Moral ambiguity: Some shortcomings of professional codes of ethics for translators

Abstract

When translators, interpreters and other language professionals become members of a professional association, they are often obliged to follow a code of ethics or a code of professional conduct that aims to ensure all members are adopting a common set of ethical principles when they practice their profession. To help determine whether these codes are providing similar principles for translators and addressing issues translators are likely to encounter in the course of their work, this paper studies seventeen ethical codes from profession-oriented networks in fifteen countries, comparing their common principles and highlighting gaps in the guidelines. The codes are then compared with issues discussed in the Ethics and Professionalism forum of TranslatorsCafe.com to help illustrate whether and how the codes could apply to ethical dilemmas faced by translators in their practice.