Shambles in Court

https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2017/02/06/anna-aslanyan/shambles-in-court/

Shambles in Court

Anna Aslanyan 6 February 2017

[…] Capita’s contract expired last year. The service provider until 2020 is thebigword. Early signs are worrying. On day one, a ‘slave gang’ trial was adjourned because the interpreter who had worked on it could no longer afford to attend. Eight weeks on, a man who tried to steal £600 worth of groceries was held in custody for 48 hours before an interpreter could be found. The contract differentiates between ‘complex’ and ‘standard’ jobs; the latter include plea and bail hearings, can be assigned to anyone with ‘basic interpreting qualifications’ (a 60-hour course booked through Debonair Languages, one of the subcontractors used by thebigword, costs £25), and are paid an hourly rate of £18, with no compensation for the first hour of travel. […]

Read more here: https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2017/02/06/anna-aslanyan/shambles-in-court/