Translated legal source
Original research draft · October 2026
Working pattern
[Original source citation] ([translator/translation source], [version/date]).
Capture from the source
Original; translation; translator; version; disputed terms
Check before you use it
Keep both texts and identify material translation choices or limitations.
Common error: Machine translation should not silently be presented as an official text.
Completed example
Decision, jurisdiction, translator, versions, and disputed rendering are fictional. No actual foreign-language term or translation of a real legal source is supplied.
Nera Register v. Olin Office, TRAIN-AR-RRC-2025-38, ¶ 19 (Alder Republic Records Review Chamber Oct. 2, 2025) (Mira Vale English trans., Oct. 5, 2025) [TRAIN-I88].
Read the supplied source facts
Fictional packet TRAIN-I88 supplies an original-language decision of Alder Republic's Records Review Chamber, identifier TRAIN-AR-RRC-2025-38, dated October 2, 2025. Translator Mira Vale prepares an identified English translation dated October 5. Paragraph 19 contains a term that Vale renders as permitted, while an automated translation renders it as required. Vale's note explains that the choice affects the sentence's apparent force and flags the phrase for specialist review. The assignment asks for a transparent citation to the translation used, preserving the original document and the uncertainty rather than choosing the more helpful English wording silently. The decision caption is Nera Register v. Olin Office.
Why this works
The original citation identifies the legal source; the translation parenthetical identifies the text through which the reader encounters it. Keep both files and Vale's translation note in the source record. If the disputed term matters to the argument, state the limitation and obtain the appropriate review rather than presenting one rendition as an unquestioned official quotation. An automated translation is a separate rendering, not evidence that the original tribunal used the English word required. Preserve original paragraph numbering where it exists so another reviewer can compare the corresponding passage without relying on the translated document's page layout.
When the facts change
If an official translation later becomes available, inspect the disputed passage and identify that version accurately; official status does not excuse failing to compare the text used. If the translation omits footnotes or separate opinions, disclose those omissions when material. If quoting only the translation, avoid suggesting that the English wording appears verbatim in the original-language decision.
Apply the receiving court or publication’s requirements. These working forms do not establish citation permission, precedential weight, or support for a legal proposition.