Legal translation Explained: For non-translators!

Laws are interdisciplinary as they regulate most areas of human activity. Legal translators must have a profound knowledge of concepts and law-related terminology.

What is legal translation?

Legal translation is a field of translation where the translator transforms legal documents and material from one language to another, all while respecting the original meaning. This type of language conversion requires a legal background. Among the different documents that can be translated, we name the following:

Contracts

Court and witness transcripts

Depositions

Confidentiality agreements

Wills and trusts

Complaints

Policies

Legal Statements

Licenses

Litigation documentation

Arbitration translation

Legal disclaimers

Civil status documents

Identification documents

Commercial circulars

Most used legal translation services in Lebanon?

People love to travel, and with a Lebanese passport, for them to do so, they should present civil status registration documents, commercial circulars, mayor attestations, proof of residence attestations and the list goes on. The latter documents are usually issued in Arabic, and in order to be accepted by embassies or visa application centers such as TLS and VFS, the documents should be translated to English, French or the respective embassy language. However, not any legal translator can translate these documents as they should be stamped by a sworn/certified/certified public translator (titles differ but refer to same) to be accepted by such agencies.

Peculiarities about this type of translation?

Legal translation stands at the crossroads of three areas of inquiry, legal theory, language theory and translation theory. The field of law relies on changing notions as it is an unstable discipline especially that they differ from country to another. ‘Legalese’ is almost like a language of its own. It requires a legally trained person to understand it. The same thing applies to legal translators who have to know the laws of the country, because a word-for-word translation may not accurately represent the meaning of the original.

How much does it cost?

Yes, legal-certified translation is more expensive than other specialized types. Why? Due to its complexity and because a sworn/certified/certified public translator must go through a series of tests, have multiple requirements to fulfill, and apply to the Ministry of Justice which checks if they are qualified to earn that title which by the way cannot be earned before the age of 25 in Lebanon.

Returning to how translation is charged; it is charged according to:

• Cost per word
• Volume
• Language
• Type
• HT (human translation)/ MT (machine translation)
• Deadline

In Lebanon for example, most agencies charge per 250 words as it is the standard word count equivalent to 1 page. In Lebanon also, language plays a major role in pricing as English & French are usually priced cheaper than others. Exact cost? It can only be submitted after seeing the documents and time needed to deliver them.

What’s an example of legal translation?

Legal translation is a multi-faceted field that covers various documents needed by the criminal justice and civil systems. Legal translations require trained, subject matter experts with in-depth understanding of the laws of the source and target languages. High levels of accuracy are imperative in legal translations as they have several meanings depending on the choice of words. Legal translators must be knowledgeable in legal terminology of the source and target languages and the country’s culture.

Let’s give an example from the business world: an international company wants to enter into partnership with an Arab company, they send a contract, the Arab company hires a certified translator to convert it to Arabic to have it checked by the lawyers and approved and have a copy to refer back to in terms of clauses’ explanation.

Legal translation is indeed complex. Each word should be used with care because ambiguity can render a legal document void, and even a small mistake can have costly implications.

Can anyone translate legal documents?

No, not any bilingual person or “knows the language well” can translate a legal document, if so, there wouldn’t be a major in translation in the first place and a long process to become certified in court in the second place. Specialized translators can translate legal documents however they cannot legalize them or affix their stamp on them; that would be the task of a certified translator. Legal document translation is not only task, it is a major responsibility. Why? Let’s give an example, if a court order was issued in a murder case, and the legal translator “freed the convicted” by using one word that changed the meaning completely...yes a lot can go wrong!

What do we call people who are specialized in legal translation?

People who are specialized in legal translation are called legal translators however people who can certify those documents are called (differs according to countries):

• Sworn translators
• Certified translators
• Certified Public Translators
• Official Translators

What does a certified or sworn translator or certified public translator do, and how do they earn that title?

Sworn/Certified translations have been increasingly demanded over the past years due to globalization, migration, tourism, and internationalization of markets. Documents and content need to be adapted to the laws of a specific country.

A sworn translation has to be endorsed by the signature and seal of a Sworn Translator. These translators have a special authorization by the Ministry of Justice to translate official documents, which means that they have a formal status by the authorities. A sworn translation is certified to be equivalent to the original source document, and it has the same legal value.

Sworn translators have the ability to legalize different types of documents that require authentication and validation according to the laws of the specific country in which it has to be presented. In this way, sworn translators are internationally recognized as the professionals in title to submit these documents before governmental departments, entities or organizations.

To become a Sworn Translator, candidates must have a Master’s degree in foreign languages and have knowledge in linguistics, terminology and legislation because they must dominate specific ethical codes and follow precise rules.

When does a company need a sworn translation?

When a company needs to translate a legal document for submission to an authority in the country of residence or in another country, it is necessary to have a sworn translation. In many cases, these translations are the only formats that will be accepted by governments, entities or courts for legal proceedings.

In order to make your documents internationally valid, they need to be translated and adapted not only in the terminology, but also following the specific’s laws of your target country.

At Crystal - Translation and Content Creation, we provide certified translations in many language pairs. We help companies, organizations and individuals who need their translation to be certified. We can provide fast sworn translation solutions. Contact us to know more!