A solid ethical commitment

The Association of Sworn Translators of the City of Buenos Aires (Colegio de Traductores Públicos de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, CTPCBA) is a non-governmental, non-profit, public law entity accredited by the country’s administration.

It was created on 25 April 1973 for “the governance, control and registration of professional members in various languages”. CTPCBA is a professional translators association under institutional, academic and economic self-governing system.

Some of its activities include promoting, disseminating and representing the work of sworn translators, authorising and administering professional registration, establishing rules of professional ethics, supervising strict observance of the rules of professional conduct and organising courses, lectures and activities for its members’ continuing education.

The translation association also submits to judicial authorities “an index of translators registered to act in the capacity of court experts”.

CTPCBA’s database has approximately 7,500 registered translators in over 30 languages, from Arabic to Ukrainian, including Armenian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew and Portuguese.

Sworn translators are professional graduates with special qualifications, who are authorised to translate “any document written in a foreign language to be submitted to governmental agencies, institutions or offices”. They are the only professionals authorised to act as court interpreters and court translators. Moreover, private sector players request their services for the translation of “any written materials that demand professional responsibility and top notch training and specialization”.

According to the translators association, even nowadays, in a “fast-paced” and “globalised” 21st century, “translators continue to perform their historical role as a bridge between cultures and as a unique link in communication”. These professionals provide an accurate use of languages in various fields.

The Argentine organisation stresses that, as a result of academic and technical training combined with a “solid ethical commitment, sworn translators are highly qualified professionals who can guarantee the reliability of their work”. In addition, there is an increasing demand for thorough knowledge and better specialisation, as well as deeper understanding and continuous updating of skills both in terms of language and emerging technologies. CTPCBA guarantees its members are highly committed to constant training in their mother tongue but also other languages they use for work.

In Argentina, sworn translators are the only professionals allowed to provide legal validity to translations. They do it by adding their signature and seal to the documents. Their attesting capacity makes them distinct and their work becomes indispensable for the proper functioning of legal institutions. Members of the translators association are qualified to translate into Spanish any written document in a foreign language with the purpose of being submitted to government agencies or public entities within the country. Furthermore, they can translate into a foreign language any document written in Spanish.

Sworn translators may also act as court interpreters, being responsible for the oral interpretation of a source language into a target language. Many of CTPCBA’s members can work as either consecutive of simultaneous conference interpreters.

The Argentine translation association ensures that “under no circumstances” will it “comment on the contents or legal validity of the source document or the contents of the translation”.
CTPCBA is itself a member of several international organisations, such as International Federation of Translators (FIT, Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs), the Latin America Regional Center (FIT Latam, Centro Regional América Latina) or the Latin American Terminology Network (RITerm, Red Iberoamericana de Terminología).

Keep in mind that even if there are at least 40 spoken languages in Argentina and no official tongue, Spanish is dominant de facto and by far. Argentina is the fourth largest Spanish-speaking country, after Mexico, Spain and Colombia.

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