Legal translation

Two legal systems, one translation

Turkish law is a civil-law system with Swiss and German roots; English law is common law. Many concepts have no exact counterpart, and a legal translation has to tell the reader what the document does without pretending the two systems are the same. Our rule is to keep the Turkish term visible on first mention, give a functional English equivalent, and never upgrade or downgrade a concept: a “veraset ilamı” is a certificate of inheritance issued by a court or notary, not a “grant of probate”, and an English “decree absolute” is explained as a final divorce order, not forced into a Turkish procedural label. The full policy is set out in how we render Turkish legal terms in English.

What we translate

• Court documents: judgments and decisions (ilam), reasoned decisions, kesinleşme şerhi (certificate of finality), summonses (tebligat), petitions and defences, expert reports, hearing minutes, custody, maintenance and protection orders, UK orders going to Türkiye for recognition (tanıma) and enforcement (tenfiz).
• Notarial documents: vekaletname (power of attorney), muvafakatname (consent), azilname (revocation), taahhütname (undertaking), UK lasting and general powers of attorney, statutory declarations and affidavits.
• Contracts: sale and purchase, lease, employment, distribution, agency, franchise, shareholder and loan agreements; terms and conditions.
• Succession: wills, certificates of inheritance, grants of probate, estate inventories.
• Company and regulatory: articles, board resolutions, signature circulars, trade registry gazettes, compliance correspondence.
• Immigration and asylum bundles: Turkish warrants, indictments and court records used as evidence, handled with the care that sensitive material needs.

Certification for UK courts

In the civil courts a translated witness statement must be accompanied by the translator’s signature on the original statement and a certificate that the translation is accurate; a party may also be asked for an affidavit verifying the translation. Our certification statement gives the translator’s certificate; where an affidavit or statement of truth is needed we provide the signed declaration for the solicitor to file, and we can supply a translator’s CV on request. Family court practice is described on translations for the family court. UK courts do not require notarisation.

Certification for Turkish courts and notaries

Turkish courts, enforcement offices, notaries and the tapu registry require a translation sworn and notarised in Türkiye, with the UK original apostilled first. We deliver that in Ankara; see notarised translation in Turkey. For tanıma and tenfiz proceedings the apostilled UK order, its notarised translation and the certificate of finality are the core of the file, and we prepare them as one bundle.

How we work with solicitors

Send the bundle as PDFs, tell us the deadline and which documents need certification versus a working translation for the file. We keep a glossary per matter so that party names, place names and defined terms stay consistent across every document and every later instruction. Confidential material is handled by translators under written confidentiality undertakings and deleted from working systems on completion, in line with our data protection policy. We invoice firms on account with a purchase order.

What it costs

Turkish to English from £10.00 per page and English to Turkish from £6.50 per page, where a page is 1,000 characters of source text. Certification is included. Large bundles are quoted as a whole with a working-translation rate for documents that do not need certification. Notary and apostille fees for Turkish use are passed through at cost, itemised. Express service at 60% above standard is available for short filings. No UK VAT is charged.

Turnaround

Single documents 1–2 working days; a ten-document bundle typically five working days; long judgments and contracts by agreed schedule with partial deliveries where a hearing date requires it.