The widely used translation service across the world is legal translations. Whether it is an individual looking for a notarized sworn translation of his passport, national identity card, driving licence, power of attorney or a business enterprise requiring a legalised translation of its certificate of encumbrance or a patent documentation – they all need to reach out to a professional and reliable legal or sworn translation company to get its job done. Legal translation, sworn translation, certified translation, and authorised translation are all the same thing. Legal translations cannot be done by freelance translators. Thus, the freelance marketplaces are of no use to customers looking for a legal translator. In all cases, they have to approach a fully registered legal or sworn translation agency.
Legal translation is a highly specialised field of translation. It demands a very high level of expertise and precision in handling legal and official documents.
Unlike general translation, legal translation involves rendering documents with legal implications and consequences from the source language to a target language. Legal translation must present all the facts and figures accurately and has to be consistent as even minor errors can lead to misunderstandings, complications in legal processes, and may amount to legal penalties and liabilities.
Legal translation covers a wide range of document types such as contracts, court judgments, patents, legal notices, and corporate statutes. It can be any document, even a passport copy or a power of attorney or even an education transcript. Any document that is issued officially by any government department or by a company or its board of directors may be required to be legally translated and legalised through apostille stamps or attestation from the embassy or consulate to be able to use in a foreign country. Considering its complex language and the potential impact of errors and omissions, legal translation is often entrusted to sworn certified translators who bring an added layer of safety through their long standing authority and reliability to the task. Sworn translators are translators who are officially certified by governmental or judicial authorities, and provide translations that are legally recognized worldwide. This article delves deep into the significance and importance of legal translation, types based on industry niches, and the uncompromising role of sworn translators.
Understanding Legal Translation and Its Types
Legal translation involves translating texts used in a legal setting where the affairs are very serious in nature, and also each case varies significantly in terms of complexity of the document based on its industry specific requirements. In a corporate set-up for example, legal translation means translation of documents for example partnership agreements, shareholder resolutions, and intellectual property rights. These documents often adhere to compliance with the regulatory frameworks of different countries where a company operates, therefore doing precise and nuanced translation is essential. Legal translation is also required in the financial sector for compliance reports, financial statements, and banking regulations, where the accuracy of the translation directly affects the operations of the company and its regulatory compliance. In the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, translation of medical trial contracts, regulatory filings, and informed consent forms are critical because these documents carry both legal and ethical importance. Law firms and judicial bodies often solicit legal translation services for understanding and replying to court rulings, witness statements, and case files that may involve foreign jurisdictions, thereby necessitating accurate and perfect translation to maintain the intent and meaning of the original content intact in legal proceedings.
The demand for accurate legal translation is particularly high in countries where multilingual people live and work such as Germany. In Germany, legal compliance is taken very seriously. Stringent standards of regulations makes it mandatory to have top-quality translations. The same is in other places such as Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and other countries.
The Role of Sworn Translators in Legal Translation
In some countries they are known as legal translators where in some other countries they are known as sworn translators, certified translators, and authorised translators. Not all certified translators are legal translators, there are many private international reputed bodies such as ATA, NAATI, and others who also provide certifications. In all, any translator who has been authorised by the state to do translations and their translations can be notarised in courts of law, can be apostille, or attested in an embassy or consulate is a legal translator. In some countries such as Turkey and Germany, they take oath in front of the notary to become a sworn translator. Whereas, in the United Arab Emirates, they have to pass an examination conducted by the Ministry of Justice of UAE to become a legal translator. A legal translator has his own seal and his signature is an authorised signature by law to sign translations for official use.
To maintain confidentiality and safety of documents falls under the ethical code and conduct of a legal translator. To keep records, they often sign Non-Disclosure documents with their clients before accessing and working on their documents.
Sworn translators also need to prioritise data protection, to safeguard client privacy while adhering to the strict guidelines laid down by the government of his country.
