PQ: 27 October 2021

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2021-10-22.61149.h

Courts: Interpreters

Ministry of Justice written question – answered on 27th October 2021.

Alex Cunningham Shadow Minister (Justice)

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how hearings are classified as (a) complex-written, (b) complex and (c) standard for the purpose of assigning interpreting jobs; and how many individuals HM Courts and Tribunals Services has engaged to conduct spoken word interpreting tasks in each of those three tiers in each of the last four years.

Alex Cunningham Shadow Minister (Justice)

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the frequency with which bi-lingual individuals with no public service interpreting qualifications or training are given interpreting responsibilities in courts for Standard assignments.

James Cartlidge Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice has a predetermined set of requirements for linguists, developed to meet the interests of justice. The level was agreed at the start of the contract by judiciary and subject matter experts for each commissioning body.

The MoJ regularly reviews the assigned complexity level attributed to assignment types. The discretion to amend the complexity assigned to a booking is afforded where there is judicial direction to do so, or by those officials acting with delegated authority. This is decided on a case-by-case basis to meet the requirements of the specific booking.

HMCTS - Volume By Complexity & Calendar Year
Year	Complexity	Volume
2017	Standard	25,899
2017	Complex	104,382
2017	Complex Written	3,766
2018	Standard	26,230
2018	Complex	101,539
2018	Complex Written	4,125
2019	Standard	27,520
2019	Complex	100,720
2019	Complex Written	5,687
2020	Standard	27,113
2020	Complex	69,058
2020	Complex Written	4,046

 

The Ministry of Justice 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.

Language professionals provided by our contracted language service providers are sourced from the Ministry’s register. Only language professionals that meet the Ministry’s contractual requirements are included on the register, which is managed and audited by an independent language service provider, The Language Shop.

The contract has a clearly defined list of qualifications, skills, experience and vetting requirements language professionals must meet, 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 full details of the standards required for our Language Professionals is set out in our contracts, which can be found at the following link:

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/975cb99e-fec6-430f-8f31-fd532a907137

The Language Shop make regular and independent assessments of language professionals carrying out assignments via the Ministry’s language services contracts, to ensure they meet the requirements of the contract between the Ministry and the supplier.