Globalization of the Legal World
Domestic law firms are looking to expand their footprint globally. With the advancement in technology and data security forming international mergers, acquiring new ways of practicing law, and joining hands with foreign counsel has become a clear-cut task.
Granted it is not a new concept, and with the help of the Internet, globalization is having a moment in the legal world and it is allowing firms to tap into new potential markets.
However, no matter how access friendly matters become online there is simply no point until you can channel the translation in the native language.
Legal translation in Dubai is no different. A single mistranslation can hold potential lawsuits, company reputational hazards, and significant financial losses. Therefore, more firms are turning to the help of professional legal translation services for all their legal document translations.
What is Legal Translation?
Legal translation is the translation of texts within the field of law. As the law is a culture-dependent subject field, the work of legal translation and its products are not necessarily linguistically transparent. There are a plethora of documents that require the special attention of translators.
- Personal identity, individual record and social status papers that legally establish the education or work or identity of an individual. These documents include references or work testimonials, police reports, educational certificates or diplomas, birth certificates, divorce decrees, and others.
- Court documents that detail trials or penal proceedings, the translation of which is often requested for international judicial assistance cases. Translators must be able to distinguish between the systems of civil and criminal proceedings, as these are not the same despite the terminologies being similar.
- Trade contracts approved by foreign courts; these are necessary for the selling of goods or the granting of a trade license. A company looking to do business in a foreign country must have its Shareholder Books or Articles of Incorporation translated on top of its commercial registration documents.
- International treaties that apply the rule of international law, rules, and regulations in the signatory countries. Because the original language document must have the same legal effect as its official translation in a second language, legal translators here must make sure the text in the target language accurately and transparently conveys the same legal effects in practice.
The Challenges
Like translators in every sector, when providing legal translation services, translators are required to hone in on a wide variety of skill sets. Every tenor, nuance, transcript of the intended text, has to be carried over precisely by a legal translator. These are some of the complex obstacles often faced by a legal translator:
- The Law System – this is often the biggest challenge faced by legal translators. Each country draws its law from documents that were written a very long time ago, i.e. The United States Constitution. Being able to properly reference and navigating the wording and meaning of such documents that lay the foundations of a country is a normal day’s work for any legal translator.
- The Legal Terminology – what do you do with words that simply become “untranslatable”? When translating legal documents from another language often legal translators come across words that pertain to a certain nation’s law. Once again, we can see an example of this in the American legal system with the term “habeas corpus,” a term that is nearly impossible to translate to any other native language.
- Literal Tone and Meaning – while translating most documents can be as simple as transcribing word by word in legal translation this is not the case. In legal translation instead of the literal meaning, you need to transcribe the documents in legal terms in the language of the target audience. As each language carries different tones, i.e. some languages are presented in passive voices and while others are active, ensuring the message is conveyed clearly and concisely without changing the original meaning.
- Confidentiality – legal translations by nature call for confidentiality. You are dealing with sensitive information for your client and would not want anybody to have access to it. Often companies make the mistake of hiring non-reliable translation companies that do not take proper security measures to ensure the confidentiality of the legal documents.
- Time Constraint – in the legal business every day is critical, this can especially be true when a company is in the middle of an ongoing international case that may require the translation of documents within the hours. This puts an added pressure on translators of delivering a legally accurate translation within the short deadline.
- Variation in Law – even though the language may translate over the law may not. For example in 2018, India repealed Section 377, a law that dated back to 1861, which made same-sex relationships a punishable offense. However, in their neighboring country Pakistan it is still a condemned act.
Why Torjoman?
With the rapid acceleration of the legal industry in the international market, it is becoming vital for legal translation agencies like Torjoman to help companies offer an accurate and effective way of communication. Offering legal translation in Dubai, Riyadh, Cairo, and California makes us the largest one-stop-shop for your language services in the Middle East. At Torjoman, they offer in-house subject-matter expert translators who along with having a background in the legal field also can ensure that your material is translated with cultural and political sensitivity for your local audience. Their promise to their clients is that we offer a quality final project with a fast turnaround time no matter the size and budget of your project.
In Conclusion
The world of legal translation is an ever-changing one, where a change in the law in one nation can have rippling effects globally. To address a global audience requires the needs of language experts who can adhere to the many different languages. By using the expertise of a professional translator, you allow your company to obtain a local niche with a native audience. More so, by using a professional legal document translation service you tell your clients that you take the matters of your company seriously and have the best product in the market.
At Torjoman, they value your time; therefore, they offer our clients instant quotations for projects that might demand a sense of urgency. For further details and specifications on how we can help you with all your legal translations in Dubai contact our sales team today.
