Common Obstacles in Legal Translation Dubai

Different terminologies

The legal terms used in the target language and source language often differ widely. Surprisingly, this is the standard difficulty confronted by all the best legal translation services in Dubai. So the translators mostly compare the two legal systems before translating documents to ensure 100% accuracy.

Each document needs to be checked and rechecked for language accuracy. This also ensures that all legal expressions tell the reader the same meaning without any ambiguity. In best legal translation, you have to transcribe the documents in legal terms in the language of the target audience, instead of literal meaning. Extra care and more time are required for digital or paper-based documents with more than one language.

Cultural Differences

The law of a country and legal language demonstrates its culture. Legal systems vary from country to country. An expert legal translator must comprehend the differences in culture of the legal system of two societies, which he or she is addressing in the legal translation.

Experts should be well familiar with the terms and their multiple equivalents in the target language. Inadequate knowledge in this aspect can cause later disputes with many possible consequences on the client’s resources.

The evolvement of laws and changes in systems

Legal systems are not only different, but they also keep changing and updating over a period of time. Guidelines and templates that were applicable a month or a year ago may not be relevant in legal translation Dubai today.

A legal translator must keep up with these changes in regulations, as they often change overnight. For this, they should be connected with everything as well as keeping an eye on every evolving law that might influence their work.

Confidentiality

In legal translation, the translators are dealing with sensitive information of their client and cannot allow anybody to have access to it. Sometimes legal translation office in dubai need assistance from external parties who may or may not be reliable and may mishandle client’s documentation. So these companies cannot provide sensitive information to external parties as it may breach the confidentiality of records or result in a security breach.

Difficulty in the selection of right words

Legal executives sometimes use jargon or terminologies that are barely understandable by the non-native speakers. The terminology in legal documents is often very rigid, so the translation of particular documents becomes difficult. Hence, the translators hired to interpret the document with an error-free translation may experience restricted framework for the selection of best words.

Building a solid translation memory and working with a glossary of terms can be helpful in overcoming this challenge for legal translation agencies in Dubai. It reduces the chances of translation errors as well as saves sufficient time for translators.

Special attention to punctuation and syntax

The problematic part of translating legal documents lies in their syntax. Most of the documents use “wooden language” –which is a series of pompous words that make the material difficult to read and understand.

In addition, punctuation rules are not universal. For instance, Oxford comma doesn’t exist in many languages and can even give rise to confusion. Similarly, it is a standard in the legal industry to use a number of semicolons, commas, apostrophes, and passive voice in sentences. In plain English, it is the worst nightmare for any translator or linguist!

Unfortunately, a missing comma is enough to create obscurity in legal contracts where every interpretation or omission can alter the terms and conditions. The best way to avoid this type of mistake is for a proficient proofreader or a local specialist who can look over the translated version of the legal document before handing it to the client.

Strict deadlines

Many legal documents are tied to events that involve deadlines, corporate actions, and courtrooms. They all have certain limited timescales in common. Delays in the preparation of legally-translated papers may result in a series of unpleasant events for both the translator and the client’s business. Linguists need to be aware of any challenges that could slow down the translation project.

Moreover, in the legal business, every day is very crucial, especially when the company is rendering translation services for an international case that may require the translation within the mentioned dates. This puts an added stress on translators of delivering an inch-perfect translation within that due date.

Absence of equivalence

Another challenge faced by legal translation Dubai is the absence of equivalent concepts in Arabic. The reason for non-equivalence in legal transcription can be attributed to systemic differences and linguistic differences.

For instance, the term “Probation Officer” is used in the USA to refer to officers who supervise the offenders released from imprisonment. In order to deal with these terms, the translators need to add a note to explain this concept properly.

Summary

Legal translation can be very difficult, but translators play a critical role in all civilized societies with their strong understanding of relevant legal concepts. Translating legal documents is not exactly a breeze; rather, it is a complex task that requires speed, legal knowledge, and skill for authentic and faultless work.