5
December 2014
Courts:
Interpreters
Ministry of
Justice
Nick
de Bois
(Enfield North, Conservative)
To
ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department has issued
to courts on their obligation to provide interpreter services.
Shailesh
Vara
(The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice; North West
Cambridgeshire, Conservative)
Guidance
is available to all court staff which clearly outlines the circumstances under
which the Department is obliged to provide interpreter services. The EU Right
to Interpretation and Translation in Criminal Proceedings Directive require the
criminal courts to take every reasonable step to identify whether a defendant
needs interpretation.
The
interpreting contract was introduced to tackle the inefficiencies and
inconsistencies in the previous system. The contract has delivered significant
improvements so far and we now have a system that is robust, sustainable and
able to deliver a quality service at an affordable level. As a result of the
contract, we have spent £27m less in the first two years it has been running,
and it continues to reduce the burden on taxpayers.
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