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Legal translation is becoming essential for firms
Firms are becoming increasingly driven to provide culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) clients with translated legal material. Lawyers Weekly spoke with the founder of Australia’s leading translation and multicultural communication agency to understand the landscape of legal translation and the challenges surrounding it.
Jess Feyder
Australia is the ninth-most multicultural country in the world, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. About 5.5 million Australians speak a language other than English at home, and about 850,000 in this group report they don’t speak English well or at all.
Lawyers Weekly spoke with Mark Saba, founder and chief executive of LEXIGO, an agency helping businesses translate, communicate and engage with their audiences in their native language.
“In recent times post-pandemic, businesses are expanding into new countries and markets, consumers are buying from international businesses, and there are more exporters and e-commerce businesses than ever before,” said Mr Saba.
Having serviced many clients with legal matters, Mr Saba gave insights into translating and communicating legal documents effectively.
Mr Saba noted a key challenge in translating legal documents is that legal terminology can be very specific and related to particular legal contexts, meaning literal translations may not always be clear.
“There is a lot more to translation than simply finding a word in a different language that matches the English language word,” said Mr Saba.
Understanding context is a fundamental aspect of translating legal documents; to successfully translate legal documents, it is essential to understand why the document is being translated, he said.
Understanding factors like the intended use and users of the documents will aid in effective translation, he said.
One must also set the objectives and outcomes for the translation, noting the purpose, context and audience — such factors will decide the level of translation needed, he noted.
“Transcreation” is key to translating context-specific legal documents; it carefully considers meaning, intent, style, tone, and context, said Mr Saba.
“Lawyers often have to consider many landscapes when taking a case,” noted Mr Saba.
“Not just a cultural landscape, which can be a lower priority, but amongst others they consider the legal landscape and law of the land, international relations, industry, working culture and more,” he said. “This all needs to be considered and factored in during the translation process.
“It’s important to have the mindset and intent to ensure that translation is not just literal, and takes into account context, timing, use of documents and other CALD factors.
“For complex scenarios, understanding the market’s environment, assigning subject matter to expert translators, and truly including team members who may speak the language or have experience with the country in the process of translation will also help immensely.”
The recent expansion of businesses into new countries has added to the rising demand for machine translation applications, though it is important to note that while these technologies are efficient, they should be used consciously and integrated in a holistic way to preserve context in order for translations to be executed effectively, added Mr Saba.
