The Irish District Court: A Social Portrait

Chapter 5 - LEP Defendants and Interpretation Services

147 Chapter 5 LEP Defendants and Interpretation Services Introduction Foreign nationals now regularly appear before Irish courts charged with criminal offences, and many need the assistance of an interpreter to ensure that they fully understand the court proceedings. As the number of foreign defendants has increased, the presence of court interpreters in Irish courts has changed from being almost an exotic oddity to becoming quotidian and unremarkable. Most interpreters are themselves foreign nationals and in many courts they may be the only non-Irish persons, apart from the defendants, who play a role in the courtroom proceedings. While the CS has put in place arrangements to ensure that when requested by a District Court judge interpreters are provided for criminal defendants, this does not ensure that court proceedings are organised in such a way as to ensure that they can be fully interpreted , or that an interpreter is provided for all defendants who have limited proficiency in English (LEP). There are also ongoing concerns that the service provided is not appropriately regulated, and that the standard of interpreting is not uniformly high. This chapter points out that at least some court interpreters do not adequately interpret court proceedings, and do not always interact appropriately with defendants. The chapter also presents evidence which suggests that District Court proceedings are frequently not paced in such a manner as to allow interpreters to interpret proceedings fully and accurately. In addition, it appears some courtroom actors in the District Court view the provision of an interpreter for LEP defendants as being something that can be dispensed with if an interpreter is not readily available. This is particularly the case when court appearances effectively only constitute an application for an adjournment. Even when interpreters are provided, there seems to be 148 THE IRISH DISTRICT COURT no expectation that they should diligently endeavour to accurately translate all the court proceedings, and at times their presence constitutes little more than window dressing. It seems therefore that while interpreters are now frequently present during District Court sittings, there is a reluctance to change the way in which proceedings are conducted to allow the interpreter to accurately and fully translate all courtroom exchanges. The evidence presented suggests that all District Court actors – judges, solicitors, barristers, court presenters, registrars, probation officers and Gardaí – need guidance regarding the work of the court interpreter and the rights of defendants with LEP. This chapter begins by outlining how and by whom interpretation services are provided in the District Court, and draws on courtroom observations to highlight concerns about the competency of some of those appointed as interpreters and the behaviour of both interpreters and other courtroom actors. Provision of Interpreters Until recent years, discussions around language and the issue of court interpretative services in Ireland centred around the rights of native Irish speakers (Waterhouse, 2009). However, the sustained and extensive inward migration experienced by Ireland between 1996 and 2008 (CSO, 2009) has resulted in the rapid transformation of Ireland’s population, so that the proportion of foreign nationals resident in Ireland in 2008 was estimated as being higher than that in traditional immigrant destination countries such as Britain and France (Vasileva, 2009). In addition, cheaper and more extensive air transport has made Ireland more accessible, leading to greater diversity in short-term visitors to Ireland. Although the recent economic recession has resulted in greatly reduced migrant inflows, the evidence suggests that Ireland will remain a multi-cultural society (Trinity Immigration Initiative, 2010). A consequence of Ireland’s more heterogeneous population and its greater accessibility is greater diversity among criminal defendants in Irish courts. This has meant that whereas in the past interpreters were rarely required for court proceedings, they are now commonly present, especially in the District Court, which deals with a far higher number of defendants than any other court. LEP DEFENDANTS AND INTERPRETATION SERVICES 149 Waterhouse notes the absence of a statutory right to an interpreter in Ireland and adds: ‘There is effective reliance for the right on the court’s interpretation of the due course of law and the principles of natural justice, and on the ECHR’ (2009:60). The right to an interpreter is addressed under Article 6(3)(e) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which stipulates that a person accused of a criminal offence must have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court...