Undoubtedly, one of the terms that generate the most confusion among our clients is that of sworn translation. The vast majority of them had never heard of this service until they reached a civil registry, a notary or some other public body, where they were told that they needed a sworn translation of their documents as an indispensable step to carry out their procedures.
What we are most asked for in these cases, however, is a legal translation, without knowing that this term has a slightly different meaning than that of a sworn translation.
Legal Translation Vs. Sworn Translation
A legal translation is the translation of a text of a legal or judicial nature. Legal documents can be laws, judgments, demands, powers of attorney, etc. This type of text is characterized by its structure, its vocabulary, and its standardized constructions, so it requires knowledge of the legal field for its correct translation. These are specialized texts that require professionals specialized in the subject so that the result corresponds to the characteristics of the legal texts of the language into which it is translated, also respecting their content.
The sworn translation is, however, the translation of any document by an authorized translator to swear their fidelity to the original. These translations are characterized by having official validity, since the recognized sworn translator performs a faithful and complete Laos translation (รับ แปล ภาษา ลาว, which is the term in Thai) of the source document and guarantees its accuracy with its seal and signature.
Although in many cases, a sworn translation is also a legal translation. In reality, any text can be sworn, from note certificates to medical reports or even WhatsApp conversations, as long as the document is to have legal effects. For this reason, the sworn translator must possess excellent linguistic knowledge of all kinds, in addition to cultural knowledge that helps him to work with all sorts of texts, whatever their specialty.