I heard a presentation the other night about the importance of having a qualified interpreter for non-English speaking defendants in the courtroom. I knew that would be important, but I hadn't given it much thought beyond that. The presentation included a video clip about an interpreter and her client who was being charged with stealing. The interpreter did a very poor job of interpreting the judge's questions, and the defendant ended up pleading guilty to stealing even though she had a good explanation for what happened. But the judge never heard this explanation. (It was not a jury trial.)
The presentation went on to say that there is a difference between a registered and certified interpreter. A certified interpreter takes it a step further and interprets the proceedings simultaneously. Similar to how sign language interpreters interpret a play simultaneously to the audience, I believe.
No comments:
Post a Comment