Feb 6 2013
"Shambolic" decision to outsource court interpreters slammed
Lawyers described an interpreting service as "appalling" as
MPs branded a Government department as "shambolic" over its handling
of a contract for court language services.
The
Ministry of Justice (MoJ) ignored warnings the quality of services would be
sacrificed when it outsourced the contract for providing court interpreters,
the Justice Committee said.
The
contract with Applied Language Solutions (ALS), 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.
At
Caernarfon Magistrates Court one case had to be adjourned four times because an
interpreter failed to turn up.
Solicitor
Jim Connod said: "The case involved an eastern European defendant who
could not speak English. After the fourth occasion the judge ordered the
company to attend court to explain the delay."
On Monday
a case was held up until an Italian speaking interpreter arrived from
Manchester.
On
another occasion a Lithuanian man had to spend an additional night in custody
when no interpreter arrived.
Lawyers
said there have been difficulties obtaining translators for Chinese and
Vietnamese defendants and witnesses.
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 a murder trial to stand in as an
interpreter for his wife.
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 one interpreter mistranslated a defendant’s statement, which
ultimately gave the jury the impression their evidence was not credible.
The MoJ
did not have a sufficient understanding of the complexities of court
interpreting work before it decided to put the services out to tender, the
committee said.
Committee
chairman Sir Alan Beith said of the MoJ’s conduct: "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."
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".
During
the it emerged the HMCTS instructed staff not to participate in the committee’s
online consultation.
The
committee said the action may have constituted a contempt of the House of
Commons, but as it received sufficient evidence from other sources to make a
reliable judgement it will not take further action.
No comments:
Post a Comment