Courts: Interpreters
Ministry of Justice written question – answered on 13th
June 2018.
Nicholas
Dakin Opposition Whip (Commons)
To ask the Secretary of State for for Justice, what
safeguards his Department has in place to ensure that contracted interpreters
for courts and tribunals are appropriately qualified and competent in the use
of (a) the foreign language they are translating into English, (b) the English
language, (c) English law and (d) English and Welsh judiciary's legal terms;
and what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of those
safeguards.
Lucy Frazer The
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice
The Ministry is committed to ensuring the
justice system is supported by a suite of high quality language service
contracts, that meet the needs of all those that require them.
It has a clearly defined list of qualifications,
skills, experience and vetting requirements interpreters must meet, set out in
each of the contracts it has with its suppliers of language services, which
have been designed to meet the needs of the justice system. All interpreters
are also required to complete a justice system specific training course before
they are permitted to join the ministry’s interpreter register.
The ministry’s contractors are required to hold
evidence of these credentials, which are subject to an additional safeguard in
the form of an annual audit conducted by The Language Shop (part of the London
Borough of Newham), the department’s supplier of independent language service
quality assurance.
The Language Shop undertakes additional processes
to assure the quality of interpreting provided to the ministry, including the
management of its register of interpreters, conducting a programme of
assessments for interpreters, and conducting an annual audit of supplier
processes for onboarding new linguists.
The complaint rate is monitored closely as part of
a robust contract governance processes. The rate remains low which suggests
there is no systemic issue with the quality of interpreting provided.
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