Legal Translation and the Quest for Authenticity

Legal translation, which is deeply rooted in both law and language, boasts a long-standing, important history but has only recently emerged as a recognised specialised discipline. This delayed recognition may account for the lingering misconceptions that downplay its significance and cast doubt on its efficacy as a communication tool. In truth, legal translation is indispensable in our increasingly interconnected world. This article addresses, from the point of view of a comparative lawyer, some key challenges in legal translation. Translators face the task of reconciling legal concepts and terminologies that often lack direct equivalents across languages, complicating the task of preserving authenticity and functionality in translated texts. Authenticity requires maintaining the source text’s intent and authority as it passes from one linguistic framework into another, a task that involves the solution of several problems, as discussed in this article.