http://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2013-07-11a.444.1
Legal
Aid — Motion to Take Note
11 July 2013
[…] "If the Government want to
see the kind of chaos that price-competitive tendering brings to justice, they
need only look at the issue of interpreters. Barristers wait for days in court
for Serco, which now deals with the interpreter system, to deliver an
interpreter. I have heard of young barristers storing multilingual phrases in
their phones so that they can explain to their clients that the interpreter has
not turned up. Also, the defendant is often not produced by Serco. The waste in
the criminal justice system is often about large companies bidding for and
securing a contract at prices on which they cannot deliver. We then end up with
no cost savings at all." […]
Thursday, 11 July 2013
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Defendant could not understand the interpreter
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/tamil-protesters-appear-court-after-4979450
10 Jul 2013
[...] "An eighth man admitted throwing a stone at a passing car outside the stadium, while a ninth man accused of common assault was unable to submit a plea because he could not understand the Tamil interpreter provided by the court – his case was adjourned until July 23." [...]
10 Jul 2013
[...] "An eighth man admitted throwing a stone at a passing car outside the stadium, while a ninth man accused of common assault was unable to submit a plea because he could not understand the Tamil interpreter provided by the court – his case was adjourned until July 23." [...]
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
PQ - 9 July 2013
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2013-07-09b.168.10
9 July 2013
Crown Prosecution Service (Procurement/Outsourcing)
Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent, Labour)
The Crown Prosecution Service has a pilot contract for interpreters at four witness care units, but it has been dogged by delay. What is going to happen now at witness care units across the country?
Dominic Grieve (Attorney General; Beaconsfield, Conservative)
The use that the CPS makes of those services is actually fairly limited. The information that I have does not suggest that the difficulties experienced by the service more generally have caused the CPS a problem.
9 July 2013
Crown Prosecution Service (Procurement/Outsourcing)
Oral Answers to Questions — Attorney-General
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent, Labour)
The Crown Prosecution Service has a pilot contract for interpreters at four witness care units, but it has been dogged by delay. What is going to happen now at witness care units across the country?
Dominic Grieve (Attorney General; Beaconsfield, Conservative)
The use that the CPS makes of those services is actually fairly limited. The information that I have does not suggest that the difficulties experienced by the service more generally have caused the CPS a problem.
Monday, 8 July 2013
IAPTI’s tribute to NRPSI interpreters
http://www.iapti.org/conferenceUK/blog/
IAPTI’s tribute to NRPSI interpreters
The IAPTI Board has decided to hold its first international conference in London, UK.
Why the UK? We decided to pay tribute to the group of courageous interpreters who, against all tides, have been resisting the agreement between the UK’s Ministry of Justice and Capita Translation and Interpreting (formerly known as Applied Language Solutions), a company paying sub-standard rates for language professionals working as interpreters for the police and the courts.
This agreement was one of the most shameful insults to our profession: the Ministry of Justice decided to spoil a full-fledged system of individual professional court interpreters and cut down on costs by granting a legal monopoly on the provision of these services to Capita. This company, in turn, in¬tended to cut on interpreters’ rates by more than half.
Interpreters affected by this measure have been resisting and refusing to sell their services for peanuts since 2010. Some of them have even left the profession, which is extremely sad. But these brave actions have served to place interpreters and their work in the spotlight. They are fighting for their profession and we have been supporting them from the beginning.
This is not an easy moment for UK interpreters, but we will be there to support them. Will you join us? This first IAPTI international conference will feature exciting presentations on interesting topics for translators and interpreters such as professional marketing, branding, language, ethics, new trends in social media, and much more. All of this will be made in tribute to the UK interpreters.
Please note: as part of IAPTI’s tribute to UK interpreters, NRPSI members are paying a special fee, the same as IAPTI’s members.
More information here: http://www.iapti.org/conferenceUK/
IAPTI’s tribute to NRPSI interpreters
The IAPTI Board has decided to hold its first international conference in London, UK.
Why the UK? We decided to pay tribute to the group of courageous interpreters who, against all tides, have been resisting the agreement between the UK’s Ministry of Justice and Capita Translation and Interpreting (formerly known as Applied Language Solutions), a company paying sub-standard rates for language professionals working as interpreters for the police and the courts.
This agreement was one of the most shameful insults to our profession: the Ministry of Justice decided to spoil a full-fledged system of individual professional court interpreters and cut down on costs by granting a legal monopoly on the provision of these services to Capita. This company, in turn, in¬tended to cut on interpreters’ rates by more than half.
Interpreters affected by this measure have been resisting and refusing to sell their services for peanuts since 2010. Some of them have even left the profession, which is extremely sad. But these brave actions have served to place interpreters and their work in the spotlight. They are fighting for their profession and we have been supporting them from the beginning.
This is not an easy moment for UK interpreters, but we will be there to support them. Will you join us? This first IAPTI international conference will feature exciting presentations on interesting topics for translators and interpreters such as professional marketing, branding, language, ethics, new trends in social media, and much more. All of this will be made in tribute to the UK interpreters.
Please note: as part of IAPTI’s tribute to UK interpreters, NRPSI members are paying a special fee, the same as IAPTI’s members.
More information here: http://www.iapti.org/conferenceUK/
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
PQ - 3 July 2013
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2013-07-03a.163076.h
3 July 2013
Social
Security Benefits
Work
and Pensions
Stephen Timms (East Ham, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of
State for Work and Pensions what restrictions apply to the use of translators
in social security fraud investigations; and if he will make a statement.
Mark Hoban (Fareham, Conservative)
The restrictions that apply
to the use of translators/interpreters in social security fraud investigations
are:
The translator/interpreter
must be independent of both the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the
interviewee (and the police when the interview follows an arrest). Friends,
relatives or colleagues of the interviewee cannot be used.
A translator/interpreter
must be qualified to this minimum standard:
(a) A diploma in Public
Service Interpreting (DPSI) in the languages where it is offered for
examination, or
(b) a degree level language
qualification with an interpreting component, or
(c) a pass of the
Metropolitan Police Test (post 1997), or
(d) equivalent Level 4/5 National
Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in Interpreting Standards or
(e) membership of a
professional body e.g. IOL or the Institute
of Translation and Interpreting (ITI).
The
translator/interpreter's role is confined to translating the fraud-
interviewer's questions and the interviewee's answers. The translator/interpreter
should not provide legal advice.
Every
translator/interpreter working in the criminal justice system should be
registered with the National Register of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI—the
National Register) or the Council for the Advancement of Communication with
Deaf People (CACDP) Directory of British Sign Language/English Interpreters.
Translators/interpreters
must be able to demonstrate language skills and an understanding of, and
ability to adhere to, the role of translator/interpreter.
Monday, 1 July 2013
Accused Darwen driver's language barrier
http://www.blackburncitizen.co.uk/news/10518675.Accused_Darwen_driver_s_language_barrier/
1st July 2013
Accused Darwen driver's language barrier
A man from Sri Lanka accused of drink-driving was unable to have his case heard by magistrates because he could not understand the proceedings in English.
Ragunathun Magenderen, 47, of Laurel Avenue, Darwen, who is charged with driving a BMW in Blackpool while over the limit, had his case adjourned so an interpreter could be present.
1st July 2013
Accused Darwen driver's language barrier
A man from Sri Lanka accused of drink-driving was unable to have his case heard by magistrates because he could not understand the proceedings in English.
Ragunathun Magenderen, 47, of Laurel Avenue, Darwen, who is charged with driving a BMW in Blackpool while over the limit, had his case adjourned so an interpreter could be present.
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