Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This entry discusses official translation and provides a context‐bound definition. The need for official translations is grounded in the necessity of a legal system to provide specific safeguards to control the provision of translations that are expected to fulfill some function in a legal system. Two basic situations are explored throughout the entry, one in which official translation is instrumental in ensuring the multilingualism of multilingual systems, and another in which official translation guarantees that legal and institutional systems can operate in light of multilingual populations or to cooperate with foreign countries. The guarantees in place to ensure that official translation can provide an effective solution in those two situations are discussed, including translator appointment and oversight, production processes, and textual and formal requirements.</jats:p>