Julio Vasquez - Professional Translator English-Spanish

Canon 1. Accuracy

Source-language speech should be
faithfully rendered into the target
language by conserving all the
elements of the original message
while accommodating the syntactic
and semantic patterns of the target
language. The rendition should
sound natural in the target language,
and there should be no distortion of
the original message through
addition or omission, explanation or
paraphrasing. All hedges, false starts
and repetitions should be conveyed;
also, English words mixed into the
other language should be retained,
as should culturally-bound terms
which have no direct equivalent in
English, or which may have more
than one meaning. The register, style
and tone of the source language
should be conserved.
Guessing should be avoided. Court
interpreters who do not hear or
understand what a speaker has said
should seek clarification. Interpreter
errors should be corrected for the
record as soon as possible.

Canon 2. Impartiality and Conflicts
of Interest

Court interpreters and translators are
to remain impartial and neutral in
proceedings where they serve, and
must maintain the appearance of
impartiality and neutrality, avoiding
unnecessary contact with the parties.
Court interpreters and translators
shall abstain from comment on
matters in which they serve. Any real
or potential conflict of interest shall be
immediately disclosed to the Court
and all parties as soon as the
interpreter or translator becomes
aware of such conflict of interest.

Canon 5. Protocol and Demeanor

Court interpreters shall conduct
themselves in a manner consistent
with the standards and protocol of the
court, and shall perform their duties
as unobtrusively as possible. Court
interpreters are to use the same
grammatical person as the speaker.
When it becomes necessary to
assume a primary role in the
communication, they must make it
clear that they are speaking for
themselves.

Canon 6. Maintenance and
Improvement
of Skills and Knowledge

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

Canon 7. Accurate Representation
of Credentials

Court interpreters and translators
shall accurately represent their
certifications, accreditations, training
and pertinent experience.

Canon 8. Impediments to
Compliance

Court interpreters and translators
shall bring to the Court’s attention any
circumstance or condition that
impedes full compliance with any
Canon of this Code, including
interpreter fatigue, inability to hear, or
inadequate knowledge of specialized
terminology, and must decline
assignments under conditions that
make such compliance patently
impossible.

The following Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibilities has been promulgated by
the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT) to advance the
highest quality services in the profession. I endorse this Code of Ethics wholeheartedly.