From Jumping Frogs to Graffiti-Painted Walls Legal Issues Caused by Mistranslation in International Commercial Arbitration

In a world of global business and connectivity, the translation industry has become vital to today’s commercial players. Nonetheless, translation services are often considered fungible and thus not given much thought. This often leads to mistranslation and legal problems requiring solution by international arbitral institution and courts of law.

This article examines existing translation standards in select arbitral conventions, institutional rules, and select national legislation. On that background, it analyzes typical resolutions of legal issues caused by substandard translation in both arbitral and post-arbitral proceedings. In spite of some existing rules governing translation, the outcome of quasi-legal and legal proceedings in this area is highly uncertain and divergent. Thus, the article proposes possible preventive solutions to the demonstrated problem.

Published in Rutgers Conflict Resolution Law Journal, Vol. 7, pp. 1-43, 2010

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