As a member of the Italian Association of Translators and Interpreters (AITI), I am obliged to abide by its Code of Professional Ethics and Conduct, which is a collection of good practices adopted in the translation profession. The core principles of this code include:

– a duty to act loyally and faithfully to the client including the duty to notify the client immediately of any potential conflict of interests, and a prohibition on unfair advertising practices

– a time-unlimited duty to maintain confidentiality regarding all and any information acquired as a result of accepting and working on a translation project, including an absolute prohibition on use of confidential information, acquired as a result of accepting and working on a translation project, for private gain

– a duty to deliver the translation within the deadline agreed and according to the relevant agreements

– a duty to refuse to accept a translation project if one has an insufficient level of knowledge in a given field, and a duty to commit oneself to professional development,

– a duty to apply rates considering, e.g. the required expert knowledge, the necessary workload, the level of difficulty of the language in the source text, one’s qualifications, expertise, experience, and professional standing and the related prohibition of unfair competition involving resorting to dumping practices.

The full version of AITI’s Code of Professional Ethics and Conduct is available here.