Translation services for legal documents and contracts are vital. If one word is misspelled or a concept is not translated correctly, you could find yourself in a world of trouble. Only the best translation services should be used to translate your Dutch legal documents, and our talented and experienced translators at ContractsGlobal can provide you with exactly what you need.

Learn more about the wide variety of translation services we offer for businesses and legal teams around the globe.

Many companies, organizations, employers, and individuals require legal document translation services in order to use a legal document in a foreign market. For example: A company’s Terms of Service on their website may need to be translated into German or Dutch in order to be compliant with GDRP laws on data collection and privacy.

Our team of experienced and talented translators know the ins and outs of the Dutch language, as well as the English language. Not only can we translate your documents perfectly, but we also understand the importance of understand context, nuance, slang, etc. Your translated document will be extremely readable and as close to the original material as possible.

If you’re unsure if professional translation is right for your legal situation, have a chat with one of our talented ContractsGlobal project managers via our website today. We’ll break down everything involved in our services to put you at ease.

If your organization is set to transact with a Dutch company and you receive a contract in Dutch, ContractsGlobal has the resources to translate the contract into English for your review. A lawyer will need to make sure the contract is okay to sign, and this can’t be done unless the document is translated perfectly. We will also make sure to format the file so it can be easily reviewed side-by-side.

For example, if a business in the United States received a software agreement in Dutch for a new piece of software that they want to use, they would then need to translate that agreement properly and correctly into English in order to read it. The terms of the agreement can really only be determined by translating the document professionally.

Get in touch with our team today to learn more about our Dutch-to-English services!

Context is very important when translating from English to Dutch. Many Dutch legal concepts are hard to translate from English, so a lawyer-translator will need to understand the purpose of the contract and clause to make sure it is accomplishing what it is meant to in the Netherlands.

Translators should also take style and formatting into consideration as they translate.

Other tips translators must keep in mind include:

●    Localizing the language for the specific area where the document will be used

●    Adapting the text to work with the civil law code in the Netherlands (different from US common law)

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In the Netherlands, there are quite a few different types of contracts that are typically used by businesses, individuals, and organizations.

Contracts in the Netherlands are not very complicated, but they do different quite a bit from, say, contracts in the United States.

As with any country with its own legal system, people in the Netherlands will commonly use a number of specific Dutch terms.

Typically, there are two different types of employment contracts terms. These include fixed term contracts (also known as a temporary contract) and contracts for indefinite periods (also known as a permanent contract):

●    A permanent contract (or Vast contract) is the type of contract many job seekers will look for. It is a contract without an end date, and the only way this contract can be terminated is if the employee decides to quit or if the employer is able to find a decent reason to end the contract. If you have been given three temporary contracts back to back, your fourth one must legal be a permanent contract.

●    A temporary contract (or Tijdelijk contract) is probably the most common type of contract in the Netherlands. Because it is created on a fixed term basis, it can only be valid for a certain amount of time that usually falls between six and twelve months. Many workers will start out with a temporary contract and then are offered another one once the first term ends. If a temporary contract exceeds a two-year period, then the employer is required by law to issue a permanent one.

There are other popular contract terms in the Netherlands as well:

●    A zero-hour contract (Nul urencontract) is similar to a temporary contract in that there are no fixed working hours. A zero-hour contract worker could have to work twenty ours one week and then forty hours the next. This very flexible agreement is usually only used for a short period, though they often leave employees feeling insecure about what’s required of them.

●    Freelancer contracts (DBA modelovereenkomst) are also somewhat common. Freelancers are not connected to any one employer, but they are often required to sign a contract that outlines the scope of their work and what the working relationship with the company hiring them looks like. Such a contract will also include information about payments, welfare contributions, job descriptions, etc.

Dutch contracts can be agreed in writing or audibly. For employment contracts, it must be indicated whether or not there is a need for a collective Labor Agreement.

In order to understand how legal systems worldin the Netherlands, it’s important to understand the difference between commonand civil law.

Common Law v Civil Law

Legal systems around the world are all verydifferent, but most of them tend to fall into one of two categories-- commonlaw or civil law. The main difference between these two systems is that commonlaw countries, the concept of case law is extremely important. Civil lawsystems, on the other hand, tend to value codified statutes. Many countries usea variety of different parts of each system, but some countries focus more oncivil law or common law specifically.

Common law countries such as the United Statesand Canada have very strict regulations when it comes to contracts. If awritten and notarized contract notes a particular agreement, neither party willlikely be able to change or depart from the wording of the contract. In civillaw countries, this “parole evidence” rule has been rejected. If either partyinvolved in a contract wants to argue or offer evidence to prove that there ispoor wording or an issue with a contract, they are free to do so.

The Netherlands is more of a civil law countryand is based on Napoleonic code with German law influence. That means that thewording in contracts can be disputed, especially if they have been improperlytranslated from or to another language.

You can avoid such issues with your contractby investing in high-quality and accurate translation services from ContractsGlobal.

In short, there is a lot that goes into elegant legal translation. It is not a simple task that can be handled by a machine translator or even any bilingual who speaks both languages. Legal translation is far more nuanced and requires an intimate understanding of both languages as well as local law codes.

Rely on only the best when you need high-quality Dutch contract translation services. Mistakes in this area can be far too costly to depend on mediocre translations.

Contact us today for legal translation services you can count on!