Article by Elena Corini Solena^®



If you live in Italy, you might have heard the expression “asseveration of a translation” in connection with some process to make a translation official. But what does “asseveration” mean?
According to merriam-webster.com, an “
asseveration” is a solemn and often public declaration of the truth. In Italy, it is certainly always very solemn and public.
This means that, in order for a translation to become official, it needs to be “asseverated”. The asseverated translation of a document is also commonly known as “sworn translation”.
An “asseveration”, or sworn translation of a document, is needed whenever an official declaration of the correspondence between the translated text and the original text is required. This declaration is made by the translator himself (or herself) before the judicial authority. The fact that the translator takes on legal responsibility for what he/she has translated by signing a statement of oath, gives the asseveration high legal value as any false declaration made under oath constitutes a crime pursuant to the Italian Penal Code.
Let’s see who exactly is the judicial authority involved and how the whole asseveration process works.


COMPETENCE
As we have just said, the asseveration of a translation is a solemn and public deed. It falls into the jurisdiction of any Judicial Chancery Official (after “chancery”, the historic Roman Catholic Church’s office administering canon law, which later became a judicial body of the Italian judicial system with functions comparable to, and yet different from, those of an “office of the clerk of the court” in common law systems).
The most important legal referencing applying here is Art. 5 of Royal Decree no. 1366 of 9 October 1922, which provides simplification of some services of judicial chancery offices or judicial secretary’s offices, and in doing so, establishes that affidavits and statements of oath concerning extrajudicial testimonies – which includes translations – shall be handled by any judicial chancery official unless the deeds are to be formed before a magistrate pursuant to the law. However, the mention to any judicial chancery official is vague and the matter is no better defined. Therefore, in the silence of the law, such mention to “any judicial chancery official” shall be construed as referring to any chancery official of any judicial office. This means that, in Italy, a sworn or asseverated translation can be obtained either from any court of justice’s chancery official or from any Office of the Justice of the Peace, with equal legal value, as the definition of “chancery official/judicial office” does apply to both offices (Note no. 1622/99/U of 16 June 1999 of the Ministry of Justice, Civil Affairs).
This premise explains why, in Italy, an asseveration of a translation rendered before a judicial chancery official is the typology of official attestation of the truth that bears the highest degree of validity and recognition before the law – this together with the solemn oath rendered by a translator before a notary. In Italy, an asseveration or asseverated translation is more popularly known as sworn translation. They are, indeed, the same thing.
As a matter of fact, they are also referred to as certified translation or official translation – although quite inaccurately, as these are foreign expressions which do not match exactly the tools provided for by the Italian legal system. However, in some cases, certified translations, although less official, are admitted, for example in case of educational certificates obtained abroad to be rendered legally valid in Italy for access to the Italian educational/academic system. In this case, the attestation of correspondence between the translated text and the text in the original document can be made by a diplomatic or consular authority (embassy or consulate). Nonetheless, it goes without saying that an oath made before a judicial chancery official bears the mark of the highest legal value.
The other highest form of attestation of truthfulness of a translation is the solemn oath made before a notary. Yet, as this solution is generally more expensive, recourse to it is made only if unavoidable under the law, for example to certify the truthfulness of the translation of real estate sales deeds, which are subject to notarisation.


HOW DOES IT WORK?
Now, let’s see how a sworn or asseverated translation is actually obtained.
In general, the translator does not have to be qualified as a sworn translator to render asseverated translations, although certain courts of justice require the translator to be registered in the appropriate roll of experts and technical consultants kept by each court or registered in the roll of experts and technical consultants kept by the Chambers of Commerce, category: translators/interpreters or enrolled into any accredited professional association of translators and interpreters falling into the provisions of law 4/2013 or enrolled into any official list of translators and interpreters kept by any corporation accredited with the Italian government.
Still, it is essential that the person who has made the translation appears personally before the Judicial Chancery Official, and that he or she signs a special statement after swearing an oath that he/she has rightly and faithfully discharged his/her official duty. It is also mandatory for the translator not to be in any way involved with the translated document or have any kin relations or relations-in-law with the person(s) concerned, that is, mentioned in the document – this in order to avoid possible bias or reasons for untruthfulness.
Then, the translator identifies himself/herself with the judicial chancery office or office of the justice of the peace by means of a valid identity document, hands in the original document (or a certified copy of it), its translation duly dated and signed at the bottom, and the statement of oath after filling it in, then signs it before the Judicial Chancery Official; the three documents are stapled together in this order and the bundle thus formed is immediately returned to the translator after affixing the necessary revenue stamps, the judicial stamping and the Judicial Chancery Official’s signature.
In certain cases, the law provides for exemptions from the payment of the revenue stamps, which consist of € 16.00 every 4 written pages of translated text consisting of 25 rows each including the statement of oath, plus a € 2.00 revenue stamp for every Enclosure, if any (drawings, photos, calculations, metric calculations etc.). Cases of exemption are for instance adoptions, scholarships/bursaries, employment and/or social security exempt on account of special income treatment, etc. The full list of the exemption cases is provided in the Chart/Enclosure B to Decree of the President of the Republic no. 642/1972. If you are entitled to one of the listed exemptions, this must be declared in the statement of oath along with the related legal referencing.
It is important to stress that at the end of the asseveration process one single inseparable bundle of documents is formed, implying that the original document is stapled together with the translation and the statement of oath. From this moment on, the three documents will go on living as one single document and may no longer be separated. This is why you absolutely need to know in advance whether you want to use the original document or an authenticated copy of it (this often applies to educational/academic diplomas and certificates). If you want to use an authenticated copy, it is advisable to inquire in advance about how and when you may obtain one. If the original document was issued in Italy, you generally just need to turn to the municipal offices of your town of residence.
Here is another important note: if the sworn translation is to be rendered legally valid for use abroad, it is necessary to obtain the legalisation of the signature of the public officer who issued the document. To have a signature thus legalised, you need to apply to the Public Prosecutor’s Office established within every Court of Justice.


NOTA BENE
Asseverations of translations from a foreign language into another foreign language (other than Italian, of course) are not permitted in Italy. So, for example, a document originally issued in the French language to be translated and asseverated into English must be sworn translated into Italian first, and then the Italian translation of the original text thus made official must be translated into English and a second statement of oath must be made.
In the event that parts of a document do not need to be translated and yet they cannot be removed from the original text, the law permits to omit them on condition that the exact detail of said parts is indicated before the translation text in the language of the translation.


LEGAL REFERENCING
The main legal referencing governing asseverations of translations (or sworn translations) in Italy is:
– Art. 5 of Royal Decree no. 1366 of 9 Oct 1922), as mentioned above, which, in simplifying the services of judicial chanceries or judicial secretary’s offices, defines the legal competence of the asseveration.
– (Ministerial Decree of 4 Jan 1954) (Cat. 22), which provides for translations from/into foreign languages
– (Royal Decree of 20 Sep 1934 no. 2011) (art.32 categories: experts and technical consultants registered in an appropriate role kept by chambers of commerce).


SOURCES
Court of Varese
Court of Busto Arsizio
Court of Milan