Did you know that any of the 24 official languages of the European Union can be used as the language of proceedings at the EU Court of Justice? Today, VU Law Faculty was visited by Natalija Točickienė, Head of the Lithuanian Legal Translation Unit of the Court of Justice of the EU. She shared her experience with law students and gave a detailed presentation on the work of a legal linguist and how translations are proceeding in a multilingual environment.
“No other international court has such multilingualism,” says N. Točickienė. Cases in CJEU are routinely translated into intermediate languages, some of which are English, French and Polish. Lithuanian case would be translated into French and English, and from there into all other EU languages. This system ensures that EU citizens have access to justice and can get answers written in their own language.
A legal linguist working for the CJEU produces translations of texts, regulatory acts and decisions. In addition to this work, N. Točickienė says that summaries of cases and revisions also are carried out, i.e. checking the texts translated by freelance translators. Linguists can use phraseology and automated translation tools to help legal linguists translate texts. Keeping in mind that the CJEU deals not only with different languages but also with different legal systems, it is important to maintain a common terminology. “A legal linguist is not the author of a text, he is not a translator of fiction. The text must be strictly adhered to”, emphasises N. Točickienė.
What does it take to become a lawyer-linguist at the CJEU? It is important to have a law degree, good skills of Lithuanian and 2 other languages, the ability to do job qualitatively and on time, knowledge of the court proceedings and a curious mind. Applicants must successfully complete 2 stages – a logic test and a translation task. According to N. Točickienė, it is not expected that a person who starts work will succeed immediately, and mentions another possibility – to take part in traineeships, which are an excellent opportunity to gain experience for people who have a legal education.
