Lost in translation: many court interpreters fail test

THANKS you for your coverage of proceedings in Cork District Court where the judge asked two Polish interpreters to define the word ‘ambiguity’ and they were unable to do so (October 12).

Anyone who appears in court on a criminal charge and who does not understand the language of the court has the right to an interpreter.

Unfortunately, the levels of competence required of court interpreters in this country are far too low. As a result, we believe that many interpreters working in the courts do not have enough competence in English and the other relevant language or indeed adequate interpreting skills to be able to interpret everything that is said accurately.

In some cases the interpreting is so incompetent that defendants have absolutely no understanding of what is being said in court. Even though the Courts Service spent more than €2 million on interpreting in 2006, there is no monitoring of the quality of the work. Court interpreters attend a totally inadequate one-day training course. There is no test of their interpreting ability. Members of our association report that the hourly rate paid to court interpreters varies from €25 to €15.

Many of our members have spent years studying English, with degrees in translation and interpreting, and they are not prepared to work for such low rates. We believe it is time for the Courts Service to start planning for the future so that defendants can avail of properly trained, competent interpreters.

Mary Phelan

PRO

Irish Translators and Interpreters Association

19 Parnell Square

Dublin 1