What do you know about contract translation?

by Target Language Translation Services

- November 01 2021

As our world globalizes, contract translation has become an increasing need for businesses that engage in cross-border transactions. Transactions can be as small as signing a contract with a distributor in a foreign market or as large as making an acquisition of an international entity. The danger for translators, is that meaning may get lost in vague wording and misinterpretation. Furthermore, legal contracts and documentation must be adhered to internationally, so it’s vital that the language used is both appropriate and unambiguous.

About Contract

A contract is a legally binding document that establishes and governs a relationship between two or more parties which includes legal obligations to perform certain acts. Contracts can be put in place between two individuals, an individual and a business, two businesses and so on.

The elements that establish a legally binding contract are an offer, acceptance, considerations, mutuality of obligations, competency and capacity, and in some cases a written instrument.

About Contract Translation

Contract translation is the action of rendering a contract from one language to a different language to be used between two parties that speak different languages.

Legal contract translation is a specific service within the larger discipline of legal document translation.

Legal contract translations are a must in the context of international negotiations, be it between people or companies. And, in some places, this necessity isn’t just a common-sense move, but legally required.

For example, employment contracts and employee handbooks can be translated to be used with their own workforce, sales contracts can be translated to be used with international customers, Privacy Policies and Terms of Service agreements can be translated to be used with international users online, etc.

Law Translation Challenges

Depending on the languages and countries of origin of the parties involved, legal contract translation may pose the following challenges:

Legal terminology

Subject matter expertise is more important than ever. The law is complex and requires a subject matter expert (often a contract lawyer) to handle translations. When people couple this with industry, for example the pharmaceutical industry, a very specific expert on both legal terms and scientific and technical terms is needed in this situation. This can create big challenges for anyone translating a contract.

Various countries, various legal systems

There are not equivalent words across languages, and countries have different legal systems, which result in no local equivalent for some terms and concepts. Without going into detail in their differences, this can cause situations where clauses in contracts will not be applicable in a different legal system and, if translated without consideration, can make a business appear unthoughtful by including them in their translated contract.

Changing legal systems

Legal translators ought to be up-to-date with the latest developments of the legal systems at hand. Not knowing if a law changed, or if it’s still valid, can produce costly inaccuracies.

Rigorous deadlines

Legal contracts are commonly linked to circumstances involving court proceedings and corporate strategy. A delayed language translation or mistranslation may have extreme consequences for the professional translator, customers, and the customer’s business partners. This could either lead to delaying a legal process, preventing the customer from taking a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, or leaving the customer legally liable.

Features of legal prose

Most legal documents feature what is commonly called “wooden language”. This language is characterized by extensive utilization of the passive voice, sentences that may seem endless, and the overuse of commas, semicolons, and apostrophes. So it can be easy to add a period in the wrong place or ruin an entire sentence by simply missing a punctuation mark.

One of the least flexible fields

The legal field is filled with rigid discipline-specific terminology that sometimes not even native speakers understand. And even a slight change in wording can imply a big change in what the contract means. This is why law translation has little room for flexibility.

Tips for Translating Legal Documents

A specialized translator is key

As stated above, there are many challenges associated with translating legal contracts. It is vital to find a partner that deeply understands these challenges and is well equipped to fulfill your objectives. The key things you need to look for is industry expertise, native language and jurisdiction, and legal practice expertise, who are not only familiar with the legal sector but most importantly, the target region’s legal terminology and specific laws.

Get proper formatting

Formatting is also a vital part of legal contract translation, especially when dealing with translating across writing systems. In this type of case, legal translation services providers that also offer desktop publishing should be your top choice.

Ensure confidentiality

Translating a legal contract or document requires complete confidentiality for several reasons. For example, the document being translated may contain information that should be kept hidden from competitors or other personnel or the documents needs to be translated may refer to an on-going investigation or process.

This article is reprinted from QuickSilver, ContractsCounsel and bayantech.

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