certified copy
noun · beglaubigte Abschrift
A certified copy is a beglaubigte Abschrift, a copy whose conformity with the document presented is certified, § 42 BeurkG. It attests conformity with the copied document, not the authenticity or content of that document, and it must not be confused with the Ausfertigung, the official issue that represents the original in legal transactions, § 47 BeurkG.
Which translation, when
Why
The certified copy is the beglaubigte Abschrift, and the pair is safe so long as the reach of the certificate and the neighbouring figures stay distinct. The certificate on a copy states one thing: that the copy conforms with the document presented. § 42 BeurkG frames the notarial practice, directing the Notar to establish whether the presented document is itself an original, an Ausfertigung, a certified or a plain copy, and to note gaps, deletions or other signs that the text has been altered; authorities certify copies for official use on the same footing. What the certificate never states is that the underlying document is authentic, valid or correct; a perfectly certified copy of a forgery remains a faithful copy of a forgery. The figure to hold apart is the Ausfertigung: the official issue of a notarial instrument which represents the original in legal transactions, § 47 BeurkG, carrying a formal note with date, place and recipient, signature and seal. The Ausfertigung does work no copy can do, enforcement for instance running on the enforceable Ausfertigung, so a translation that renders Ausfertigung as certified copy, or reads a certified copy as if it could stand in for the original, misplaces the instrument. A final boundary matters for the translation trade itself: the authorisation of a translator covers the certificate of accuracy and completeness on a translation and does not extend to certifying that a copy conforms with an original. So the safe rendering is beglaubigte Abschrift, with Ausfertigung kept for the issue that replaces the original.
Typical mistakes
- The certificate on a copy attests conformity with the presented document, § 42 BeurkG, not the authenticity or content of that document, so a certified copy of a forged paper proves nothing about the paper.
- The Ausfertigung represents the original in legal transactions, § 47 BeurkG, and enforcement runs on the enforceable Ausfertigung, so rendering it as a mere certified copy misplaces the instrument.
- A translator’s authorisation covers the certificate on the translation, not the certifying of copies, so the two certificates must not be merged.
What matters
Rendering a passage on copies of documents, the translation should use beglaubigte Abschrift for the certified copy, keep its reach limited to conformity with the presented document, and reserve Ausfertigung for the official issue that represents the original.
What the machine misses
A machine translation of certified copy lands on beglaubigte Kopie or zertifizierte Kopie and blurs the reach of the certificate. It loses that the certificate attests conformity with the presented document under § 42 BeurkG, not the authenticity of that document, and it merges the copy with the Ausfertigung of § 47 BeurkG, which represents the original in legal transactions. The rendering makes a copy look like proof of the underlying document or like the original itself.
Examples
| a certified copy of the original | eine beglaubigte Abschrift der Urschrift |
| to certify a copy | eine Abschrift beglaubigen |
| issued as an official copy replacing the original | als Ausfertigung erteilt, die die Urschrift vertritt |
| a plain copy | eine einfache Abschrift |