Criminal Justice: Interpretation and Translation Services - Question
– in the House of Lords at 3:15 pm on 29th November
2017.
Baroness Coussins Crossbench 3:15pm, 29th November
2017
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have
revised their target for annual budget savings on the cost of providing
interpretation and translation services in criminal proceedings, following the
allocation of the latest contract for those services to thebigword; and if so,
what is their new target.
Baroness
Coussins Crossbench
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing
in my name on the Order Paper, and declare my interest as vice-president of the
Chartered Institute of Linguists.
Lord Keen of
Elie The Advocate-General for Scotland, Lords Spokesperson (Ministry of Justice)
My Lords, the ministry’s suite of language service
contracts was designed to ensure value for money and affordability of the
services provided by its suppliers. Given the importance that the ministry
attaches to the provision of court interpretation, we have not felt it
appropriate to set a target figure for cost savings for the provision, which is
a demand-led service. Fulfilment of interpreter bookings is currently around
98%.
Baroness
Coussins Crossbench
My Lords, that sounds encouraging, but there has
been a long-standing concern that the quality and qualifications of some of the
interpreters sent to our courts do not match up to the demands of the job,
which results in cases needing to be rescheduled. Is the Minister satisfied
that the new contract for quality assurance can provide much useful information
when it scrutinises only 1% of assignments, and can he say whether
interpreters’ pay and conditions have improved under thebigword contract? Poor
employment practice was one of the reasons why large numbers of high-level
interpreters boycotted the service previously.
Lord Keen of
Elie The Advocate-General for Scotland, Lords Spokesperson (Ministry of
Justice)
My Lords, the new contracts came into place on 31
October 2016. They include a contract in respect of quality assurance, which
has proved extremely effective. Indeed, the number of complaints about the
service provided has dropped quarter by quarter. As regards the numbers of
interpreters available, 4,660 have now registered with the new contractors. We
are proceeding on that basis; it is at present a success.
Viscount
Hailsham Conservative
My Lords, may I support the noble Baroness in her
remarks? Does my noble and learned friend agree that the provision of honest
and professional interpretation in criminal courts is absolutely central to the
proper construction of many cases? Does he also agree that that applies to many
civil cases as well, particularly family work and immigration? What public
provision is now made for those classes of case, and if none, would he consider
the position further?
Lord Keen of
Elie The Advocate-General for Scotland, Lords Spokesperson (Ministry of
Justice)
I agree with both the propositions advanced by my
noble friend. We have no difficulty at present with the provision of
interpretation services in respect of these matters.
Lord Marks
of Henley-on-Thames Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Justice)
My Lords, this month there have been at least six
reported instances of cases being adjourned for lack of an interpreter, and
there may be more. This is part of a continuing pattern which disrupts court
business and wastes resources. Does the MoJ have any new proposals to ensure
that needs for interpreters are identified and arrangements made for their
attendance earlier and more efficiently?
Lord Keen of
Elie The Advocate-General for Scotland, Lords Spokesperson (Ministry of
Justice)
We have no proposals to alter the present system,
which works effectively. I point out that there are around 500 to 550 bookings for
interpreters each day, so the number he refers to—six—is a very small
proportion of the overall interpretation service.
Lord Suri Conservative
My Lords, will we be able to see that justice is
being done without providing proper translation services, either in criminal or
other proceedings?
Lord Keen of
Elie The Advocate-General for Scotland, Lords Spokesperson (Ministry of
Justice)
It is clearly critical to the administration of
justice and to the issue of access to justice that full and adequate
interpretation services should be available to the courts and to those who have
recourse to them.
The Bishop
of Leeds Bishop
My Lords, there is clearly a difference between
interpretation and translation. I speak as a former professional linguist. What
about quality control? Will the Minister comment on that? Being able to deal
with a language is not the same as being a competent interpreter, sometimes of
very delicate matters.
Lord Keen of
Elie The Advocate-General for Scotland, Lords Spokesperson (Ministry of
Justice)
I entirely agree with the observation made by the
right reverend Prelate. That is why the present contract provision includes a
quality assurance provision by the Language Shop, to ensure that not only are
the appropriate levels of qualification available but also the appropriate
skills.
Lord Judd Labour
Does the noble and learned Lord agree that there is
a great deal of anxiety about people’s experiences with interpretation? It is
not just a matter of making sure that an interpreter is there—the quality of
the interpretation is essential. Surely with the whole principle of the quality
of justice, and of justice being seen and felt to be done, one cannot
overestimate the importance of interpretation and its quality. That must apply
to civil law as well as criminal law and certainly to the immigration sector.
Lord Keen of
Elie The Advocate-General for Scotland, Lords Spokesperson (Ministry of
Justice)
We are confident about the quality of the
translation and interpretation services provided to the courts at present,
which have been provided under the present contractual regime since 31 October
2016.
Baroness
Ludford Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Exiting the European Union)
My Lords, the Minster will know that this is an
obligation of an EU directive. I was a rapporteur in the European Parliament;
the UK Government chose to opt into this. Not only do we maintain standards
that help standards across the whole EU but, if we Brexit, we will obviously
want to keep up those standards so that we can operate such things as the
European arrest warrant without our operation of it being called into question.
Lord Keen of
Elie The Advocate-General for Scotland, Lords Spokesperson (Ministry of
Justice)
Of
course, that is one of the objectives of the withdrawal Bill, which noble Lords
will have the opportunity to pass in the near future to ensure that we maintain
our legal obligations in that context. Over and above the European regulation—I
believe it is a regulation and not a directive—there is of course the
convention right under Article 6 and the common-law right of access to justice.
