The Peculiarities of the Spanish Legal Translation

Differently than many countries, the origins of Hispanic legal system are both ancient and classical, based on the Greek, Roman and French legal systems, including a participation of “legal concepts” existing in the pre-colonization period. Latin American legal systems are more similar to the continental Europe than to the U.S. legal system.

U.S. business people and foreign owned corporations doing business in Mexico must directly and indirectly deal with the Hispanic legal system, even if they do not have an actual business presence in Latin America. The Spanish legal translation is important because it is usually the “interface” between these two distinct legal words. The Spanish legal translation needs to interpret how a determined legal situation in the US is handled in Latin countries and vice-versa. Comparing to a machinery translation, one could imagine that the translation of a machine guide should take in account physic laws that are different in the source and in the target universes.

Ideally, such business people should have at least a general working knowledge of the legal system. U.S. legal counsel with clients doing business in Latin countries should have a more detailed knowledge of Latin practices, laws and courts. Unfortunately, most companies do not have the time to compare laws and to understand the nuances of the differences. The result is that the Spanish legal translation will be in charge of building a bridge between these two universes.

It is interesting to note that Latin lawyers are highly educated and many speak English. In Mexico, for example, students enter law school after 11 years of formal education. Law school is 5 years, includes liberal arts related courses and is broader and more formal and theoretical in scope and focus than is law school in the U.S. After graduating from law school, the individual usually works for a firm or government agency as a clerk until he or she presents an oral exam to become licensed.

Finally, people and companies doing business in Hispanic countries or markets, and attorneys, who represent them, should be supported by quality Spanish legal translation providers and take the time to learn about the Hispanic legal system and how it differs from the U.S. system. This learning process also encompasses the study of Hispanic countries interesting history and culture.