Top Tips on Translating Legal Language Documents - Creative Word

The translation of legal language documents such as, court transcripts, birth certificates, witness statements, summons, immigration documents, and so on, always necessitates the use of a professional translation company who are fully prepared with expert legal training and  translators.

Not only must these translators be fluent in the two, or more languages needed, but they must also have a comprehensive knowledge of the legal systems to which the languages apply. For instance, if you require a corporate proposal to be translated from English to Mandarin Chinese, you must ensure that the translation team are fully aware of legal demands of both countries, alongside the standard language requirements.

Legal translations also tend to have specific requirements regarding structure, formulation, security, and of course, strict deadlines in some instances. The translation company you select for your legal language translations should be willing to cooperate comprehensively with you regarding turnaround times, translator skill sets, feedback, and legitimacy of translations.

Professional translation providers should always work within well-defined, capable, and efficient procedures for legal translations, and offer specialist teams who give well-composed translations, high levels of accuracy, and sensitivity when handling documents that require extra security.

Small translation companies may cater for up to 20 different languages, while larger companies can offer over 100 different languages and dialects. Be sure to check with your translation team that they are capable of dealing with your translation requests, and that they have any certified accreditation required by some major courts, governments, or legal structures.

There are a few main points that should be noted when dealing with legal language translations, they are as follows:

•    Clarity & accuracy – ensure the original document is accurate, and well structured. Translating from a document that has any errors will only compound those mistakes. The document translation should be structured in accordance with the requirements of the target language legal system.
•    Terminology – can vary depending upon location, and language. There are instances when laws have no comparable term or law, so a valid alternative must be found. Using a specialist translation team should help alleviate these issues.
•    Validation – may be required for some documents. Ensure your chosen translation team have the required accreditation for your task. If you are unsure, check with lawyers in the target audience country as this can be invaluable in saving you both time, and money.
•    Purpose of translation – it is vital to understand the intended purpose of your translation before commencing any work as there may be specific rules, or laws, concerning translation for your purpose. Tone of voice, grammar, connotation, and so on, are all implied by the purpose of your translation particulars.
•    Specialists – legal language translation is made easier through the use of specialist providers. Law and language both need to be mastered before any attempt at translation is made – getting it wrong can be a costly mistake. Select a translation provider that uses expert translators who specialise in your specific purpose, for example, family law, corporate law, or immigration.

Translation companies today can offer a wealth of expertise through the use of bi-lingual lawyers, bankers, engineers, scholars, and so on. These specialists can offer translation in just about any field you require such as, patents, financial manuscripts, court papers, contacts – you name it, they can provide it.

Of course, with this infinite expertise there also comes a vast array of translation services that you might want to consider using; cataloguing for international deeds, research documents, and international evidence recording, which all use the skills of transcribers, audio engineers, interpreters, and so on.

Professional translation companies can offer many of these facilities, so knowing what you require from your translation is essential. Check their availability of specialists, and equipment if you have a tight deadline with specialist requests, and remember to inquire about their protection of sensitive documents if this is needed.