Kitab Khana translation halt costs people dear

KATHMANDU, JUL 13 -

After the state-owned Law Book Management House (Kanun Kitab Khana) stopped translating documents on Wednesday those seeking official attestation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) have been left in the lurch.

The MoFA has long been refusing to attest documents translated by private notaries claiming the government agency could not attest documents translated by private firms.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha called a meeting with secretaries of the MoFA, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Law Reform Commission, the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Attorney General on Thursday.

“Many countries have rejected the translation and attestation done by the notaries, inconveniencing Nepalis abroad. The Kanun Kitab Khana’s decision to halt translation has serious implication for those who need to get their official documents translated,” said one of the secretaries upon leaving the meeting.

However, the meeting was unable to come up with a solution given Attorney General Mukti Pradhan’s refusal to budge from the government’s decision to entrust rights to translation and attestation to private notaries. Many countries ask for documents attested by the MoFA only. There have been several complaints from abroad regarding notary-translated documents that lack authenticity and clarity in language. 

“Many government documents considered classified cannot be handed over to notaries for translation and attestation. Now we are also in trouble,” said another secretary.

The Notary Public Act-2006 entrusted notaries with translation and attestation but the law book body had itself been translating documents owing to its credibility and authenticity. Recently, the Notary Public Council Nepal (NPCN) dispatched a letter to the House, asking it to halt services from mid-July.

Government officials claim it was a mistake to pass the Notary Act, which was never discussed at the Bill Committee of the Cabinet but was instead tabled directly at the Parliament. While the MoFA rejects shoddy translations to prevent problems abroad, the government no longer translates documents with the closure of the Kitab Khana.

“Many people have been facing problems due to this dual provision. We cannot stamp documents translated by private agencies. We only stamp those translated by the Kitab Khana,” said an official at the MoFA.

There are around 200 accredited notaries in Nepal. When the Act was first enacted in 2006, it included a mandatory provision for training and qualification levels that were rarely followed. Last December, a meeting between the NPCN and various government agencies came to an understanding for the decision to be reviewed if people suffered from bad translations from the notaries.

“Now we are receiving many complaints about the notaries’ translations. We found that many translations were sub-standard and poor,” said the MoFA official. NPCN has claimed that the Kitab Khana does not hold rights to translation and that the former should be given back its work immediately.

 

Source: http://www.ekantipur.com/2012/07/13/capital/kitab-khana-translation-halt-costs-people-dear/357042/