Translating for legal equivalence

Translating for legal equivalence is the production of translations that are acceptable by a legal jurisdiction.

For legal and official purposes, evidentiary documents and other official documentation are usually required in the official language(s) of a jurisdiction.

In some countries, it is a requirement for translations of such documents that a translator swear an oath to attest that it is the legal equivalent of the source text. Often, only translators of a special class are authorized to swear such oaths. In some cases, the translation is only accepted as a legal equivalent if it is accompanied by the original or a sworn or certified copy of it.

Even if a translator specializes in legal translation or is a lawyer in his country, this does not necessarily make him a sworn translator.

The procedure for translating to legal equivalence differs from country to country.

In compliance with Law #20,305, all public documents (including personal papers and some commercial contracts) have to be translated and signed by a certified "public translator" (traductor público), whose seal and signature have to be legalized on each document by the Translators' professional body of their jurisdiction. All private persons, companies, the judiciary and other government departments are subject to this law regarding documents or depositions in a foreign language. In order to be certified as a public translator for a major European language, candidates have to attend university courses leading to the professional degree of traductor público.

"Sworn Translators" (singular Dutch: beëdigd vertaler, French: traducteur assermenté) or "Sworn Interpreter" (singular Dutch: beëdigd tolk, French: interprète assermenté) swear an oath before the President of the Court of First Instance of the judicial district in which they have their place of residence. In the past translators and interpreters in all judicial districts aspiring to "sworn" status were screened for suitability by the Crown Prosecutor. The candidate has to state the language combinations for he or she wishes to be sworn. A diploma of translator/interpreter is usually regarded as adequate proof of competence. There is no limitation on the language combinations which can be recognized. However, following a scandal involving an illegal immigrant who obtained sworn translator status, The President of the Court of First Instance at Antwerp, launched an experimental scheme whereby aspiring sworn translators and interpreters have to undergo training organized by the Ministry of Justice and submit to examination. The same President, based on his interpretation of the language laws, also ruled that the only language combinations that could be recognized for sworn translator/interpreter status were those in which Dutch was either the original language or the target language. This view has not yet been adopted by other judicial districts in Belgium.

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