Power of Attorney Translation for France

The court of appeal list requirement: a sworn translator (assermenté)

A translation submitted to an official body in France must be produced by a sworn translator (traducteur assermenté) named on the expert list of a court of appeal (Cour d’appel). This holds for powers of attorney too, and a translation from outside the list may be refused. A translation produced in Türkiye follows a different chain: a sworn translator signs it, a notary notarises it, and an apostille is added. In transactions such as a property sale, the French notary (notaire) will often expect a procuration drawn up in authentic form (authentique); find out which route is valid by obtaining written confirmation from the authority that will carry out the transaction.

The scope of authority must name the transaction

A French notaire, or a court registry (greffe), wants to see plainly what the procuration was granted for; in a property sale (vente immobilière) or a transfer of shares (cession de parts), for example, the authority is expected to be set down in concrete terms. The broad powers in a Turkish general power of attorney may be found insufficient if no specific transaction is named. The translation conveys the enumerated powers in the text in full; a vague scope holds the transaction up. The translator does not interpret the authority but carries the wording of the document across into French legal language exactly.

It is worth going over the following points before delivery:

• Verify that the translation has been obtained from a translator on a court of appeal list (assermenté).
• Check that the scope of authority names the transaction and that the right of substitution is explicit.
• Confirm that the notary’s attestation block and the apostille certificate have been taken into the translation.
• Make sure the names of the parties are consistent with the spelling in the passport.

The right of substitution and records of duration

In transactions in France, the attorney’s ability to authorise another person (faculté de substitution) is often a separate matter of record; because a local representative may need to pass the work on, whether that right appears in the text matters. The translation must convey the right of substitution, and any limits on it, plainly. In the same way, if the power of attorney carries a period of validity or a terminating condition, that too must be translated in full. A right of substitution or a record of duration conveyed ambiguously can lead the French authority to ask for the document again.

Proof of representative authority where the power is granted for a company

If the power of attorney is granted on behalf of a company, the signatory’s authority to represent that company must be supported by a currently dated registry record and a signature circular, and these must be translated too. The French authority reads from these documents that the grantor held the authority in question. Even a correctly translated procuration remains incomplete if the chain of authority behind it is not shown. The translation of the power of attorney and of the supporting documents should therefore be planned in a single list, so that the same work is not done twice.

Powers of attorney with a photograph, the attestation block and the consular distinction

It is usual for a Turkish notary to draw up a power of attorney with a photograph of the grantor affixed to it; the translation records the presence of that photograph with the note [photograph], as it is one of the document’s identity-verification elements. The attestation block at the end of the document – the form of the instrument, the notary office, the entry number and any explanatory annotations – belongs inseparably to the text of the power of attorney and must be taken into the translation in full. Translating the body alone and leaving out the attestation block leaves the document half-finished in the eyes of the French notaire; the apostille certificate is handled in the same way. The translation must cover every page of the source document, and the pages must be presented as a single bound whole.

Where a power of attorney has been drawn up at a Turkish consulate while you are abroad, the process runs differently; such a document is in most cases meant for a transaction in Türkiye and does not always take the place of a local power of attorney to be submitted to an authority in France. Deciding at the outset which document will be used in which country prevents time lost on a power of attorney drawn up in the wrong place.

Order of approval and the most frequent mistakes

The order is: signature before a notary, then the apostille at the governor’s office or district governor’s office, and the translation last. The translation must cover the text of the power of attorney, the notary’s attestation block and the apostille certificate together. France is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention; confirm the current position from the official HCCH list. The most frequent mistake is working with a translator who is not on the list; the second is leaving the scope of authority vague; the third is conveying the right of substitution ambiguously. You can see the level of approval required for other documents on our document types page and the cost on our pricing page, and you can upload your document to request a quotation. This page is for general information and is not a substitute for legal advice; confirm current requirements with the authority that will handle the transaction.