Words that will save you money
The recent growth in international trade has increased the demand for legal translation services worldwide.
Legal translation includes all types of documents required by the civil and criminal justice system. Contracts, patents, court transcripts, legal certifications, s
tatements and so on.
Also bear in mind that other documents become “legal” when they cross into the civil and criminal justice system. That includes documents such as passports, birth, death and marriage certificates, immigration documents, power of attorney, testaments, partnership deeds, sales contracts, etc. Yes, the list of legal documents is endless!
Why do good legal translations matter?
The importance of a good translation is most obvious when things go wrong. A mistranslation in a contract, for example, could lead to a lawsuit and loss of money. So there is no room for error in legal translation.
So if you’re pressed for time, using the right professionals will not only save you money but also stress.
How can we prevent this from happening?
Only professional translators who specialise in this field should translate legal documents. It is a special skill that professionals work hard to develop.
It combines the creativity needed in literary translation with the specific terminology of technical translation.
A linguist doing legal translation needs to:
- have extensive experience and knowledge of the source language;
- be a native speaker of the target language;
- have an understanding of the local culture and knowledge of the legal system;
- have an accredited qualification such as an MA or BA in Translation or Linguistics in law;
- have access to all legal materials like legal dictionaries, legal glossaries, journals, etc. to keep themselves updated with the terminology.
Another thing to consider is that qualified translators from other European countries working as translators in the UK must comply with the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System). This is also called the Bologna Process which brings transparency and compatibility of higher education standards across the EU.
And to make sure your document meets the highest professional standards, you should ask an independent legal translator to do the proofreading.
If you’d like some more information about legal translations, please send an email to Alejandra Gonzalez, email address: translations@vlslanguages.com or call me on 01273473986.
