Legal Translation in Ghent: Rechtbank, Volvo Cars and Flemish Industrial Contracts

Gand is the economic heart of East Flanders, home to the only European production site of Volvo Cars, a major industrial port and one of the most active universities in the country in technology transfer. Any procedure before the Rechtbank Oost-Vlaanderen or the Hof van Beroep Gent requires sworn translations into Dutch for any document drawn up in another language.

Why certified legal translation is crucial in Gand

The Hof van Beroep Gent is the appeal court competent for the whole of East and West Flanders. Its commercial chambers handle a considerable volume of disputes linked to manufacturing industry, port logistics and university research contracts. All proceedings take place in Dutch: a document produced in French, English or any other language must compulsorily be accompanied by a sworn translation (beedigde vertaling) signed by a sworn translator registered on the official list of the FPS Justice (e-Justice).

The Volvo Cars factory of Gand is the only Volvo Cars factory outside Scandinavia and produces several hundred thousand vehicles per year. It relies on an international supply chain involving hundreds of European and Asian suppliers. The supply contracts, the partnership framework agreements (Master Supply Agreements), the guarantee agreements and the quality protocols are often drafted in English or Swedish and must be translated into Dutch for the Belgian procedures. Bekaert, world leader in processed steel wire, and ArcelorMittal Gand generate similar volumes of multilingual contractual documentation.

The University of Gand (UGent) is one of the most productive universities in Europe in terms of patents and spin-offs. Its research valorisation department concludes dozens of licensing contracts each year with foreign industrial partners (United States, China, Japan). These licensing agreements, collaborative research contracts and NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) must be translated with rigorous terminological precision, because the slightest ambiguity can have consequences for the scope of the intellectual protection granted.

Most frequently translated legal documents in Gand

• Automotive supply contracts: Master Supply Agreements, general purchasing conditions and quality protocols for the suppliers of Volvo Cars Gand, in English, Swedish, German or Korean into Dutch
• University research and licensing agreements: collaborative research contracts signed by UGent or its spin-offs, patent licensing agreements and material transfer agreements (MTA) with international partners
• Port and logistics contracts: usage agreements of the port of Gand (Kluizendok), transit contracts for steel or chemical goods, storage agreements
• Articles of association and company deeds: constitutive deeds of Flemish BV and NV translated for foreign shareholders, statutory amendments, merger or acquisition deeds submitted to the Gand courts
• Judgments and enforcement deeds: decisions of the Rechtbank Oost-Vlaanderen translated for enforcement in France or in the Netherlands, and foreign judgments to be recognised before the Gand courts
• Patents and intellectual property contracts: European patents filed in English translated into Dutch for the Belgian validation procedures, contracts of assignment of intellectual property rights

Requirements of the courts and notaries in Gand

The Rechtbank Oost-Vlaanderen (Gand seat) and its specialised divisions - notably the enterprise chamber and the family chamber - require that any foreign document be translated into Dutch by a sworn translator (beedigd vertaler) registered on the e-Justice list of the FPS Justice. The translation must include the translator's stamp, their signature and the mention of their oath. Documents of more than ten pages must be paginated and initialled on each page.

The Gand notaries frequently act in transactions involving foreign companies wishing to establish themselves in East Flanders or to acquire real estate in the region. The articles of association of foreign companies and the notarial powers of attorney drawn up outside Belgium must be translated into Dutch and, depending on the country of origin of the document, apostilled or legalised. For files linked to research and innovation, the notaries of the Gand region also handle patent assignments requiring a simultaneous legal and technical translation.

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