Section 1.Purpose

The purpose of the Act is to uphold legal safeguards and ensure the provision of proper assistance and services to persons who are unable to communicate adequately with public bodies without an interpreter.

The Act shall also help ensure that interpreters uphold proper professional standards.

Section 2.Scope

The Act applies to interpreting to and from Norwegian.

The Act applies to public bodies that engage and use interpreters in Norway. The Act also applies to interpreters.

The definition of public body shall include all bodies subject to the Public Administration Act, the courts, and the prosecuting authorities. A private legal entity shall be treated as a public body in cases where it makes administrative decisions or provides services on behalf of a public body. The definition also includes private kindergartens approved pursuant to the Kindergarten Act, as well as independent primary schools, lower secondary schools, and upper secondary schools approved pursuant to the Education Act and the Independent Schools Act.

Section 3.Relationship to other acts

The provisions of the act shall apply unless otherwise provided in or pursuant to other acts.

Section 4.Prohibition against the use of children as interpreters

Public bodies shall not use children for interpreting or other conveyance of information.

Exceptions may be made if necessary in an emergency, or if such use must be deemed appropriate in view of the child's interests and other circumstances.

Section 5.Processing of personal data

Public bodies may process personal data, including data relating to ethnic origin, if necessary for the performance of obligations under the Act.

Section 6.Responsibility for engaging an interpreter

Public bodies shall use interpreters when mandated by law. If the obligation to use an interpreter is not regulated in other legislation, public bodies shall use an interpreter if this is necessary to uphold legal safeguards or provide proper assistance and services. In the assessment of whether it is necessary to use an interpreter, weight shall be given to factors such as whether the parties to the conversation can communicate adequately without an interpreter, as well as the gravity and nature of the matter.

A public body should consider the use of an interpreter when it is otherwise in contact with persons who are unable to communicate with the body in Norwegian.

Section 7.The requirement to use a qualified interpreter

When a public body is obligated to use an interpreter pursuant to section 6, first paragraph, second sentence, a qualified interpreter shall be used. The same applies when the obligation to use an interpreter is regulated in other legislation or if the use of an interpreter is necessary to uphold legal safeguards or for the provision of proper assistance and services, see section 6, first paragraph, third sentence.

The requirement to use a qualified interpreter pursuant to the first paragraph may be waived if waiting for a qualified interpreter to become available cannot be justified, if necessary in an emergency, or if other weighty grounds apply.

Qualified interpreter shall mean an interpreter who fulfils the requirements for being listed in the National Registry of Interpreters; see section 17.

The Ministry may issue regulations on the approval of interpreters with professional qualifications from another state; see the Professional Qualifications Act.

A dispensation from the requirement to use qualified interpreters shall apply until 31 December 2026. The King may issue regulations on extension of the dispensation.

Section 8.Use of remote interpreting

Public bodies may use on-site interpreting or remote interpreting.

When using remote interpreting, public bodies shall ensure that satisfactory technical solutions are in place, that staff are adequately trained, and that personal data are protected.

The Ministry may issue regulations on remote interpreting.

Section 9.Guidelines on the engagement and use of interpreters

Public bodies which regularly use interpreters shall have guidelines in place on engaging and using interpreters pursuant to sections 6 to 8.

The guidelines shall reflect the body's size, distinctive characteristics, activities, and risk factors.

The Ministry may issue regulations on the content of the guidelines.

Section 10.Requirements regarding a police certificate of conduct

In order to work as an interpreter for the police, the prosecuting authorities, the courts, the immigration authorities, the Correctional Service, the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and the county social welfare boards, interpreters must produce an exhaustive and expanded police certificate of conduct; see section 41 of the Police Databases Act. The same applies to work as an interpreter in criminal cases before the National Mediation Service.

The requirement to produce a police certificate of conduct pursuant to the first paragraph may be waived if the circumstances that give rise to the interpreting assignment make production impossible, or if other weighty reasons so indicate.

If there are entries on an interpreter's police certificate of conduct, the public body requesting an interpreter shall assess whether the criminal offence affects the interpreter's suitability.

Section 11.Fee for failing to appear

A public body may charge a fee if a person does not attend a scheduled meeting for which an interpreter has been engaged pursuant to section 6, first paragraph, second sentence, or section 6, second paragraph.

The Ministry may issue regulations on the fee, including its size and how it shall be set.

Section 12.Supervision

State and municipal authorities that supervise public bodies shall also monitor such bodies' compliance with their obligations under section 4 and sections 6 to 9.

A supervisory authority may require a public body subject to its supervision to provide information required for the purpose of supervision pursuant to the first paragraph irrespective of any duty of confidentiality. However, if the supervisory authority's right of access to specific information is restricted by provisions in other legislation, these limitations shall apply correspondingly.

Section 13.Orders

A supervisory authority may issue an order to remedy matters contrary to the requirements in section 4 and sections 6 to 9.

The supervisory authority shall stipulate a time limit for compliance with the order.

Section 14.Professional conduct of interpreters

Interpreters shall adhere to standards of professional conduct. This requirement means, among other things, that interpreters must have sufficient interpreting expertise to perform an interpreting assignment, must act impartially and must not misuse any information they have become acquainted with through their interpreting work, and that interpreters must ensure that the conditions under which interpreting assignments are performed permit proper interpreting.

The Ministry may issue regulations specifying what shall be regarded as professional conduct of interpreters.

Section 15.Duty of confidentiality

The rules on the duty of confidentiality in sections 13 to 13 e of the Public Administration Act apply correspondingly to interpreters.

Provisions on the duty of confidentiality in other legislation shall apply correspondingly to an interpreter if they are applicable to the particular interpreting assignment. If a specialist participant in a conversation is subject to a stricter duty of confidentiality than imposed by the first paragraph, the interpreter shall be subject to the same duty of confidentiality.

Public bodies that use interpreters shall ensure that interpreters are informed of their duty of confidentiality. The body may ask interpreters to confirm in writing that they are familiar with the content of applicable confidentiality rules.

Documents and other materials containing confidential information shall be stored securely. After completion of an interpreting assignment, all such materials shall be returned to the public body or destroyed.

Section 16.Disqualification

Interpreters shall not accept assignments if they are subject to disqualification. An interpreter is disqualified if any of the circumstances specified in section 6, first or second paragraphs, of the Public Administration Act apply.

Interpreters shall notify clients as quickly as possible of any circumstance that means or could mean that they are subject to disqualification. Interpreters bear personal responsibility for assessing whether they are subject to disqualification.

However, an interpreter who would otherwise be subject to disqualification may accept an assignment if the public body deems this necessary in an emergency, or if it is deemed justifiable in the circumstances.

Section 17.National Registry of Interpreters

A national registry of qualified interpreters (the National Registry of Interpreters) shall be established to increase the use of qualified interpreters in the public sector. The registry shall be administered by the Norwegian Directorate of Integration and Diversity.

If required to achieve the purpose of the National Registry of Interpreters, the Directorate may obtain personal data about interpreters from the National Population Register and immigration authority registers without regard to any statutory duty of confidentiality. If necessary to achieve the registry's purpose, the Directorate may process data on the ethnic origins of interpreters. Personal data from the registry that is not confidential may be disclosed to the public.

Decisions to register interpreters in the National Registry of Interpreters shall be deemed to be administrative decisions.

The Ministry may issue regulations specifying formal requirements for registration in the National Registry of Interpreters, what linguistic and interpreting skills are required, interpreters' duty to provide information, requirements concerning administration of the registry, and what information may be registered.

Section 18.Interpreter certification

Upon application, the Directorate of Integration and Diversity shall issue interpreter certifications. A certification may be issued to persons who are of age and have legal capacity according to Norwegian law and who have passed the certification examination in interpreting.

Holders of such a certification may use the title of certified interpreter. The title shall not be used in relation to interpreting between languages other than those for which the certification has been issued.

The Ministry may issue regulations on the certification scheme and approval of professional qualifications from other states; see the Professional Qualifications Act.

Section 19.Reporting breaches of professional conduct, the duty of confidentiality, and issues concerning disqualification

Any person may report interpreters who breach the requirements in sections 14 to 16 to the Directorate of Integration and Diversity.

The Directorate shall assess any reports concerning certified interpreters and interpreters registered in the National Registry of Interpreters.

The Directorate may require public bodies, without regard to any duty of confidentiality, to disclose information needed to assess whether an interpreter has breached the requirements in sections 14 to 16. However, these limitations shall also apply to the Directorate's right of access to information if provisions in other legislation restrict a supervisory authority's right of access to certain information.

Section 20.Revocation of a certified interpreter's certification

The Directorate of Integration and Diversity shall revoke a certified interpreter's certification if the requirements in section 18, first paragraph, are no longer fulfilled. The Directorate may also revoke a certification if there are circumstances that could result in exclusion from the National Registry of Interpreters pursuant to section 21.

A certification may be temporarily revoked during the processing of the matter. Certified interpreters listed in the National Registry of Interpreters may also be temporarily excluded from the registry during the processing of the matter; see section 21, third paragraph.

Revocation of a certified interpreter's certification shall be deemed an administrative decision.

Section 21.Warnings and exclusion

The Directorate of Integration and Diversity may issue a warning to an interpreter listed in the National Registry of Interpreters who fails to comply with the requirements in sections 14 to 16. Warnings shall be issued in writing and shall include a statement of reasons.

If an interpreter has received three or more warnings in the preceding five years, or if the requirements in sections 14 to 16 have been materially breached, the Directorate of Integration and Diversity may exclude the interpreter from the National Registry of Interpreters for a limited period or permanently.

The interpreter may be temporarily excluded from the registry during the processing of the matter.

Decisions regarding exclusion from the National Registry of Interpreters shall be deemed administrative decisions.

Section 22.Appeals board

The Ministry may issue regulations on the establishment of an appeals board to process appeals against decisions on exclusion from the National Registry of Interpreters and decisions to revoke a certification as a certified interpreter. The Ministry may issue regulations on the composition of the appeals board and its administrative procedures.

Section 23.Entry into force

This Act shall enter into force as of the date decided by the King.^​1 The King may decide that the administrative provisions shall enter into force at different times.

Section 24.Amendment of other acts

With effect from the entry into force of the Act, the following amendments shall be made to other Acts: – – –