At Intertranslations, we pride ourselves on delivering the highest quality translations across a variety of specialist sectors. One of those sectors is legal translation, and we are thrilled to announce that we have been awarded ISO 20771:2020 certification for legal translation. Read on to find out more about translating legal texts and what this international standard means for our translation agency.
What is legal translation?
Legal translation is the translation of documents used for legal purposes. This includes any legal documents required for establishing various international relations, as well as exchanging information and experience among law specialists from various countries. This is one of the hardest types of translation because it requires excellent linguistic skills, plus intricate knowledge of international laws, legislations and standards.
Due to the delicate nature of the content, legal translators may be subject to a wide variety of professional, confidentiality and ethical requirements. Depending on the country, settings and circumstances, the translator may also need authorisation, certification and security clearance. In some countries, there are even specific types of legal translation which can only be performed by authorised legal translators following strict official guidelines.
Delivering quality legal translations with ISO 20771
ISO 20771 is the world’s first international standard for individual legal translators and their clients. This outlines the best practices for legal translators to follow when delivering professional legal translation services.
It includes definitions for concepts relating to this specialist area of translation, along with qualification and competency requirements for legal translators, reviewers, and revisers. It also incorporates descriptions of the core processes, resources, professional development, and other requirements and issues relevant to delivering high-quality legal translation services.
This new standard can be viewed independently or in conjunction with other translation standards. For example, ISO 20771 complements ISO 17100 for translation services, which outlines the necessary processes for delivering translations that are fit for purpose. While ISO 17100 provides the foundations for delivering a quality translation, ISO 20771 builds on this to deliver specific guidance when handling legal translations.
It should also be noted here that this certification does not cover the use of either machine translation or machine translation post-editing. This means that any legal translations you need should be completed by a human translator.
Our team of legal translators, reviewers and revisers has recently been awarded ISO 20771:2020 certification for legal translation. By fulfilling all the requirements outlined by this standard, this certification demonstrates the stringent processes our legal translation services follow. It also demonstrates our ability to deliver quality legal translation services that meet legislative and client specifications.
About Intertranslations
Founded in 1996, Intertranslations SA provides expert translation services to and from all European, Asian, and Middle Eastern languages. Working in over 350 different language pairs, we have translated over 2.5 million pages of legal documents during the last 25 years.
Today, we continue to provide services to pharmaceutical companies, multinational corporations and private-sector customers. We also work with EU institutions (European Parliament, European Commission, European Court of Justice, and European Medicines Agency) and international organisations (United Nations).
One of the main ways we ensure the quality of your legal translations is by only working with translators who have extensive experience in this field. These translators have a thorough understanding of the common law and civil law legal systems used worldwide. They are also well-versed in legal jargon and technically complex terminology and can instantly recognise linguistic and cultural differences to provide an accurate translation.
Delivering a variety of translation services across a range of sectors, we provide complete confidentiality to our clients by signing legally binding non-disclosure agreements. With strict quality management processes that follow both ISO 17100 and ISO 20771, we guarantee linguistic precision and quality of all translated legal documents.
Looking to start your own translation project? Reach out to our team and we will help you find the right translation services to suit your needs.