• About Legal Translation
• What is legal document translation?
• Who is a legal document translation provider?
• What are types of legal documents?
• How to translate a legal document?
• Role of Machine Translation in Legal Document Translation
• FAQs about Legal Document Translation

Introduction

One day, you may reside in a country with different mother language and need legal document translation for your legal documents (such as employment contracts, visas, immigration documents, or even judicial papers). You may find a person who can understand your language and the target language, but the understanding of legal contexts is totally complicated. Legal documents can’t be translated by any normal person. They need a specialized professional who has deep understanding not only of linguistic rules, but also the legal terminology and structures.

About Legal Translation

Legal translation is that branch of translation relating to the legal system. People may think that all you need for legal document translation is to find a person who can speak both languages (source and target languages), but this is not the whole story.

Accuracy is a must for legal translation. Almost all countries require certified sworn translation for official documents where a legal translation stamp is affixed to prove that the legal translation has been done accurately. Confidentiality is also necessary for such legal documents because they contain sensitive and private information.

Read more about legal translation: https://itransling.com/en/blog-about-legal-translation/

What is legal document translation?

Legal document translation is the conversion of a legal document from one language (source language) into another (target language) without prejudice to the precise and exact meaning of the original document. This process can’t be handled by a legal professional or just a general translator. It needs a specialized professional who masters both the language and legal system of the source language and target language; he/she is called a legal translator.

A high level of accuracy and precision is needed for translating crucial legal documents such as contracts, agreements, judicial papers, patents, corporate financial statements. A legal translator must mainly be faithful to the original text and maintain the confidentiality of such sensitive legal information. He/she is experienced in complex legal terminology and highly-qualified for legal translation to avoid any mistranslation which always leads to disastrous consequences. 

It is not any easy task to choose a professional for document translation. It is important to pick a translation provider who is accurate, professional, and certified and has a proven record.

Who is a legal document translation provider?

Legal document translation is provided by translators who have legal expertise, qualifications, credentials, and license for translating legal documents for official use.

Find below the translators who can translate your documents:

• Professional Translators:

  They are professional linguists who have vast knowledge of legal texts. Professional translators may not be certified or notarized, but they are experienced and specialized in translating complex legal documents.

• Certified Translators:

  They are translators certified by a translation association such as ATA (USA) or Ministry of Justice (United Arab Emirates). Certified translators are usually provided with a stamp to be affixed on translated legal documents to show that they are ready for official use and the translation is reliable.

• Translation Agencies:

  They provide different types of translation and legal translation is one of the most important services provided by them. Translation agencies usually have a team of specialized and accredited legal translators. Picking a reliable legal translation agency is very important to ensure the high-quality, accuracy, and confidentiality.

What are types of legal documents?

Legal documents are classified into many types as follows:

• Corporate Documents:

  Such as memoranda of association, articles of association, policies, regulations, contracts, agreements, invoices, vouchers, board meetings, resolutions

• Judicial Documents:

  Such as memoranda of defense, rejoinders, applications, petitions, statements of claims, appeals, challenges, expert’s reports, evidence, testimonies, affidavits, NOCs, and summons

• Maritime Documents:

  Such as ship charters, bill of ladings, receipts, packing list, certificate of origin, and shipping documents

• Insurance:

         Such as policies, contracts, and claims

• Intellectual Property Documents:

            Such as patents

• Identification Documents:

          Passports, IDs, licenses, commercial registers, birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates

• Arbitration Documents:

          Such as statements of claims, expert’s reports, arbitral awards, minutes of meetings

• Governmental Documents:

           Such as certificates, official letters, laws, statutes, bylaws, tenders, and bids

How to translate a legal document?

Legal document translation needs specialization. So, you can’t do it by yourself. آي ترانسلينج follows the below steps to provide legal document translation:

• تحليل الوثيقة المطلوب ترجمتها

The first step we apply is to analyze the document to be translated in order define the specific field (corporate, judicial, maritime, governmental, etc) and ensure that the document is clear and legible. We also ask our client about the type of translation he/she needs (professional, certified, or notarized translation).

• Quotation:

Our quotes are tailored to be suitable for the client’s needs and budget. We also provide free of charge test (500 words) and a discount for big projects.

• Translator Choice:

According to the type of your document and sensitivity of the information contained in it, we pick a translator who may be certified, professional, notarized and may be in-house translator or freelancer. Our freelancers sign non-disclosure agreements. Accordingly, we can assign freelance translators for this mission. However, if you choose to translate your documents inside our premises as a strict precaution to maintain the confidentiality, you are welcomed.

• المراجعة:

It is our essential ingredient of quality assurance. During this stage, the legal document translation is seen by another eye. We have a qualified team of proofreaders who can check the legal document translation is accurate and correct with no missing or mistakes.

Role of Machine Translation in Legal Document Translation  

In a previous blog, we discussed the machine translation which became recently overwhelming. Machine translation platforms seem attractive because they are fast and cheap, but what about the quality and accuracy which are essential in legal document translation? The mistranslation of a single word in a legal document causes gross damage; it may affect business deals and impair legal rights. Consequently, you have to exclude the machine translation option when you need legal document translation.

FAQs about Legal Document Translation

Can a legal document be translated by a general linguist?

The short answer is “No”. Legal document translation needs a specialized legal translator because it is a complex process where the legal knowledge and deep understanding of legal terminology and structures are necessary. In addition, any mistranslation can cause gross damage and big disagreements and disputes.

How do I pick a qualified legal translation provider?

Picking a legal translation provider depends on your needs. You can hire a freelance translator or legal translation agency. If you are worried about the confidentiality, quality assurance, and commitment and you have a big project which needs to be done within a short timeframe, we recommend a translation agency. Where you need to just understand the content of a legal document without being presented to official authorities, a professional experienced legal translator is recommended.  

How much does legal document translation cost?

We previously highlighted and discussed this topic in details in a previous blog (insert internal link of “How much does legal translation cost”). آي ترانسلينج’s prices range from USD 8 to 10 dollars per page (250 words) depending on the complexity of legal context and turnaround time required for translation.

You can request a free quote and we will get back to you within 1 hour so that you can be aware of the exact amount you have to pay.

What are legal fields covered by iTransling?

We cover all legal fields including corporate, judicial, maritime, arbitral, business, and personal documents. iTransling provides the legal document translation through professional experienced translators. We also have a big database of freelance translators who can finish any projects within a short timeframe.