EXPERT LEGAL TRANSLATION – POLISH-ENGLISH AND ENGLISH-POLISH
Translating contracts, powers of attorney, judgments and other official documents is the daily routine of numerous translators. Legal translation is one of those categories of translation orders that sworn translators meet very often. Unsurprisingly, many of them offer this type of service. Considering the variety of translators and translation agencies in the Polish-English and English-Polish translation market, clients may find it hard to choose the best legal translation offer for their documents – of course, if they do seek such an offer.
LEGAL TRANSLATION – IS GOOGLE TRANSLATE ENOUGH?
Admittedly, the cost is often the predominant factor in choosing a translator or translation agency. On the one hand, given the current market situation, this should not come as a surprise. On the other hand, a question may arise about the quality of very cheap translations. Sometimes clients order a translation service at the lowest possible price without even verifying who will perform it. It is all the more worrying that some clients – especially when an English-Polish certified translation with the sworn translator’s stamp is not required – decide not to use expert services and translate the document on their own using tools such as Google Translate. The truth is that legal translations are somewhat neglected and taken for granted as something obvious that does not require any special qualifications. However, it is quite the opposite.
LEGAL TRANSLATION – WHAT MAKES IT STAND OUT?
Based on my experience of Polish to English and English to Polish legal translation, I can confidently say that the many years spent by a legal translator on specialisation in this field cannot be replaced by either a machine translation tool or the best legal dictionary. This is due to the peculiar nature of law, which directly affects the properties of legal language. Law is a phenomenon closely related to a specific society, its history, culture, values and institutions. For that reason, the law in the UK or in the United States (the common law family) and the law in Poland (the civil law family) are based on completely different philosophical and conceptual foundations that originated in these countries in the course of their historical development. These underlying discrepancies translate into terminology, style, grammar and the format of legal texts. Choosing the right term in the target text requires the knowledge of certain cultural baggage that a given word carries – or at least a degree of suspiciousness that makes the translator verify that an apparently good equivalent works in a specific context. Hence, knowledge and experience are of the essence.
RISKY TRANSLATION ERRORS – WHY YOU NEED POLISH-ENGLISH AND ENGLISH-POLISH TRANSLATION EXPERTS
Unprofessional Polish-English and English-Polish legal translations will not necessarily go unnoticed, and they may give rise to certain negative consequences. For example, an incorrect translation of a contract may result in the wrong decision to sign (or not to sign) it. Discrepancies between parallel language versions of a contract may have different ramifications, depending on whether one of the versions has been indicated as binding or prevailing in case of doubt. Unprofessional translations, which a foreign recipient might not understand, can also be embarrassing in mutual business relations. Incorrect translation may lead to an unfavourable resolution of court or administrative proceedings. Nevertheless, without knowing the nature of legal translation, some people find it difficult to see the potential consequences of sloppy translations.
Therefore, when looking for an English-Polish or Polish-English translation service for your documents, it is worth relying on expert legal translation services, provided by specialists in this field. Even a perfect command of general English is not enough to ensure a reliable translation of a legal document.
ENGLAW’S RANGE OF EXPERT TRANSLATION SERVICES – POLISH – ENGLISH AND ENGLISH – POLISH LEGAL TRANSLATION
Legal specialisation means a combination of linguistic, legal and translation knowledge, which goes hand in hand with practice and experience. I insist on this mixture of qualifications at EngLaw. As a graduate in law, English studies and translation studies, I have specialised in legal translation since the very beginning of my translation career, initially as a regular translator, and – for over two years now – as a sworn translator. Although thousands of translated pages mean a lot of experience, they at the same time teach humility and motivate a legal translator to expand their knowledge even further, which is indispensable in this profession.
I offer expert Polish <-> English legal translation services at a reasonable price for clients who focus on quality. Documents that can be
Polish-English legal translation
translated at EngLaw include notarial deeds, court files, court rulings (e.g. divorce decrees, child arrangements orders, judgments, etc.), administrative decisions, powers of attorney and authorisations, wills and testaments, certificates (extracts) from the National Court Register (KRS certificates), financial documents, accounting and tax documents (e.g. certificates of residence, P45, P60, PIT, CIT and VAT returns), social insurance documents, insurance policies, legislative acts, various types of contracts (distribution agreement, cooperation agreement, employment contract, IT industry contracts, e.g. Independent Contractor Agreement, NDAs, etc.), legal content for website owners and online stores (a privacy policy (GDPR), cookie policy, terms and conditions, etc.) as well as plenty of other legal, administrative and official documents. The services include both standard translation and certified translation, i.e. with the stamp of a Polish – English sworn translator.
At EngLaw, I focus on the meticulous and reliable preparation of certified and ordinary translations from Polish into English and from English into Polish. I am aware of the responsibility a legal translator assumes, and therefore, before any translation is delivered to the client, it is proofread several times to minimise errors. Preparing a good translation takes time. I do not accept any translation order if I am not sure that there is enough time to prepare and review the translation properly. Even an express translation service can only be rendered if its quality is ensured. If you are convinced by the argument that Polish-English and English-Polish legal translations should be entrusted to experts, feel welcome to use EngLaw’s certified and ordinary translation services.
Remote and online services
Certified translator of English in Poland
Sworn translator of English in Poland
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