Translation of court judgments, claims and arbitration documents

The translation of court and arbitration documents is the area of legal translation with the highest responsibility. Here the translation becomes a direct part of the proceedings: the judge or arbitrator reads it, the opposing party's lawyer relies on it, and it decides whether the judgment is enforced in another country. An inaccurate translation can turn into a procedural problem, a missed deadline or a lost case. Our service is intended for law firms, lawyers, companies' legal departments and parties to international disputes who need a procedurally usable, terminologically exact and timely delivered translation. This page is part of our legal translation practice.

The documents we translate

Court acts

• judgments of the first instance, appellate and cassation courts
• rulings, decisions and orders
• foreign court judgments for recognition and enforcement in Georgia
• Georgian court judgments for enforcement abroad
• writs of execution and certificates of a judgment's entry into force

The parties' procedural documents

• claims, defences and counterclaims
• appeals and cassation appeals
• motions, applications and written positions
• witness statements, affidavits and expert opinions
• evidence: correspondence, contracts, financial documents

Arbitration documentation

• arbitration agreements and arbitration clauses
• requests for arbitration and answers
• arbitral awards and interim awards
• procedural orders and correspondence with the arbitral tribunal
• documents for ICC, LCIA, SCC, VIAC and Georgian arbitration institution procedures

Why the translation of a court document is especially difficult

A court act consists of three layers at once: procedural terminology, substantive law concepts and the factual circumstances of the specific case. Each layer requires its own precision.

• procedural terms ("ruling", "decision", "judgment") reflect a different hierarchy in different countries, and confusing them changes the legal nature of the document
• the names of the instances are not translated literally: "High Court", "Court of Appeals", "Landgericht" or "Arbitrazhny sud" do not always correspond to a specific link in the Georgian court system
• "Arbitrazhny sud" in the Russian system is a state commercial court, not private arbitration, and ignoring this difference in translation is a serious mistake
• the logical connectors used in the court's reasoning ("whereas", "accordingly", "notwithstanding") must be carried over exactly, because they form the chain of reasoning

A professional court translation preserves the structure of the original: the operative, descriptive and reasoning parts, dates, case numbers, the parties' names and every reference to legislative acts are carried over in unchanged format.

Recognition and enforcement of a foreign judgment in Georgia

To enforce a foreign court judgment in Georgia it must be recognised by the Supreme Court, while for a foreign arbitral award the 1958 New York Convention applies. Both procedures require a full, notarized Georgian translation of the judgment.

Two mistakes are common here: translating only the operative part, or using the wrong legalization sequence. We help the client assemble the correct package: the original with an apostille, a full translation, notarization and, where needed, a translation of the certificate of entry into force as well.

Enforcement of a Georgian judgment abroad

The opposite direction is frequent too: a Georgian court or arbitration judgment has to be enforced in Europe, the USA, Turkey or a CIS country. In that case the translation must meet the expectations of the receiving country's court: terminology, format and the form of certification. We translate with the legal tradition of the target jurisdiction in mind and, where needed, add a translator's note on those institutions of Georgian law which have no direct analogue in the receiving system.

Arbitration disputes: consistency throughout the proceedings

International arbitration often lasts years and involves hundreds of documents. The greatest risk here is terminological inconsistency: if the same contract clause is translated one way in the claim and another way in a witness statement, the opposing party will certainly use that.

So on arbitration cases we work with one permanent team, the case's terminology base and a translation memory. Every new document is checked for consistency with the previous translations. This is especially important in translating witness statements and expert opinions, where a change of one word changes the content of the statement.

Deadlines and procedural time limits

In court proceedings the deadline is set by law and missing it means the inadmissibility of the appeal. We work in the rhythm of law firms:

• urgent translation within the procedural time limit, with night and weekend work where needed
• parallel translation of large volumes by several translators, with unified editing
• staged delivery: first the operative part or the main document, then the annexes
• notarization the same day, if the document is ready for submission

Confidentiality in ongoing disputes

The materials of an ongoing dispute are the most sensitive category: they reflect a party's strategy, evidence and weak points. Every translator and editor works under a signed NDA, documents are transferred over an encrypted channel, and after the case is over the files are deleted within the agreed period. Where needed, we sign a project-specific non-disclosure agreement on the lawyer's or the company's template. If a translation of a litigation power of attorney is also needed for representation in the proceedings, we prepare it together with the case materials, with the same terminology.

Frequently asked questions