Why We Need CPDs

Why We Need CPDs: Martina Bajčić &Viktorija Osolnik Kunc Faculty of Law, Rijeka Faculty of Arts, Ljubljana

Translating Europe Forum 2017

Overview: 1. CPDs – Whys and Hows 2. The Importance of CPDs (for legal translators and court interpreters) 3. CPDs of the Association of Sworn Court Interpreters and Legal Translators of Slovenia SCIT Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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The hallmarks of a profession

training

knowledge

Expertise? experience

CPD

Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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Continuous professional development

Ongoing professional development: formal and informal

Life-long learning


WHY: to develop expertise

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CPDs implied for some professions o Code of Conduct (for lawyers) provides that they have to carry out their profession with care and diligence o which is interpreted by the doctrine as encompassing an obligation to undergo continuous training! o “Judges have a duty to perform judicial work

professionally and diligently, which implies that they should have great professional ability, acquired, maintained and enhanced through training.” (EP 2017)


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Why CPDs matter - allow to stay abreast of relevant changes to:

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technology language terminology (domain) law/regulation of the profession


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CPDs boost professional status o profession – an occupational group that has succeeded in controlling and manipulating the market in such a way that they can maximize its rewards (Weber 1947) o criteria for a group to qualify as a profession: inter alia, expertise, restriction of entry, qualifications, training Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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Translators in Disguise I o T&I suffer from an inferior status (Simeoni 1998); often described as a transparent medium, or those who belong behind the scenes (Jänis 2002) Sociology of professions: o a semi-professional or marginal occupation o not fully institutionalized occupation at the top of the professional prestige ladder („the success stories of professionalism“) Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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Translators in Disguise II o the low status as a profession is paradoxical today with so much attention devoted to crosscultural processes such as globalization, migration (cf. Sela-Sheffy 2016)


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Lessons to learn from legal practitioners


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Lessons to learn o in its 2011 Communication on “Building trust in EU-wide justice”, the EC set the objective of enabling half of the legal practitioners in the EU to participate in European judicial training activities by 2020 o EJTN, HELP, HELP in the 28* – set the trail towards European standards, good practices o pilot project – study on the state of play of court staff training o *1.6 M EUR-the largest training project within the EU for judges, prosecutors and lawyers Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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EJTN o coordinates national training activities across the EU o in 2016 offered judicial training to nearly 5,600 judges, prosecutors, trainers and trainees o continuous training also offered in most EU countries; whereas in countries in which it is not mandatory, training is offered (e.g. Germany, Austria) Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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HELP o 1) pan-European Programme of legal education based on a pan-European HELP Network (Judiciary schools and Bar associations of CoE 47 MS) o 2) "A la carte" and tailor-made approach with a huge potential for development and adaptation to national training system o 3) focus on the enhanced capacity of national trainers (train-the-trainers approach) o 4) quality of the training modules merging European standards with national law o 5) use of modern technologies including - but not limited to - interactive distance learning etc.


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Association of Sworn Court Interpreters and Legal Translators of Slovenia SCIT


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Sworn Court Interpreters in Slovenia

profile data

o "sodni tolmač" – sworn court interpreter and court translator o examination board (judges, legal experts, academia) – Slovenian Ministry of Justice, Judicial Training Center o one-day language and legal seminars (both optional) o no institutionalized training for CI & CT o candidates from linguistics, law, economics, civil engineering ... o new Act on court experts, assessors and interpreters to be passed by the end of 2017 (ongoing negotiations between Ministry and the stakeholders) Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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Aims and goals of an Association o to connect people of the same profession/occupation o to educate and deliver continuous professional development courses o to act as a professional body and respond to questions and concerns of national and public interest o act as a learned society Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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Benefits for members members of associations (translators/interpreters) value the most: – financial benefits (e.g. translation/interpretation job offers) – low-cost education opportunities – tailor-made professional development programmes – specialized/complex knowledge – social events (networking as an added value) Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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Consumer or quality driven? Expert speakers

•Do excellent speakers come for free?

Costs •Value and respect quality

High quality •A three-fold insight into the profession + passion & devotion


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Association SCIT Key tasks: – adding professional value to the profile of the sworn court interpreter and court translator in Slovenia – narrowing the gap between the academia and the T/I profession – identifying newcomers from other professions and late career changers (“Quereinsteiger”) in the T/I profession – understanding the benefits of academic & professional research – quality over quantity – instil the ethics of professionalism Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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About us o since 2006 – raising awareness of the work of CI & CT by maintaining constant discourse with the Slovenian Ministry of Justice o in 2012 – Association established o Nov. 2017 – 87 members out of appr. 660 sworn CIs o focus on inviting experts from the academia/industry with extensive professional experience in law and language o being recognized because of professionalism, not lobbying o in Jan. 2012 - CPDs mandatory by Slovenian legislation for all CIs (in 2015 – implementation of three language specific & two legal specific CPDs as mandatory over a five-year period per CI lang.) Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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Connecting people and developing expertise offering CPDs with experts such as: o o o o o

Prof. Dr. Miodrag Orlić, Faculty of Law, Belgrade David Hutchins, Lexacom, London Prof. Emeritus Dr.Dr. h.c. Gernot Kocher, Faculty of Law, Graz Prof. Dr. Miro Cerar, Prime Minister of Slovenia Assist. Prof. Dr. Martina Bajčić, Faculty of Law, Rijeka Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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Board of Directors

Professions: judge, notary assistant, CI examiner & lecturer, notary, translator Translation Europe Forum 6th Nov. 2017

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References o

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Opinion no 4 of the Consultative council of European Judges (CCJE) to the attention of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on appropriate initial and in-service training for judges at national and European levels The Training of Judges and Legal Practitioners. Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. Justice, Freedom and Security. EP, 2017. Bajčić, M. 2015. The Way Forward for Court Interpreting in Europe. In Šarčević, S. (ed.) Language and Culture in EU Law. Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Surrey:Ashgate. 219-239. Jänis, M. 1996. „What Translators of Plays Think about Their Work.“ Target 8(2):341-64.

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Osolnik Kunc, V. 2014. Der Gerichtsdolmetscher – über Profil und Arbeit in Slowenien. In: Baur, W. et al. (ed.): Im Spannungsfeld zwischen Mensch und Maschine – Die Zukunft von Übersetzern, Dolmetschern und Terminologen. BDÜ Fachverlag: Berlin. 799-807.

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Simeoni, D. 1998. „The Pivotal Status of the Translator‘s Habitus.“ Target 10(1): 1-39. Sela-Sheffy, R. 2016. "Professional Identity and Status." In Researching Translation and Interpreting, Angelelli, Claudia V. & Brian James Baer, eds. Milton Park & New York: Routledge, pp. 131-145. http://www.sarahdillon.com/intro-to-cpd/

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