Translation into the target language (legal texts)
What this domain tests
The translation paper assesses whether you can render a legal source text into your target language with its meaning, legal effect and register intact. Accuracy outranks stylistic elegance: a polished sentence that changes an obligation, a defined term or a cross-reference loses marks.
Core rules
- Translate the legal effect, not the words. Identify the operative verb and its modality first. In EU legislation, the French present tense (“adoptent”) often carries an obligation and becomes “shall adopt” in English.
- Keep defined terms and formulae consistent. “Member State”, “the Union”, “this Directive” and “the Commission” must be rendered the same way throughout. Use the established EU formula “laws, regulations and administrative provisions”.
- Follow house style for citations. EU English uses “Article 5(2)”, “Article 267 TFEU”, “Directive 2006/123/EC” and “Official Journal”. Do not invent a citation format.
- Preserve numbers, dates and scope. “By 31 December 2025” is a deadline; “at the latest” adds emphasis but not a new date. Check “paragraph”, “point” and “first subparagraph”.
Worked example
Source (FR): “Les États membres adoptent, au plus tard le 31 décembre 2025, les dispositions législatives, réglementaires et administratives nécessaires pour se conformer à l’article 5, paragraphe 2.” Target (EN): “Member States shall adopt, by 31 December 2025 at the latest, the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with Article 5(2).” Reasoning: “adoptent” is present indicative, but in a directive it imposes an obligation, so “shall adopt”. “Au plus tard” is “at the latest”; “dispositions législatives, réglementaires et administratives” is the standard triplet, not “legislative, regulatory and administrative disposals”. “Se conformer à” is “comply with”. “L’article 5, paragraphe 2” becomes “Article 5(2)” in EU citation style. The deadline and article reference are retained exactly.
Traps that cost marks
- False friends: “dispositions” is not “disposals”; “arrêt” is a judgment; “règlement” is a regulation, not a ruling.
- Dropping “shall” or replacing it with “must” or “will”, which weakens or alters the obligation.
- Rendering “Member States” inconsistently or lower-casing “the Union”.
- Mistranslating “règlement” and “directive” in the same passage.
- Leaving source-language terms untranslated where an established target equivalent exists.
- Silently correcting an apparent error in the source instead of translating what is there.