Legal Translation And The Ethical Constraints Of Legal Translators
Auteurs : Saridaki Evanthia .
Résumé
Legal translation is one of the most demanding areas of professional translation because legal texts do not merely communicate information: they may create rights and obligations, determine legal status, influence judicial decisions, establish contractual relationships, or affect access to justice. Consequently, the legal translator operates within a complex ethical framework in which linguistic accuracy, legal equivalence, confidentiality, impartiality, professional competence, accountability, and loyalty to the communicative purpose of the translation must be carefully balanced. The ethical dimension of legal translation becomes particularly significant because translators frequently work between different legal systems, institutional cultures, and conceptual frameworks. A term that appears to have a direct linguistic equivalent may refer to a substantially different legal concept in the target jurisdiction. Therefore, legal translation cannot be reduced to word-for-word substitution; it requires interpretation, comparative legal knowledge, contextual analysis, and professional judgment. This article examines the principal ethical constraints affecting legal translators and discusses the tensions that arise between fidelity and functionality, accuracy and readability, confidentiality and technological innovation, neutrality and professional responsibility, and client loyalty and the broader interests of justice. Particular attention is given to the translator's responsibility when dealing with ambiguous or defective source texts, culturally specific legal concepts, sensitive personal information, conflicts of interest, and machine translation and artificial intelligence. The article argues that ethical legal translation requires more than adherence to formal codes of professional conduct. It requires translators to develop a reflective professional identity in which ethical decision-making is integrated into every stage of the translation process. International standards, including ISO 20771:2020, reinforce the importance of competence, confidentiality, quality assurance, professional development, and responsible translation practices. Ultimately, the legal translator should be understood not as an invisible linguistic intermediary but as a highly responsible professional whose decisions may have direct legal and social consequences.
Mots clés
legal translation ; ethical matters ; cultural competence ; translator training ; translation techniques
