The Ministry of Justice on February 17 held a workshop on the consultation of the draft report on implementation of legislation regarding translation of legal normative documents into English.
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| Director of the Ministry of Justice’s Department of General Affairs on Legislative Development Nguyen Hong Tuyen addresses the workshop__Photo: VLLF |
Addressing the workshop, Director of the Ministry of Justice’s Department of General Affairs on Legislative Development Nguyen Hong Tuyen spoke highly of the translation of legal documents made by Vietnam Law & Legal Forum (VLLF) magazine, the top among four sources that provide English translations of Vietnamese legal documents.
The other three include the national legal database, e-portals of ministries and sectors, and other private companies, according to the report.
However, Tuyen pointed out difficulties and challenges that the translators in Vietnam in general and VLLF in particular are facing over the years, including the lack of coordination between translating and drafting agencies and professional training courses for translators, as well as time pressure and budget.
Therefore, the Ministry of Justice, with the support of the National Legislative Development (NLD) Project in Vietnam, is reviewing the translation of legal documents for drafting a regulation on the translation of legal documents, the Director said.
Giving comments on the draft report, VLLF Deputy Editor-in-Chief Cao Thi Mai Phuong said there should be a specific mechanism between VLLF and the Ministry of Justice and related ministries for providing better translations. She proposed the Ministry of Justice to soon establish a lexicon of legal terminologies.
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| VLLF Deputy Editor-in-Chief Cao Thi Mai Phuong speaks at the workshop__Photo: VLLF |
At the workshop, experts also exchanged international experience in translation methodology, process and techniques.
NLD expert André Samson shared Canada’s experience that the original and translated documents are always promulgated at the same time, meaning that the original text will be sent to the translator for translation before it is made public and the translator may have confusing terms clarified by the drafter.
If the same methodology is applied in Vietnam, the Canadian expert believed the quality of legal documents in both Vietnamese and foreign languages will be improved. He also recommended that all glossaries and methodologies of translation should be included in a common database for public access and use.- (VLLF)
