Christine Schmit

The right to translation and interpreting in international and European law

This presentation will explore the place of translation and interpreting in international and European law and their relation to other rights, such as the right to a fair trial, the right to seek asylum, the rights of regional and minority language speakers, in the broader framework of linguistic human rights. It will provide an overview of the most important legislation and soft law instruments (Directive 2010/64/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings, European Convention on Human Rights, Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, etc.) as well as some examples of case law relating to the right to translation and interpreting and, finally, present some of the issues arising in practice in different countries.

BIOGRAPHY

Christine Schmit is a freelance translator based in Luxembourg with 17 years of experience translating legal and business documents from German, Spanish, and English into French and Luxembourgish. She mainly works for EU institutions, government bodies, and SMEs in Luxembourg and Europe. She holds an MA in Translation from the University of Geneva (Switzerland) and Master’s degrees in International, European and Comparative Law from the Universities of Toulouse and Grenoble (France). She is a sworn translator before the Superior Court of Justice of Luxembourg and the current President of the Luxembourg Association of Translators and Interpreters.