The term is much abused, with many translation services stating that they can produced certified translations where no such thing exists or is required. However, in a number of jurisdictions, courts, patent offices and official agencies, weary of the problems mis-translation and misinterpretation can cause, have required translators and or interpreters to be registered and approved with either independent certification bodies, with the ministry of justice (or its equivalent), with a courts organisation or another official agency. The language used to describe such a translator or interpreter varies and it is important to determine in international matters whether: (a) such a translation is required; and (b) who can in fact under local law or registration provide such a translation. Typically, a approved translator is registered by language pairs. Being an official translator or interpreter is often a lucrative business – which means that in some jurisdictions, actual competence is not the main criteria for securing the credential – in these jurisdictions it is wise to have a second fully bilingual person in the technical or professional field of the translation check its accuracy.
A requirement of an officially approved translator is rare in English speaking countries. Generally, a finalised translation should be to the translators native language to ensure that it is idiomatically as opposed to merely grammatically correct.