Translation Services Agreement (UAE)

Certified legal translation in the United Arab Emirates is a translation of a legal document that has been performed or certified by a translator officially accredited by the UAE Ministry of Justice under the Ministerial Resolution governing legal translators (the specific resolution number varies by year of latest amendment). A certified legal translation carries the translator's official seal, signature, and accreditation number, and is accepted as a formally authorised translation by UAE government bodies, courts, and regulatory authorities.

Certified legal translation is required for the submission of foreign-language documents to UAE government entities and courts, and for the submission of Arabic-language documents to foreign entities requiring an officially translated version. Common situations requiring certified translation in the UAE include: submission of foreign company incorporation documents to the Ministry of Economy for branch registration; filing translated contracts or evidence with the Dubai Courts, Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, or other UAE courts; submission of translated employee documents (passports, educational certificates, employment contracts) to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) for visa or labour permit applications; attesting foreign documents at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) or at foreign consulates in the UAE; and submission of translated financial statements, regulatory filings, or shareholders' resolutions to the Central Bank of the UAE, the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA), or the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA).

The UAE Ministry of Justice maintains a register of accredited legal translators licensed to certify translations for official purposes. Only translators on this register may issue documents bearing the Ministry of Justice translation certification stamp. Translation companies that are not themselves Ministry of Justice-accredited must sub-contract certified translation work to accredited individual translators.

For documents also intended for submission to foreign courts or foreign government authorities, a further step — notarisation of the certified translation by a UAE notary public and attestation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs — is typically required before foreign acceptance.

Confidentiality obligations are of paramount importance in UAE translation services, because translators necessarily access the client's most sensitive legal, commercial, financial, and personal documents in the course of their work. A translation services agreement should address confidentiality at three levels: contractual obligations, data protection compliance, and subcontractor management.

At the contractual level, the translation services agreement under the UAE Civil Code (Federal Law No. 5 of 1985) should require the translation provider to: (a) treat all client documents, information, and data as strictly confidential; (b) use the client's documents exclusively for the purpose of providing the translation services and for no other purpose (including internal training or AI model development); (c) not copy, disclose, or reproduce the client's documents or content to any third party without the client's prior written consent; and (d) on termination of the agreement, delete or return all client documents and certify deletion in writing.

Data protection obligations under the Personal Data Protection Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021) apply where documents being translated contain personal data — employee records, customer contracts, medical records, HR files, litigation documents with personal details. The UAE Data Office, as the supervisory authority, expects data processors to implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures. The translation agreement should specify the data protection obligations of the translator as a data processor, the security measures to be applied, and the breach notification obligations.

For subcontractors: translation companies often use freelance translators or specialist subject-matter translators as subcontractors. Without adequate subcontractor confidentiality agreements, the client's documents may be shared with individuals who have no contractual obligation to the client. The translation services agreement should require the provider to ensure all subcontractors are bound by equivalent confidentiality and data protection obligations, and should give the client the right to approve material subcontractors for sensitive legal or commercial translation projects.

The confidentiality obligation in a UAE translation services agreement should survive termination for a period of at least 5 years, consistent with the data retention requirements of the UAE VAT Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017) and commercial record-keeping obligations.

Translation service fees in the United Arab Emirates are calculated on several different bases depending on the type of translation, the language pair, the technical complexity of the content, and whether certified or notarised translation is required.

For standard document translation, fees are typically calculated per 100 source words — the word count of the original document in the source language. Arabic-English and English-Arabic translation, the dominant language pair in UAE commercial translation, typically ranges from AED 80 to AED 150 per 100 source words for general commercial content, with higher rates for legal, financial, and technical content due to the specialist knowledge required. Legal Arabic translation — particularly for corporate contracts, court documents, and regulatory filings — typically commands AED 100 to AED 200 per 100 source words from a Ministry of Justice-accredited translator.

For certified legal translation required for submission to UAE government bodies, courts, or MOHRE, a per-page fee is commonly used: AED 150 to AED 300 per page (A4 with standard font size), as the certification involves the translator's official seal, which is associated with professional liability. Notarisation — where the translator appears before a UAE notary public to have the translation notarised — carries an additional notary fee plus the notary's professional charges.

Technical translation for engineering, medical, or scientific content commands a premium — typically 25-50% above standard commercial rates — due to the specialist terminology and the liability exposure if technical errors cause harm. Urgent translation (24-48 hour turnaround) also carries a surcharge, typically 30-50% above standard rates.

For ongoing translation services under a master agreement — a law firm, a multinational corporation, or a government entity contracting for regular translation volumes — a volume-discount structure is common: lower per-word rates in exchange for a minimum monthly commitment in AED. The translation services agreement should specify the rate schedule and any volume discount thresholds, and should require the provider to maintain the agreed rates for a minimum period (typically 12 months) before adjustment.

Quality standards for legal and commercial translation in the United Arab Emirates are set by a combination of international standards (ISO certification), professional body requirements, and the contractual standards agreed in the translation services agreement.

The ISO 17100:2015 standard for translation services specifies the competencies required for translators and revisers, the workflow for translation projects (translation followed by independent revision), and the documentation requirements for quality assurance. UAE-based translation companies that hold ISO 17100 certification commit to this quality framework. ISO 17100 certification is increasingly required by multinational corporations and law firms procuring translation services in the UAE, and is a useful indicator of a provider's commitment to professional quality.

For certified legal translation, the standard is set by the UAE Ministry of Justice: only Ministry of Justice-accredited translators may certify translations for official government and court use. Ministry of Justice-accredited translators are individually licensed, and their accreditation can be verified through the Ministry of Justice's website or licensing database. The Dubai Courts, the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, and MOHRE will not accept certified translations from translators who are not on the Ministry of Justice accreditation register.

For DIFC Courts and ADGM Courts proceedings, translation requirements are specified in the applicable court rules. DIFC Courts proceedings are conducted in English, and Arabic translations of evidence may be required for witnesses who do not speak English. ADGM proceedings follow English court rules, and the ADGM Courts accept translations accompanied by a translator's declaration of accuracy.

The translation services agreement should specify: (a) the quality standard applicable to each category of work (ISO 17100 for standard translation, Ministry of Justice accreditation for certified); (b) the revision process (independent revision by a second translator for legal and high-value content); (c) the delivery format (Word document for editing, PDF for certified); and (d) the revision right (client's right to one round of factual error corrections at no charge within 5 working days of delivery, with stylistic revisions charged additionally).

AI-assisted translation is an increasingly common topic in UAE translation services agreements as translation companies adopt machine translation (MT) post-editing (MTPE) workflows to reduce cost and turnaround time. The translation services agreement should address whether AI-assisted translation is permitted, what quality safeguards apply, and what disclosure obligations the provider has.

Machine translation in the UAE market — using tools such as DeepL, Google Translate API, or proprietary neural machine translation engines — can produce acceptable first-draft translations for standard commercial content such as corporate communications, marketing materials, and routine contracts. However, for legal translation intended for submission to UAE courts, the Dubai Courts, Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, or MOHRE, AI-generated translations are not accepted as certified translations: Ministry of Justice accreditation requires a human translator to personally certify the accuracy of the translation.

For MTPE (machine translation with human post-editing), a human translator reviews and corrects the machine-generated output to the required quality level. This approach can reduce per-word costs by 30-50% compared with full human translation, but the quality depends heavily on the subject matter (standard commercial content benefits more than complex legal content), the language pair (Arabic-English has a higher error rate from machine translation than European language pairs), and the skill of the post-editor.

From a UAE legal perspective, the translation services agreement should: (a) disclose whether the provider uses machine translation or MTPE workflows; (b) specify whether AI-assisted translation is permitted for each category of work (typically yes for routine content, no for certified legal translation); (c) confirm that the provider's human revisers review 100% of AI-generated output before delivery; and (d) include the same confidentiality and data protection provisions under Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 for any documents uploaded to cloud-based machine translation platforms, which may process and potentially store the client's confidential content on foreign servers.

For highly sensitive legal documents — litigation evidence, M&A deal documents, regulatory filings — many UAE clients specifically require a no-AI clause, committing the provider to 100% human translation without machine assistance.

Documents intended for UAE court proceedings — before the Dubai Courts, the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, the Federal Supreme Court, Sharjah Courts, or other UAE emirate courts — must meet specific translation and certification requirements to be accepted as evidence or pleading material.

UAE court proceedings are conducted primarily in Arabic (except DIFC Courts and ADGM Courts, which operate in English). Documents originally in a foreign language — English contracts, French corporate documents, German technical reports, Chinese supplier agreements — must be translated into Arabic by a Ministry of Justice-accredited legal translator to be admissible as evidence in UAE courts. The translator's certification stamp and signature must appear on each page of the translated document.

For complex litigation or high-value disputes, law firms in the UAE frequently retain specialist legal translation companies rather than relying on individual freelance translators, to ensure professional quality and to have a single responsible entity to certify accuracy. The Dubai Courts and Abu Dhabi Judicial Department may request the translator to appear as a witness to confirm the accuracy of a translation if it is challenged by the opposing party.

For foreign documents that require both UAE court submission and submission to foreign courts or authorities — for example, evidence in parallel proceedings, or corporate documents for dual regulatory filings — a full attestation chain is typically required: (1) Ministry of Justice-accredited certified translation in the UAE; (2) UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) attestation of the certified translation; and (3) attestation by the relevant foreign embassy or consulate in the UAE. The translation services agreement should specify whether the provider offers full attestation coordination as a managed service, and the additional fees for each step in the attestation chain.

For DIFC Courts proceedings, the DIFC Courts Rules permit the submission of evidence in English without translation for English-language documents. For Arabic-language documents, an English translation accompanied by a translator's declaration is required. ADGM Courts follow similar rules.

Intellectual property ownership in a UAE translation services agreement involves both the source documents supplied by the client and the translated output produced by the translator, and the agreement should address IP rights clearly for both.

Source documents supplied by the client — contracts, technical manuals, marketing materials, legal briefs — are the client's intellectual property, protected by UAE copyright law (Federal Law No. 38 of 2021 on Copyright and Related Rights). The translator acquires no right or interest in the client's source documents and may use them only for the purpose of providing the translation service.

For the translated output, UAE copyright law creates a complex position. The translation of an original work is a derivative work and — in the absence of contractual provision — the translator holds copyright in the translated text as the creator of the translation. However, in practice, UAE translation services agreements provide that all intellectual property rights in the translated output vest in the client upon full payment of the applicable invoice, as a work-for-hire arrangement. The translator's lien (right to retain the translated output until paid) is a practical lever to enforce payment.

For ongoing translation agreements under a framework contract, the IP assignment should be automatic upon payment of each invoice, without requiring a separate assignment document for each translation job.

For certified legal translations, the translator's certification on the document creates a personal liability: the Ministry of Justice-accredited translator certifies the accuracy of the translation as a professional and may be called to account if the translation is subsequently challenged in court. The translation services agreement cannot reduce this personal professional liability.

The client should ensure that the translation services agreement includes an express IP assignment clause, not merely a licence, so that the client can freely copy, adapt, and use the translated output without restriction. A licence (as opposed to an assignment) would leave the translator holding copyright in the translated text, which can create complications for the client if the translation relationship terminates before all work is paid for.

Translation companies in the United Arab Emirates that process personal data in the course of their services must comply with the Personal Data Protection Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021) and the Executive Regulations issued under it, enforced by the UAE Data Office.

Translation work routinely involves personal data: HR contracts and employment files contain employee names, salaries, and ID numbers; medical records contain patient health data (classified as sensitive data under the Personal Data Protection Law); litigation documents contain details of individuals involved in disputes; and corporate documents often identify individual shareholders and directors. A translation company that accesses, copies, and processes these documents is a data processor under the Personal Data Protection Law.

Key data protection obligations for UAE translation companies include: (a) processing personal data only on the documented instructions of the client (the data controller); (b) implementing appropriate technical and organisational security measures — encryption of files in transit and at rest, access controls limiting who within the translation company can view the client's documents, secure deletion of data after the retention period; (c) ensuring that all translators, revisers, and subcontractors processing personal data are bound by confidentiality obligations and receive appropriate training on data protection; (d) notifying the client without undue delay (within the timeframe specified in the translation agreement, or within 72 hours of becoming aware) of any personal data breach involving the client's data; and (e) assisting the client in responding to data subject rights requests from individuals whose personal data is contained in translated documents.

For sensitive personal data — health data, financial data, or data concerning legal proceedings — enhanced security measures are required under the Personal Data Protection Law, and the translation services agreement should specify these additional safeguards.

For translation companies using cloud-based machine translation tools (DeepL, Google Translate, Microsoft Azure Translator) that may transfer personal data to servers outside the UAE, cross-border data transfer restrictions under the Personal Data Protection Law apply: personal data may not be transferred to countries without an adequate level of data protection unless appropriate safeguards are in place.