兴趣爱好What's promised is promised! In the previous article we told you what difficulties are usually encountered in sworn translations when the legal systems of two countries are very different. But how do we do it, does our document adapt to the legal system of the country we are submitting it to, does it stay as it is and wait for the receiving authority to accept it? If you read on, we will answer these questions and others that you may have already asked yourself.
Solutions for sworn translations in cases of legal divergence
Solutions. Image extracted from Pixabay
Solutions. Image extracted from Pixabay
Clarifications
One of the most commonly used resources is to add an explanation of something that the reader may not understand or know in square brackets. Some concrete examples are:
the origin of place names
the origin of towns
utility or identity identification numbers
Those who will read the document in the country of origin need not know the above information. In this way, misunderstandings can be avoided and the text is easier to read.
It is also common to add information in square brackets on the following aspects of the texts, as Francisco Javier Casas points out:
Illegible signatures of those in charge of the Civil Registry.
Stamps of the institutions to which they belong
Adaptations
You may think that a sworn translation cannot be adapted because, after all, it is an official document. However, translators often also act as legal advisors.
What does this mean? Even if the final reader of the sworn translation is an expert in the subject matter, he or she is probably not familiar with the legal system from which the document originates. Since the role of the sworn translator is to facilitate understanding, this resource is often used. In this way, he or she will create an equivalent text, which will maintain the "essence" of the original and bridge the differences with the source legal system.
"Mimicry" Image by Carlos Alberto Novelino de Amorim on Flickr
"Mimetism" Image by Carlos Alberto Novelino de Amorim on Flickr
Format
There are other data that appear in the official documents that, at first glance, do not seem to need translation. These data are: proper names, date or postal address.
It is true that they are not translated, but in some cases it is necessary to adapt them. With the proper name we refer to the order of name and surname. These will be placed according to the form they usually acquire in similar documents in the country of destination. Another issue is the number of surnames, which can also be a bit problematic. So much so that, as a teacher of mine told me, in the USA a man was arrested for giving a false name to the police and it turns out that he had simply told them his first surname! Calm down, this is just an isolated case, but you have exemplified this situation very well, haven't you?
As for the date, depending on the country where the translation is received, the order may have to be changed and, instead of presenting the format dd/mm/yyyyy, it may be expressed as follows: mm/dd/yyyyy. The same applies to the order of the data in the postal address.
Preparation of the original document
In certain cases, knowing the differences that exist between different countries, the original document can be drafted taking them into account. If you want to know what we mean, we have a clear example in an article on the sworn translation of the Russian power of attorney.
That's all for today. We hope this article has been useful for you and, if by any chance, you need a sworn translation, at Júramelo we can provide you with this service. You can also ask us for a free quote for your sworn translation.
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Sources:
The difficulties of sworn translation into Spanish of registry documents from French-speaking countries.
Guide for the sworn translation of civil registration documents (birth and death) from English into Spanish.
