Brussels, 17/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - The activities of expert lawyer translators in courts are not connected with the exercise of official authority, as these experts provide only an impartial translation and make no pronouncement on the substance of the cases. These activities constitute provision of services in the sense of the Treaty since, typically, they are provided for remuneration.
The duties of court expert translators, as discharged by experts enrolled on a register such as the national register of court experts maintained by the Cour de cassation, are not covered by the definition of “regulated profession” set out in the directive on the recognition of professional qualifications. The national regulation which requires such enrolment has the sole object of facilitating use by courts of professionals - whether members of regulated professions or not - and not of recognition of a determined qualification. Indeed, the same courts can make use of experts not on the list.
French legislation, which submits exercise of these activities to a series of conditions (age, skill level, character, independence) - all legitimate for the purposes of preserving national interest - seems nevertheless restrictive and disproportionate in its demand of nationals of other member states since it does not take account of the recognition of their expert status by the courts in their native lands or the putting in place of other arrangements to assess the qualities of candidates. In this, it effectively prevents candidates from making use of qualifications gained abroad and does not give them an effective possibility of appeal if they are turned down.
That is the substance of the judgment delivered by the Court on 17 March on Joined Cases C-372/09 and C-373/09 in response to a series of questions put by the French Cour de cassation. (F.G./transl.rt)