Why it is Necessary to Use a Professional Legal Translation Service?

Linksdepth
April 25, 2013

The trend for modern businesses is to globalize and expand to as many countries as possible. This is a great strategy because the economic situation in every country is different. When one country is suffering from an economic downturn, another country may not be much affected so the risk of loss may be averted. Perhaps, you have been thinking about expanding your business to another country or you may even be thinking about migrating to another country. If that’s the case, then, you will definitely be in need of professional legal translation services in due time. Let’s take a look at why it is necessary to use a professional legal translation service.

We hear so much about translations that we think we know everything about them. Is translation simply the art of transforming a document written in one language to another language? Well, this description suffices for most levels of translation except for legal translation services. A legal translation is a legally binding document so it’s subjected to a set of regulations as stipulated by a particular country. Sometimes, a legal translation may be used for the application of permanent residency or citizenship, and sometimes, a legal translation may be used in a court of law. Lawyers are particularly sensitive to translated documents which are to be used in the courtroom because a mistake may bring about dire consequences. To protect themselves and uphold the accuracy of the translated documents, lawyers will always request a professional legal translation services.

One of the challenges of legal translation is to maintain the legal terminology used in the original language in the target language. If you employ a translator who does not have the required level of expertise, he or she may make the mistake of diluting the legal terminology so that the final document in the target language may read as an ordinary document, instead of a legal text. This is the main reason why most people will choose to work with an established language translation agency like Axis Translations when they need to find professional legal translation services.

Translating a legal document can be quite tricky because every country has its own laws, and legal terminology may be quite different from one country to another. In this light, it’s quite essential that the legal translator has knowledge of the legal terminology in the original language and also a good understanding of the legal terminology in the target language. The important thing is to translate the legal document into the target language so that the reader will get a full impression of the content of the legal document in the original language. It must be noted that the legal terms used in the original language is representative of the country’s culture, system of government, and other factors so the legal translator faces a tough task to interpret these differences into the target language.

In international legal cases, lawyers have to build their cases on various documents in foreign languages. Imagine the consequences when a legal term is misinterpreted, resulting in the wrong usage of a particular term or even a misrepresentation of facts. This can cause tremendous embarrassment and it can even affect the outcome of the case. The accuracy of these documents is paramount because the lawyers have no other sources. For these reasons, lawyers always insist on professional legal translation services. An experienced legal translator has to exhibit the ability to interpret and research, familiarity with legal terminology, a high level of legal writing, and knowledge of the legal systems. Other skills include sound sentence structure, syntax, and the most appropriate word usage.

Other than legal documents which are to be used in the court of law, there are also various types of legal documents which are to be issued by businesses. For instance, companies may need to translate contracts, company registrations, and other legal documents. To make the best translation, the translator should understand the world’s civil law and common law as well as the country’s legal system and culture. If you have more questions about professional legal translation services, you are welcome to contact Axis Translations, one of the leading translation agencies in the world.