The position of court interpreters and translators in the Slovak Republic

Legislation Practice Perspectives

Mgr. Marketa Štefková, PhD. Institute of Interpreting Comenius University BratislavaSlovakia

Overview

Current legal regulations for expert witnesses, interpreters and translators in Slovakia

Institute of Interpreting in Bratislava

Experience gained during 8 years

Conclusion

Current legal regulations in Slovakia

Act No. 382/2004 Z.z.

Decree No. 490/2004 Z.z. regulating the performance of Act. No. 382/2004 Z.z. on expert witnesses, interpreters and translators and on changing and amending certain laws

Decree No. 491/2004 Z.z., on the remuneration, compensation of the expenses, and compensation for the lost time of expert witnesses, interpreters and translators

Registration and administration – Ministry of Justice of the Slovak RepublicRegister JASPIweb-page of the Ministry of Justicewww.justice.gov.sk

36 languages

833 translators

245 interpreters

Renumeration rates in EUR given by the law  Slovak/

CzechEuropean language

s

non-European languages

two foreign

languages

translation 13,30 19,92 23,23 26,55interpretation

13,30 19,92 23,23 26,55

printing of 1 page

0,1 0,1 0,1 0,1

lay out 2,65 2,65 2,65 2,65

NP = Normpage 1800 signs in Word = about 300 words

Current legal regulations in Slovakia

minimum requirements for the

education

personal criteria

manner of certification

sanctions

identification symbols

ethical aspects

confidentiality and possible reasons

for refusing an order

Institute of Interpreting

not an extra entity four universities in Slovakia (Bratislava,

Nitra, Nitra, Prešov, Košice)

Institute of Interpreting Bratislava start december 2004 examined more than 450 applicants in

about 25 languages organized courses of the “legal

minimum” for about 50 participants rate of success about 50%

Translations 2010

Interpreting 2010

Experience gained during five years No complete educational programme preparing for

the examination

The existing courses focused on knowledge of some partial areas of the legal system of

the Slovak Republic acts regulating the exercise of translation and

interpreting activities for the needs of state authorities ethical aspects of the translator´s and interpreter´s work foundations of technical translation

Experience gained during five years

not enough interpreters - proportion between those interested in interpreting and translating about 1 : 9

ad hoc interpreters - quality

remuneration paid out by government bodies with substantial delay

Conclusion specifying and unifying the minimum

requirements for the skills at an international level

elaborating international standards of professional ethics of translators and interpreters

defining rights and position

cooperation in training interpreters and translators in particular combinations of languages

(especially for languages not sufficiently represented in our region)

Thank you for your interest !

Mgr. Marketa ŠTEFKOVÁ, PhD.mskrlantova@yahoo.com