Crossing the boundaries of your own country and reaching out to a completely new audience has become a new normal in today’s hyper-connected world. There used to be a time when a huge investment and budget were required in order to level up the reach and capitalize on the global market but now, even people with small budgets are able to do so with the power of the internet. But in order to reach a market with a foreign language, you need to ensure your messages are being conveyed in the right manner. Moreover, your legal documents also have to be in line with the target country’s requirements.
There are many people out there who think that translation is all about word-to-word conversion of native language to target language but that is not the case in legal translation services. In the world of translation, legal translation services are considered to be the most challenging and complicated translation services. This is one of the main reasons why you should never make the translation of legal documents a DIY project. Even a minor translation mistake in legal documents can change the entire meaning of the content and jeopardize your project.
And if you are still not convinced that certified translation services are necessary then here are the 5 reasons to go for certified translation services when looking to translate legal documents.
The legal system varies from country to country
If you are thinking the legal system of your own country is applicable to every corner of the world then you are completely wrong as every country has its own set of rules. This is one of the main challenges that most people have to deal with while translating legal documents. The different types of paperwork required in different countries build just the right environment for ambiguity in translation.
If you are going to opt for legal translation services then the translation firm will follow ideal guidelines and use best practices in order to bridge the gap of the legal system between different countries. But this doesn’t mean that legal translation is easy for professionals. A legal translator should have proper knowledge about the similarities and variations of the legal system in different countries.
Evolving nature of law and the changes in the system
If you are thinking that the difference in the legal system is the only challenge of legal translation, you should know that with time, the legal system keeps on changing in every country. All the templates and guidelines that were considered ideal a month ago might become invalid in just a couple of months. This is what makes legal translation the most complicated task even for professionals.
All professional translators out there need to keep tabs on the evolving nature of law and they must be aware of the recent changes made in the system. Every new law that affects the translation process must be considered by the legal translator, otherwise the outcomes will not be as per your liking. In such situations, getting assistance from a professional translation agency can help a lot as these organizations keep the professionals updated about the changes in the law.
There is no flexibility when it comes to the selection of words
Legal terms are mostly different from everyday terms that we use, and this scenario is similar in most countries. Understanding a legal paper even in the native language is quite difficult and this is where legal papers are misused. In most cases, the terminology in legal documents is confined and this is why there is minimal flexibility when it comes down to the selection of words.
The main role of a legal translator is to make the legal document understandable in the foreign language but this becomes challenging because of the limitation of words. Words like creativity become completely meaningless while translating a legal document.
The only way to deal with such challenges is to build a solid translation memory and this is what legal professionals do in order to provide excellent legal translation service. This type of approach also reduces the risk of errors in legal documents.
Punctuation and syntax requires details
The most challenging part of a legal document translation is syntax and this is where inexperienced translators fail. In most legal documents, a specific type of wooden language is used and this type of language has a series of ambiguous and pompous words that makes it difficult to properly comprehend a document.
Using passive voice is the standard in each and every type of legal document. In addition to this, complex sentences seem endless and the endless number of punctuations, commas, and apostrophes make it even more difficult to translate even the simplest type of legal document. You can say that these challenges are surely the worst nightmare for any linguistic expert.
The rules regarding punctuation aren’t global as it keeps changing according to the country. And even the Oxford comma is not used in various types of language.
Strict deadlines
You can’t just spend weeks translating a legal document because, in most cases, there is always a deadline. You might be planning to move abroad and you might need to submit your personal documents before the end of the month. If you keep translating the legal document on your own in such situations, there is no way you will be able to do it.
But after opting for legal translation services, you can be sure that your legal document is going to be delivered before the deadline. Almost all legal translators out there work with strict deadlines since they know the value of time in the legal world. This is another reason why opting for professionals for legal translation is crucial.
It doesn’t matter which type of legal document you have, you should always opt for professional translation services since they know how to get things done professionally and without even a single error.
