Legal translation is a complex process that requires the right dose of knowledge, expertise, experience, and qualifications. Would you like to find out how to translate legal documents, and what are some of the most popular types of legal translation? Keep reading!
Legal translation — what does it look like?
The process of translating legal documents differs from the regular translation of emails, literary works or business content.
In order to be able to effectively and efficiently translate the text from a source language to a target language, a translator needs to be a proficient speaker of both languages. Moreover, he or she is also obliged to be familiar with differences in fields such as culture or legal systems. Without it, it’s impossible to create fully correct and functional translations.
Therefore, a person who wishes to become a legal translation specialistneeds to constantly learn about changing regulations, law systems, or terms that should be avoided in a particular culture.
Legal translation is required mainly when clients need top-quality translations of documents like birth certificates, contracts, marriage certificates, notarial deeds, and many more.
4 common types of legal translation
The legal translation field can be divided into 4 most common types:
- Contract translation — this type usually has to be certified, which means that a translator is required to have additional qualifications. This is done to guarantee high accuracy and correctness of the document. If you cooperate with a professional agency, it should be able to offer you the support of certified translators.
- Terms and conditions — these documents are vital to avoid misunderstandings and ensure efficient operation of every online store or platform. With their use, you can inform potential customers about their rights and obligations.
- Translations of individual property documents — if you specialize in designing and developing your own software solutions or products, this type of legal translation is probably well known to you. Intellectual property documents include mainly patents. Here, quality translation is a key to success that will allow you to avoid numerous misunderstandings and financial losses.
- Research of the legal market — as mentioned above, each country has specific regulations and legal systems. If you want your business to go international, you should be familiar with all the countries you offer your products or services in. This is when legal translation comes in handy.
All the above-mentioned types of legal translation require professional support of specialists who have profound knowledge of both the source and target language, as well as their cultures and legal systems. Without it, it’s impossible to create satisfactory end-products.
