Dutch police interpreters dissatisfied with new translation agency

https://nltimes.nl/2022/10/30/dutch-police-interpreters-dissatisfied-new-translation-agency

30 October 2022

Dutch police interpreters dissatisfied with new translation agency

Dutch police interpreters say they are getting paid too little, too late –– and some have already left the police. The root of their dissatisfaction is the new translation agency that runs interpreting services in the north of the Netherlands, according to De Volkskrant.

Last year, British interpreting service provider Thebigword won a tender from the Dutch police and became the main office for managing interpreting services in several Dutch cities, including Amsterdam. Freelance interpreters for the police who work with the company report that their invoices are left unpaid and they are unable to communicate with Thebigword. As a result, some interpreters have left and others are thinking about it.

"When I call the phone number Thebigword sent me, I get on the phone with a foreign finance department –– ​​like a call center," one interpreter, Atif, told De Volkskrant. "They ask for an order number from the app. That app is supposed to link us to assignments, but it doesn't work at all. Things go wrong on all sides." […]

East Timorese 'rape'-accused's hearing put back as no interpreter available

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23085579.east-timorese-rape-accuseds-hearing-put-back-no-interpreter-available/

29 October 2022

East Timorese 'rape'-accused's hearing put back as no interpreter available

A defendant’s pleas to allegations of child rape could not be taken – as there were only two interpreters in the UK able to speak his native tongue and neither were free to attend Oxford Crown Court.

Judge Maria Lamb heard that the East Timorese defendant’s barrister had been unable to take instructions from her client. She asked that the matter was adjourned.

Prosecutor Matthew Rowcliffe said: “Your honour may have seen that certainly during his police interview, the defendant was assisted by a Tetum interpreter.

“That can be problematic because I understand there are only two qualified Tetum interpreters in the whole of the country.

“There certainly isn’t one [here] today.

“I am told there are two potential alternative languages. The first is Indonesian. The second is Portuguese.

“I understand the preference is Indonesian because the defendant’s Portuguese has drifted somewhat.”

In the absence of an interpreter able to translate any of the three languages, Judge Lamb adjourned the hearing until November 21 and fixed his trial for March next year.

There have been publicised problems across the country with securing interpreters at court hearings.

Earlier on Friday, another case had to be adjourned at Oxford Crown Court as there was no interpreter to translate for a Banbury man accused of breaching sex offender notification requirements.

Social media account ‘Idle Courts’ has, in recent weeks, featured complaints from advocates about their clients’ cases being held up for lack of interpreters – with Birmingham and Maidstone crown courts among those allegedly affected.

Difficulties sourcing Kurdish interpreter among reasons for adjourning trials

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23077174.difficulties-sourcing-kurdish-interpreter-among-reasons-adjourning-trials/

26^th October 2022

Difficulties sourcing Kurdish interpreter among reasons for adjourning trials

A series of trials were adjourned due to lack of available court space or, in one case, difficulties sourcing a qualified interpreter.

In the latter case, concerning an allegation that the defendant provided false documents in 2020 with intent to pervert the course of justice, the seven-day trial went back to July 24 last year.

Judge Ian Pringle KC, the honorary recorder of Oxford, said the Kurdish interpreter who was originally booked ‘cancelled’. “We made enormous efforts to try and find one and, unfortunately, drew a blank.” […]

"an interpreter wasn't available"

https://www.malverngazette.co.uk/news/23074538.vasko-panov-admits-affray-assault-making-threats-kill-new-sentence-date/

25^th October 2022

A man will be sentenced later this week for using threatening behaviour in a Malvern kebab shop. […] 

He was due to be sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on Monday, (October 24), but it did not go ahead as an interpreter wasn't available. 

Panov, who has been remanded in custody, will now be sentenced at the court on Wednesday, October 26.

Barrister translates for defendant in court for breaching deportation order

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23020116.barrister-translates-defendant-court-breaching-deportation-order/

5th October 2022

Barrister translates for defendant in court for breaching deportation order

A barrister found herself having to translate for a man who entered the UK in breach of a deportation order. […]

Paun, formerly of Toxteth, Liverpool, appeared before Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday morning, having pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court last month to breach of a deportation order, theft and driving while disqualified.

No Romanian interpreter was available for the hearing on Tuesday. But Judge Michael Gledhill KC said he was happy for barrister Dana Bilan to translate for Paun, who speaks no English. […]

“He realises he is going to be deported and wants to get back to Romania as soon as possible. That is the situation.”

The most serious offence Paun has admitted – breach of a deportation order – was a relatively new one. It carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, although no sentencing guidelines have been produced for judges and there was no case law.

Mr du Feu noted that his colleague was a Romanian-speaker and, as an in-house advocate, was not bound by Criminal Bar Association strike that has seen members of the independent bar refuse to attend court for Legal Aid-funded case. “I would say he really has had the best of service,” he added.

"an interpreter failed to show-up for a second time"

 https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23014898.prosecutors-drop-charges-oxford-cannabis-farmer-teen/

4^th October 2022

Prosecutors dropped charges against a cannabis farmer who claimed to have been enslaved into the drugs trade - and whose lawyer was forced to use Google Translate after an interpreter failed to show-up for a second time. […]

As no interpreter had turned up at court, defence barrister Lyall Thompson had struggled to communicate with his client at a pre-hearing conference in the cells.

“He suggested we communicate through Google Translate. He seems to rather expect that to be the way the courts operate, because there wasn’t an interpreter on a previous occasion,” the barrister said.

At that previous hearing, the advocate then representing Hoang said he had tried speaking to the teenager in French – the former colonial language of what is now Vietnam – before turning to the Google translation app. […]