Completing a legal translation requires more than language skills – it demands specialised legal expertise, access to proper resources and a systematic process that ensures the translation is both linguistically accurate and legally binding.
Essential expertise
Legal translation requires deep understanding of legal systems in both source and target countries, mastery of legal terminology in both languages and a knowledge of how legal documents function and are used. A translator must understand contract law, company law or other relevant areas of law. Academic legal training or extensive documented experience in legal translation is typically necessary to handle complex legal texts in a manner that is legally correct and acceptable.
Essential resources
Legal translators require access to legal dictionaries and terminology databases for the verification of terminology, legal reference works and statutory texts in both source and target languages, as well as professional translation tools with legal term bases for consistent terminology. The ability to consult legal experts on complex matters is also important, as is access to previously translated legal documents for reference and consistency.
Essential process
A professional process includes thorough analysis of a document and its legal context, systematic translation with focus on accuracy and legal correctness, as well as review by at least one additional legal expert (four-eyes principle). Quality control of terminology, references and formatting is also crucial. In certain cases, a certified translation is required for legal documents. An experienced translation partner works according to ISO standards with ISO-certified system support to ensure systematic quality. They use client-specific legal term bases for consistent terminology over time and always recommend that the client’s lawyers review the translation before use, as the translator is responsible for linguistic accuracy whilst legal advice requires a qualified lawyer. Secure data handling with confidentiality agreements is standard for legal documents.