涉外公证翻译工作量最多的往往是: 毕业 证公证书(Notarization of Diploma)、学位证公证书(Notarization of Degree Certificate)、成绩单公证书(Notarization of Academic Transcription)、亲属关系公证书(Notarization of Family Relation)、婚姻状况公证书(Notarization of Marital1 Status)、无刑事犯罪记录公证书(Notarization of No Record of Criminal Offense)、及(涉外)收养公证书(Notarization of Adoption2)等。当然,在实践工作中,以上各分类标题都可笼统地译为:“Notarization”或“Notarial Certificate”。
翻译标题时应注意以下问题:
1. 标题中不用引号(Quotation3 Marks)及句号(Periods);
2. 标题要在公证书上方中央位置(Center Top);
3. 公证书标题必须全部大写(Capitalize All Letters)或大写标题中每个单词的第一个字母(Capitalize the Very First Letter of Each Word);但
此外,公证书标题的翻译应追求准确、简洁。比如有的公证员将“亲属关系”译为“Relationship”,但是笔者认为用“Relationship”不如用“Domestic Relation ”或“Family Relation”准确;有的公证员将“毕业证”译作“Graduation Certificate”,这就不如用“Diploma”简洁。还有,在译“学位证公证书”时如采用《英汉-汉英双向法律字典》中“学位证书(Diploma)”的译法显然会造成与毕业证表达上的混乱[3].那么,能否区别对待?比如说具体称之为“文科学士学位公证书” (Notarization of B.A. Degree)或“理工科硕士学位公证书”(Notarization of M.S. Degree)等等。
“婚姻状况公证书”的翻译也应依据具体情况分别作“离婚公证书”(Notarization of Divorce)及“未婚公证书”(Notarization of Being Single)[4].诸如此类的细分。
二、 公证书正文即公证词的翻译(The Translations of the Body Part)
1. “兹证明”的翻译
我国公证书公证词多以“兹证明……”开头,其英文翻译(English Equivalent)应该是:“This is to certify4 that…”。
2. 公证词翻译应忠实于原文(Conformity5)
笔者曾在翻阅卷宗时发现如下译文:
This is to certify that Wang, who is male and was born on May 1, 1964, and Hao, who is female and was born on October 19, 1965, registered marriage on October 1,1992 at the registration6 office of Civil Affairs Department, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.
This is to certify that Wang (male, born on May 1, 1964) and Hao (female, born on October 19, 1965) have been married since on October 1, 1992 at the registration office of Civil Affairs Department, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.
此外,在 出国 留学 经济担保(Affidavit7 of Financial Support)中通常有担保人(Financial Sponsor)如下誓词:
I certify that I will provide tuition fees, living epenses for my son Lee during his stay in the United States. If he requires any further monetary8 assistance, I will provide this as well.
通常,公证处需要担保人出具财产证明或银行存款证明(Bank Savings9 Statement)。所有这些均附于公证材料后。在涉及财产证明时,有时会遇到个体工商户(Individual Business)的营业执照(Business License10)。在逐项翻译中会遇到如“某某市/县工商行政管理局”印章。笔者认为不应译作“Commercial and Industrial Administration Bureau of City (Prefecture) /County ”,而应译为“ City (Prefecture)/County Administration of Industry and Commerce”。因为,“Administration”一词本身便有“eecutive branch of a government”的意思[5],即“行政机关、局(署)等”。
有时,公证机关还对材料的译本的真实性和可靠性予以公证,即“翻译件与原件一致公证”(Notarization of the Conformity of Translated Copy and the Original)。最后一点,在涉及“毕业证书公证”时,最后一句通常是:“原件上的校长某某某和毕业学校某某大学之印签均属实”。周帮友老师的 实用英语 应用文大全中将“属实”二字译为“Genuine”。笔者认为通译该是“Authentic11”。因为“Authentic”一词在法律英语中常用。比如:“作准证书”是“Authentic Instrument”,“作准文件”是“Authentic Document”[6]及〈麦克米伦字典〉中将“Authentic”一词解释为:“being what it purports12 to be”,并且给出了一个搭配例子即:“an authentic document”;而且,还有的书中,将“公证书”译为:“Authentic Deed”或“Authentic Act”。由此可见,用“Authentic”一词更准确一些,更与公证书语言靠近一些。现将上面一句汉语译出以供参考:“Both the signature of President and the stamp of the graduation School yyy University are found to be authentic. ”