About the Legal Translation Studies
ISIT’s Grande École program offers 6 specializations, each of which is driven by the strong multilingual and intercultural dimension that is part of ISIT’s DNA.
ISIT produces graduates with a strong general knowledge and a solid understanding of intercultural issues who are able to show agility in an international environment and to grasp the complexity of globalized organizations and businesses.
The Legal Translation Studies prepares lawyers to work in a globalized environment, bringing together students from all over the world to learn about the challenges of interculturality as applied to the field of law.
Faculty
- Lecturers and researchers in law and translation studies
- Practising: lawyers, lawyer-linguists, and professional legal translators
Learning objectives
- Training legal professionals capable of dealing with international issues in several languages and cultures
- Producing graduates capable of translating and writing in an intercultural legal environment
Practical skills acquired
- Multilingual Communication in the legal field
- Legal translation
- Intercultural understanding of professional legal situations: legal proceedings involving foreign nationals, international contracts, international negotiations, etc.
Courses
Year 1
CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
- Fundamentals of Interculturalism (in English)
- Introduction to Foreign
- Legal Systems (in B languages)
- General Geopolitics in English*
- International Economics*
- Constitutional & Administrative Law (in B languages)
- Major Contemporary Legal Systems (in English)
*Optional
LANGUAGE EXPERTISE
- Voltaire Project
- Legal Translation into A Language
- Introduction to Legal Translation into B Languages
- Language Development
- Oral Expression in Legal Contexts
CAREERS SUPPORT
- Personal and professional development
- Extra-curricular activities within and outside of the school
- 1-month international internship
Year 2
CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
- British Criminal Law
- British Tort Law
- Comparative Law program
- Business Economics*
- Business Language*
- Public Law in B Languages
*Optional
LANGUAGE EXPERTISE
- Legal Translation into A language
- Legal Translation into B languages
- Language Development of B languages
- Analysis and Debate of Legal Current Affairs
CAREERS SUPPORT
- Personal and professional development
- Extra-curricular activities within and outside of the school
- 6-week international internship
Year 3
CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
- Contract Law
- Company Law
- Criminal Law (B languages)
- American Law
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
- Essay on Comparative Law
- Legal Translationinto A language
- Legal Translation into B languages
- Analysis and Debate of Legal Current Affairs
CAREERS SUPPORT
- Personal and professional development
- ISIT Legal Clinic
- Extra-curricular activities within and outside of the school
- End-of-year internship (2 -months min.)
Year 4
INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS & CONTEXTS
- Professional Speaking Skills
- International Business Law
- Intellectual Property Law
- Trust Law
- Foreign Civil Law (in B Languages)
COMMUNICATING IN AN INTERCULTURAL & MULTILINGUAL CONTEXT
- Intercultural Communication in International Organizations
- Legal and Financial Translation into A Language
- Legal and Financial Translation into B Languages
- Business Language*
*Optional
CAREERS SUPPORT
- Careers forum
- Personalised career advice
- Internship (at least 3 months)
ENTREPRENEURSHIP (ON APPLICATION)
- Building awareness of entrepreneurship
- Support for creating a business
RESEARCH
- Applied legal translation dissertation
- ISIT Legal Clinic
Year 5
DEVELOPING YOUR PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
- Professional Speaking Skills
- Business Law in B Languages
ADAPTING TO INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS
- International Negotiation in English
- International Arbitration in English
TRANSLATION & COMMUNICATION
- European Law & International Law
- Specialized Legal & Financial Translation into A language
- Specialized Legal & Financial Translation into B languages
- Intercultural Communication in a Professional Legal Environment
CAREERS SUPPORT
- Careers forum
- Assertiveness & leadership
- Report on activities & portfolio of achievements
- Internship (at least 6 months)
RESEARCH
- Research dissertation
- ISIT Legal Clinic
Double degree
This double-degree program is jointly organized with our partner law schools. The linguistic and intercultural elements of the course are taught at ISIT, while the legal modules take place at the partner universities.
ISIT has signed two partnership agreements with two centers of legal excellence:
- Faculté de Droit Jean Monnet – Université Paris Saclay. A pioneering partnership established back in 1978 Click here for details of the admissions procedure
- Paris-Panthéon-Assas Université, since the 2016-17 academic year.
Click here for details of the procedure for 1st or 2nd year admissions.
Careers
Our priority : guiding our students into the world of work
Throughout their time at ISIT, our students receive career development support from the Talents and Careers Department to help prepare them for the world of work.
This career development support comprises a series of complementary initiatives
Exposing students to the world of work to develop their self-sufficiency, their sense of responsibility, their innovation skills and their entrepreneurial mindset
–Students who do not opt for an academic exchange abroad in the 3rd year must complete an 8-week internship in the legal field (see Internships page)
– Students may also complete an internship during their time abroad
Seminars, workshops and conferences to help students build and refine their career plans
– Talks by practising lawyer-linguists
– Careers round tables, focusing in particular on careers within the European Union
– Methodology workshops on how to build a career plan
In 2019, ISIT signed a partnership with Lexis Nexis, one of France’s largest legal publishers. This partnership includes joint participation in international research seminars, as well as consulting assignments entrusted to ISIT lawyer-linguist students.
Partnerships with the International Commercial Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal, the Association Henri Capitant des amis de la culture juridique française, the European Space Agency, and Translex.
International job opportunities
Our students become lawyer-linguists and lawyers working in prestigious professional settings including European institutions, international organizations, international law firms and large global companies.
Getting ready to apply
Prerequisites
Languages
Our course is open to candidates with a solid level in their mother tongue and two other working languages: French and English are compulsory, and the third working language can be chosen from among Arabic, Chinese, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Candidates must be enrolled on a law program in the Paris region or have completed the equivalent of a law degree.
Qualifications required
- 1st-year entry: applicants must have their Baccalaureate or equivalent high school diploma
- 3rd-year entry: applicants must have completed their second year of university studies (L2) in law
- 4th-year entry: applicants must have completed their third year of university studies (L3) in law
- 5th-year entry: applicants must have completed their fourth year of university studies (M1) in law
- Partnership with Paris-Panthéon-Assas Université: Entry possible in 1st or 2nd-year. Specific admission conditions available here
- Partnership with Faculté Jean Monnet de Sceaux – Paris Saclay : Entry possible in 1st to 5th-year. Specific admission conditions available here.
Past papers
- View the recommended reading for admission to the pre-master program (years 2 and 3 only)
- You can find some examples of past entrance examinations below.
Click to watch the video in English shown at the beginning of the exam (March 2016)
- View the recommended reading for admission to the master’s program
- You can find some examples of past entrance examinations below.
| 2017 | 2018 | |
| German into language A |  | |
| English into language A | | |
| Arabic into language A | | |
| Spanish into language A | | |
| French into language A | | |
| Italian into language A | | |