26 April
2012 by Jago Russell
Difficult to comprehend
I have
followed with interest and mounting concern the Gazette’s coverage of
fears about the declining standards of interpretation in UK criminal courts,
most recently ‘Interpreter mistake causes trial to
collapse'.
Fair
Trials International helps hundreds of people arrested abroad every year and
the standard of interpreting in court proceedings continues to be a very common
concern. Over 10% complain that they were either provided interpreters who had
poor command of their language or denied access to an interpreter altogether.
Many
people are not surprised to hear that the quality of interpretation is
inadequate in countries such as India and Thailand, but many of the cases we
see raising major concerns come from within Europe. One of our clients in
Portugal recently told us that the interpreter in his trial had limited command
of the language. In fact she was a hairdresser and friend of the judge’s wife,
called in at late notice.
We have
campaigned hard for an EU directive on the right to interpretation and
translation on criminal proceedings, which comes into effect next year. Against
this backdrop, reports that standards of interpretation are declining in UK
courts are of enormous concern.
The right
to be understood in criminal proceedings is an indispensable aspect of the
right to a fair trial. When Britons are arrested abroad we correctly expect
their basic rights to be respected. We must not, at the same time, neglect the
rights of foreign nationals in our own legal system.
Jago
Russell, chief
executive, Fair Trials International
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