To asseverate a translation means to affirm its fidelity solemnly before a public officer. The term comes from the Latin asseverare, to affirm firmly, and it is the one used by Italian court offices: in everyday language the same translation is called sworn, in Italian giurata. The asseverated translation is the form the Italian legal system recognises when a document written in another language must produce effects before a comune, a university, a police headquarters, a court or a notary. This page explains what the term covers, what the asseverated bundle contains and where its value ends.
The definition
An asseverated translation is a translation accompanied by a record in which the translator, before the clerk of the court, the Justice of the Peace or a notary, swears to have performed the task well and faithfully, for the sole purpose of making the truth known. The record, signed by the translator and by the public officer, is permanently joined to the original and to the translation: the three elements form a single bundle, which cannot be separated without losing its value.
Italy has no national register of sworn translators, unlike France, Germany or Spain. The value does not derive from a permanent title held by the person but from the act performed on that document: it is the translation that is asseverated, not the translator. The translator nevertheless answers for the content personally, because by swearing he or she assumes the liability provided for by article 483 of the Criminal Code for false statements made to a public officer. The page on the translator’s oath examines that liability.
What value it has
The asseverated translation does not turn the document into an Italian public deed: it makes its content readable and enforceable, with the guarantee of a third party responsible for the correspondence between the two languages. For this reason authorities require it whenever they must base a decision on a foreign document: the transcription of a birth or marriage record, enrolment in a degree programme, the issue of a residence permit, the recognition of a judgment, the execution of a notarial deed with a party who does not know Italian, the production of evidence in proceedings.
The asseveration is valid throughout Italy, whichever office received it, and has no expiry of its own: the translated document may expire, the translation does not. To be valid outside Italy the bundle needs a further step, the legalisation or the apostille, which authenticates the signature of the public officer who received the oath.
Asseverated, certified, legalised: three different acts
| Act | Who performs it | What it guarantees | Where it is valid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asseverated translation | The translator, under oath before a public officer | The fidelity of the translation, under criminal liability | Throughout Italy, before public authorities, courts and notaries |
| Certified translation | The official translator, with a signed statement and credentials | The identity and qualification of the translator | In countries without a court oath, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States and Canada |
| Legalised or apostilled translation | The Public Prosecutor’s Office, on the bundle already asseverated | The authenticity of the signature of the clerk or notary | Abroad, in countries that recognise Italian legalisation or are party to the Hague Convention |
The three acts are added to one another, not substituted: a translation intended for a foreign consulate is first asseverated and then apostilled, while a translation for a British university is only certified, because the Italian oath adds nothing in a system that does not provide for it.
What the asseverated bundle contains
The source document, in the original, in certified copy or in plain copy, according to what the receiving authority requires. The complete translation, which reproduces stamps, signatures, annotations and handwritten parts as well, describing the graphic elements that cannot be translated. The record of the oath, with the particulars of the translator, the languages, the number of pages and the formula of the oath, signed and stamped by the public officer. The revenue stamps of 16 euro for every four pages or one hundred lines, cancelled by the clerk, except in the cases of exemption provided for by law.
When the asseveration is not enough and when it is not needed
It is not enough when the document must be valid abroad: in that case the legalisation or the apostille is required, unless the document is a public document circulating between Member States of the European Union, for which Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 abolished legalisation and introduced the multilingual standard forms. It is not needed when the receiving authority accepts a certified translation, as happens in the countries of the common law tradition, or when an Italian document merely has to be understood by a foreign counterpart without producing legal effects.
The way the oath is taken in Rome, with opening hours and the rules of the office, is described on the page on swearing a translation at the Court of Rome. The procedure as a whole, from the quote to the delivery, is on the page on sworn translations.
Frequently asked questions
Are asseverated and sworn two different things?
No. Asseverated is the technical term used by court offices, sworn the everyday one: they indicate the same translation, made official by the translator’s oath before a public officer.
Does the asseverated translation have the same value as the original?
It has the value of making the foreign document usable in Italy with a guarantee of fidelity. It does not replace the original, which remains joined to the translation and is examined together with it by the receiving authority.
Can an Italian document be asseverated into a foreign language?
Yes. The asseveration works in both directions: an Italian certificate translated into Spanish is sworn in the same way and, to be used in Spain, then receives the apostille of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
What happens if the authority finds an error in the asseverated translation?
The authority may reject the bundle and ask for a new asseveration. The translator answers personally for the error, which is why the firm rereads every translation before the oath and corrects at its own expense what depends on it.
Is the asseveration still needed for an authority of another EU country?
Regulation 2016/1191 abolished legalisation between Member States for public documents, not translation: if the document is not accompanied by the multilingual standard form, the authority may ask for a sworn or certified translation according to its own rules.
Do you need an asseverated translation?
Send us the document and the authority it is intended for: we tell you whether the asseveration is enough or whether legalisation is also needed, with a written quote within one working day.
