Cover not available
Article published In:
Legal and institutional translation: Functions, processes, competences
Edited by Fernando Prieto Ramos
[Target 33:2] 2021
► pp. 228–253

Translators’ and revisers’ competences in legal translation

Revision foci in prototypical scenarios

ORCID logo | University of Granada
This article proposes a hierarchy of translator and reviser competences in prototypical scenarios in legal translation with a view to determining the most appropriate revision foci to ensure translation quality. Built on a prior characterisation of the most common professional translator profiles in legal translation, the proposal for a hierarchy of competences derives from two premises: (1) The professional profile of those who translate and revise legal documents is very diverse in terms of competence and qualifications (training and experience), and (2) translation competence and specialist knowledge in legal fields (i.e., domain competence) are fundamental when revising to guarantee the quality of legal translations. The proposal is framed by quality assurance in legal translation through a revision process based on (1) the coherent management of the work of the translators and revisers involved in the translation project, and (2) the appropriate methodology for revision applied to legal translation by adapting the revision mode’s focus to ensure its effectiveness. Six common scenarios are identified in light of the translators’ profiles, for which revisers’ profiles are then proposed in order to detect any legal translation competence deficiencies among translators, and thus ensure quality.
Keywords: legal translation competence (LTC), professional profiles in legal translation (LT), hierarchy of competences, translation revision, translation quality assurance (TQA)
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: Why do we need a hierarchy of translator and reviser competences in legal translation?
  • 2.Theoretical framework
    • 2.1Legal translation competence
    • 2.2Quality assurance in LT
    • 2.3Translation revision effectiveness for quality assurance in LT
  • 3.Designing the hierarchy of translator and reviser competences
    • 3.1First phase: Characterisation of professional profiles in LT
    • 3.2Second phase: Analysis of legal translator profiles and job contents
    • 3.3Third phase: Adaptation of revision modes to LT
  • 4.Proposal of a hierarchy of translator and reviser competences in prototypical LT scenarios
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 25 May 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.21065.gal
References (56)
References
Allman, Spencer. 2006. Acknowledging and Establishing the Hierarchy of Expertise in Translator-Reviser Scenarios as an Aid to the Process of Revising Translations . MA diss. University of Birmingham.Google Scholar
. 2007. “Negotiating Translation Revision Assignments.” In Papers of 7th Portsmouth Translation Conference 2007, Translation as Negotiation, edited by School of Languages and Area Studies (SLAS), 35–47. Portsmouth: SLAS, Portsmouth University.Google Scholar
Arevalillo Doval, Juan José. 2015. “La nueva norma de calidad ISO-17100 para servicios de traducción: La nueva cara de la normalización en el sector [The new ISO-17100 quality standard for translation services: the new face of industry standardization].” In Actas V Congreso Sociedad Española de Lenguas Modernas 2015 [Papers of the 5th Spanish Society of Modern Languages Conference 2015], edited by SELM, 83–98. Sevilla: Bienza.Google Scholar
Brunette, Louise. 2000. “Towards a Terminology for Translation Quality Assessment: A Comparison of TQA Practices.” The Translator 6 (2): 169–182. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cornu, Gérard. 2005. Linguistique juridique [Legal linguistics]. París: Montchrestien.Google Scholar
DGT (Directorate-General for Translation). 2010. Manual de revisión [Revision manual]. Brussels and Luxembourg: Departamento de Lengua Española de la Dirección General de Traducción de la Comisión Europea [Spanish Language Department of the Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission]. [URL]
. 2015. DGT Translation Quality Guidelines. Brussels and Luxembourg: European Commission. [URL]
ECS (European Committee for Standardization). 2006. EN 15038:2006 Translation Services: Service Requirements. Brussels: European Committee for Standardization.Google Scholar
EMT (European Masters in Translation) Expert Group. 2009. Competences for Professional Translators, Experts in Multilingual and Multimedia Communication. Brussels: European Commission. [URL]
. 2017. EMT Competence Framework 2017. Brussels: European Commission. [URL]
Hernández Morin, Katell. 2009. “Pratiques et perceptions de la révision en France [Practices and perceptions of revision in France].” Traduire 2211: 58–78. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Horguelin, Paul A., and Louise Brunette. 1998. Pratique de la révision [The practice of revision]. 3rd ed. Brossard: Linguatech éditeur.Google Scholar
Hosington, Brenda May, and Paul A. Horguelin. 1980. A Practical Guide to Bilingual Revision. Montreal: Linguatech.Google Scholar
Hu, Pi-Chan, and Le Cheng. 2016. “A Study of Legal Translation from the Perspective of Error Analysis.” International Journal of Legal Discourse 1 (1): 235–252. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
ISO (International Organization for Standardization). 2015. ISO 17100:2015. Translation Services – Requirements for Translation Services. Geneva: ISO.Google Scholar
. 2020. ISO 20771:2020. Legal Translation – Requirements. Geneva: ISO.Google Scholar
Kelly, Dorothy. 2002. “Un modelo de competencia traductora: bases para el diseño curricular [A model of translation competence: bases for curriculum design].” Puentes: Hacia nuevas investigaciones en la mediación intercultural [Towards new research in intercultural mediation] 11: 9–20.Google Scholar
. 2005. A Handbook for Translator Trainers: A Guide to Reflective Practice. Manchester: St Jerome.Google Scholar
. 2008. “Training the Trainers: Towards a Description of Translator Trainer Competence and Training Needs Analysis.” TTR: Traduction, Terminologie et Redaction 21 (1): 99–125. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
King, Hayley. 2017. “Translator Education Programs & the Translation Labour Market: Linear Career Progression or a Touch of Chaos?” T and I Review 71: 133–151.Google Scholar
Kockaert, Hendrik J., and Winibert Segers. 2017. “Evaluation of Legal Translations: PIE Method (Preselected Items Evaluation).” JoSTrans 271: 148–163.Google Scholar
Krajcso, Zita. 2018. “Translators’ Competence Profiles Versus Market Demand.” Babel 64 (5–6): 692–709. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Krimpas, Panagiotis G. 2015. “Professional Profiles of the Legal Translator in Greece: A Function-Oriented Comparison.” International Journal of Language, Translation and Intercultural Communication 31: 20–39. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Künzli, Alexander. 2005. “What Principles Guide Translation Revision? A Combined Product and Process Study.” In Translation Norms: What is ‘Normal’ in the Translation Profession? Proceedings of the Conference Held on 13th November 2004 in Portsmouth, edited by Ian Kemble, 31–44. Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth.Google Scholar
. 2007a. “The Ethical Dimension of Translation Revision: An Empirical Study.” In Revision and Technical Translation, edited by Louise Brunette, special issue of JoSTrans 81: 42–56.Google Scholar
. 2007b. “Translation Revision: A Study of the Performance of Ten Professional Translators Revising a Legal Text.” In Doubts and Directions: Selected Contributions from the EST Congress, Lisbon 2004, edited by Yves Gambier, Miriam Shlesinger, and Radegundis Stolze, 115–126. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kuznik, Anna. 2010. El contenido de los puestos de trabajo de los traductores. El caso de los traductores internos en las empresas de traducción de Barcelona [The content of translators’ jobs. The case of in-house translators in Barcelona translation companies]. PhD diss. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. [URL]
Le Poder, Marie Évelyne. 2014. “Profil et compétences des traducteurs/traductrices des départements de langue espagnole et française à la Direction Générale de la traduction [Profiles and competences of translators from the Spanish and French Language Departments of the Directorate-General for Translation].” JoSTrans 211: 112–132.Google Scholar
McAuliffe, Karen. 2016. “Hidden Translators: The Invisibility of Translators and the Influence of Lawyer-Linguists on the Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.” Language and Law / Linguagem e Direito 3 (1): 5–29.Google Scholar
Martin, Tim. 2002. “Is Revision Always Useful?” T&T. Terminologie et traduction 21: 64–71.Google Scholar
. 2007. “Managing Risks and Resources: A Down-to-Earth View of Revision.” JoSTrans 81: 57–63. [URL]
Mattila, Heikki E. S. 2006. Comparative Legal Linguistics [orig. Vertaileva oikeuslingvistiikka ]. Translated by Christopher Goddard. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Mossop, Bryan. 2001. Revising and Editing for Translators. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Ortega Herráez, Juan Miguel. 2011. Interpretar para la justicia [Interpreting for the justice system]. Granada: Comares.Google Scholar
PACTE Group. 2000. “Acquiring Translation Competence: Hypotheses and Methodological Problems of a Research Project.” In Investigating Translation: Selected Papers from the 4th International Congress on Translation, Barcelona, 1998, edited by Allison Beeby, Doris Ensinger, and Marisa Presas, 99–106. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2003. “Building a Translation Competence Model.” In Triangulating Translation: Perspectives in Process Oriented Research, edited by Fabio Alves, 43–66. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2005. “Investigating Translation Competence: Conceptual and Methodological Issues.” Meta 50 (2): 609–619. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Parra-Galiano, Silvia. 2005. La revisión de traducciones en la Traductología: aproximación a la práctica de la revisión en el ámbito profesional mediante el estudio de casos y propuestas de investigación [Translation revision in translation studies: approaches to revision practices in the profession through case studies and research proposals]. PhD diss. University of Granada. [URL]
. 2006. “La revisión y otros procedimientos para el aseguramiento de la calidad de la traducción en el ámbito profesional [Revision and other procedures for translation quality assurance in the profession].” Turjuman (Revue de Traduction et d’Interprétation – Journal of Translation Studies) 15 (2): 11–48.Google Scholar
. 2007. “Propuesta metodológica para la revisión de traducciones: principios generales y parámetros [Methodological proposal for translation revision: general principles and parameters].” Trans. Revista De Traductología 111: 197–214. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2015. “El conocimiento experto (pericia) en la revisión de traducciones: clave en la gestión y propuestas de investigación [Expertise in translation revision: a key element for translation project management and research proposals].” In Traducimos desde el Sur: Actas del VI Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Ibérica de Estudios de Traducción e Interpretación [Papers of the 6th International Conference of the Iberian Association for Translation and Interpreting Studies], edited by José J. Amigo Extremera, 587–603. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Servicio de Publicaciones.Google Scholar
. 2016. “Translations Revision: Fundamental Methodological Aspects and Effectiveness of the EN-15038:2006 for Translation Quality Assurance.” In Interchange between Languages and Cultures: The Quest for Quality, edited by Jitka Zehnalová, Ondřej Molnar, and Michal Kubánek, 39–52. Olomouc: Palacký University Olomouc.Google Scholar
. 2017. “Conceptos teóricos fundamentales en la revisión de traducciones y su reflejo en el Manual de revisión de la DGT y en las Normas ISO 17100:2015 y EN 15038:2006 [Fundamental theoretical concepts in translation revision and its presence in the revision manual of the DGT and the ISO 17100:2015 and EN 15038:2006 standards].” Hermeneus 191: 270–308. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Phelan, Mary. 2017. “Analytical Assessment of Legal Translation: A Case Study Using the American Translators Association Framework.” JoSTrans 271: 189–210.Google Scholar
Pontrandolfo, Gianluca. 2017. “La revisión de traducciones jurídicas y la evaluación de su calidad en el ámbito profesional: un estudio empírico [The revision of legal translations and the evaluation of their quality in the profession: an empirical study].” In Between Specialised Texts and Institutional Contexts – Competence and Choice in Legal Translation, edited by Valérie Dulion, special issue of Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts 3 (1): 114–139. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Prieto Ramos, Fernando. 2011. “Developing Legal Translation Competence: An Integrative Process-Oriented Approach.” Comparative Legilinguistics: International Journal for Legal Communication 51: 7–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2014. “Quality Assurance in Legal Translation: Evaluating Process, Competence and Product in the Pursuit of Adequacy.” International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique 28 (1): 11–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2021. “The Use of Resources for Legal Terminological Decision-Making: Patterns and Profile Variations Among Institutional Translators.” Perspectives 29 (2): 278–310. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Robert, Isabelle S. 2012. La révision en traduction: les procédures de révision et leur impact sur le produit et le processus de révision [Revision in translation: revision procedures and their impact on the product and the revision process]. PhD diss. University of Antwerp.Google Scholar
Robert, Isabelle S., Aline Remael, and Jim J. J. Ureel. 2017. “Towards a Model of Translation Revision Competence.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 11 (1): 1–19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sakwe, George Mbotake. 2015. “The Standard Profile of the 21st Century Translator: Implications for Translator Training.” International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies 3 (3): 86–104.Google Scholar
Scarpa, Federica, and Daniele Orlando. 2017. “What It Takes to Do It Right: An Integrative EMT-Based Model for Legal Translation Competence.” JoSTrans 271: 21–42.Google Scholar
Soriano-Barabino, Guadalupe. 2016. Comparative Law for Translators. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van Rensburg, A. 2017. “Developing Assessment Instruments: The Effect of a Reviser’s Profile on the Quality of the Revision Product.” Linguistica Antverpiensia: New Series – Themes in Translation Studies 161: 71–88.Google Scholar
Vigier Moreno, Francisco Javier. 2010. El nombramiento de Traductores-Intérpretes Jurados de inglés mediante acreditación académica: descripción de la formación específica y del grado de satisfacción de los egresados [The appointment of English sworn translator-interpreters through academic accreditation: description of the specific training and satisfaction with their degree of graduates]. PhD diss. University of Granada.Google Scholar
Wagner, Anne, and Jean-Claude Gémar. 2015. “Les enjeux de la jurilinguistique et de la juritraductologie [The challenges of jurilinguistics and juritraductology].” In Legal Translation and Jurilinguistics: Globalizing Disciplines. Retrospects and Prospects, edited by Anne Wagner and Jean-Claude Gémar, special issue of International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique 28 (1): 1–8Google Scholar
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Prieto Ramos, Fernando & Diego Guzmán
2024. The impact of specialised translator training and professional experience on legal translation quality assurance: an empirical study of revision performance. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 18:2 ► pp. 313 ff. DOI logo
Huang, Jian
2023. Exploring Students’ Perception of Subject and Translation Integrated Learning (STIL) as an Innovative Approach to Translation Instruction: A Case Study. SAGE Open 13:4 DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2022. Specifics of Translation Rendering of Concept JUSTICE / СПРАВЕДЛВІСТЬ in Ukrainian Translations of English International Legal Discourse. Mìžnarodnij fìlologìčnij časopis 13:2 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.