Plus Ultra Channel

info@plusultratranslations.com

+31641694933

Plus Ultra

Translation Tips

Plus Ultra Legal and Language Tips: Practical Tips For Legal Translations

On this page you’ll find practical tips for matters that combine law and language. We wrote this page for those that don’t speak the Dutch legal language and that may face issues during Dutch formalities and procedures.

Plus Ultra Legal and Language Tips highlights the importance to understanding legal language. Even in the English language the legal language is a language on its own that’s hard to understand even for those whose mother tongue is English. Legal English is a language on its own, apart from conversational English language. That’s why issues and misunderstandings arise faster when you don’t understand the Dutch language properly, which is exacerbated when you’re dealing with legal matters. So if it’s important to understand legal Dutch during proceedings, formalities etcetera, when you don’t or hardly understand Dutch, a good translation becomes indispensable.

In our discussion we try to determine when and why a good translation is indispensable. The aim is to determine exactly when language issues may arise so that we can preempt them. By preempting them, the information we provide is useful to both those that don’t speak the language and those that do (e.g. non-Dutch client and Dutch notary).

The links in our articles direct you to the legal and language sources we use, but please note that they’re in Dutch. Feel free to ask us for further sources and references for verification and information purposes.

If you have had issues or doubts about legal or language matters during proceedings or transactions (public instruments, power of attorneys, real estate, etc.), ask us and perhaps we can dedicate an article to its legal and language aspects.

Thank you very much for visiting us. Please feel free to contact us with questions or suggestions.

How To Prevent Language Issues When Signing Documents At The Netherlands Notary While You Don’t Speak Dutch

If you don’t speak Dutch we recommend the following. First, before signing documents at the notary’s office, get yourself a sworn translation of the documents so that you fully understand what they say. Second, find an interpreter to interpret the communication between you and the notary when you sign documents at the notary’s office. The notary’s input consists mostly of explaining the execution formality and summarizing the most important parts of the document. Why do we recommend this? Let’s have a look at some problems raised in litigation so that we can learn from them.