Common types of legal documents that require legal translation

In today’s world, translation has never been easier, given the fact that the world has adapted to different cultures and languages.
According to article 7 of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Constitution, the official language of UAE is Arabic. 

Moreover, Article 3 of Federal Decree-Law No. 22 of 2022 on the Regulation of the Translation Profession states that no authentication or legislation authority and no court may accept a translated document or deed unless the translation was done by a translator or a translation house registered in the list of translators and translation houses at the Ministry of Justice. In other words, documents of foreign language presented to courts and authorities must be submitted in Arabic with a legal stamp. 

Pursuant to Article 5 of Federal Decree-Law No. 42 of 2022 on the Promulgation of the Civil Procedure Law, Arabic is the language used in courts. Furthermore, Article 48 states that documents translated need to be certified in accordance with the law if they are drawn up in a foreign language. Therefore, courts do not accept documents unless they are legally translated into the Arabic language with a few exceptions.

Article 5 of Federal Decree-Law No. 20 of 2022 on the Regulation of the Notarial Profession states that the instrument issued by the Notary Public shall be in the Arabic language.

The following are common documents that require legal translation:

1. Documents of litigation

As mentioned above, courts do not accept documents in a foreign language, instead, all documents need to be presented in Arabic before courts. Some of the documents include:

a. Notices
b. Statement of claim 
c. Incidental pleas
d. Defense memorandums
e. Any evidence presented before courts such as legal judgements, contracts, memorandums of association, reports, communications etc..

2. Individual affairs documents

Any documents that are originally in a foreign language, should be submitted to authorities in Arabic for attestation.

These documents include educational certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, medical reports, birth certificates, good conduct certificate, power of attorney of personal nature and any other individual affairs documents. 

3. Commercial documents

Just like the above, any documents that are originally in a foreign language, should be submitted to authorities in Arabic for attestation.

These documents include contracts, agreements, memorandums, financial statements, company closures, power of attorneys, tax certificates, decisions of board of directors and any other documents of commercial nature.

Conclusion

Any documents submitted to authorities and courts must be in Arabic as Arabic is the official language of the United Arab Emirates. For any translation, you need to obtain a legal stamp before submitting the translated document to the authorities.