Legal translation is a specialized field that requires fluency in multiple languages and a clear understanding of legal concepts, terminology and principles. In addition to these skills, legal translation also demands high ethical standards to ensure confidentiality, impartiality, and cultural sensitivity, which are the key ethical considerations in this domain.
🌀 Confidentiality.
Legal documents often contain sensitive and confidential information that requires protection. Legal translators must respect the confidentiality of the records they translate and take steps to ensure that the information does not end up in the wrong hands. These steps include signing an NDA, using secure file transfer protocols, and sometimes wholly rejecting cloud-based CAT tools for security reasons.
🌀 Impartiality.
Legal translators must always stay unbiased and impartial in their translations. They should not inject their personal beliefs or opinions into the translation, nor should they attempt to influence the meaning or outcome of the legal case in any way. The role of the legal translator is to accurately convey the meaning of the source text in the target language.
🌀 Cultural sensitivity.
Legal translators must be culturally sensitive and aware of the social and cultural norms of both the source and target language. They must consider any cultural differences that may affect the interpretation of the legal text and ensure that the translation is appropriate and respectful of the intended audience. Legal translators should also be aware of cultural bias or prejudice that could impact translation.
It would help if you also remembered accuracy and professionalism. Any legal translation must be accurate and faithful to the source text. Legal translators, in turn, need to conduct themselves professionally and maintain the highest ethical standards in all aspects of their work. They should be respectful and courteous to all parties involved in the legal process and avoid any behaviour that might be perceived as unprofessional or unethical.
To sum up, the ethics of legal translation is essential to ensure that legal translations are accurate, reliable and respectful of all parties involved. Legal translators must adhere to the highest ethical standards, such as confidentiality, impartiality, cultural sensitivity, accuracy and professionalism. By doing so, they can contribute to ensuring that legal documents are translated effectively and that justice is done.
