6 February 2013
MoJ
contract handling 'shambolic'
A Government department has been branded
"shambolic" by MPs over its handling of a contract for court language
services that in one case saw an unqualified man stand in for his wife as an
interpreter during a murder trial.
The
Ministry of Justice (MoJ) ignored warnings that the quality of services would
be sacrificed when it outsourced the contract for providing court interpreters,
the Justice Committee said. The department has been told it may have been in
contempt of Parliament after it ordered court staff not to take part in the
committee's inquiry.
"The
Ministry of Justice's handling of the outsourcing of court interpreting
services has been nothing short of shambolic," committee chair Sir Alan
Beith said.
The
contract with Applied Language Solutions, now known as Capita Translation and
Interpreting after it was taken over, led to court proceedings being held up
and even cases collapsing after it launched early last year.
Justice
minister Helen Grant said while there had been "significant" issues
at the start of the contract, the department had seen dramatic improvements
after taking "swift and robust action".
A lack of
registered interpreters, resulting in poor quality of services and a struggle
to meet demand, was among the problems faced by Her Majesty's Courts and
Tribunals Service (HMCTS), the committee said.
In one
incident, an unqualified man arrived at the murder trial of mother-of-two
Rajvinder Kaur to stand in as an interpreter for his wife. The man turned up at
Winchester Crown Court 45 minutes late and concerns were raised after 30
minutes that he was not translating questions into Punjabi. Kaur was later
jailed for life for bludgeoning her mother-in-law to death in a frenzied rage
with a rolling pin. Other issues raised included interpreters being asked to
travel long distances to attend court, often from the other side of the country,
poor levels of pay, a lack of qualifications and mistranslation. The committee
was told that one interpreter mistranslated a defendant's statement, which
ultimately gave the jury the impression that their evidence was not credible,
but no action was taken.
Commenting
further on the MoJ's conduct, Sir Alan said: "It did not have an adequate
understanding of the needs of courts, it failed to heed warnings from the
professionals concerned and it did not put sufficient safeguards in place to
prevent interruptions in the provision of quality interpreting services to
courts."
In the
course of the inquiry, it emerged HMCTS instructed staff not to participate in
the committee's online consultation. The committee said the actions of the MoJ
may have constituted a contempt of the House of Commons, but as it received
sufficient evidence from other sources to make a reliable judgment, it has not
asked the House to take further action. Sir Alan warned that the committee
members "deplore the Ministry's ill-advised actions and there should be no
repetition of them in the future".
Ms Grant
said: "There were significant issues at the start of the contract in early
2012 but we took swift and robust action and have seen dramatic improvements,
as the Justice Select Committee highlights. The vast majority of interpreter
bookings are now being completed and complaints have fallen considerably."
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