Certified Translations 2

Further to the last entry – to which there were a couple of comments – I forgot to mention (again) that the Bavarian statute governing sworn translators and interpreters is online in its up-to-date version in Saxony (in German).

The Bayerisches Dolmetschergesetz can stand for the arrangements in the other 15 Länder too – I don’t think they all have their own statute, some rely on a pre-WWII Reich statute. It may answer the question as to what would be sanctionable and what the sanction would be.

Full name of the statute:
Gesetz über die öffentliche Bestellung und allgemeine Beeidigung von Dolmetschern und Übersetzern.
It’s dated 1981 but was revised in 2000.

The new version envisages the possibility of swearing translators who do not either live or have their business in Bavaria. (I think this has to do with equal treatment throughout the EU – other countries are probably less restrictive than Germany).I don’t know what it means by ‘Deutscher ist oder einem Deutschen gleichsteht’ (is a German or is equivalent to a German). Presumably EU. I was sworn but I know some Americans who aren’t, and one American who is, but who has a British husband. (‘Other foreigners or stateless persons’ can be sworn if there’s a particular need).

A list of sworn interpreters and translators is kept. You can search here – click on ‘Dolmetscher suchen’. If you don’t enter anything and just click on ‘Suchen’, you get a list of all those registered, for all languages.

There are a lot of problems with these lists. You are supposed to be available at all times and announce (to whom?) when you go on holiday. Judges choosing an interpreter may well hit on a person who is not available, what the Germans call eine Karteileiche (literally, a corpse on an index card – Collins says ‘non-active’).

More information about the exam, the colleges that have it (oddly) as a final exam (one of which I used to teach at), here.

Under Article 12, anyone who falsely uses the title of a publicly sworn etc. translator or something that might be confused with it can be fined.

Can’t see anything about the round stamp.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.