SLOVENIA

 

Country:                                            

Official or co-official languages

Slovene

Brief description of linguistic diversity

Italian, Hungarian,Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian.

Foundations:

 

Current legislative mandates for LIT and certification

Certification is mandatory by law. While judges require only qualified LITs, police and asylum authorities have their own lists where not all of the interpreters are certified.

Responsible parties:

 

Current accrediting bodies

The national certification center CIP (Center za izobrazevanje v pravosodju)

Does a register exist?

 

Who develops certification exams?

The national certification center CIP. Exams have not changed in the last decades and include: written translation (both ways) and an oral exam, including basic knowledge about the political structure of Slovenia and criminal procedures. Raters are mostly interpreters and translators, professors from the Faculty of Law, and linguists. About 5 people per exam.

Who/How many rate performances?


In accordance with the Courts Act, the Ministry of Justice manages a directory of court interpreters (https://spvt.mp.gov.si/tolmaci.html), the primary purpose of which is to guarantee legal security in the proceedings before courts and other state authorities. The contents of the directory are updated every six months with data from the central registry of the population (concerning the data on permanent and temporary residence of legal interpreters), data from the the criminal records division (regarding criminal acts on the basis of which an interpreter can be relieved of his/her duties) and data obtained from the civil register (for information on the date of death of an interpreter). By the end of January every year, court interpreters are required to confirm to the Ministry the accuracy of the information contained in the directory and report any changes regarding their personal data. In the case of omission of the stated obligation, the interpreter is temporarily removed from the publicly accessible part of the directory, but re-entered after communicating the relevant information. The Ministry of Justice has managed the directory for several years and there are no major problems. The Courts Act introduced the interpreters’ obligation of continuous professional development in 2011; therefore, at the beginning of 2017 the Ministry is set to revise the contents of the directory of court interpreters to reflect the fulfilment of this requirement.

Collaboration

Prior to taking the exam, all candidates must complete a short seminar offered by the CIP (current cost 400€). The seminar is taught by LITs and professors of law, but is just an introduction and is not a sufficient preparation for the exams. The university Department for Translation, in collaboration with the Faculty of Law, offers courses in legal translation taught by linguists and lawyers together. The Slovene Translators Association (LIT section) also offers training courses.

 

Test Format:

 

T & I in one exam?

There is no interpreting test, only a written translation test and an oral exam covering basic knowledge of the political structure and the criminal justice system.

Screening exam? Describe.

 

Test type/format

Written translation of a legal text in both directions. Oral exercise.

 

Domains tested

Law, languages, work of a LIT

 

Scoring

 

Transparency:

 

Website? Dissemination of info about certification

The CIP’s website is quite clear and provides links to all the information.

 

Requirements to sit exam

 University diploma and Slovene nationality, also a clean criminal record. The requirements are the same for all languages, but the exams are organized more frequently for the ‘bigger’ languages.

 

Sample questions or practice exam available?

 

 

Additional qualifications for certification (experience, training, educational level, nationality)

 

Cost to candidate/#of locations/ frequency

Exam: 270 EUR.

Compulsory preparatory seminar: 400 EUR.

The written exam is offered every month in Ljubljana, with the oral exam offered seven days later.

Feedback on exam performance

7 days after the oral exam

 Score grievance procedure available

No

Maximum nº of sittings

3 times. If not successful, 5 years must elapse before sitting again

 Permanent or renewable certification Under new regulations, certification is to be renewed every 5 years (proofs of attendance to 5 further training courses/seminars must me submitted).

Post-certification:

 

 

 

Revocation of certification possible?

There have been no cases of revocation.

If so, for what reasons?

New regulations make it possible for revocation if requirements for renewal not met.

Performance monitored? If so, how?