There are times when a court case is adjudicated in one country, under a given set of laws and the adjudication has an effect on someone or something in a different jurisdiction. In case such as these the court documents must be translated from the lingua franca of the country where the case was adjudicated into the language spoken in the other country which is involved.
This requires the services of people involved in law translation services, which is a unique area of translation. Not only must the document(s) be translated, the translator has to have an insight into the legal system as the terms, words and phrases used are often not part of common vocabulary.
As the world gets smaller on a daily basis, it is not uncommon to have cross border legal issues. Many documents that need accurate translation are:
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificates
- Dissolution of marriage documentation
- Diplomas, educational transcripts and other academic credentials
- Medical reports and their official transcripts
- Contracts, power of attorney and other documents of a regulatory manner
Law translation services will be called upon to render official, certifies or legal translations. There are differences between the three; perhaps we can shed light on the differences.
Certified translations are often requested for documents’ as mentioned above. They are normally certified when the request has come from a school, a university or perhaps an insurance company or employer. The process of rendering certified translations includes stamping the translation with the stamp of the company which made the translation and a reference number for use in the future. The original documents are returned with the translations and include a certificate from the translator that he or she believes the translation to be true and accurate.
Law translation services will often be called upon to provide notarized document translations. This is a somewhat more formal process as the company and the translator must declare that a truthful and honest translation has been made; this must be sworn to in front of a notary public. The declaration is both verbal and in writing. The notary uses his stamp to certify the sworn statement; the original copy is that which is notarized. Law translation services normally have a relationship with global notary services that provide a totally impartial service.
There are countries that comply with the Hague Convention on visa applications, foreign marriages and foreign adoptions that will require certification by the foreign office. The process itself is similar to that gone through for a notarized translation but an official representative of the country confirms that the notary has the right to practice in the country where the notarization takes place. The final document cannot be contested as it has gone through all the steps required to prove its authenticity.
Law translation services are available from ComTranslations International Agency. With offices in the USA, Canada, Spain and China they are well positioned to provide translations as necessary.
