What Makes Legal Translation Different?

What Makes Legal Translation Different?

You’ve probably heard about legal translation before once or twice. Legal translation is a translation performed in a legal setting. Seems simple, yet legal translation is very far from that. Several trapdoors can seriously influence the case that is being translated or the commissioner of the translation. One of many things that makes legal translation different is its complexity, which may sometimes be overwhelming for veteran translators.

Legal translation involves converting legal terminology from one language into another without losing the original meaning. Advanced language skills, an understanding of both legal systems, and keen cultural awareness are required to have accurate legal translation.

Why So Hardcore?

The major reason for legal translation to be so difficult is the importance of the matter in the first place. Legal translations are mostly performed for businesses, court cases, political processes, and other documents that have some legal power. So, the subject of translation is often some business agreement, court ruling, or even a political document. This means that a legal translation can significantly influence serious matters related to finance, law, and people’s lives.

Another noteworthy aspect of legal translations is their complex and bulky process. There’s even a separate article showcasing the 6 steps on how to do legal document translation that demonstrates this complexity. This, in turn, makes legal translation extremely demanding. Here are only a couple of aspects that legal translators must take into account. All of them must be followed to the greatest extent possible at all times.

• Strict precision. The translated version of the document must correspond with the original as closely as possible. The translation must be precise majorly because legal matters often relate to serious ventures and entities. For example, a legal translation of the business document directly influences the financial operations of the company. Should anything be put wrong in the document or the name of the entity misspelled, such a mistake can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. So, any imperfections are unacceptable when it comes to legal translations.
• Strict deadlines. This is one of the cornerstones in the translation industry overall, yet there are no stricter deadlines than in legal translations. If you take a close look through the translation agency reviews, you’ll find that the aspect of timely submission of the work is one of the key factors that the customers value. For legal translations, the deadlines are vital and affect the whole matter and the commissioner of translation the same way as precision. Should any deadline be violated by just a bit, and lots of money will be lost for businesses. When it comes to court cases, the situation becomes even sharper as human lives and destinies can be affected.
• Understanding of the legal context. And this means not the legal context overall. It means the specificity of the case. The legal translation of a business document will dramatically differ from a court case or political agreement. That largely changes the terminology that the translator has to deal with and the complexity of the translation. While it seems like legal translation is quite a hardcore subject, even for the best of experts, it soon may become clear that it’s also a multifaceted discipline, with each subdiscipline being overwhelmingly complex.
• While nearly any other type of translation can be performed by an expert without a special license, legal translation doesn’t work like that. To be able to translate any document that has legal power, the translator must be certified. While this is not exactly the problem, as many institutions issue such licenses after an expert passes the test, it still takes a lot of time to prepare for it and to pass it successfully. On the customer side, there is a huge problem with finding the right certified expert.
• Another problem of legal translation is that it often relates to a matter that cannot be public until a certain party decides so and has legal permission. So, the translation expert has to keep everything secret under strict conditions, which is harder than you might think. This may result in rather paranoid notions and behaviors that can break the translator’s concentration in the best-case scenario.

A Serious Matter

Legal translation is very different from nearly any other type of translation. Dealing with something that can affect the lives of many people, legal translation doesn’t tolerate errors. Legal translation doesn’t accept any delays. It is quite a strict and ruthless discipline that works like a robot that has been hardcoded to do its task. Lots of translation professionals have experienced mental and physical pain while performing the legal translation task for the first time. Yet, considering the salaries, it might still worth it. Nevertheless, a lot of passion is required to perform the legal translation, and feel fine about that.

Author: Elizabeth Baldridge

In her career, Elizabeth Baldridge prefers to work empirically by experiencing everything she writes about. Her blessing and her curse is her inability to find inspiration unless she’s witnessed something with her own eyes. That’s one of the main reasons Elizabeth’s articles are so vivid and realistic; she goes through everything by herself.

updated on June 24, 2022