At the Founding Meeting of the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Slovenia held on 1 July 2014 in Ljubljana, the members who are accredited as court interpreters by a decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the

CODE OF ETHICS OF THE COURT INTERPRETER SECTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF TRANSLATORS AND INTERPRETERS OF SLOVENIA

The Code is based on the Code of Professional Ethics of the European Association for Legal Interpreters and Translators (EULITA), adopted by the EULITA General Assembly in London on 6 April 2013.

The Code of Ethics for court interpreters is based on the principles outlined in the following sources:

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, December 1948 (Articles 1-11)
• The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, November 1950 (Articles 5 and 6)
• The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000/C 364/01), CHAPTER III – Articles 20 – 21, CHAPTER VI –Articles 47 – 50
• Directive 2010/64/EU of the European Parliament and Council of 20 October 2010 on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings

Court interpreters thus play an essential role in all efforts to ensure the equality of citizens in justice-related communications.

The members of the Court Interpreter Section have accepted this Code and undertake to comply with its provisions.

Definition of Terms

Court interpreter

Court interpreter is a professional who has been accredited by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Slovenia to interpret spoken language and to translate written language.

Consecutive interpreting

The interpreter renders the interpretation after the source-language speaker has finished speaking. Spoken-language interpreters can use special note-taking techniques to help in the rendering of lengthy passages.

Simultaneous interpreting

The interpreter transfers the message from the source language into the target language while the source-language speaker speaks continuously. This is the mode commonly used in conference settings.

Whispering

Simultaneous interpreting without the use of interpreting booths usually provided for a maximum of three persons.

Sight translation

It is required for the ad-hoc oral translation of documents. The source-language document is rendered orally in the target language as if it were written in the target language.

Intercultural competence

Professional awareness and understanding of the cultural factors, including but not limited to, behaviour and gestures, tone, values, roles, institutions, as well as linguistic differences and similarities.

Professional Competence

Court interpreter shall use the specific interpreting technique (consecutive, simultaneous, whispering, sight translating) according to the requirements for optimum cross-cultural communication in legal settings.

Court interpreters must not take on an assignment for which they have no or inadequate competences (in terms of language or subject matter), or which they are not able to perform properly (e.g. for lack of time to prepare for the assignment).

Court interpreters shall strive to maintain and improve their interpreting and translation skills and knowledge.

Accuracy

The source-language message shall be faithfully rendered in the target language by conserving all elements of the original message while accommodating the syntactic and semantic patterns of the target language. The register, style and tone of the source language shall be conserved.

Errors, hesitations and repetitions should be conveyed.

An interpreter shall request clarification when he or she did not understand a speaker, for example for reasons of acoustics, or ambiguity of a statement. He or she shall signal and correct any interpreting errors as soon as possible.

Obstacles to Performance Quality

Court interpreter shall bring to the attention of a court or any other institution any circumstance or condition that affects the quality of performance such as interpreter fatigue, inability to hear and/or see, inadequate knowledge of the specialized terminology, insufficient understanding of a dialect. They must decline assignments that would have to be delivered under conditions that make a qualified professional performance impossible.

Impartiality

Court interpreter shall remain neutral and also maintain the appearance of impartiality, avoiding any undue contacts with either witnesses, defendants and their families or members of the legal professions.

Any potential conflict of interest shall be immediately disclosed to the court or any other institution.

Confidentiality

Court interpreter shall be bound by the strictest secrecy. Any information acquired in the course of an interpreting or translation assignment for judicial purposes or its preparation shall not be disclosed.

Court interpreter shall refrain from deriving any personal or financial benefit from information they have acquired in the course of an interpreting or translation assignment for judicial purposes, or its preparation.

Protocol and Demeanour

Court interpreter shall behave with dignity and respect towards the court and perform their duties as unobtrusively as possible.

Court interpreter shall use the same grammatical person as the speaker of the source language. Should it become necessary for them to speak on their own behalf in the communication, they must make it clear by using the third person singular (i.e.: "The interpreter needs to seek clarification ...")

Court interpreter shall refrain from giving advice to the parties or otherwise engage in activities others than the ones belonging to the actual assignment.

Solidarity and Fair Conduct

Court interpreter shall act in a spirit of respect, cooperation and solidarity towards their colleagues.