On the Methodology for Analyzing the Quality of Judicial Translation in the Russian Federation

УДК 81.25, ББК 81.1

Abstract

The article concentrates on the study of possibilities for assessing the quality of court translation (both oral and written) using a methodology that takes into account the completeness of conveying the meaning of terminological and non-terminological units of the original message. The authors propose to improve the methodology in question for the purpose of its use in the daily practice of selecting translators and interpreters for prospective inclusion in the planned register of specialists in the field of interpretation and translation, as well as one of the stages of adequacy verification for translation performed (in those cases where it is necessary). The completeness of translation is determined by comparing the number and composition of propositions in the original and translated texts. In this way, an approximate quantitative and qualitative assessment of the amount of meaning that has been conveyed in the translation process is made. Since the procedure for establishing and consolidating the institution of court interpreters in the Russian Federation involves fulfillment of complex tasks at different stages over many years, it would be relevant to consider as early as now the optimal method of quality assessment that is not tied to a specific language or group of languages, testing the methodology on the most diverse linguistic material possible. The completeness of translation is most important in cases where the informative nature of the original text is complicated by expressive means characteristic of professional court speech, the employment of which is designed to create a pragmatic effect of the court event as a whole.

The current erratological and expert approaches do not allow achieving objectivity, universality of judgment about the quality of translation product in vital spheres of society's function which include court proceedings.