The issue
Recent updates to the UK Government’s guidance on certifying documents, including translations, have raised concerns. The changes, detailed on the UK Government website and in the Ministry of Justice’s Family Procedure Rules for PD7A, deviate from long-standing UK best practices and thus this new guidance exposes both the individuals submitting certified translations as well as the authorities receiving certified translations to the risk of translation errors, to certified translations being rejected, and to lengthy delays in processing translated documentation.
The UK’s leading translation bodies — the Association of Translation Companies (ATC), the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL), and the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) — have collaborated to standardise certification practices, issuing joint best practice guidance in early 2024, endorsed by all three associations and recommended to all UK authorities. This harmonised guidance aims to ensure uniformity and acceptance of certified translations by UK authorities; however, the recent changes on gov.uk and from the Ministry of Justice is now out of step with these best practices from the UK’s leading industry bodies.
Current Actions
Since the changes in mid-2024, the ATC, ITI, and CIOL have been actively seeking clarification and correction from UK government departments and agencies, whilst continuing to endorse each other’s members and certification guidance.
Immediate Steps
In light of the updated gov.uk guidance and Family Procedure Rules, IMD Translation has revised its certification procedures to meet current requirements, both in line with harmonised guidance from the leading industry associations, and to cover the needs of the updated gov.uk and Family Procedure Rules.
Whilst IMD Translation has always provided standard company certification of human translations, going forward it now includes linguist certification as standard also.
If you have previously received only standard company certification from IMD Translation on any recent project(s), and now require additional linguist certification due to the recent changes, please contact us directly and we will ensure you have the necessary documentation.
(Note: This applies only to the addition of linguist certification for existing or recent projects and does not cover other types of certifications, such as sworn translation certification).