Translation and language services
The Prime Minister’s Office provides translation and language services for all ministries. Translated texts include government proposals, legislation, press releases, ministers’ speeches and other documents.
The Translation and Language Division is also responsible for the Government’s terminology work, which aims to promote clear communication and to harmonise the terms used in different languages in government texts. The language specialists at the Prime Minister’s Office also draw up a variety of guidelines, especially to support legislative drafting in Swedish and to solve problems that arise when writing in English.
In addition to glossaries and guidance, the Translation and Language Division provides free advice on the terminology used in government texts. You can ask our terminology services how to translate säännös (provision) into Swedish, valtioneuvoston ohjesääntö (Government Rules of Procedure) into English, pääministeri (Prime Minister) into French or valtioneuvosto (Government) into Russian, for example.
The Secretariat of the Swedish Language Board also operates from the Prime Minister’s Office. Its mandate is to foster clarity and comprehensibility in the legal and administrative Swedish used in Finland.
More information
Glossaries, guidance and publications
The Prime Minister’s Office compiles multilingual glossaries on government terminology. Many of the glossaries are available in the Finnish Government Termbank Valter.
Terminology service
The Prime Minister’s Office provides a free terminology service offering advice on how to translate government terms into Finnish, Swedish and other languages.
Swedish Language Board
The Swedish Language Board serves as a coordinating body for questions related to the use of Swedish by government authorities.
Current issues
NATO Glossary and Swedish Legal Language in Finland glossary update published in Valter Termbank
Third edition of NATO Glossary concludes terminology project
Extended version of NATO Glossary published
New NATO Glossary lists organisation names in Finnish and Swedish
Read more
'Svenskt lagspråk i Finland' handbook
The 'Svenskt lagspråk i Finland' (Slaf) handbook describes how laws and regulations are drafted and presents the most important sources and tools used when translating legal texts into Swedish.
Writing guidance for public officials
The 'A text well planned is half written' guide provides practical advice on how to make administrative texts clear and easy to understand right from the start of the writing process. In other words, how to make them accessible in terms of content.
Språkråd magazine
The Swedish Language Board’s Språkråd magazine features articles on topical questions related to legal language and provides recommendations on the Board’s preferred terminology and other information about legal language in Swedish.