Language Services Ordinance (LangSO)
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 6 Individual linguistic services
Linguistic services include in particular: a. the translation of texts into one or more languages; b. the proofreading of translations and other texts to assure their quality and their compliance with formal requirements (revision); c. terminology work in certain areas and the provision and maintenance of terminological aids for the language services themselves or for the entire Federal Administration; d. the provision and maintenance of language tools; e. advice on linguistic matters.
Art. 7 Quality standards
1 The linguistic services shall meet quality standards that in particular contribute to making texts precise, coherent, simple, understandable and gender-neutral. 2 The quality standards are set out in the directives mentioned in Article 2 paragraph 2 of the Languages Ordinance of 4 June 2010.
Para. 2 — SR 441.11 Para. 2 — Amended by No II 1 of the O of 27 Aug. 2014, in force since 1 Oct. 2014 (AS 2014 2987).
Art. 8 Languages
1 The languages in which the translation and the other linguistic services are provided are determined primarily by the legislation on languages and official publications. 2 Texts that do not fall within paragraph 1 and which are intended to be read by the general public and texts that are intended to aid the internal functioning of the Federal Administration and to be read by its employees shall be made available in several languages, provided their importance and the range of addressees so require. 3 The Federal Chancellery shall set out the details in directives.
Art. 9 Joint planning
The Federal Administration language services and their clients shall jointly determine in their planning process the time required for individual linguistic services. They shall fix deadlines so that: a. quality assurance can be carried out; and b. when texts are published in more than one language, they can be published in all the required languages at the same time.
Art. 9 — Amended by Annex No 1 of the O of 10 Nov. 2021, in force since 1 July 2022 (AS 2021 692).
Art. 10 Provision of linguistic services
1 Translation work and the other linguistic services for the Federal Administration are normally carried out by the Federal Administration language services. 2 The units that provide linguistic services within a department normally translate and revise their department’s texts. 3 The units that provide linguistic services in the Federal Chancellery are normally responsible for: a. translating and revising Federal Chancellery texts; b. translating and revising texts relating to the duties of the President of the Swiss Confederation; c. the final linguistic revision of texts published under the legislation on official publications, with the exception in particular of the texts to be published by reference and explanatory reports on ordinances.
Para. 3 let. c — Amended by Annex No 1 of the O of 10 Nov. 2021, in force since 1 July 2022 (AS 2021 692).
Art. 11 External assignments
1 At times when capacity to deal with the workload is exceeded or in cases of urgency, if all internal resources have been exhausted, individual translation assignments or assignments for other linguistic services may be issued to external translators or other external linguistic specialists with the agreement of or via the unit that is responsible for the relevant linguistic service. 2 The unit concerned is responsible for assuring the quality of the linguistic services provided by external specialists in accordance with paragraph 1. 3 The Federal Chancellery shall set out the details in directives.