The institution’s legal translation service, with over 600 lawyer linguists, is responsible for translating the legal documents of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It ensures the smooth and efficient running of the Court’s judicial proceedings and the multilingual dissemination of the Court’s decisions, thus giving all EU citizens access to justice and case-law at a European level, whatever their language.
The service translates a wide variety of legal texts which vary according to a range of factors: nature of the case, subject area, document type (procedural documents, opinions of Advocates General, judgments, orders), language, style, length, legal background of the author, etc.
Around one third of texts are translated by external collaborators (freelance translators). These can be natural or legal persons with which the institution enters into a contract, on the basis of strict confidentiality rules, and with which it maintains close working relations. Translations are expected to be of very high quality and freelancers receive appropriate support and assistance from the Court’s translation service in order to achieve this objective.
Freelance translators are free to choose where they work from since communication takes place remotely (through use of telephone, email and various internet platforms). In addition, freelancers can choose the amount of translation work they accept, in accordance with various deadlines, and therefore this form of collaboration can be carried out as a complementary activity, particularly by legal professionals.
Freelance translators are selected by means of contract notices published in the Official Journal of the European Union. These contract notices, which cover a large number of language combinations, are permanent and remain open in order to allow new contractors to participate at any time. The persons selected on the basis of translation tests (which are completed at a distance) sign a framework contract with the Court.
Contractors are placed on a list where the classification depends both on the quality of the translation work, as assessed during the tests, and the competitiveness of the contractor’s asking rate. Contractors are regularly offered translation work on the basis of this classification, which is periodically reviewed according to the quality of the services provided, thus allowing new tenders to be taken into account.
The legal translation procurement procedure is open to competition on a permanent basis throughout its duration (48 months maximum), on the condition however that the maximum number of contractors for the lot concerned has not been reached (please see the relevant contract notice to find out the maximum number of contractors authorised for a given lot). Subject to that reservation, any natural or legal person may thus make a request to participate in an ongoing procurement procedure, since the Court regularly evaluates new requests to participate which it has received. |
Requests for information/to participate can be sent to: E-mail FreelanceTenderEN@curia.europa.eu
Any suitably qualified person who would like to work as a freelance translator for the language combinations indicated in the contract notice may submit a request to participate.
The contract notices, which alone are authentic, are accessible below:
Target language | Description | Contract notice | |||
GA | Tabhairt i gcrích creatchonarthaí le haghaidh téacsanna dlí i dteangacha oifigiúla áirithe den Aontas Eorpach a aistriú go Gaeilge | 2023/S 031-089998 |
This procurement procedure comprises two stages:
The necessary documents, which include all the information relevant to each stage, are accessible below:
1- Documents required to make a request to participate (selection stage):
Candidates are requested to fill out their request to participate in the target language of the contract notice.
Signed requests to participate are to be sent by e-mail (registration form (in the target language) signed, scanned and attached to the email) or by letter (registration form (in the target language) signed). Links to online storage spaces shall not be accepted.
The deadline for receiving requests to participate is stated in point IV.2.2) of the contract notice. However, the call for tenders is permanent and the legal translation framework contracts remain open in order to allow new contractors to participate at any time. Requests to participate submitted after the specified deadline will thus be able to be evaluated, on the condition that the maximum number of contractors for the lot (language combination) has not been reached.
2- Relevant documents if selected and invited to submit a tender (award stage)
Target language | Description | Contract notice | |||
EN | Conclusion of framework contracts for the translation of legal texts from certain official languages of the European Union into English | 2021/S 101-265564 | |||
BG | Сключване на рамкови договори за превод на юридически текстове от някои официални езици на Европейския съюз на български | Поправка: |
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ES | Celebración de contratos marco para la traducción al español de textos jurídicos a partir de determinadas lenguas oficiales de la Unión Europea | 2021/S 101-265567 | |||
CS | Uzavření rámcových smluv na překlad právních textů z některých úředních jazyků Evropské unie do českého jazyka | 2021/S 101-265573 | |||
DA | Indgåelse af flere rammeaftaler vedrørende oversættelse af juridiske tekster fra bestemte af Den Europæiske Unions officielle sprog til dansk | 2021/S 101-265583 | |||
DE | Abschluss von Rahmenverträgen für die Übersetzung juristischer Texte aus bestimmten Amtssprachen der Europäischen Union ins Deutsche | 2021/S 101-265572 | |||
ET | Raamlepingud juriidiliste tekstide tõlkimiseks Euroopa Liidu teatud ametlikest keeltest eesti keelde | 2021/S 101-265569 | |||
EL | Σύναψη συμβάσεων-πλαισίων για τη μετάφραση νομικών κειμένων από ορισμένες επίσημες γλώσσες της Ευρωπαϊκής Ενώσεως προς τα ελληνικά | 2021/S 101-265585 | |||
FR | Conclusion de contrats-cadres pour la traduction de textes juridiques de certaines langues officielles de l'Union européenne vers le français | 2021/S 101-265565 | |||
HR | Sklapanje okvirnih ugovora za prijevod pravnih tekstova s određenih službenih jezika Europske unije na hrvatski | 2021/S 101-265575 | |||
IT | Conclusione di contratti-quadro per la traduzione di testi giuridici da determinate lingue ufficiali dell'Unione europea in italiano | 2021/S 101-265574 | |||
LV | Pamatlīgumu par juridisku tekstu tulkošanu no noteiktām Eiropas Savienības oficiālajām valodām uz latviešu valodu noslēgšana | Labojums: |
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LT | Bendrųjų sutarčių sudarymas dėl teisinių tekstų vertimų raštu iš kai kurių Europos Sąjungos oficialiųjų kalbų į lietuvių kalbą | 2021/S 101-265570 | |||
HU | Jogi szövegeknek az Európai Unió egyes hivatalos nyelveiről magyar nyelvre történő fordítására irányuló keretszerződések megkötése | 2021/S 101-265579 | |||
MT | Konklużjoni ta' kuntratti qafas għat-traduzzjoni ta' testi ġuridiċi minn ċerti lingwi uffiċjali tal-Unjoni Ewropea lejn il-Malti | 2021/S 101-265581 | |||
NL | Sluiten van raamcontracten voor de vertaling van juridische teksten vanuit een aantal officiële talen van de Europese Unie naar het Nederlands | 2021/S 101-265578 | |||
PL | Zawarcie umów ramowych o tłumaczenie tekstów prawniczych z niektórych języków urzędowych Unii Europejskiej na język polski | 2021/S 101-265568 | |||
PT | Celebração de contratos-quadro para a tradução de textos jurídicos a partir de certas línguas oficiais da União Europeia para português | 2021/S 101-265586 | |||
RO | Încheierea de contracte-cadru pentru traducerea unor texte juridice din anumite limbi oficiale ale Uniunii Europene în limba română | 2021/S 101-265584 | |||
SK | Uzavretie rámcových zmlúv na preklad právnych textov z niektorých úradných jazykov Európskej únie do slovenského jazyka | 2021/S 101-265577 | |||
SL | Sklenitev okvirnih pogodb za prevajanje pravnih besedil iz nekaterih uradnih jezikov Evropske unije v slovenščino | 2021/S 101-265576 | |||
FI | Puitesopimusten tekeminen oikeudellisten tekstien kääntämisestä tietyistä Euroopan unionin virallisista kielistä suomeen | 2021/S 101-265566 | |||
SV | Ramkontrakt för översättning av juridiska texter från vissa av Europeiska unionens officiella språk till svenska | 2021/S 101-265580 |
This procurement procedure comprises two stages:
The necessary documents, which include all the information relevant to each stage, are accessible below:
1- Documents required to make a request to participate (selection stage):
Candidates are requested to fill out their request to participate in the target language of the contract notice.
Signed requests to participate are to be sent by e-mail (registration form (in the target language) signed, scanned and attached to the email) or by letter (registration form (in the target language) signed). Links to online storage spaces shall not be accepted.
The deadline for receiving requests to participate is stated in point IV.2.2) of the contract notice. However, the call for tenders is permanent and the legal translation framework contracts remain open in order to allow new contractors to participate at any time. Requests to participate submitted after the specified deadline will thus be able to be evaluated, on the condition that the maximum number of contractors for the lot (language combination) has not been reached.
2- Relevant documents if selected and invited to submit a tender (award stage)