The Ethics of Court Interpreting—The Importance and Responsibilities of Court Interpreters

The duty of the court is to discover the truth and protect human rights. Evidence obtained through unlawful investigations, even if important and relevant, shall not be admitted as evidence in court. This principle has been proclaimed in numerous international conventions and accepted by the constitutions and criminal procedure codes of civilized nations around the world. The fundamental rights protected by the laws of these civilized nations cannot be upheld without the assistance of interpreters when one of the parties suffers from hearing or speech impairments.

As stated by the U.S. court in Arizona v. Natividad, "To be violently hurled against an unfeeling object, as it were, by an angry language, is not to be tried." A trial conducted under such conditions, where the defendant is placed in a soundproof room observing yet unable to understand the proceedings, likely infringes upon the defendant's trial rights. Without the ability to testify, cross-examine witnesses, or receive assistance from counsel—let alone a fair trial—interpreters, as noted by American linguist Roseann Duenas Gonzalez, have become the tool that enables non-English speakers to access the system just as English speakers do.

An Interpreter is More Than Just a Convenience for the Court

Scholar Alice J. Baker also points out that foreign language interpreters traditionally play three primary roles in the judicial system: 1. Witness interpretation: Interpreting the testimony of a witness with language barriers for judges, lawyers, and jurors. 2. Defendant interpretation: Sitting at defense counsel table to facilitate communication between the defendant and their attorney. 3. Proceedings interpretation: Interpreting dialogues among lawyers, witnesses, and the judge so that a defendant with language barriers can understand the progression of court proceedings. Witness interpretation arises primarily for the benefit of the court, helping jurors understand testimony. Defendant interpretation exists for the benefit of the defendant, preserving their right to a fair trial, and may not always be directly utilized by the court. Proceedings interpretation benefits both the judge and the defendant by facilitating communication between them.

Legal controversy surrounds whether a court should solely appoint an interpreter for a witness while ignoring the needs of the parties involved. "The needs of the court" differ from "the needs of the parties." Prior to 1978, there was no statutory requirement in the United States mandating the use of interpreters. The enactment of the Court Interpreters Act in 1978 made interpreter usage mandatory, premised on the view that interpreters are established not only for the benefit of the court but must also account for the interests of the parties. Conversely, under Article 99 of our Code of Criminal Procedure, where a defendant is deaf, mute, or does not understand the language, an interpreter may be used. Under this provision, the use of interpreters seemingly exists solely for the benefit of the court. If a witness or one of the parties—particularly in criminal cases—does not understand the national language or is deaf and mute, would not their right to cross-examine witnesses, their right to legal assistance, and their fundamental rights to be informed of the charges and to testify on their own behalf be severely compromised? The newly amended Code of Criminal Procedure has affirmed the aforementioned rights of defendants; however, Article 99 has not been amended accordingly. How to effectively realize these rights for defendants who are deaf, mute, or language-barriered renders Article 99 of the Code of Criminal Procedure truly open to debate.

Professional Ethics and Responsibilities of Court Interpreters

Court interpreters also bear professional responsibilities, which are enumerated as follows:

1. Accuracy

   Court interpreters are required to faithfully and accurately convey the original meaning. Regardless of whether the source text is vulgar or refined, they must express the speaker's delivery style, tone, and inflection with a clear and firm voice.

2. Impartiality

   Court interpreters must keep fairness and neutrality in mind, maintaining no bias toward either party while in court.

3. Confidentiality

   Court interpreters shall maintain the confidentiality of relevant information.

4. Proficiency

   Court interpreters should provide only professional services, with enhancing language skills and knowledge in various fields being an essential priority. If encountering insurmountable difficulties, interpreters should proactively withdraw from the case.

5. Demeanor

   Court interpreters should be mindful of their work, familiarizing themselves with courtroom equipment and layout, particularly the placement of microphones during recording. During proceedings, interpreters should sit in a position where they can be heard and seen by the speaker who does not understand English.

6. Case Preparation

   Prior preparation for a case by court interpreters is absolutely necessary. Whenever possible, they should endeavor to review similar cases and related documents such as police reports or indictments. Meeting with the non-English speaker prior to the hearing is vital for clarifying the interpreter's role.

Top 7 Common Interpreter Errors

In addition, the following common court interpreting errors may impact trials. Such common errors stem from two main reasons: for novices, insufficient interpreting skills and experience; for veterans, fatigue is the primary cause. Furthermore, encountering unfamiliar or unencountered fields often leads to errors due to insufficient comprehension. The following top 7 common interpreter errors were categorized by the University of Arizona Summer Institute for Court Interpretation:

1. Literal Translation

   This error is primarily related to language proficiency. Interpreters focus solely on individual words rather than the meaning of the sentence, frequently leading to absurd conclusions.

2. Insufficient Language Proficiency

   This is the most frequent error. Due to a lack of linguistic or cognitive relational abilities, confusion arises when translating into the target language, making it impossible to select the correct phrasing. Roseann Duenas Gonzalez classifies linguistic errors into grammatical and lexical errors in her book Fundamentals of Court Interpretation. Grammatical errors involve tense, mood, and number. Lexical errors involve overlooking subtle nuances between words and choosing a word with a broad, overarching meaning instead.

3. Register Errors

   Register relates to the level of language. Register encompasses legal, obscure, cultural, polite, and intentionally aggressive stances. Interpreters must clarify the meaning of words. Therefore, interpreters must be not only bilingual talents but also cross-cultural talents.

4. Distortion

   Mistranslation results in the distortion of original meaning. This may stem from inadequate language proficiency, memory, and translation skills. It often occurs due to excessively long source texts, but can also happen even with short sentences if they contain technical, complex phrasing, previously unseen material, and disjointed concepts.

5. Omission

   This is a strategy most frequently employed by underqualified interpreters to help themselves bypass technical terms, divergent concepts, and excessive information. Interpreters incapable of rapidly processing information and retaining it in memory long enough tend to utilize omissions or coin synonyms as replacements.

6. Addition

   Never add superfluous information to the translated text. The responsibility of a court interpreter is to faithfully convey meaning. Embellishing meanings or details is not the interpreter's job. Interpreters should carefully select appropriate terminology, preserve all features of the dialogue, and convert them in the most fitting manner.

7. Procedure and Decorum

   During interpretation, counsel may sometimes cause interpreting errors. For example, if an attorney attempts to trap a witness or defendant with complex questions, the attorney should refer to individuals by name rather than using pronouns, which helps the interpreter clarify confusion. If an attorney prevents an interpreter from reviewing unsealed case-related trial documents, it easily causes the interpreter to make errors. Additionally, interpreters must remember that they provide professional services strictly in interpretation rather than in other fields, making it inappropriate to offer any legal advice to clients. Decorum is the most vital ethical factor that court interpreters must keep in mind.