JAIS

Essay

Professionalism and Ethics:
The Role of Ethics in a Deregulated 21st Century 1)
Jean-Pierre Allain
President
The International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC)ETHICS, also called MORAL PHILOSOPHY, is the discipline concerned with what is
morally good and bad, right and wrong. The term also applies to any system ortheory of moral values or principles.
Normative ethics seeks to set norms or standards for conduct. The term is commonlyused in reference to the discussion of general theories about what one ought to do, acentral part of ethics since ancient times. Normative ethics continued to hold the
spotlight during the early years of the 20th century, with intuitionists such as W. D.
Ross engaged in showing that an ethic based on a number of independent duties was
superior to Utilitarianism.
How should we live? Shall we aim at happiness or at knowledge, virtue, or thecreation of beautiful objects? If we choose happiness, will it be our own or thehappiness of all? And what of the more particular questions that face us: Is it right tobe dishonest in a good cause? Can we justify living in opulence while elsewhere in
the world people are starving? If conscripted to fight in a war we do not support,
should we disobey the law? What are our obligations to the other creatures withwhom we share this planet and to the generations of humans who will come after us?
And closer to the subject that concerns us today – professional ethics in conference
interpretation: Is it ethically right or wrong to cheat our clients? Or to misinterpret a
speaker, even if not intentionally? Or to leave an interpreting assignment early? Or to

Jean-Pierre Allain, “Professionalism and Ethics: The Role of Ethics in a Deregulated 21st Century.”Interpretation Studies, No. 1, December 2001, pages 103-110.
(c) 2001 by the Japan Association for Interpretation Studies

103accept to work in technical conditions that make it impossible to provide a goodinterpretation? Or to accept an assignment when we know we do not have thenecessary knowledge of the subject to do a good job? Or to ignore our team colleagues
and not to share with them information that is necessary for the job?
Ethics deals with such questions at all levels. Its subject consists of the fundamental
issues of practical decision-making, and its major concerns include the nature ofultimate value and the standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong.
Although ethics has always been viewed as a branch of philosophy, its all-embracing
practical nature links it with many other areas of study, including anthropology,
biology, economics, history, politics, sociology, and theology. Yet, ethics remains
distinct from such disciplines because it is not a matter of factual knowledge in theway that the sciences and other branches of inquiry are. Rather, it has to do withdetermining the nature of normative theories and applying these sets of principles topractical moral problems.
The legal philosopher Lon Fuller distinguished between “the morality of aspiration”
and “the morality of duty.” The former may be denoted ethics, the latter law. Ethics
tells people what they should do and embodies the ideals they should strive to attain.
Unethical behaviour leads to punishments that are related to how an individual isperceived, both by himself and by his fellow man. Law, on the other hand, provides
boundaries of actions, set by society, beyond which a person may go only by risking
external sanctions, such as incarceration or loss of a medical license.
Conference interpretation as an independent profession has existed only for the past
fifty years and its development as a profession is not dissimilar to that of journalism.
Journalism in the 20th century has been marked by a growing sense of
professionalism. There were four important factors in this trend: the increasingorganization of working journalists; specialized education for journalism; a growing
literature dealing with the history, problems, and techniques of mass communication;
and an increasing sense of social responsibility on the part of journalists.
Similarly, in the case of conference interpretation and, particularly, simultaneousinterpretation that is now the preferred method of interpretation, some importantfactors shaped the profession.

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First, its rapid development, prompted by the creation of the United Nations and its
specialized agencies, after World War II. Before then, mainly French and English
were used at international conferences and consecutive interpretation was the means
used to convey a speech from one language into the other. The United Nations
started operating in 1945 with five official languages (now six) and most of theirproceedings needed to be interpreted into the five languages. Consecutive
interpretation was simply too long and cumbersome.
Second, the teaching of interpretation. At the end of World War II the first graduate
School of Interpretation was established at the University of Geneva, soon to befollowed by similar schools at universities in Paris, London, Georgetown, Heidelberg
and other places. Interpretation ceased to be simply a skill honed on the job andbecame a profession, with its theoretical and research aspects, too. Not that it ceased
to be a skill. There is no doubt that conference interpretation requires a special skill,even a gift, and that the study of languages and general subjects alone cannot
produce a good interpreter. Interpretation, like translation on the whole, is an art,
not a science. Guidance can be given and general principles can be taught, but afterthat it is up to the individual’s own feeling for the two languages concerned that reallycounts.
Third, as competition among users for the relatively limited number of competentconference interpreters grew, in the fifties, some felt the need for a professional
body to establish the rules of the game: working conditions that make it possible for
an interpreter to provide the demanding skills of the job to the best level, andremuneration conducive to maintaining high standards of quality. So we see, in 1953,
the birth of AIIC, the International Association of Conference Interpreters.
Fourth, the ethics of the profession. At its foundation, AIIC adopted a Code ofProfessional Ethics 2) for the profession. It is quite short and sticks to the essential.
That is no doubt why it has hardly changed since then. Its main points are these:•

Members of the Association shall be bound by the strictest secrecy, whichmust be observed towards all persons and with regard to all information
disclosed in the course of the practice of the profession at any gathering notopen to the public.

•

Members shall refrain from deriving any personal gain whatsoever from
confidential information they may have acquired in the exercise of their105

duties as conference interpreters.
•

Members of the Association shall not accept any assignment for which they
are not qualified. Acceptance of an assignment shall imply a moral undertaking
on the member’s part to work with all due professionalism.

•

Members of the Association shall not accept any job or situation which might
detract from the dignity of the profession.

•

They shall refrain from any act which might bring the profession into disrepute.

•

It shall be the duty of members of the Association to afford their colleagues
moral assistance and collegiality.

Fifth, professional standards. In addition, the founders of AIIC, freelance interpretersand staff interpreters of international organisations, developed the professional
standards3) that are still in use today:•

The number of interpreters per language booth;•Interpreters’ language classification (active and passive languages);•

The principle of interpreting from passive to active languages;•

The technical requirements for conference interpreting (booth size andconfiguration, interpreters’ consoles, location of booths in relation to meetingrooms, booth ventilation and lighting, access to booths);•

Documents for interpreters;•

Relations between interpreters and principals.

Lastly, AIIC members agreed on a minimum daily fee below which they would not
accept assignments and they insisted on direct individual contracts with theirprincipals. They were adamant to avoid the sorrow plight of members of theperforming arts who had to rely on impresarios to sell their skills and thus missed afair amount of their earnings in commissions. Recognising that conference
interpretation requires skills and a vast background of knowledge that has to beacquired and that it is extremely tiring, they set a standard of remuneration inaccordance with the difficulty of their profession that would afford the opportunity
to work enough without ruining their health.
It is fair to say, therefore, that between the mid fifties and early nineties, theprofession was fairly regulated, although in a purely voluntary manner, since nogovernment or international authority ever sanctioned these professional standards.

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The new era of free enterprise and deregulation
With the discrediting of Communism, the fall of the Berlin wall and the subsequent
crumbling of the Eastern European regimes, in the early nineties, a new wave of
neo-liberalism, free market enterprise philosophy and deregulation has gripped theworld. Socialist governments in most countries have either fallen or have adopted
liberal policies. Social policies and programmes to help or protect the weaker or thepoorer have either been abandoned or changed out of recognition. The international
financial institutions have succeeded in forcing recalcitrant governments to open the
doors of their markets and to adopt liberal economic policies, in addition to greater
fiscal and social responsibility.
In this new political atmosphere, regulation of any kind is looked upon as suspect.
This also affects ethics-based regulation of liberal professions, such as conference
interpreters, as well as other trades. Witness the number of legal challenges toregulations established by professional and trade associations to govern the
behaviour of members of their profession, but also to protect the interests ofconsumers of their goods or services.
AIIC too abandoned its recommended minimum daily fees, already in 1987, in viewof the threat of potential legal action against it. Four years later, in 1991, the Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States sued AIIC (despite it being aninternational professional body based in Switzerland) for what it considered to be
standards that violated American anti-trust legislation. The main charges against
AIIC were its recommended minimum daily fees, but also the working conditions
and standards it had always upheld. AIIC defended its professional standards andworking conditions for interpreters and, in the end, was vindicated when the judge
dismissed the case and confirmed the validity of AIIC’s professional standards asreasonable and as a means to protect consumers’ interests. It is reassuring to see thateven in the United States, considered the bastion of free enterprise, ethics-based
professional standards are considered not only acceptable but also of benefit to theusers.
However, as a result of the prolonged process and the abandoning of minimum daily
fees, there is a feeling that the profession has been “deregulated.” To a degree that is107true, in the sense that AIIC no longer has legal enforcing power for some of its
standards. This, again, is similar to what has occurred in other professions.

The importance of ethics
Why are ethical principles important for any profession? They are the basis for therules of the profession. Without an ethical yardstick, it is impossible to set standards
that regulate the exercise of a profession and distinguish it from amateurism orquackery. That is why liberal professions, in particular, have professional bodies andstandards. Most interpreters are independent professionals who work on contract
basis. They are similar, in this respect, to medical doctors, architects, dentists, artists,
performers, journalists, etc. For the profession to be recognised, as such, it needs tobe guided by ethical principles which underlie its standards. Thanks to the founding
fathers of our modern profession and to the vision of the founders of AIIC, we have a
set of ethical principles and of professional standards that have been recognised andaccepted by most conference interpreters and by users of interpretation.
Will the 21st century be an era of free market forces and laissez-faire? This is quite
likely and is not all bad, when looking at the damage excessive regulation has donein the past. However, a free and unregulated market can work to the benefit of all,both providers and users, only if it is guided by principles of ethics. Where thesearch for profit and indeed greed is allowed to reign supreme, the majority will always
suffer.
Is it ethical or fair to let small producers in climatically less favoured parts of theworld see their livelihood undermined by free market policies that ruin theirmarkets? Is it fair or right to let the weak, the old, the unemployed, fend forthemselves because social policies are deemed “unfashionable,” unworkable, or too
expensive?

In our own profession, is it ethical to abandon working conditions andstandards when faced with competitors who do not care to apply them?

Is it ethicalto cheat our clients on what our services actually cost, simply because there is no lawthat explicitly forbids it?
No, it is not and should not be. It need not be. I am convinced that, as Malick Sy,
former President of AIIC said, “The 21st century will be the century of ethics.” When
government-sanctioned or other “official” regulations fall by the wayside, victims of108

the present views on what is politically correct or acceptable, ethical standards
become all the more important. When laws that used to oblige individuals to act
honourably and fairly with others, particularly in their business dealings, arerescinded because they are now considered “obsolete,” we can and must rely moreon ethical standards to regulate our behaviour.
Conference interpreters provide an important service that allows people of different
languages and cultures to understand each other. It is a service that has a cultural,
intellectual and social value, in addition to its economic value. It cannot be ruled
exclusively by price considerations or by individual greed. The profession ofconference interpretation has a single worldwide professional body to represent it,
which makes it easier for members of the profession to follow the same ethicalguidelines everywhere.
If conference interpreters follow the ethical principles enshrined in the AIIC Code ofProfessional Ethics, they will be able to:• Provide a quality service to their users and thereby to the purpose of theirprofession;• Maintain good relations with their colleagues and their clients;• Uphold the technical standards that are essential to the proper exercise of our
profession;• Attract new qualified interpreters into the profession;• Maintain decent levels of remuneration that quality deserves.
We must not abandon our old tenets lightly, but must strive to improve them, tomodernise them where necessary. The advantage of ethical principles is that they are
general, they are guidelines, they can adapt to different cultures and situations
without losing their essence.

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Jean-Pierre Allain

Jean-Pierre Allain was born in Paraguay, of European parents. He

graduated as conference interpreter and economist from the University of Geneva,
Switzerland. He has practiced interpretation as a freelance interpreter for the United
Nations and other intergovernmental organisations as well as professional and technicalassociations since 1971, in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. He has lived in Asia
since 1984 and is currently President of the International Association of Conference
Interpreters (AIIC). Contact the author at: allain@loxinfo.co.th

Editor’s Notes:
1)This essay is based on a speech given by the author on April 27, 2001, at the 3rdStudy Meeting of the Japan Association for Interpretation Studies.

2)

The AIIC “Code of Professional Ethics” can be viewed online at the following URL:
http://www.aiic.net/ViewPage.cfm/page54.htm

3)The “AIIC Professional Standards” can be viewed online at the following URL:
http://www.aiic.net/ViewPage.cfm/page205.htm

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