TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME
至本文件相关各方
I, [Name] of [Title] of [Address] in the [Country], NOTARY PUBLIC duly authorised admitted and sworn and practising in the [Country, place] DO HEREBY CERTIFY that I was present on the[Date] and did see the person named in Power of Attorney-(授权委托书) hereunto annexed duly sign, seal and deliver the said the Power of Attorney(授权委托书), and that the name and signature of [Name] thereto subscribed are in the proper handwriting of the said [Name].
本人【姓名】,在【地址】【工作职务】工作,经正式任命、许可、宣誓在【地点】担任公证员,特此证明:本人于【日期】见证了本公证书所附授权委托书指定人士妥为签署、盖章及交付该授权委托书,该授权委托书上所签【姓名】的姓名和签名均为【姓名】本人的笔迹。
IN FAITH AND TESTIMONY
Whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my seal of office at Sydney aforesaid this [Date]
本人宣誓,以上证明属实,并于【日期】在此公证书上签名及加盖公证处印章。
认证公文的基本内容:认证官员姓名、出证机构名称、认证事项、免责条款、认证日期及认证官签字、出证机构印章。涉外公证翻译工作量最多的往往是:毕业证公证书(Notarization of Diploma)、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 Marital Status)。
当然,在实践工作中,以上各分类标题都可笼统地译为:"Notary Certificate”。翻译标题时应注意以下问题:
1.标题中不用引号(Quotation 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
4.标题中的冠词(Articles)及少于5个字母的连词(Conjunctions)、介词(Prepositions )不应大写,除非位于句首;
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 certify that...”。
2.公证词翻译应忠实于原文( Conformity)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 isfemale and was born on October 19,1965, registered marriage on October 1,1992 at theregistration office of Civil Affairs Department,Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.
这篇译文的缺陷之一在于时态。笔者认为“Registered”"一词为动词的过去式,表明的是过去发生这一登记结婚的事实而不能证明现在的婚姻状况是离异(Divorced)、丧偶(Widowed)还是分居( Separate)。这样便不能满足法言法语的周密性、准确性要求。因此,笔者认为将时态该为现在完成时态,以表达“一直持续到现在的状态”要妥一些。缺陷之二在于译文不够简洁。建议该为:
This is to certify that Wang (male, born on May 1,1964) and Hao (female, born onOctober 19,1965) have been married since on October 1,1992 at the registration officeof Civil Affairs Department,Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.
还有,有的公证员在翻译诸如毕业证公证书时,将《毕业证》等按照中文的习惯在翻译中加上书名号,使人觉得十分滑稽。我们知道在英语中是没有书名号的,在严肃的公证文书翻译中出现这样的错误是很可笑的。正确的方法是将汉语中应该加书名号的部分斜写( ltalicized)、划下划线( Underlined)或大写( Capitalized)。
三、涉外公证书的落款(Close)
涉外公证书译文正下方须注明;
1.公证员(Notary)姓名和签名( Signature)或盖章( Stamp) ;
2.公证处名称及盖章;
3.“中华人民共和国”(The People's Republic of China)字样;
4.日期。日期的格式一般为月/日/年。
此外,在出国留学经济担保(Affidavit of Financial Support)中通常有担保人(Financial Sponsor)如下誓词:
l certify that I will provide tuition fees, living expenses for my son Lee during his stay in the United States. If he requires any further monetary assistance, l 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 Savings Statement)。所有这些均附于公证材料后。
总结:认证公文的翻译目的很明确,就是译文要被相关单位和部门所接受和使用,需要忠实、有效地传递原文的事实,必须是“忠实的全文翻译”,尽量不要删减,强调形式上和语义上都忠实于原文。