Legal translation services have much higher stakes. One mistake in this field can have serious repercussions that can affect all of the interested parties. That is to say, the law firms, their clients and all those involved in the proceedings.
We have written this article in order to assist you in your research of legal translation services. At the end of which, you will be aware of the criteria for choosing the right translating agency for your legal documents.
Certified legal translation services in accordance with the European Quality Standard NF EN-15038 :2006
Firstly, all translation agencies do not have the same standards. In fact, translating requires precision and discipline. This is even more pertinent in legal translation. To ensure that a translation agency meets you requirements, you should confirm with them that they follow the European Quality Standard NF EN-15038 :2006.
This standard guarantees you a higher quality standard, and in particular the quality of the training of translators. To find out more about this, read this article which explains what the NF EN European Quality Standard 15038 :2006 is.
Technical expertise in legal translation services.
The legal field uses a specific jargon that translators must master, as well as their linguistic skills.
Not only do legal translators have to understand the documents that they work with, they also have to be aware of the law surrounding them. Therefore, understanding the legal effect of each legal translation project in the target language is very important.
The translator that you choose must be able to demonstrate their expertise. To do this, they must be able to show you their legal qualifications or their achievements.
Ask the translator or interpreter for this proof of expertise before entrusting them with your translation project.
Confidentiality in legal translation services.
In the legal sector, those who possess knowledge, possess power. Confidentiality of company details is absolutely necessary. In fact, the translation agency will have access to very sensitive company information belonging to their clients. Therefore, they must guarantee confidentiality regarding the content that is entrusted to them.
Sensitive documents and other information need to be dealt with in a secure and professional manner and the agency must have the means to ensure the security of these documents.
Make sure that the agency you choose possess the means to keep your documents secure with high quality technologies. Finally, do not forget to ask them to sign a confidentiality agreement. If the agency bases its promise of confidentiality on a spoken agreement, you would be better off not hiring them.
Certifying translations
Firstly, certified translations are carried out by an expert sworn translator. The Court of Appeals, the Cassation Court, or the High Court of Paris deal with the administration of oath.
The standards in the legal sector require certain translations to be certified.
Courts and Ministries demand proof that the translations correspond to the legal documents faithfully. A certified translation must therefore come from a recognised provider. A certified translation “conforming to the original” must have a registration number, a stamp, the date, and the signature of the sworn translator.
Reliability
As well as these confidentiality requirements, every law firm using a legal translation service must ensure reliability.
It is difficult to evaluate the reliability of a translation agency without having worked with them. However, there are some tips to take into account that will guarantee whether or not they are capable of providing the required service in a regular manner. Without waiting any longer, here are a few things that you can ask them:
Number of translators
Does the translation agency dispose of a sufficiently specialised staff to provide you with the service that you require? Do they have translators with the linguistic skills that you require?Project management team
How do they manage your projects? Who is responsible for the delivery of the project? Who will be your point of contact, and if you work with the agency again, would it be possible to work with the same people?Timeframe for legal translation services
Can the legal translation service provider guarantee that the project will be completed within a required timeframe? Do they offer “urgent translation services” for projects that need to be delivered quickly?These points should help you to evaluate and compare different legal translation agencies.
Created almost 20 years ago, ACSTraduction is a specialised legal translation agency. We meet all the previous requirements, but our best proof is the satisfaction of our clients, around which our agency is centred.
Come and see us about your legal translation projects, we are committed to accompanying and helping you to complete your projects. Come and see us so we can get to know you better.