Code of Ethics / Charter

The American Translators’ Association has a code of ethics and professional responsibility. It is “intended to inspire and guide the ethical conduct of all ATA members in the performance of their professional duties.” Reprinted in full:

Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility

We the members of the American Translators Association accept as our ethical and professional duty:

1. to conduct ourselves in a professional manner with honesty and integrity in our interactions with clients, colleagues, and the general public, and to refrain from conduct that brings the Association, its members, and our professions into disrepute;
2. to honestly represent and work within our qualifications, competencies, capabilities, and responsibilities;
3. to disclose to the relevant parties any real or potential conflict of interest and avoid situations that may lead to a perceived conflict of interest;
4. to abide by commitments and contracts made in advance and by mutual agreement in the course of our professional interactions and activities;
5. to hold in confidence, not divulge, and protect privileged and/or confidential information obtained in the course of our work;
6. to convey meaning between people, organizations, and cultures accurately, appropriately, and without bias, depending on the context of the source, purpose, readership or audience, and medium;
7. to maintain and improve knowledge, skills, and abilities by embracing continuing professional development, keeping abreast of changes in language and culture, technology, subject matter, and professional practice.

As approved by the ATA Board of Directors November 2022

Source: https://www.atanet.org/about-us/code-of-ethics/

The International Federation of Translators (FIT), in turn, has a charter:

International Federation of Translators
1963

The Translator’s Charter
(approved by the Congress at Dubrovnik in 1963, amended in Oslo on July 9, 1994)

The International Federation of Translators

noting

that translation has established itself as a permanent, universal and necessary
activity in the world of today that by making intellectual and material exchanges
possible among nations it enriches their life and contributes to a better
understanding amongst men

that in spite of the various circumstances under which it is practised translation
must now be recognised as a distinct and autonomous profession and

desiring

to lay down, as a formal document, certain general principles inseparably
connected with the profession of translating, particularly for the purpose of

– stressing the social function of translation,

– laying down the rights and duties of translators,

– laying the basis of a translator’s code of ethics,

– improving the economic conditions and social climate in which the translator
carries out his activity, and

– recommending certain lines of conduct for translators and their professional
organisations, and to contribute in this way to the recognition of translation as
a distinct and autonomous profession,

announces the text of a charter proposed to serve as guiding principles for the
exercise of the profession of translator.

Section I
GENERAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE TRANSLATOR

…

Source: https://library.fit-ift.org/legacy/FIT_Translators_Charter_1994.pdf

Theirs is a six-page document covering translators’ general obligations, rights, economic and social position, translator societies and unions, and their national organizations. It is a much more comprehensive document, befitting a continent with a much more established translation tradition.

Both are good for translators to review if they haven’t already. Each has something to teach the other’s adherents.