Establishing an Independent Interpreters Association

The Judicial Reform Foundation, together with Awakening Foundation, Rerum Novarum Center, Hope Workers' Center, Taiwan International Workers Association, Taiwan Pearl S. Buck Foundation, TransAsia Sisters Association, Taiwan, Taiwan Association for Human Rights, and the Catholic Diocese of Hsinchu Migrant and Immigrant Service Center, jointly promotes the reform of the court interpreting system. Aside from raising public awareness of the issues brought by linguistic hegemony, the ultimate goal is to establish a professional "Interpreters Association" that operates independently of official institutions, and puts forward the following 8 demands:

1. Please have courts strictly adhere to the principle of conflict-of-interest recusal when adjudicating cases.
   Currently, when courts adjudicate cases involving foreign laborers or spouses, labor brokers are frequently employed to concurrently serve as interpreters, while social workers are barred from remaining in the courtroom to accompany and assist the parties concerned. This violates the principle of conflict-of-interest recusal. Therefore, the Judicial Yuan is requested to issue an official document reminding courts at all levels to pay attention to and comply with the principle of conflict-of-interest recusal.
   
2. Please have courts expand the language categories of interpreters.
   Foreign parties should not be forced to communicate in English or Mandarin Chinese; interpreters fluent in the native languages of the parties concerned should be hired for translation.
   
3. Conduct surveys and statistics on the annual volume of cases involving languages other than Mandarin—such as Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka, indigenous languages, and foreign languages—requiring interpreters, as well as the utilization of interpreters (including ad-hoc external interpreters).
   The Judicial Yuan is requested to investigate the annual volume of cases requiring interpreters and the status of interpreter utilization, such as the volume of cases utilizing staff interpreters within the Judicial Yuan, cases where parties externally retained their own translators, and cases where courts selected and retained personnel from other organizations to assist with translation, and to compile a roster of translators to be included in the roster for selecting and recruiting interpreting talent.
   
4. Promptly establish a roster for the selection and recruitment of existing interpreting talent.
   Some social service organizations already possess personnel capable of assisting foreign nationals with translation. The Judicial Yuan is requested to collect and consolidate these resources to establish a roster of interpreting talent for selection and recruitment when needed.
   
5. Study the reallocation of the Judicial Yuan's budget allocated for interpreters into funding for establishing an interpreting talent pool.
   
6. Implement training for interpreting talent.
   
   • Such as basic legal knowledge, legal terminology, and an understanding of litigation procedures.
   • Professional ethics (e.g., confidentiality) and qualities required for the role of an interpreter (enabling parties to trust the translators).
   • Understanding of individual cultural differences.
   • Regularly scheduling training courses.
7. Enhance judges' understanding of the role of an "interpreter."
   It is recommended that training courses for the interpreting talent pool be incorporated into judges' in-service training programs to enhance judges' understanding of the role of an "interpreter," thereby enabling litigation procedures to proceed more smoothly and effectively.
   
8. Establish an external, independent Interpreters Association.
   The role of an "interpreter" demands independence and professionalism. The members on the "roster for the selection and recruitment of interpreting talent" are mostly social workers from social service organizations rather than professional translators, and they already shoulder full-time and demanding social work duties. Therefore, this roster is merely a short-term expedient measure; establishing an external, independent Interpreters Association is the long-term solution.