Legal translation is translation of documents that regulate legal relationships. It involves translation of legal documents necessary for bringing various types of international relations into practice as well as translation of legal texts for the sake of exchanging information and experience among law specialists of different countries. This type of translation is considered to be one of the most difficult as it does not only require for the translator to have sound language skills, he/she also needs to have excellent knowledge in law, various legislations and international standards. For this reason it is necessary for the translated text to be adequate from the legal point of view in order to attain a precise and professional result.

 

Types of legal translation: 

 

• translation of contracts, agreements and arrangements, purchase-sales contracts as well as premises lease agreements, labour agreements and license arrangements,

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• translation of establishment documents (Articles of Association, resolutions, minutes of meetings, registration certificates, etc.), legalization of documents,

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• translation of legislation acts of governmental authorities of various countries (laws, minutes of meeting, resolutions, orders and regulations),

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• translation of local legislation acts (translation of regulations, provisions, etc.),

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• translation of court documents (applications, petitions, court judgements, instructions and resolutions), legalization of documents,

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• translation of all types of auxiliary documents (powers of attorney, certificates, licenses and permits), legalization of documents.

 

Translation of legal documents includes such spheres of jurisprudence as constitutional, administrative, civil, commercial, tax, criminal, international law as well as other types of legal relationships.

 

The specific character of legal relationships lies in the fact that any error or impreciseness in the documents can cause serious legal consequences. An innocent typing error or a minor inadequacy can have an effect of, say, non-registration of a transaction and also may not preclude the possibility of property damages and claims lodged at court. For this reason translation of legal documents requires certain qualification - legal translations are performed by professional translators who have either substantial work experience in the sphere or additional education in law.

 

Legal translation poses special requirements for the use of language and style - correct use of style ensures preciseness in formulations, logical structure and a 100% authenticity of the content. In this regard, high-quality translation of legal documents involves not only the necessary amount of legal expertise, but also excellent command of specific legal language. Of course, it is necessary to consider the purpose of translation, as translation can be used just for information, it may be an official translation of documents or required in order to perform notarial certification.

 

An additional complexity of legal translation is related with the fact that not only the language and style differs, the legal system varies among the countries, as well. The original text is formed following the rules established in the country of origin, using the appropriate language. The text in the translated document must reflect the contents of the original and all of its legal particularities accurately. In the same time it should be constructed observing the rules of the legal system of the country where the translation is going to be used and using the terms that are appropriate there.
Great difficulties in translating legal documents arise due to terminology. This is related with the variety of areas of law and the specific terminology used in each of them.

 

In addition to the specific terms, there are also legal cliches - phrases that carry a specific legal meaning. Legal translation of such phrases is even more complicated since it requires a fairly deep knowledge of the legal system and intelligent selection of linguistic structures.

 

In general, translation of legal texts consists of many nuances and it demands high professionalism.

An experienced translator can provide high-quality translation of about 6-7 sheets of the original legal text per day. Urgent legal translations of a large volume are performed by several specialists at the same time, each of them having their own vision, knowledge, experience as well as other qualities. This all has some influence on the outcome. In such a case it is important to ensure strict unity and unambiguity of the terms used and the language which are one of the important criteria for high quality legal translation of agreements and other documents.

Our specialists in the legal translation actively use both - printed sources of legal information as well as modern software solutions.