relevancy to the targeted language. This makes it difficult to translate some of the text if the source language does not match, often due to the cultural idiosyncrasies, making the task of corresponding to the targeted culture very difficult.

In essence, in legal translation, you need to make sure that you cross your T's and dot your I's. One little misstep can be the result of a major lawsuit or worse. It takes a trained professional to be able to handle the linguistics of legal translation and to make sure that the targeted language is clearly understood. Laws are put into action and used as a lever, but in the wrong hands, they can have an adverse affect.