Translations FAQ

Carrying out an official translation (legal translation) involves interpreting the content of a text written in one language and translating it into another, in a manner appropriate to the legal and socio-cultural contexts of the countries involved. These could be documents of a legal nature, either public (documents issued by an administration or public body), or private (written to legally regulate a particular contractual relationship between individuals or companies).

No, as translation is often not only informative but also aims to produce a document with legal effects in another country, where it is necessary to carry out prior research work in comparative law. Being bilingual, therefore, is not sufficient to translate legal documents. It is not even enough to have extensive experience as a translator, or in legal sciences in isolation. A complete command of both languages, as well as the two legal systems involved (that of the country of the source text and that of the country of the target language), is required so as not to make careless mistakes that can have serious legal consequences for the recipients of the translation.
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Professional legal translators must have a solid academic background in law. However, in parallel, they also face a number of linguistic challenges when translating texts, making a solid grounding in the field of translation vital. Additionally, specialization in certain areas such as education, finance, and business, etc., is essential to ensure quality work in such complex matters.

Any document drafted by a lawyer or public official, as well as a large number of financial and academic documents with legal implications, need to be translated by a professional legal translator if they are to be used in a foreign country that speaks a language other than that of the country where the document was written. from the country where the document originated.

Such documents might include:
Sales contracts
Financial reports
Powers
Property deeds
Labor documentation
Wills
Trusts
Insurance policies
Expert reports
Documents relating to intellectual or industrial property
Regulations and foreign legislation
Judicial rulings
Arbitration procedures
Corporate deeds and articles of association
Academic reports
And, in general, any legal, financial, academic, religious text, etc., that entails the creation of rights or obligations for a certain party.

The services of INTER-COL include legal translations, specialized in the translation of legal documents, documents issued by public administrations, business and financial documents, and so on. To that end, our workforce includes professionals who are specialized in the legal translation of documents in each of the aforementioned areas, which enables us to guarantee that they will be wholly valid in Colombia and abroad.