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The Japanese Connection : Serving since 1985

Terms and Conditions

 

The Japanese Connection: Client's Terms & Conditions

 

 

1. Introduction

1.1 The Japanese Connection is one of the trade names of TJC GLOBAL Ltd (hereafter referred as TJC GLOBAL). TJC GLOBAL provides specialist assistance to individuals, companies, organisations and government agencies and institutions with respect to translation and interpreting services in multiple languages. TJC GLOBAL also undertakes business project management and industrial co-ordination involving multiple languages on behalf of Customers.
 
 
2. Definitions
 
2.1 In these Terms & Conditions, the following meanings shall apply:
"TJC GLOBAL" means TJC GLOBAL LTD, a business carried out from 38 Walton Street, Oxford, UK, and includes any employee, agent or other people that it engages to assist in the provision of these services. "Customer" means the person, company, organisation, agency or institution for whom services are provided by TJC GLOBAL.
"Services" means the agreed services to be provided by TJC GLOBAL.
"Charges" means the charges invoiced by TJC GLOBAL for the provision of these services.

3. Services to be provided

3.1 TJC GLOBAL will provide the Customer with interpreting and/or translation services and/or coordination or project management involving the languages required. TJC GLOBAL is available to provide assistance on short or urgent notice but any request made by a Customer should be confirmed immediately in writing, by fax, or by e-mail to avoid any unnecessary delay in starting the required work.

3.2 You agree that TJC GLOBAL will not be asked to enter into any contract involving the translation or interpretation (or the provision of any other service) of material which may, in the opinion of TJC GLOBAL, be judged as libellous or of an illegal nature. It is presumed that the Customer has obtained all relevant consent and permission for the use of any copyrighted material which exists in texts or transcripts to be worked upon by TJC GLOBAL. If any claims, costs or expenses arise from the provision of copyrighted or otherwise illegal material by the Customer, the Customer shall be responsible for all such costs.

4. Charges

Interpreting Services

4.1   TJC GLOBAL’s interpreting charges are based on half day or daily rates for interpreting services or advisory work. The level of these charges depends upon the complexity, urgency and nature of the Customer's requirements (including the use of specialist and technical terminology and the volume of documents provided by the Customer for the purpose of preparation). Daily rates are based on an 8-hour day (09:00 – 17:00 basis) with coffee breaks and at least 1 hour for lunch.

4.2   Where there has been no lunch break or a reduced break as set out above, an agreed hourly charge (usually the hourly overtime rate) shall be payable. On some occasions, the daily rate for simultaneous interpretation constitutes 6 hours of interpreting, but this will be specified in the quote.

4.3   For court interpretation assistance, if and when cross-examination of (expert) witnesses begins, the customer shall procure an assistant to be on hand to aid the Interpreters with the documents being put to the witnesses, preferably in both language pairs.

4.4   Any arrangements for overnight accommodation for the interpreter shall be agreed upon prior to the assignment. All accommodation, travel and subsistence expenses, including Per Diem, shall be payable by the customer. Time spent travelling will be charged at a rate agreed upon prior to the beginning of the assignment.

4.5   For work on weekends, statutory, bank and public holidays and/or for evening and night work after 9 pm, the daily rate, half-day rate and hourly overtime rate shall be further increased by 50%.

Preparation time and reference materials for interpreting services

4.7  For legal interpreting assignments, reference materials (such as all the preparatory and background information and relevant materials, including pre-hearing materials, such as witness statements and expert reports, necessary for the Interpreter to properly prepare for the Job) shall be sent to TJC GLOBAL as soon as the job is confirmed, ideally 14 working days prior to the start of any project, but if unavailable, no later than 72 hours prior to the start of the assignment. If these materials are not made available before this time, TJC GLOBAL shall not be liable for any complaints regarding the quality of the interpreting services provided.

4.8  For legal interpreting assignments, preparation time for highly technical and/or sizeable documents shall be chargeable at an hourly rate for hours actually spent on reviewing materials, and this shall be confirmed prior to the assignment. The number of hours necessary for preparation depends on the volume, nature and complexity, such as specialist/technical terminology of preparation materials provided by the Customer and any requests from the lawyers/client, i.e. basic understanding of dispute/technical aspects or thorough study, including extensive internet research. In some cases, this charge may be equivalent to 1/2 day(s) interpreting.

4.9  For terminology that is unique to the organisation, company, or project for which the Services are provided, the Customer shall provide a glossary of those terms, wherever applicable, in advance of the interpreting assignment.

4.10  In the case of death, sickness (including any mental illnesses unknown to TJC GLOBAL prior to the assignment) or injury of an interpreter prior to or during an assignment, TJC GLOBAL shall attempt to find a replacement interpreter but shall not be held liable if a suitable replacement cannot be found.

Recording of interpreting services

4.11 No recording of an Interpreter’s work shall be made without the Interpreter’s and TJC Global's prior consent, except where such recording is inherent within legal proceedings. Recordings, which are intended for broadcast or publication, will incur an additional fee of between 20 and 50 per cent of the daily rate depending upon the purpose of the recording.

4.12  The Customer is liable for unauthorized recordings by third parties. Each further use (for example, direct transmission) requires a separate contractual agreement.

4.13  The performance of conference interpreters is protected under international law. The Berne Convention provides protection for the interests of authors; translations are protected as original works, and translators are protected as authors. When fixed in the material form of any nature whatsoever (printed, sound or audiovisual recording, records, discs, magnetic tapes, videograms, slides, films, wire, cable, transparencies, photocopies, microcards, or any similar method), including availability via the Internet, the performance of the conference interpreter becomes a translation within the meaning of the Berne Convention and the exclusive rights foreseen in the Convention apply to the author.

Translation Services

4.15  Translation charges are dependent upon the number of source words or characters, the source and target languages, the urgency of the work, the nature and complexity of the content of the text and the specialist and technical terminology involved.

In the case of documents that TJC GLOBAL has not viewed prior to confirmation and acceptance of the quote, the amount shown in the quote is subject to change from the estimated word count upon which the quote was based to the actual source word count and/or according to the complexity and nature of the actual document. The quote may also be subject to change if a document for translation is altered or changed in any way after the translation work has commenced (for example, if it is extended, shortened, edited or the deadline changed) or if services in addition to those quoted are required.

Since translation is a subjective process, there may be several ways to translate a source text. TJC GLOBAL shall not be held liable for a reduced marketing or advertising effect after translation. TJC GLOBAL shall not be liable for any loss of profits, revenue, contracts, business, or damage to the Customer’s reputation and/or any other indirect or consequential loss or damage whatsoever.

For terminology that is unique to the organisation, company, or project for which the Services are provided to the Customer, the Customer should provide a glossary of those terms, wherever applicable, in advance of the translation being carried out. TJC GLOBAL shall not be liable for discrepancies in any translated products if the terminology is unique and has not been provided in advance. TJC GLOBAL is, however, happy to accommodate alternative vocabulary upon request from our Customer once our submission has been made.

4.16  TJC GLOBAL’s standard charges are reviewed annually and, if appropriate, amended on 1st January of each year. In the absence of a quotation for the work undertaken, the rates in force at the date of invoice will apply.

4.17  TJC GLOBAL will also be pleased to undertake work at a negotiated fee, subject to our proposals being confirmed or accepted in writing by the Customer.

Payment

4.18  TJC GLOBAL will invoice the Customer upon the completion of the work for any one item of work. Where the work is ongoing, TJC GLOBAL may send out an interim invoice at the end of each month. 100% payment of the invoice amount shall be made within 30 days of the date of invoice. All payments shall be made without deduction or set-off of bank charges. The Company reserves the right to charge Customers any bank transfer fees and expenses and any other currency conversion costs in addition to the Charges. For foreign currencies, the exchange rate will be that of HSBC Bank on the appropriate day.

4.19  In the event that payment has not been received by TJC GLOBAL after 30 days, a reminder requesting payment will be sent to the Customer and any discounts or reductions on the quoted price will cease to be applicable (they will become null and void).

For overdue invoices, TJC GLOBAL reserves the right to charge a daily charge calculated from the total invoice amount at 8.5% per annum above the base rate of the Bank of England to all overdue sums from the date on which they first become due until they are paid in full (under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 and compensation arising from late payment under section 5A of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act1998).

Failure to pay any invoice in accordance with the foregoing terms, or other terms specified in the Contract, shall entitle us to suspend further work both on the same order, and on any other order from our Customers, without prejudice to any other right we may have.

4.20  If TJC GLOBAL should seek the services of a law firm, solicitor, or debt collection agency to assist in the collection of the payment from the Customer, then the Customer agrees to pay TJC GLOBAL the full costs and commissions charged by the law firm, attorney, solicitor, or debt collection agency for such services plus an additional administration fee of £300.00 to compensate TJC GLOBAL for the time required to collect the outstanding payment.

4.21  For all United Kingdom Customers, TJC GLOBAL shall add onto the Charges Value Added Tax (VAT). For all other Customers, the Charges will exclude Value Added Tax and any other similar sales taxes, as appropriate, which shall be payable by the Customer in addition to the Charges.

5   CustomerRestrictions(Non-Solicitation)

5.1.  The Customer shall not have any direct contact with the interpreter(s), translator(s) or proofreader(s) supplied by TJC GLOBAL; all communication with TJC GLOBAL linguists must be made through TJC GLOBAL. In the event of any breach under this clause, the Customer shall pay to TJC GLOBAL an amount equal to the aggregate remuneration paid by TJC GLOBAL to the freelance linguist or other employees for the year immediately prior to the date on which the Customer committed a breach of contract.

6  Confidentiality

6.1 Privacy Policy

You can find details of our Privacy Policy at http://www.tjc- oxford.com/privacy_policy/translation_and_interpreting_company/

TJC GLOBAL will treat all of the information it encounters concerning a Customer or the Customers’ business as confidential and will not use or disclose any such information without the Customers’ consent unless otherwise required by law. If necessary, a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) can be put in place upon request.

7   Cancellation of work

7.1 If the Customer, following written or verbal confirmation (if the latter, this will be followed by written confirmation from TJC GLOBAL), cancels those services, Charges shall apply as follows:

A.    Interpreting:

A cancellation fee shall apply as stated in the quote issued for the cancelled Services.

B.  Translation:

If the Customer cancels any previously commissioned or agreed upon translation services, they will be liable for 100% of the cost of any work done on the assignment up until the point of cancellation, including any expenses incurred by TJC in the course of doing said work. For any outstanding work, 50% of the previously agreed upon translation rate will be applicable.

C.  Urgent translation:

If the Customer cancels previously confirmed services within 24 hours prior to the agreed time at which those services were scheduled to occur, they shall pay the full amount of the cost of those services plus any expenses incurred by TJC GLOBAL as a result of the cancellation.

If the Customer cancels previously confirmed services within 48 hours prior to the agreed time at which those services were scheduled to occur, they shall pay 50% of the full cost of those services plus any expenses incurred by TJC GLOBAL as a result of the cancellation.

8 Liability

8.1   Although TJC GLOBAL will endeavour to provide a fast and accurate service for all Customers, we restrict our liability for any fault on our part (except in respect of death or personal injury caused by our negligence) to the amount paid by the Customer or otherwise payable in respect of the relevant services or to the sum of £1000.00, whichever is the lower fee.

8.2   TJC GLOBAL will not be liable for any perceived loss of business, profits, revenue, contracts by the Customer or damage to the Customer’s reputation as a direct or indirect result of the work carried out by TJC GLOBAL.

8.3   TJC GLOBAL shall not be held liable for the consequences of any delays or performance, or failure to arrive or perform if the delay or failure is due to shortage of labour, exceptional weather conditions, industrial action, hostilities, governmental order or intervention (whether or not having the force of law), an act of God, fire, inclement or any other cause whatever beyond TJC GLOBAL’s control. TJC GLOBAL will not be liable for any loss of profits, revenue, contracts, business, or damage to the Customer’s reputation and/or any other indirect or consequential loss or damage whatsoever.

8.4   If a Customer is dissatisfied with the work carried out by TJC GLOBAL, then they must express this dissatisfaction in writing within 5 days of receiving the finished work. TJC GLOBAL shall endeavour to correct any errors or omissions caused by negligence on their part to the customer's satisfaction. If TJC does not receive any complaints within 15 days of the submission of translation work, TJC shall have no liability nor obligation regarding errors in translation.

9      Termination

TJC GLOBAL shall be entitled to terminate the Contract or proceedings with the Customer at any time via written notice if:

•      The Customer commits a breach of the Contract and, in some cases, fails to remedy the breach that is deemed amendable within 7 days of receipt of a written notice from us.

•      The Customer becomes bankrupt, is subject to an administrative order or goes into liquidation or any situation that threatens its financial backing and credibility as a Customer.

10     Health and Safety

10.1 TJC GLOBAL acknowledges its statutory responsibility to co-operate with the Customer Company's health and safety requirements, provided that TJC GLOBAL is given notice of these. Whilst on Company premises TJC GLOBAL interpreters and staff shall be afforded by the company the same protection for health and safety purposes as is due to its employees. If required by the company to enter the premises of a third party, the Customer will ensure that the third party also affords such protection to our partners and staff as is due to its employees.

11  Force Majeure

11.1 TJC GLOBAL shall not be liable in any way for failure or delay in performing our obligations under this engagement if the failure or delay is due to causes outside the reasonable control of the party in default, such as, but not restricted to, accident or injury, delay or cancellation of flight or train, natural disaster, severe weather conditions, fire, industrial action, acts of war, and any other situation which can be shown to have affected the ability of TJC GLOBAL to carry out the agreed work or services.

12      Governing Law and Jurisdiction

12.1 These terms of business shall be governed by and in accordance with the laws of England and Wales, and any dispute arising out of this engagement or these terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

13   Email delivery/electronic file delivery

13.1 Emails and files sent electronically by TJC GLOBAL are expected to arrive swiftly and intact. If the Customer does not receive an expected email/file within 24 hours, TJC GLOBAL urges the Customer to contact us and request a resubmission. If an email sent from TJC GLOBAL is received satisfactorily on one or more than one occasion, any non-delivery will need to be resolved on the recipient’s side. TJC GLOBAL will send an email to an alternative email address upon request.

14  Notices

14.1 All notices or other communications under a contract shall be sent in writing to the Customer’s place of business (in the case of a company, it is the business address set out in the invoice Order), or to other addresses given by the Customer or to the address of the Customer to which normal communications relating to the contract have been or are being sent in the ordinary course of business.

 

These terms and conditions are subject to change without prior written notice.

 

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