https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/violent-spanish-gang-burst-edinburgh-26877300
10 May 2023
[…] They returned to the dock for sentencing on Tuesday where Sheriff Kenneth Campbell KC was told a Spanish interpreter had not turned up to court meaning the three accused could not be sentenced. […]
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/sp/?id=2023-05-09.6.0
Trauma-informed Justice for Victims and Witnesses
– in the Scottish Parliament on 9th May 2023.
[…] One organisation, which deals almost exclusively with BAME individuals, has said that there is a lack of support for female survivors of domestic abuse to attend court. Even in cases in which it is known that someone’s first language is not English, important documents such as citation letters are sent to them only in English instead of in their mother tongue.
Another organisation, which deals with deaf clients, has told me that there is a general lack of understanding of the challenges that are faced by deaf people in the justice system. The organisation spoke to me about cases where deaf victims of assault or rape have had to wait days, or even weeks, before being able to speak to the police about what happened to them, all because of problems with finding an interpreter in time. That is just one example. […]
https://www.transformjustice.org.uk/news-insight/eyes-on-the-court-courtwatch-comes-to-london/
2 May 2023
[…] One case sticks in my mind from a visit to a Norfolk magistrates’ court in 2019. A Lithuanian man, held in police custody all weekend for driving offences, had his morning hearing delayed while the clerk searched for an interpreter. The hours ticked by until 4pm when the clerk came off the phone saying that apparently the defendant can suddenly speak English. This miracle wasn’t questioned. The hearing went ahead with the man appearing by video link because it was too late to bring him to court. He was sent to prison for 18 weeks and when the screen turned off one of the magistrates said “hopefully he understood”. […]
