Legal translation of contracts, records and court documents
We translate contracts, articles of association and founding documents, extracts from commercial and other registers, notarial deeds, statements of claim, judgments and enforcement papers, most often between Ukrainian, Russian and Slovak, and onward into Czech, English and German.
Legal translation is not about finding an elegant word. It is about a term meaning the same thing before a Slovak authority as it meant at home. Where Slovak law has no exact counterpart, we do not paper over the term with the nearest local one: we keep it and explain it. Office in Bratislava-Petržalka, all of Slovakia online.
- Contracts, articles of association, register extracts, notarial deeds, claims and judgments
- We do not swap a Ukrainian concept for the nearest Slovak one; where no counterpart exists, we explain it
- Sworn translation with clause and seal wherever a court or authority genuinely requires it
- Across successive drafts, terminology is held through a glossary and translation memory
Our guarantees
- 100% acceptance by authorities and institutions in Slovakia and abroad
- Guaranteed delivery by the agreed deadline
- 2-year guarantee on translation quality
- We process requests at weekends too – we reply every day 9:00–18:00
- Free quote in 15 minutes
- Confidentiality of your documents
Two legal systems, not one dictionary
The most expensive mistakes in legal translation do not come from weak language skills. They come from assuming a Ukrainian and a Slovak term are the same thing because they sound alike. They are not. The literal rendering passes proofreading, reads naturally, and then means something else in front of the authority.
We follow a simple rule: a term is translated when Slovak law has a genuine counterpart. Where it does not, we keep the original designation and note in brackets what it resembles in substance. The authority then sees what the document actually is rather than our assumption.
| Term in the original | Common literal rendering | How we handle it |
|---|---|---|
| TOV (Ukrainian limited company) | automatically “s. r. o.” | the original designation is kept, with a note that it is the counterpart of an s. r. o. |
| Notarially certified | “notársky overený” with no distinction | we distinguish certification of a signature from certification of the content of a deed |
| Birth certificate (svidotstvo) | “osvedčenie o narodení” | rodný list, the settled Slovak name for a civil-registry document |
| Register extract | always “výpis” | výpis or potvrdenie, depending on what that register actually issues |
| Power of attorney | “plnomocenstvo” in one file, “splnomocnenie” in the next | both forms are current in Slovakia, so we keep one across a case and, for a general power of attorney, state the scope of authority rather than just the label |
Contracts and corporate records
Contracts are translated so that the two language versions can be read side by side: the same article numbering, the same definitions, the same cross-references. A defined term introduced at the start is held identically through to the final annex, including annexes that arrive a month later.
For doing business in Slovakia we most often translate articles of association and founding documents, commercial-register extracts, shareholder resolutions, powers of attorney for dealings with the trade licensing office, and supplier contracts. For repeat clients we keep a glossary, so your documents still read the same a year later.
Court and notarial documents
Claims, rulings, judgments, enforcement orders and notarial deeds have one extra property: they are tied to a deadline. So we ask for the date immediately. If an appeal or response period is running, the order of work follows that deadline rather than whichever job arrived first.
The same group covers what you file in residence proceedings or when having qualifications recognised. For a court, a notary and the foreign police the rule is generally that the translation must be sworn: produced by a translator listed with the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic, bound to the document and carrying a clause and seal.
When a professional translation is enough
Not everything has to be sworn. An internal review of a contract, briefing material for a negotiation, correspondence with the other side or a version for your management are all cases where a seal adds nothing and only raises the price. A sworn translation earns its cost where an institution takes the document in.
Tell us what happens to the document next and we will recommend the cheaper of the suitable options. If it later turns out the sworn form is needed after all, we produce it from the finished translation rather than starting again.
Confidentiality and successive drafts
Legal documents are usually confidential before they are ever signed. We work under an NDA, only the translator and the reviewer see the document, and it never goes through public machine translation engines.
In negotiations that move in rounds we also translate the differences with tracked changes, so instead of comparing two full documents you see exactly what was added or removed since the last round.
How we work
- 1Send the document and its purposeThe contract, record or court document, plus one sentence about who receives it – that decides whether a sworn translation is needed.
- 2We quote and advise on the formPrice, deadline and a recommendation: professional or sworn. If a deadline is running, say so in your first message.
- 3Translation and terminology reviewA translator experienced in law does the work, with terminology held through a glossary and translation memory across the whole file.
- 4Delivery on paper or electronicallyA sworn translation bound to the document, an electronic one with a qualified signature, or a working file, as you need it.
Prices
- Professional legal translation contracts, correspondence and internal material, without a sealindividual quote
- Sworn legal translation with clause and seal, for courts, notaries and authoritiesindividual quote
- Differential draft of a contract translation of the changes since the previous round of negotiationindividual quote
Legal translation is priced by volume, area of law and form. A sworn translation costs more than a professional one because it carries the clause, the binding and the translator’s liability. Send the document and we will prepare an exact quote.
FAQ
Does a contract translation have to be sworn?
For ordinary commercial use, no: a professional translation is enough. You need a sworn one when an institution takes the contract in, such as a court, a notary, the commercial register or a bank in certain proceedings. Tell us where the document is going and we will tell you in advance.
Why not simply render TOV as s. r. o.?
Because it is not the same legal form, only a similar one. Equating them makes the document assert something the original does not support. We keep the original designation and add an explanation, so the authority sees the fact rather than our estimate.
Can you handle a large file on a short deadline?
Yes. A large file is split between several translators with terminology held in a shared glossary, so the document does not start reading differently halfway through. If a procedural deadline is running, say so at once and we will sequence the work around it.
Do you translate the differences between contract drafts?
Yes. In negotiations that run in rounds we translate the changes with tracked changes, so instead of comparing two full documents you see only what was added or dropped.
How long do you keep the document?
Working files are deleted after delivery on request. For a sworn translation, though, one copy stays with the translator: § 23(7) of Act No. 382/2004 Z. z. requires them to keep it for ten years from the date it was made. Everything else can be deleted; that statutory copy cannot.
Updated: 2026-09-11
