No Italian statute describes in detail how a translation is sworn. The source is a rule of 1922 that merely entrusts the oath to the clerk or the notary, and each court completes the picture with its own service rules: notices, circulars and forms that lay down how the bundle must be composed, who is admitted to the counter and how the revenue stamps are applied. This page explains what value those rules have, which recur in every court and which change from one city to another. The practical instructions of the Rome office are kept by our operating division for sworn translations.
Where the rules come from
Article 5 of Royal Decree 1366 of 9 October 1922 provides that out-of-court expert reports and translations are sworn before the clerk or the notary. It is the only statutory basis of the asseveration and says nothing about forms, binding, joining signatures or the counting of lines. Presidential Decree 642 of 26 October 1972 regulates stamp duty and its exemptions. Article 483 of the Criminal Code establishes the liability of anyone who makes a false statement to a public officer. On these three rules each court grafts its own provisions, drawn up by the head of the clerk’s office or the president of the division, which are organisational in nature: they serve to run the service uniformly and to let the clerk receive the oath without examining the structure of the act case by case.
A service rule is not a statute and adds no condition of validity to the sworn translation, which once received is valid throughout Italy whichever court received it. It has, however, an immediate practical effect: a bundle that does not comply is not received at the counter, and the translator must recompose it and return. Knowing the rules of the court where one swears is therefore part of the work of the official translator, on the same footing as linguistic competence.
The rules that apply in every court
For all the variety of texts, the rules of the Italian courts converge on a core that follows directly from the statutes cited and that the firm applies to every bundle, whatever the destination office. The oath is taken by the person who made the translation, who may not be the person named in the document nor a relative. The source document, the translation and the record form a single act, firmly bound in the order indicated, with the translator’s signature across the joins between the sheets. The translation is complete: stamps, seals, signatures and annotations are described in the target language, and any part deliberately omitted is declared before the translation and in the record. Between two foreign languages the route always passes through Italian, with two translations and two separate oaths. Each document has its own record: several documents are not sworn with a single act. Stamp duty is paid before the oath and the stamps are cancelled by the clerk, except for the exemptions provided for by law, which must be stated in the record with the statutory reference. The translator is identified with a valid original identity document, whose particulars are entered in the record.
What changes from one court to another
The differences concern access to the service and the form of the act, and they are the reason why a translation prepared according to the habits of one court may be rejected in another.
| Aspect | How it varies between courts |
|---|---|
| Who is admitted to swear | Some courts receive any adult translator, others reserve the service to translators entered in the register of court experts or in the roll of the Chamber of Commerce, others again require residence or professional domicile in the district. |
| Access to the counter | Compulsory booking with a limit of acts per appointment in some courts, free access with a queue in others, and opening hours that change with the notices of the office. |
| Form of the record | Each court publishes its own model. Some accept a record drafted by the translator provided it contains the same elements, some offer bilingual records for the most requested languages. |
| Calculation of stamp duty | Presidential Decree 642/1972 allows counting by pages or by lines. Some offices count one stamp for every four pages, others one for every one hundred lines including the record, with their own criteria for photographs, attachments and civil status certificates. |
| Copies and originals | Some courts require the record to state the nature of the translated document, original, certified copy or plain copy, others merely receive it. |
| Languages | Some offices require the source and target languages to be stated in the record, others accept only oaths from or into Italian and refer special cases to the notary. |
Since the sworn translation is effective throughout Italy, the translator is not required to swear at the court of the city where the document will be used. The translator chooses the court where he or she is admitted and whose rules are familiar, and the bundle is then sent to the receiving authority or to the client. That is why a firm based in Rome serves clients throughout Italy and abroad without their having to travel.
The record of the oath
The record is the document that turns a translation into a sworn translation. It contains the particulars of the translator and of the identity document, the languages, the number of pages translated, the formula by which the translator declares to have performed the task well and faithfully for the sole purpose of making the truth known, the date and the signatures of the translator and of the clerk. The office registers it under a progressive chronological number, which allows the act to be traced at any time. The legal value of the oath and the liability it entails for the translator are examined on the page on the translator’s oath, while the difference between asseverated, certified and legalised translations is explained on the page on asseverated translations.
When the bundle does not comply with the rules
Failure to comply with a service rule has an organisational consequence, not a penalty: the clerk does not receive the act and the translator corrects it outside the office. The case of an incomplete or unfaithful translation duly sworn is different: the bundle is formally valid, but the authority that receives it may contest it and the translator answers personally under article 483 of the Criminal Code. The rules protect the form of the act, the fidelity of the content remains with the person who signs. That is why the qualification of the official translator counts for more than the court where the oath is taken.
The rules of the Court of Rome
Our office is in Viale Giulio Cesare, a few dozen metres from the Expert Reports and Translations Service of the Court of Rome, where the firm has sworn since 1995. The Rome office shows how quickly the rules can change: from 2023 access was by booking only, with a maximum of fifteen acts per appointment, and since 15 October 2026, until further notice, the service again receives translators at the counter without booking, from Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 13.00, returning the act the same day. The official text, with the forms and the bilingual records, is published on the page of the service on the website of the Court of Rome. Who is admitted to swear and how the formality takes place in Rome is described on the page on swearing a translation at the Court of Rome.
How the firm works
The client does not need to know the rules of any court. He or she sends a scan of the document by email or on WhatsApp at +39 335 679 2461, names the authority the translation is intended for and receives a written quote within one working day. The firm translates, composes the bundle according to the rules of the court, pays the stamp duty or declares the exemption, swears and delivers the sworn translation at the office by appointment or by courier throughout Italy and abroad. If the document must be valid outside Italy, the same bundle goes on for the legalisation or apostille.
Frequently asked questions
Do the rules of a court have the force of law?
No. They are organisational acts of the clerk’s office that regulate the running of the service. They do not affect the validity of the sworn translation, but a bundle that does not comply is not received at the counter and must be recomposed.
Why do some courts admit to the oath only translators entered in a register?
The 1922 rule imposes no such condition, but some courts introduce it in their own rules to guarantee the qualification of those who swear and to contain the flow at the counter. A translator entered in the register of court experts or in the roll of the Chamber of Commerce is admitted in every case.
Do the rules change often, and how does one know which are in force?
They change with notices posted in the office or published on the court’s website, sometimes with a few days’ notice, as happens with opening hours or with the switch from booking to free access. A translator who swears regularly in a court follows its updates: it is one of the reasons for relying on someone who works there every day.
Does an oath before the Justice of the Peace or a notary follow the same rules?
It follows the same statutory rules on stamp duty and on the translator’s liability, but not the service rules of the court, which apply only to that office. The notary draws up the record according to his or her own practice and the Justice of the Peace according to the instructions of that clerk’s office.
Why is stamp duty counted by lines in some offices and by pages in others?
Presidential Decree 642/1972 defines the taxable sheet as four pages with a maximum of twenty-five lines per page, and therefore allows both criteria. Each court adopts one in its own rules, and the translator applies the one of the court where the oath is taken.
Does the authority that receives the translation check whether the court rules were followed?
No. The authority checks that the bundle is complete, that the record is signed and stamped by the public officer and that the stamp duty is paid or the exemption declared. Compliance with the service rules was already verified by the clerk at the time of the oath.
Do you have a document to be sworn?
Send us the scan and the receiving authority: we compose the bundle according to the rules of the court, swear and deliver, with a written quote within one working day.
