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Interpreting in Legal and Healthcare Settings: Perspectives on research and training
Edited by Eva N.S. Ng and Ineke H.M. Crezee
[Benjamins Translation Library 151] 2020
► pp. 165–187

Chapter 7
Organising a profession

The role of associations during the adoption of the new law for legal interpreting and translation (LIT) in Spain

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The establishment and consolidation of sound professional organisations is a necessary step towards the professionalisation of community interpreting, alongside the adoption of legal provisions. This contribution will firstly focus on how the community of translators and interpreters in Spain is organised professionally. Next it will analyse its role in the current process of introducing a new regulatory framework for legal interpreting and translation (LIT) and a register of court interpreters and translators. These changes respond to the obligation to transpose EU supranational legislation which aims to secure interpreting and translation quality, and the right to a fair trial in multilingual proceedings. The main features and shortcomings of the newly introduced Spanish legislation (Ley Orgánica 5/2015) will also be addressed and critically discussed in this chapter.

Keywords: Legal interpreting and translation (LIT), professionalisation, stakeholders, professional associations, colegio profesional, quality, Spanish Ley Orgánica 5/2015, professional register, Directive 2010/64/EU
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The translation and interpreting community of practice in Spain
    • 2.1Overview
    • 2.2Professional structures: Colegios vs. associations
      • 2.2.1The colegio profesional
      • 2.2.2Professional associations
  • 3.Guiding principles and stakeholders’ involvement in the configuration of the new Spanish LIT regulatory framework
    • 3.1The mandate for quality
    • 3.2The role of stakeholders
  • 4.Practical results: The new Spanish law for legal interpreting and translation in criminal proceedings
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 3 June 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.151.07ort
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