ABSTRACT
The chapter suggests that applied legal translation studies consist of legal translator and interpreter training, professional development and ethics, and legal translation quality testing and assessment, including court interpreter/translator accreditation, among others. The translator's competence and qualifications are central concerns, but ethics goes beyond whether a translation, oral or written, is a faithful or accurate rendering of the original. A crucial interpreting or translation error in court proceedings, or even the use of words with unintended connotations, could produce an outcome that may mean the difference between a guilty and not guilty verdict, a difference between freedom and loss of liberty for a particular person. For this and other reasons, there are established legal frameworks and laws in some, although not all, countries and jurisdictions governing the provision of interpreters and translators. They aim to uphold the rights of the parties concerned when different languages are involved.
