Legal Language and Legal Translation

Abstract

The process of globalization has gained impetus in recent years; accordingly the international law, which regulates the relations between organizations and states, has gained importance as well. Considering this development, it can be said that international law (as a result of this translation and interpreting as well) became crucial. Therefore, legal translation became prominent among the other domains of translation. However, translating legal documents is not easy at all. Even minor errors in the translation of legal documents can result in lawsuits and legal exposure. Legal translation involves very complex matters and specialized terminology. This is why it is extremely important to assign the legal translation task to a translator who is well qualified and specialized to handle translation of legal documents. The field of legal translation in Kosovo is not so much developed. There is a limited work and study done in this regard. This paper attempts to make a modest contribution in this regard and the description and discussion of the legal language and legal translation and solutions offered herein may be taken as a basis for further research. This paper discusses the legal language, the nature of the legal language and the legal translation. It will elaborate the legal language, explain what makes the legal language difficult and then set out linguistic characteristics of the legal language. Further it will also discuss the nature of the legal language and elaborate the legal translation. Finally, it will present the importance of the legal translation in the globalized world and some of the requirements that good legal translators need in order to render professional and accurate translations.