American Translators Association, 1988
Code of Ethical Practices 
and Professional Rights

It shall be the duty of all translators:

1. To translate with the greatest fidelity and accuracy they can command, endeavoring always to give their readers and audiences the impression they would have if they could read or hear the original.

2. To maintain professional discretion and in particular to respect the rights of their clients or employers by divulging nothing they may have learned in their professional capacity that is harmful to their interests; and to derive no personal profit or advantage from any confidential information they may have acquired in their professional capacity.

3. To accept no assignment for which they know themselves to be less than well qualified in either language or understanding of the subject, except with the prior knowledge of their clients or employers; and to refuse any assignment which they believe they cannot properly complete within the time allowed.

4. To s loopbackhare professional knowledge with their colleagues on a reciprocal basis.

5. To refrain from any action likely to discredit the profession, and in particular to abstain from engaging in unfair competition.

6. To seek or accept no work on terms that are humiliating to them or to the profession.

7. To refuse any assignment that they believe to be intended for illegal or dishonest purposes, or against the public intere To be loyal to their colleagues and to their profession and to agree to settle professional differences by arbitration whenever possible.

All translators shall have the right:

1. To receive the same consideration and the same status as are generally according the members of other professions, including prompt payment for their services.

2. To charge such professional fees as are commensurate with their experience, degree of specialized knowledge and quality of work, taking into account such guidelines as may be laid down by their professional society.

3. To demand working conditions that will enable them to perform their services with efficiency and dignity.

4. To refuse to quote a fee on a competition basis or without having seen the work to be translated.

5. To seek, by legislation or other means, the same social and fiscal benefits and tax classifications granted to members of other professions.

6. To enjoy in the case of translations intended for publication or performance, equitable publicity of the kind traditionally granted authors of technical, literary, and dramatic works, including mention of their names on the title pages and jackets of published translations, or in theater programs, and in the advertising of their translations by the publishers or producers.

7. To share, in the case of commercially published or produced works, in the fortunes of their translations, and in particular to receive a proportional share of the royalties as well as an advance payment.

8. To insist, in the case of translations intended for publication or performance, that no substantial changes be made without their consent or, alternatively, that their names be removed as translator or adapter, without prejudice to the agreed payment.

Home