Official sworn translation rates in the EU, country by country

Who the tariffs apply to

In most of the countries below, the tariff covers work ordered by the state: courts, prosecutors, police or other authorities. A private client and a translator agree the price between themselves. Czechia and Slovakia go one step further: there the tariff also applies to a private order if the parties did not agree a fee. Spain has no tariff at all — the law says sworn translators set their fees freely.

Overview

Rates are quoted as published in each act. Units differ: a Polish page is 1,125 characters, a Czech or Slovak page 1,800, a German or Austrian line 55 keystrokes, a French page 250 words, and Belgium and the Netherlands pay per word. Compare per unit, not per "page".

Germany: JVEG § 11

The Justice Remuneration and Compensation Act (JVEG) applies to translators engaged by a court, the public prosecutor, a tax authority running its own investigation, an administrative authority in regulatory-offence proceedings or a bailiff (§ 1).

• Unit. Each started block of 55 keystrokes of the written text. The target text counts; if only the source uses Latin script, the source text counts.
• Rate. €1.95 if the text is supplied in editable electronic form (basic fee), otherwise €2.15 (increased fee).
• Difficult texts. Where the translation is especially difficult — frequent technical terms, poor legibility, particular urgency or a language rare in Germany — the basic fee is €2.15 and the increased fee €2.30.
• Minimum. €20 for one or more translations under the same order.

Austria: GebAG § 54

The Fees Entitlement Act (GebAG) covers interpreters and translators acting in court proceedings and in prosecutors' investigations (§ 1). § 54 sets the fee for written translation.

• Unit. A line of 55 keystrokes of the translation, spaces included.
• Rate. €1.50 per line; at least €20 in total for one or more translations under the same order.
• Certification. €4 for the formal certification that the translation matches the original.
• Surcharge. +30 % if the work is ordered to be done between 8 pm and 6 am or on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday.

Poland: Minister of Justice regulation

The regulation on remuneration for sworn translators (consolidated text, Dz.U. 2025 poz. 312) applies to work ordered by a court, prosecutor, the police or public administration bodies (§ 1). Otherwise, under art. 16(1) of the Act on the Profession of Sworn Translator, the fee is set by agreement with the client.

• Unit. A page of 25 lines × 45 characters, or 1,125 characters; a started page counts as a full page (§ 8).
• Urgency. +100 % for translation within 24 hours of the request or in accelerated proceedings.
• Difficult texts. +25 % for specialist terminology, handwriting or text that is hard to read; the grounds for an increase are not added together.
• Checking another's translation. 50 % of the rate.

Czechia: Decree 507/2020 Sb.

Under Act 354/2019 Sb. the fee is set by contract with the client; it follows the decree if no fee was agreed or the client is a public authority (§ 29(2), which applies to court translators too). Current text in force since 1 January 2023.

• Unit. Each started normostrana of 1,800 characters including spaces of the translated text.
• Rate. CZK 550 per normostrana (§ 3).
• Surcharges. Up to +20 % for text especially demanding in accuracy or expertise, up to +10 % for African or Asian languages, up to +30 % for handwritten or hard-to-read text, up to +50 % for weekend, holiday or night work (§ 7), up to +50 % if urgent (§ 9).
• Reduction. −20 % for frequently repeated simple texts.

Slovakia: Decree 491/2004 Z. z.

Under Act 382/2004 Z. z. (§ 3(1)) a translator may agree a contractual fee with a client that is not a court or public authority; if they do not agree, the tariff applies. Decree text in force since 1 August 2018.

• Unit. A page of 30 lines × 60 characters, or 1,800 characters; a final incomplete page and any document shorter than a page count as a full page.
• Rate. €13.28 Slovak–Czech, €19.92 Slovak–other European language, €23.24 Slovak–non-European language, €26.56 between two languages neither of which is Slovak (§ 10).
• Surcharges. +€1.66 per page if one language does not use Latin script; up to +50 % if required without delay; up to +30 % if exceptionally demanding. The increases can be combined (§ 12).
• Checking another's translation. 25 % of the tariff (§ 11).

France: Code of Criminal Procedure

Article R122 covers translations in criminal proceedings: written translations are paid per page of French text, a page being 250 words. The amount is set in article A43-7 (version in force since 1 January 2021).

• Rate. €25 per page for translators who have not exercised their "droit d'option", €38.50 for those who have.
• Surcharges. Night, weekend and holiday surcharges in R122 apply to oral translation, not to written translation.

Belgium: Royal Decree of 22 December 2016

The decree sets the tariff for translators and interpreters in criminal matters on requisition by the judicial authorities. Rates exclude VAT (art. 9).

• Per word. €0.060 French ↔ Dutch; €0.093 to or from Finnish, Latvian, Estonian, Slovene, Lithuanian, Albanian, Maltese, Hebrew, Tibetan, Turkic and Romani languages; €0.081 for all other languages (art. 2).
• Per line. €0.95 per line of 60 characters for logographic languages and Braille (art. 1).
• Minimum. 300 words or 30 lines per requisition.
• Surcharges. +50 % if urgent (more than 2,100 words or 210 lines per working day), +20 % for handwritten text, +20 % for transcribing wiretaps (art. 3).

Netherlands: Besluit tarieven in strafzaken 2003

Article 5 sets the rate for translators in criminal cases: at least €0.079 per word, plus VAT (art. 15). The weekend and night increase in article 7 covers articles 2, 3 and 6, not article 5. Text valid from 1 January 2026; a further change is announced for 1 January 2027.

Spain: no tariff

Royal Decree 724/2020, article 16: sworn translators and sworn interpreters set the fees for their work freely.

Countries not included

Italy, Hungary and Romania are left out because we could not open the current legal text with the amounts at the time of writing; other member states are not covered yet. We add a country only once the figures are checked against the act itself.

Quoting with Lingverra

Lingverra quotes your client by the unit your country uses — normostrana, page, line, keystrokes or words — and you set the price per unit yourself. Your first 5 pages of translation and 5 quotes are free.