15 August 2019 by Monidipa
Fouzder
Court interpreters in limbo after
sub-contractor 'ceases operations'
The main company
contracted by the government to provide courtroom interpreting has pledged to
honour bookings made by a sub-contractor which appears to be no longer in
business.
Leeds-headquartered
thebigword, which was awarded a Ministry of Justice contract in 2016, told the Gazette that Bolton-based
Debonair Languages 'ceased operations' on 5 August.
Thebigword has agreed
to honour bookings taking place on or after 5 August. For any bookings
fulfilled by Debonair Languages before 5 August, thebigword remains responsible
to pay Debonair for them. Debonair is responsible for paying its linguists.
A spokesperson for
thebigword said: 'Debonair Languages ceased operations on Monday 5th August.
Thebigword has put in measures to support linguists that had been working with
Debonair and, where possible, welcome them to the other roles in thebigword
community.'
The Gazette has tried to
contact Debonair Languages several times this week.
Debonair Languages's
website states that it works with the Ministry of Justice 'and offer a wide
range of interpreters qualified to Standard level (community interpreting) all
the way up to complex written qualified'.
The website says: 'Our
interpreters are well versed in court proceedings and have extensive court
experience. Every day we place interpreters into Crown Court bookings all over
the country.'
Portuguese interpreter and
translator Pedro Matias says he is owed £320.38 for legal interpreting work
carried out in June and July, and has filed a civil money claim against
Debonair Languages.
Matias believes that the
ministry's decision to outsource interpreting and translation services through
agencies has 'ultimately caused this issue'.
He said: 'I must pay annual
fees to be a member of the National Register of Public Service Interpreters and
Chartered Institute of Linguistics, where anyone who requires my services can
find me. Clients can reach out to linguists directly that way, without any
involvement of third parties. However, unfortunately, the Ministry of Justice
decided to stop doing that back in 2011.'
Before 2012, the Ministry
of Justice booked courtroom interpreters directly from the national register
through court staff. In 2012, a framework agreement under which courts and
justice agencies obtain interpreters and translators through a single agency
aroused fierce controversy.
No comments:
Post a Comment