Interpreting in the courts: significant issues must be addressed

ITI warmly welcomes the publication today of the Public Services Committee report “Lost in translation? Interpreting services in the courts”.

It is clear that Baroness Morris of Yardley and her colleagues have recognised that significant changes are needed to address the range of issues that are currently hampering the effective provision of interpreting services in the courts. The Committee has also listened attentively to the evidence submitted by ITI, and our PI4J colleagues, and has proposed an extensive set of practical and forward-looking recommendations that have the potential to address many of the existing shortcomings.

We are pleased to see that our long-held concerns about pay and working conditions for public service interpreters have been acknowledged, with the Committee calling on the Government to take steps to improve pay for interpreters, including the introduction of minimum pay and appropriate short-notice cancellation rates. It is also encouraging to read that the Committee has asked for guidance to be provided to courts instructing them to treat interpreters as professional court staff, and to note that our call for court interpreters to hold the DPSI Level 6 qualification has been accepted.

These are all important measures that ITI and our PI4J (Professional Interpreters for Justice) colleagues have been advocating for, and we now hope that the Government will respond positively to the Committee’s report.