You may then ask why one would hire a language services company to provide translations if that is not even their core competency? The answer is because the industry is structured in such a way that each of those middlemen, or LSPs, add necessary value.

In the past decades, we have seen translation companies grow from small regional agencies to large multinational enterprises, giving birth to the massive multiple language services provider (MMLSP). Much like the rise of the dinosaurs at the beginning of the Mesozoic Era, this phenomenon did not happen overnight.

Evolution doesn’t occur autonomously. It is shaped by changes in the environment. The evolution from contracted language professional (CLP) to MMLSP was driven by the changing demands of the customers and other external market influencers. In our example, the MMLSP represents the end result of this process and is, therefore, the most evolved, but is no more important than any other players in the industry. It may seem like the king of the jungle, but it is only one player in a delicate ecosystem that is heavily dependent on other players.

Every time I open up Facebook (And let’s not even discuss the transition to Snapchat…), I see an advertisement for a particular translation company that I have never heard of before. And when I say “every time”, I’m really not exaggerating. This ad campaign is aggressive. The ad has even followed me to other sites, showing up in banners and popups while I am just minding my own business online. It is quite literally following me. It won’t stop. All I want to do is watch the latest Star Wars trailer in peace, but this stupid ad won’t leave me alone.

So I finally gave into the pressure (yes, I usually end up doing whatever Facebook tells me to do) and clicked on the advertisement. I wanted to see what this was all about. The website is slick. It goes into detail about how their innovative new platform includes such features as “built in spellchecker” and something called “translation memories.” I’ll be perfectly honest, if I were somebody else (somebody with less experience in this industry), this product would sound pretty damn fabulous.

However, I’m not somebody else. I’m me. And it took me about 10 minutes to realize that what I was looking at wasn’t even a new translation company. The advertisement was actually for a machine translation platform. Ah, OK! That’s fine. Machine translation is great! However… What made me suspicious was how long it took me to realize that there was no actual human translation involved. From all of the content on the website, any inexperienced (yet reasonably intelligent) consumer could easily make the assumption that they would be buying human performed translations. Indeed, inexperienced consumers generally don’t know the difference between machine translation and human translation – until, that is, their foreign customers start screaming at them.

Delving a little deeper, I started looking at the various features that this platform had to offer. Here are a few that I jotted down:

Translated Documents will be automatically formatted

Editor’s note: No. No they won’t be automatically (magically) formatted. I am disturbed by this level of shameless misdirection (if not outright lie). In fact, if you pause the promotional YouTube videos in the right places, you can clearly see extra line breaks and missing spaces after periods in the translated documents they are showing off. Keep in mind I didn’t go hunting for this. I only watched one video, which was a video that was supposed to be about showing off how great the product worked.

[Machine] Translation learning

Editor’s note: They are referring to custom-training the MT engines. However, there is no mention that this will of course mean hiring linguists to post-edit the content. The website made it seem like this was a breeze. However, we know that in order to train a machine translation engine, we have to have human translators involved in this process. Nine times out of ten, this means hiring an LSP. Any self-respecting LSP is going to already have their preferred methodology for training and maintaining MT engines that allows them to be more efficient, but now you will be forcing them to work in this tool that they have never heard of before. Good luck with that.

“Innovative” Translation Memories

Editor’s note: Really? Translation Memories? Innovative? Is this 1993? I’m not even going to comment on this further… I just can’t…

I could go on, but I think I’ll stop right here. I believe I have presented enough evidence to be able to pass judgement. And what is my judgement?

Well, my judgment is that it actually looks like a pretty neat tool. They are providing trainable machine translation technology as a subscription service, in a system that integrates translation editing environment (CAT tool) and some basic quality checks like spell checking. Purchasing the (reasonably priced) paid subscription models also gets you access to their APIs so that you can integrate it directly into existing workflows. The platform looks fine. Nothing that is going to completely disrupt the language services industry, but fine. This is a new company so they maybe don’t have all the bells and whistles rolled out yet, but everybody has to start somewhere. I welcome newcomers to the area of language technology because this is a space that has been tragically devoid of any real innovation for a while now. Perhaps a little competition from new entrants like these guys is just what is needed to spur innovation.

What I don’t like though, is a trend that I’m seeing not just from this unnamed company, but from a lot of new startups in the language services industry. It’s this new idea that translation is automated and easy. It’s not. Translation is complex and sometimes messy, at least when it is done right. This is not a very popular opinion to have these days, though – especially working on the vendor (LSP) side of the fence. Language services buyers (LSBs) used to know that translation was complex. That is why they engaged with LSPs in the first place, taking advantage of their expertise and outsourcing the headache.

When working for LSPs, my sales pitch to clients used to be:

Localization is hard. Let us help you with that.

Now I’m not able to get past the word “hard” because they don’t want to hear how difficult anything is. And why would they? They’ve be preconditioned by aggressive marketing campaigns to believe that translation is easy. They are seeing the same Facebook ads and watching the same YouTube videos as am I. All those marketing materials are telling them the same thing: Translation is easy! The difference is that many of them don’t have the experience needed to be able to properly interpret that message.

This is not good news for LSPs. Clients onboard tools and platforms like this because they don’t know any better. They think it will be easy. Then they eventually realize that the tool is not living up to their expectations (ex., there may be some additional DTP work needed to clean up those “automatically formatted” files). By the time these LSBs reach out to an LSP, they are already incredibly frustrated and expect the LSP to fix everything for them. That is fine, actually. That is what good LSPs do for clients every day – fix things. What is not fine is that these LSPs are then told that they have to work within the same tool that is responsible for causing issues in the first place. Perhaps because of binding long-term contracts, or maybe because of a refusal to walk away from an already incurred sunk cost the client still wants to use this tool. This makes for a no-win situation.

Maybe I’m just an old man on my front porch rocking chair shaking my wrinkled fists at those pesky neighborhood kids. But I don’t think so. I welcome the newcomers to this industry. Lord knows we need some fresh blood to keep the rest of us on our toes. I wish the best for this new company and their overly-aggressive ad campaign. However, I would just ask one thing:

Please don’t sell us all snake oil.

In France, Italy and parts of Germany, the terms “interpreter”, “cultural mediator” and “intercultural mediator” may overlap or even be interchangeable. However, in some healthcare fields, these tasks are kept strictly separate but complement each other. For example, in the Irish medical system, the tasks differ very distinctly. But is it possible to deliver comprehensive information without considering cultural differences? We don’t always understand each other at the workplace. We are involved with people we know personally, who move within the same culture, and who speak our language.

During business negotiations between two companies, the interpreter points out the cultural features, clarifies customs, indicates the building blocks of correct behavior, and interprets greetings, signs, and expressions of thanks and confidence. Cultural differences are found in speech, in formulating a request, an instruction or a critique, and extend all the way to differences in thought, conversational techniques and negotiation tactics. The interpreter must often be able to explain elements of the foreign culture in order to create successful communication. In the end, these elements may cause misunderstanding in the listener, or evoke negative reactions.

Why a cultural mediator?

Many think of interpreters as parrots that just repeat words in a different language. This doesn’t account for the fact that an interpreter actually conveys a meaning, a thought, from another culture into the culture of the target language. In his speech, he must factor in cultural features that may cause misunderstandings or even conflicts. These may arise even before business negotiations — such as when the cultures understand time differently. An American always arrives at a meeting on time. But a Spaniard? A half-hour delay isn’t unusual. Our article on faux pas will go into these differences more intensively.

To show the influence a culture has on vocabulary, we point to Slovakia as an example. The Slovak language distinguishes between citizenship and nationality — why would this be? Do you know the difference? Citizenship is affiliation with a government. It describes the relationship between the individual and the state. This word is expressed in English as nationality and in Spanish as nacionalidad. Nationality is membership in a nation, a tribe, so to speak. In Spanish, the term nacionalidad is used for this, also. At the time when Czechoslovakia existed, members of two nations lived in one country — Slovaks and Czechs. But both were also citizens of the Czechoslovak state. These experiences affected their view of the world. Countries like France or Spain know only one concept — state citizenship. But what does a translator do when a legal text calls for the word nacionalidad to be translated into Slovak? Does he translate it as citizenship or nationality? He has to convey the concept from a language that doesn’t make this distinction. He therefore has no appropriate term for this. Even legal experts don’t agree in this realm.

One of the first cultural mediators

Maybe you’ve already heard of her. She was called Doña Marina, and she accompanied the conquistador Cortés in his exploration of the New World. Today she is spoken of as the first interpreter. As a woman, however, she was given little importance, and there is little information about her. She was a mediator in discussions with Native Americans who spoke Nahuatl. She started by interpreting into the Mayan language, and another interpreter conveyed her words to Cortés in Spanish. She is considered to be the first cultural mediator — and after all, the cultures of Spain and the Americas differed considerably. Malinche, as she was also called, interpreted from a language that is known for its juxtaposition of two or even three metaphors. Two to three sentences were needed to express one thought. For example, if one says in Spanish, “The king is dead”, the sentence might be expressed in Nahuatl as, “The king is dead, deceased, gone”. She expertly knew her way around the linguistic differences. So, despite the cultural gap and differing perceptions, communication in the New World went successfully.

Interpreters in business

In business, interpreters are now indispensable as intercultural mediators. They are part of negotiations, meetings and business travel. Many international companies employ their own interpreters and translators. Smaller companies engage external providers. However, in business, this can be a trap for many companies. They don’t put enough trust in someone they don’t know. For the company, there is potential danger in revealing their business plans to an interpreter who needs to prepare himself. This is why many companies do not bring in interpreting services, but use internal employees with enough language knowledge to serve as interpreters. But not everyone can come up with a substitute with adequate language skills for each situation. Negotiations are not only encounters between representatives of companies, but between different cultures. There are different modes of thinking and understanding of concepts.

Interpreters and “false friends” in healthcare

As mentioned at the beginning, in Irish healthcare, the tasks of an interpreter and a mediator are not identical. Moreover, the profession of interpreter is not legally specified — any family member, including children, friends and the cleaning lady, can perform the task. It is enough that communication can occur. It is exactly the opposite in the United States: There, a foreigner in the healthcare system has the right to a professional interpreter. Often, there is no awareness of the risk to both sides.

In such a situation, it must be ensured that the communicator is aware of what are called false friends. These are words that sound similar in both languages but have completely different meanings. Maybe you’ve already heard of the tragic case of Willie Ramirez, a basketball player in Florida. When he was brought to the hospital, he was already in a coma. His family member told the interpreter that he was “intoxicado”, which in Cuban Spanish means he had food poisoning. The interpreter translated the word into English as “intoxicated”, which indicates drug use. The doctors then automatically ruled out other diagnoses. When they finally systematically determined that Willie had a brain hemorrhage, it was too late for any effective medication. This mistake led to the basketball player living as a quadriplegic.

An interpreter is like a bridge that joins two cultures. As a cultural mediator, however, he cannot separate the language from the culture. If he just swaps one word for another, misunderstandings can occur. And if he only functioned as a cultural mediator? In that case, business meetings would look similar to this video by Catherine Tate.

The policy of our translation agency is to accommodate our customers as much as possible in the field of software processing. In short, this means that what the client sends us for translation is exactly what we return to them. This is carried out to the same quality, usually even better (e.g. with scanned, faxed or older documents). We address the challenging task of translating documents created with CAD systems below.

The translation of documents created with any CAD program could be described as the nightmare of any DTP employee involved in localization. Whether it’s for project planning, drawing or modelling, creating documents with CAD (computer-aided-design) covers a very wide range of activities. This may include, for example, different types of software, software extensions, plug-ins, 2D or 3D graphics, working with objects, embedded tables, illustrations or links to other drawings or documents. CAD systems no longer have much in common with traditional DTP software (InDesign, FrameMaker, etc.), not least because localization work with DTP is primarily focused on text formatting.

Our biggest obstacle is exporting the text to be translated in such a way that it can be processed with the required CAT tool. There are not many ways to do this. As a result, we have only managed to find a more or less practicable method over time. Here, we rely on very useful software that literally splits a dxf file into a text part and a data part and can “merge” this file into a usable dxf file again once the translation is complete. Working with such a txt file (a tagged txt file that is created after the export) is still a complicated process and a large number of “locked” segments are created. The reconversion does not allow any data to be changed or deleted (except for the translation, of course). Otherwise, it would not be possible to reconvert the file. However, even this procedure does not guarantee that all the texts to be translated will actually properly “go through” the conversion process. It is therefore essential that the source text and the resulting text undergo a visual examination.

At the same time, inverted texts are also output during the process that are not visible in the scheme itself. We do not touch such texts in our work. We could remove these texts at this point. We do not, however, process them any further, in order to avoid completely mixing up the structure of the document (and we really don’t want that). During the drawing and project planning itself, it is rarely expected that the document will eventually be processed, i.e. translated, externally.

DWG/DXF files are often too complicated and intricate and the range of programs used to create them is too wide.

And here we face another challenge, the problem of compatibility. As mentioned above, there are many CAD programs. For example: AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, DraftSight, IntelliCAD, TurboCAD, ZWCAD, CATIA, Solid Edge and OrCAD. Each program has a special feature making it specific and unique. We obviously do not have all of these programs and certainly cannot be experts in each of them. AutoCAD from Autodesk is without doubt the market leader. It is also, however, the price leader (if the scaled-down light version is not considered). This is why we chose the ZWCAD program, which is more cost-effective and relatively compatible. It goes without saying that we cannot select the program that was used to create the source file, but that wouldn’t be necessary either.

In light of all of the circumstances mentioned above, we cannot avoid converting and splitting documents when processing them, which at times may even prove extensive, in order to create the required text and achieve the desired effect. In the end, however, there may be instances where we cannot process CAD documents as desired. In such cases, we can offer the translation of a PDF document as an alternative, provided that the customer can use the PDF format as the result format. This presupposes the fact that the customer is not required to further edit and modify the file.

The human eye perceives green-yellow colors down to the finest nuance. Why? This fine sense of vision goes back to our evolution. Over half a billion years ago, the primordial ocean was teeming with a tiny organism that could already see. And although this early sight organ could not distinguish more than light and dark, it triggered a fascinating development process on Planet Earth. Researchers believe that from a small, light-sensitive dot, evolution produced the wide-ranging pallet of eye types we see today (45 to 65 types of eyes that developed independently of each other). All types of eyes have adapted to the habitat of their individual organisms. The eye’s job is to capture photons — the elementary particles of light — and thereby to see. Vision eases an organism’s access to food sources and enables successful escape from predators.

Light is an electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength of 360 to 780 nanometers (nm). This range includes the spectrum of seven basic colors that the human eye can see. The color spectrum represents division of light energy into individual wavelengths, or frequencies.

It contains the following colors:

• Purple (360 – 420 nm)
• Indigo (420 – 480 nm)
• Blue (480 – 540 nm)
• Green (540 – 600 nm)
• Yellow (600 – 660 nm)
• Orange (660 – 720 nm) 
• Red (720 – 780 nm)

The color green is among the three source colors that the human eye can distinguish among 10 million shades of other colors. We cannot see ultraviolet or infrared at all. The human eye sees green as more than just a color. Green is often a symbol of nature. The plants that represent our greatest source of food are green. This is because of their chlorophyll components. Chlorophyll has the property of strongly absorbing the electromagnetic wavelengths of red and blue, so the light reflected back looks green. The green that is associated with preservation of life is perceived as positive and optimistic.

How green influences our physical and mental health

Green is a cool, passive color that conveys calm and peace. It is generally the most relaxed of all colors. It stands for freshness, peace, hope, ease, and harmony. People also associate it with life, youth, and spring weather. Green is becoming increasingly popular. It conveys the notions of nature and solidarity with the environment. In marketing, green is often used in association with eco-friendly products. It is the color of sympathy. It helps with heart and nerve problems, inner restlessness, disturbed sleep, and exhaustion. The color is used with gall bladder disorders, and for easing allergies, asthma, and breathing problems. It improves concentration, strengthens memory, and supports thought processes. Green lowers blood pressure and widens blood vessels. Psychologically speaking, it stands for hope, positive change, and new life — for a new beginning. If you want to produce harmony or create greater stability and security, go with green!

How green affects Tetras Translations

As we have already described, green stands for a new beginning — the birth of something new. At the beginning, for our company also, the color stood for a new start and a new enterprise. And how does the color affect us now, after years of successful business? We feel we are always full of energy, think positively, have new ideas, visions, and goals… We want to stay true to the color green and earn the image of an eco-friendly company. We strive to reduce paper waste to a minimum by migrating to electronic systems. We feel that our gifts and promotional articles — many of which we get from sheltered workshops — also help those who need it.

In the past, members of a particular profession have evolved established patterns of behavior in a natural manner.Gradually, many of them were also written down, into a “code of ethics”.All members of a particular profession were required to become acquainted with it and to obey it (guilds).Today’s companies take their own approach to implementing moral principles into their work.Many of them rely merely on employees having learned proper and ethical behavior as part of their education and upbringing.We rarely encounter the implementation of a sophisticated code of ethics at a particular company and its real-life practical application.Codes of ethics contain principles of ethical behavior that apply to the entire entity.The current situation regarding the application of ethical and moral principles in business is unsatisfactory.The predatory nature of a company that focuses chiefly on profits and consumption leads many workers to forget the moral and ethical principles of communication and behavior of their vocation.As a result, relationships between the company and its customers are also disrupted.People became used to not trusting each other in verbal communication, which is why they require a written agreement declared in applicable laws.This is precisely why it is important that companies, which depend on their good name, directly or indirectly, insist that their employees behave ethically.The result is eventually reflected in business results and a good reputation with clients, and becomes a natural marketing tool that attracts new customers.For this reason, it is useful for everyone to identify with the idea of ethical behavior in society.By developing a code of ethics and adhering to it, you will be able to improve and enhance your corporate culture.

Code of Ethics

The Code is an expression of ideal behavior and adherence to principles within a particular type of profession.Its written version contains orders, prohibitions, and recommendations for professional conduct, in prescribed form.It is a plan to perform tasks in a particular vocation, as well as instructions on how to for example behave in a given situation and in professional relationships.It serves as a measure for the evaluation of the actions of those working in a particular profession.When creating a code of ethics, one should not forget that every profession affects a person’s life.An important aim in adopting a code of ethics is to protect the rights of both the company’s customers and its employees.Individual points must not conflict with generally applicable laws and general ethical standards in the given country’s society.If the principles of the Code of Ethics are breached, the Ethics Committee will resolve any infringement of individual standards in accordance with predetermined sanctions.

The UN Global Compact and the Code of Ethics

The predecessor of the Global Compact are the Caux Round Table Principles, which were adopted in 1994 in Switzerland.It was the first set of business ethics rules based on the ideal of human dignity and the ideal of kyosei.This set of rules was developed by business leaders from Europe, Japan, and the US.These principles were then used to create the UN Global Compact.This UN initiative provides unlimited opportunity for discussion, change, and sharing of ideas.In individual countries, participants are creating solutions and contributing to the overall vision of the UN Global Compact.New incentives and basic rules are updated in the Memorandum of Understanding at https://www.globalcompact.de/wAssets/docs/Deutsches-Netzwerk/MOU_2014_Germany-Signed.pdf. Companies that have signed the UN Global Compact have had to adopt a code of ethics, a set of core values in the fields of human rights, working standards, the environment, and anti-corruption, in their sphere of influence.Here are examples of some major companies operating in an advanced economy:Aldi Süd, Deutsche Börse, Deutsche Telekom, Hochtief, Nestlé, SAP, and many others.Industrial companies in the energy sector and coal producers also support the demands of the Global Compact, including Siemens, EnBW, and E.ON.All of these companies have their code of ethics and the UN Global Compact available on their website.

Ethics and Tetras

A company that wants to be successful and remain in business over the long term should institute a code of ethics.It follows from the UN Global Compact that a code of ethics is a basic document declaring professional business ethics.Tetras Translations is fully aware of the importance of a code of ethics.This is precisely why the our code of ethics will be on our website in the near future.In this day and age, it is not only a description, but also a practical guarantee of and support for business success.Wherever employees and customers feel satisfied, there is a strong likelihood that the company will still be around a very long time from now.

The question of moral conflict was described succinctly by Mahatma Gandhi: “Doing a thing we are afraid of is the first step to success.”

In general, two main interpreting modes are acknowledged – consecutive and simultaneous interpreting. In consecutive interpreting, the interpreter starts interpreting when the speaker stops and lets him do so. It is quite time-consuming. On the other hand, in simultaneous interpreting, the interpreter speaks at the same time as the speaker, 2-3 seconds behind. This is possible thanks to specialized technical equipment, especially headsets, microphones, and interpreting booths. So, the costs are higher. Whispered interpreting means that the interpreter interprets in whispers simultaneously or consecutively directly into the ear of the delegate.

Somewhere within Cortés and Nuremberg trials

Interpreters were very appreciated in ancient Egypt, Babylon and other territories where people from different cultures, ethnic and language groups lived together. They facilitated communication in the spheres of trading, army, diplomacy, and religion. Neither headsets nor microphones were known by pharaoh Horemheb or conquistador Hernan Cortes in their times. Dialogs might have been interpreted sentence-by-sentence or in short stretches.

Gradually, the vision of the interpreter as a profession significantly changed. During the 20s, ethics did not allow the interpreter to interrupt the speaker. The speech might have taken two hours. A properly trained memory and a special note-taking technique represented their tools. And when there was no paper left, they used the sleeves of their shirts to help. Only in the Nuremberg trials was the first simultaneous interpreting as we know today used. And yet, during the period up to the origin of simultaneous interpreting, whispered interpreting had been started to be used.

Whispered interpreting – when, where and why

Whispered interpreting or whispering is the technique also called chuchotage, from French. The interpreter whispers into the ear of the delegate. Let me give you an example. If there is a conference in Slovakia and the participants speak English, simultaneous interpreting is booked. Two professional interpreters and the necessary technical equipment are hired. One of the participants is from Spain and does not understand English. Therefore, the organizers hire a professional interpreter to do whispered interpreting. The interpreter is seated behind or next to the Spanish speaking participant at the conference. He leans to the delegate and whispers directly into his ear. This way, the information is transferred.

Most often whispered interpreting is used exactly because it is cost-effective for the client. It would be useless to hire two more interpreters (there are two in every booth who switch) who would interpret for only one participant.

Whispered interpreting is used not only during conferences, but also in community interpreting – during court proceedings, prosecutions, by authorities, by police officers, in hospitals – or in cinema and theatre. Many consider it to be only a subtype of simultaneous interpreting. Yet the United Nations Organization and European Union acknowledge it as one of the main types of conference interpreting. It is a technique that is also recognized and employed by the Directorate-General for Interpreting and European Parliament. However, it is quite interesting that whispered interpreting is not taught during the studies of future professional interpreters. Study plans include the two, according to some, main modes mentioned – simultaneous and consecutive interpreting – but the students have to cope with chuchotage on their own.

Translation and interpreting agencies offer simultaneous and also consecutive (segment-by-segment) interpreting. Some theoreticians agree that whispered interpreting is different enough to constitute a mode of its own, as the interpreter:

• interprets in whispers directly into the ear,
• sits in the audience,
• has no time to do note-taking,
• has no place for dictionaries or other materials,
• has no technical equipment.

Whispered interpreting also demands special skills. There is no soundproof barrier between the whispering interpreter and other participants. Just as the audience could disturb the interpreter, the interpreter could be disturbing. It happens quite often that the audience does „psssssst“ quite loudly to quieten the interpreter. In some cases, it is impossible to separate the target audience from the non-target one.

Whispered interpreting in real life

I remember my first experience with whispered interpreting quite well. When I leaned towards my friend in the operating room, she stopped looking at the doctor and looked at me with her eyes saying, Why are you whispering into my ear? She was confused and did not know whether to listen to me or the doctor, although she did not understand him. The doctor seemed to be confused, too. There was a moment when my friend and I were looking at each other and did not pay attention to him. My friend expected that I would start talking after the doctor stopped, as she saw it in movies. Finally, everything was ok.

Something similar happened to my friend at a conference. She was the interpreter seated next to the Spanish participant and provided whispered interpreting. After about ten minutes, the Spaniard turned to her and asked where the technique was taught, how she can do it, and how it is possible to do it so fluently etc. She was more interested in whispered interpreting than the theme of the conference. The interpreter smiled a little, finished interpreting and the chuchotage theme was discussed after the event. Not every interpreter is willing to do whispered interpreting. Interpreting itself is one of the most physically and mentally challenging professions. Moreover, imagine you have to whisper for two hours, and have others gaze at you as you disturb them. Let´s respect the work of people in our surroundings, and do not be afraid when one day somebody would like to whisper directly into your ear.

1. CIEC Convention

CIEC stands for International Commission on Civil Status. It is an intergovernmental organization. The aim is to facilitate cooperation in civil-status matters. The drafted Conventions further the exchange of information between civil registrars through standardized forms. These are multilingual or coded and accepted with full legal value without translation and legalization (or any equivalent formality) in the territory of each contracting State. The most recent one signed is Convention No. 34 on the issue of multilingual and coded extracts from civil-status records and multilingual and coded civil-status certificates. The up-to-date list of states signatory to CIEC Conventions is still being updated on www.ciec1.org.

CIEC Convention on the issue of multilingual extracts from civil status records

The Convention is in force in 24 countries, namely, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands (European territory), Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey.

2. Bilateral agreements

Some states have concluded also bilateral agreements to agree on special conditions and requirements concerning public documents and legalization. Every country has the list of such states available online. Not all bilateral agreements necessarily concern public document legalization and not all are valid in both directions. As an example, there is the bilateral agreement between Slovakia and Italy which works only in one direction. It means that Italy does not accept Slovak public document from Registry Offices and demands the Apostille certificate. On the other hand public documents issued by the Registry Office in Italy that are to be used in Slovakia do not require legalization.

3. Consular legalization

Public documents that are to be used in one of the countries to which none of the above-mentioned conventions apply has to be legalized (prior certification) and superlegalized (further certification known as validation).

Example – consular procedure for Slovak documents for use abroad

• The original copy of the Slovak public document that the client wants to use abroad is issued by the respective Registry Office. It must be issued no more than 6 months ago
• The respective district office certifies the public document
• The public document is then legalized by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic
• The document is translated by a sworn translator
• The respective Regional Court certifies the translated document
• The documents are authenticated by the Consular Section of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic
• The documents are submitted to the consular mission of the country where it will be used

The last state authority in Slovakia that legalizes the public document issued by a Slovak authority should be Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic = legalization. And then it is necessary to submit the translated public document for further certification to the foreign mission of the country in which the document is to be used = Superlegalization. The administrative fee for legalization by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic is paid in the form of a € 20 duty stamp. Clients are required to obtain duty stamps in advance (e.g. at the post office).

Consular procedure for German documents for use abroad

Legalization is carried out by the diplomatic or consular mission of the country in which the document is to be used. It is up to the foreign mission to choose how it shall decide that a document is authentic. As there are more issuing authorities in Germany is quite challenging for the consular missions of other states to keep track of them. Therefore the missions demand prior certification of the document by a German authority, and sometimes further certification, known as validation, is also required.

The system of providing prior certification in various German States is not unified. The website www.auswaertiges-amt.de recommends to ask the authority that issued the document for more information. Other useful information about legalization of public documents, lists of countries with which Germany agreed on special conditions is available there.

4. How to prepare the document for translation?

For the Apostille certificate, have the original document certified before submitting it to the translator who translates the Apostille as well. If you do not have prior certification it is highly possible that the document will not be accepted by the foreign authority.

But you have to know how to choose a sufficient sworn translator or non-sworn translator. We contacted the Registry Office in the City of Poprad that confirmed that Slovakia requires the public document issued abroad for use in Slovakia to be translated in Slovak territory. As regards other states, it is best to ask for more information from the authority abroad for information about how to proceed.

In Germany, translations are not regarded as public documents. A certification by a sworn translator does not change this status. It is however possible for the President of the competent court to issue a certificate verifying that the translator is a sworn or certified “expert”. Whether a translation done in Germany will be recognized by another state is a matter governed by the law of the state in which the translation is to be used.

5. Some useful web pages:

The following web pages provide information about how to legalize different types of documents.

Spain

http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Portal/es/ServiciosAlCiudadano/SiEstasEnElExtranjero/Paginas/Legalizaciones.aspx

Germany

http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/DE/Startseite_node.html

The United Kingdom

http://www.legalizationoffice.org.uk/

U.S.A.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal-considerations/judicial/authentication-of-documents/office-of-authentications.html

When we want any public document from one country to be legally valid in another country, it must be legalized. Every country has its own legislation, its own instructions about how to legalize documents for use abroad or foreign documents for use in the home country. The states increasingly try to unify the forms of civil-status documents, conclude agreements and contracts to facilitate time-consuming and costly proceedings. These efforts have led to the Hague Convention, for example.

Hague Convention

When both countries, the one that issued the document and the one that requires the document, signed the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents only an Apostille certificate is required. The register of so far 115 countries is still being updated on www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/. Look at it closely, there are a few exceptions – some countries raised objections about the inclusion of other ones. Therefore, the Convention has not entered into force between particular countries, for example, between Germany and Liberia or between Austria and Dominican Republic.

“Apostille is to certify the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the person signing the document has acted. In addition, where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp that the document bears. The Apostille does not relate to the content of the apostilled public document.” (www.hcch.net)

The Hague Convention replaces costly formalities by means of the Apostille certificate that should be placed on the document itself or on an “allonge”. The title Apostille shall be always in French but the text can be written in the official language of the issuing country and second foreign language (usually the certificate is translated by a sworn translator). “Apostilles may also be issued for a certified copy of a public document. On the other hand, the Convention neither applies to documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents nor to administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations, (this latter exception is to be interpreted narrowly). ” (Outline of the Convention). It applies to public documents such as:

• Judicial documents issued by an authority or public servant linked to any jurisdiction of the State, including the Public Ministry or a secretary, official or judicial agent
• Administrative documents
• Notarial acts
• Official certifications that have been affixed to private documents, such as the registration certification for a document, the certification of the certainty of a date and official and notarized authentication of signatures on private documents

Authorities designated to issue the Apostille certificate

The register of all designated competent authorities which can issue the Apostille Certificate is available on www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/. Usually, there are more authorities in one country as for example in Slovakia. Here, an Apostille shall be issued only by the authority that produced the original public document; it means one out of 8 authorities. However, there is an exception to every rule. There is only one authority that can issue an Apostille Certificate for all public documents in the United Kingdom – The Legalisation Office of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Example: Apostille procedure for public documents issued in Great Britain

1st possibility

• Visit the official web page of The Legalisation Office of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised
• Follow the instructions and fill out the application form
• The Legalisation Office of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office legalizes the document by attaching an Apostille to it
• The document is returned by courier or by mail

2nd possibility

• There are several companies you can choose from
• Contact them by email, live chat or just call them
• Give them the public document
• The company gives the document to The Legalisation Office of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• The document is returned by courier or by mail

We contacted Apostille Certificates UK at www.apostillecertificates.com. A chat support assistant confirmed us that all of the agencies supply support services (e.g. translation) as it can get a bit long winded if we need to have documents certified by a lawyer before the apostille can be applied for, or if we need further legalization from other embassies. If the clients are not sure about the process, the companies have the experience to have it done on their behalf.

The administrative fee for Apostille varies from one agency to another; it depends on the number and type of documents. The public documents for use in countries that have not signed the Hague Convention must be legalized. The legalization of documents and bilateral agreements are further discussed in the follow-up blog entitled Public Documents authentication II.