Ethical guidelines for government authorised translators

Good translator practice corresponds to the professional, ethical and business standard that conscientious government authorised translators apply towards clients, colleagues and the public. All members of the Association of Government Authorized Translators are obliged, in the exercise of their profession, to act in accordance with this standard and the association’s statutes.

Read the STF statutes (PDF, in Norwegian)

As a rule, a translator should only certify the accuracy of a translation if they have had the original document in their hands, but today this is not always practically possible. If the translation is based on a copy or a digitally transmitted document, this must be clearly stated. For a digitally transmitted document, this can be done, for example, by printing the translation on the back of it.

STF recommends the following certification in Norwegian:

«Riktig oversettelse bekreftes.»

Place, date, name and title.

If the document consists of several pages, the stamp with the translator’s initials is applied to each page. The last page states the certification that the translation is correct (see above) and the number of pages. The translator then signs and stamps. Example: «Riktig oversettelse bekreftes. Oversettelsen består av x sider påført mitt stempel.» (True translation certified. The translation consists of x pages bearing my stamp.)

For some European languages, STF recommends the following wording:

English

True translation certified:

French

Pour traduction conforme:

Dutch

Voor juiste vertaling:

Spanish

Certifico que es fiel y exacta traducción:

German

Die Richtigkeit obiger Übersetzung wird beglaubigt:

The duty of confidentiality means that the translator treats everything they learn in connection with the assignment as strictly confidential, and ensures that unauthorised persons do not gain access to documents or other material relating to the assignment. The translator must not exploit business or other confidential information. The duty of confidentiality does not expire.