Indra Listyo, instructor of Lembaga Bahasa Internasional of the Faculty of Humanities of Universitas Indonesia (LBI FIB UI) and chairman of the Indonesian Translators Association (HPI), talking about legal translation at the Constitutional Court’s Workshop on International Relations, Saturday (3/4/2023) in Bekasi. Photo by MKRI.

Saturday, March 4, 2023 | 17:47 WIB

BEKASI (MKRI) — Different languages have different characteristics, so not all things in two languages have one-to-one equivalents. Consequently, translating from one language into another is not word-for-word, said Indra Listyo, an instructor of Lembaga Bahasa Internasional of the Faculty of Humanities of Universitas Indonesia (LBI FIB UI) and chairman of the Indonesian Translators Association (HPI), in his presentation on legal translation at the Constitutional Court’s (MK) Workshop on International Relations on Saturday, March 4, 2023 in Bekasi, West Java.

Therefore, Indra said, the strategies and purpose of translation are crucial in order to minimize mistranslation. In legal translation, which pertains to legal documents such as court decisions and contracts, faithfulness is crucial, he emphasized. “In translation legal documents, the translator must maintain faithfulness to the source text,” he said before fifty-eight participants of the workshop.

He also explained that translation involves analysis, transfer of meaning, and restructuring of the text. In analyzing the text, the translator must take into account the legal, social, and cultural aspects of both the source and target texts. Therefore, the translator must exercise caution. “Beginners often use Google Translate. But this cannot be done for legal translation, which is binding. In order to be able to translate, the translator must have English proficiency, at least passively,” he said.

He stressed three indicators of good translation: accuracy, clarity, and naturalness. “Clear means that the translation follows good grammar. Accurate means that the translation transfer the message accurately,” he added.

Also read:

Going Global, Court Holds Workshop on International Cooperation

Constitutional Court’s Role in Indonesia’s Foreign Policy

In the second session, Dony Jaya, another instructor of LBI FIB UI, talked about journalistic translation. In contrast to the faithful tendency of legal translation, journalistic translation tends to be more flexible while maintaining the message of the source text. When translating news articles, he added, the translator should focus on the information. “However, changes to the sentences are possible for brevity and naturalness,” he said.

He also recommended brevity in journalistic translation, where longer sentences might be broken down into smaller units. “What is important is that the number of the paragraph remains,” he said.

The two sessions on translation is part of a four-day workshop on international relations. On Thursday-Sunday, March 2-5, 2023, fifty-eight participants—staff members of the international relations department, secretaries of the constitutional justices, expert assistants to the constitutional justices, and representatives of the Court’s work units—attended the workshop in in Bekasi, West Java. Speakers from the Ministry of State Secretariat, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Constitutional Court’s Public Relations and Protocol Bureau delivered presentations on various topics on international relations, international diplomacy, and official foreign travel.

Author       : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 3/7/2023 11:31 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.