| Date | Publication | Article |
|---|---|---|
| 21 July 2026 | Village de la Justice | Cinq pièges de traduction qui se paient en droit (in French) |
| 13 August 2026 | Jubel | Cinq pièges de traduction qui se paient en droit (in French) |
| 27 August 2026 | Jubel | Vijf valkuilen bij het vertalen van Belgische gerechtelijke stukken naar het Frans (in Dutch) |
| 21 September 2026 | Jubel, column | Le texte français existe déjà : ne le réécrivez pas (in French) |
| 21 September 2026 | Jubel, column | De Franse tekst bestaat al: herschrijf hem niet (in Dutch) |
Cinq pièges de traduction qui se paient en droit
A legal translation is a legal act in its own right.
Five mistakes keep coming up in case files, and each one costs you in court or before the authorities.
- Confusing the interpreter with the translator.
A contract interpreted aloud leaves no written document. - Treating a legal term as an everyday word.
The trust has no civil-law equivalent; in Belgium, the French and Dutch versions of a statute are equally authentic, and the differences between them are a matter of interpretation. - Neglecting traceability.
A translation with no name, no date and no mention of sources can be challenged without anyone having to prove an error. - Underestimating translated consent.
An agreement signed on the strength of an approximate translation, in a language the signatory does not fully understand, calls the very validity of the consent into question. - Leaving it too late.
A translation ordered at the last minute leaves less time to ask questions and check what the reader expects.
Read the article on Village de la Justice Read the article on Jubel
Forthcoming
| Date | Publication | Article |
|---|---|---|
| December 2026 | Jubel, column | Two texts, one law: when the French and Dutch versions of a Belgian statute diverge |
| Coming soon | French is not quite the same in Brussels, Geneva and Paris | |
| Coming soon | What translated consent commits you to, from the law firm to the hospital |
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