“Electronic” Court Translations

On 1 January 2021, the new Act No. 354/2019 Coll., on Court Interpreters and Court Translators as amended by Act No. 166/2020 Coll., came into effect in the Czech Republic, which superseded the Act of 1967, a somewhat obsolete and inadequate law for today.

This Act makes it possible, provided that all formal legal requirements are met, to draw up an “electronic” court translation, which is the full and equal alternative to the classic paper court translation. 

Under the Act, an “electronic” court translation, which can be drawn up in electronic form only with the consent of the submitter, is drawn up in PDF/A format and contains the same components as a translation in physical form, i.e. the original document or its copy, the translation and clause of the court translator. Simply speaking, we can send it to you by e-mail, data box or save it to a data carrier.

The translation in electronic form does not contain a round stamp as is usual in paper court translations, but each counterpart of the electronic court translation is signed with a QSCD device by a qualified electronic signature of the court translator. An electronic signature certificate is then attached to such a translation containing the translator’s name, designation of “translator” and an electronic time stamp.

A document with an electronic time stamp is valid for 5 years and is subject to the validity of the translator’s electronic signature. You can have an “electronic” court translation for a fee at any time (and repeatedly) converted into paper form (or vice versa) at a branch of Czech Point (the Authorised Document Conversion service) and thereby extend its validity.

An apostille cannot be affixed to a digitally signed court translation in electronic form. A translation can contain only one electronic signature, therefore this act can only be carried out for translations whose source text comes in several languages if the court translator has “stamps” for each individual language. 

Pricing - Court/Certified Translations

*standard page = 1,800 characters (with spaces) = 30 lines x 60 characters; minimum of 1 standard page.