Certification

The Aim

As a professional association, one that assesses the quality of its members, maintains a list of members with suitable language skills and technical expertise and can hold its members to account in the event of complaints, ITI has taken steps to establish itself as a body whose members can certify translations.

Background - sworn translations, not sworn translators

In the common law system in this country, we do not have the “sworn translator” that exists in civil law countries. Even so, translations have to be “sworn” or certified for various purposes. Certifying or swearing has no bearing on the quality of a translation, but serves to identify the translator and his qualifications so that he is accountable. When a translation is sworn before a solicitor, he does not verify the quality of the translation but merely satisfies himself as to the translator’s identity. Certification does, however, lend weight to a translation: if, for example, a document is wilfully mistranslated or carelessly translated, the translator could be charged with contempt of court, perjury or negligence.