Linguistic Peculiarities of Legal Documents in Translation

Theoretical Part

Legal translation is bound by each language’s culture and system; it is not merely transcoding between the source language (SL) and the target language (TL) but it is also ‘a translation from one legal system into another— from the source legal system into the target legal system’. It involves all the legal texts that are used in various legal settings be it a court, a national or international organisation, a law book, a legal report, a birth certificate, a contract, etc.

Legal language is a type of register, that is, a variety of language appropriate to different occasions and situations of use, and in this case, a variety of language appropriate to the legal situations of use. Legal texts refer to the texts produced or used for legal purposes in legal settings.

The language used in law to is predominantly prescriptive, directive and imperative. Laws are written in language the function of which is not just to express or convey knowledge and information, but also to direct, influence or modify people’s behaviour, whether it be a legal enactment, judicial pronouncement or a contract.

Legal documents mostly include different types of agreements, real estate drafts, lease documents, wills, titles, court rulings, court pleadings, court judgments, witness statements, employment contracts, international project contracts, testament, birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates and several other types of documents.

Translation of legal documents requires certain qualifications – it should be exercised only by professional translators who have serious operational experience in this sphere or additional education in the sphere of law. A perfect variant is when a legal text is edited by a professional lawyer.