Thousands of court cases adjourned due to failures in interpreting services

Ministry of Justice figures show that more than 2,600 court cases have been affected over five years, as Capita withdraws from bidding for contract.

More than 2,600 court cases have been adjourned over the past five years because of failures in the interpreting service, according to figures released by the Ministry of Justice.

The extent of the problem was confirmed as doubts emerged about the viability of the troubled contract for interpreting services after the outsourcing firm Capitadeclined to bid for its renewal in October.

A war crimes trial at the Old Bailey collapsed last year and has had to be rescheduled because of problems over the quality of interpreting offered to the defendant, a Nepalese army officer.

The figures for the number of cases rescheduled since 2011, when the new contract paying lower rates came into effect, have been provided by the justice minister Lord Faulks.

In the magistrates courts, 2,524 trials have had to be adjourned because of the lack of an interpreter over the past five years. In the crown court, where costs are far greater, 137 trials have had to be adjourned because of interpreter difficulties. The cumulative expense of the adjournments was not recorded. 

Commenting on the failures, the Liberal Democrats’ justice spokesman, Lord Marks QC, said: “It goes without saying that every time an interpreter fails to turn up, either injustice is done, because the case goes on without one, or the case has to be adjourned, leading to delays and a waste of everyone’s time and costs.

“Even with improvement against targets, the number of court cases adjourned owing to the lack of interpreters has remained stubbornly high. As one judge put it, the only just target is 100% attendance. With the next contract the government must ensure effective and efficient attendance of high-quality interpreters at court to enable justice to be delivered.” 

Capita, which has held the contract to provide interpreters in England and Wales for the past four years, has been heavily criticised in the past. 

Last year it was ordered to pay £16,000 by the most senior judge in the family courts for its “lamentable” failure to provide interpreters seven times in the course of a single adoption case. In 2013, the justice select committee described the manner in which the court interpreting service was privatised as shambolic.

Asked why it had decided not to bid for the main contract after being shortlisted, a Capita spokesperson said: “We took the decision to bid solely for Lot 2 [the more predictable ‘written translation and transcription’ service]. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.” 

Geoffrey Buckingham, an executive member of the European Legal Interpreters and Translators Association, said: “The available pool of interpreters is already limited, and the word is that many now have enough experience to move on to better-paid work. If borne out, then quality will continue to fall.

“The MoJ has not learned any lessons. The team names have changed, but the process is so flawed that one of those shortlisted in December has walked away. Capita Translation and Interpreting recently wrote to their interpreters saying they had taken the ‘strategic decision’ to withdraw from the procurement [process].”

Following Capita’s withdrawal, the two remaining bidders for the main contract are the Leeds-based translation company thebigword and the US firm TransPerfect. Earlier this week, thebigword won a £15m contract to provide telephone and face-to-face interpreting and translation services to UK central government organisations.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “We are absolutely committed to improving performance and ensuring the highest standard of language services for those who need them.

“Our latest figures show a 98% success rate in 2015 – the highest since the interpreting contract began – with complaints about the service at a record low, down 30% on last year. Since this contract was introduced, we have also spent £38m less on language service fees.”

Interpreters are self-employed and under no obligation to accept job requests. A boycott by interpreters three years ago, in protest at low pay rates, failed to persuade the government to abandon the contract. 

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http://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/may/04/thousands-of-court-cases-adjourned-due-to-failures-in-interpreting-services

Statistics on the use of language services in courts and tribunals

Introduction

The data presented in this bulletin are the face to face language services provided to HM Courts & Tribunals Services (HMCTS) and National Offender Management Service (NOMS), covering requests for services made and completed between 30 January 2012 and 30 September 2013. These services are supplied under a contract with Capita Translation and Interpreting (TI); formerly known as Applied Language Solutions (ALS). The bulletin covers courts in England and Wales, all UK tribunals not transferred to devolved governments, NOMS prisons and MoJ and NOMS HQ.

Main findings

During the period covered by this bulletin (January 30 2012 to 30 September 2013), there were a total of 237,700 completed requests for language services. Of these, 118,800 completed requests for language were made in 2012, with a further 118,900 completed requests made during the first three quarters of 2013.

The number of completed requests made under the contract has increased in each quarter since the contract began. In the most recent quarter (Q3 2013), 23% more completed requests were made when compared with the same quarter a year ago – from 33,500 in Q3 2012 compared with 41,300 in Q3 2013.

Presenting a single success rate does not provide the whole picture on the changes in the operation of the contract since commencement. Over the first two months of the contract (“Q1 2012”, including the period 30 January to 31 March), the contractor was able to fulfil the request or the requesting customer failed to attend for 76% of non-cancelled requests. In Q2 2012, this success rate increased to 92% and remained relatively flat for the remainder of 2012. However, in Q1 2013, the success rate decreased to 86% - the fall coinciding with the contractor reducing the mileage rate paid to interpreter – and stood at 87% of completed requests in Q2 2013. In Q3 2013 however, the success rate has increased to 94% of non-cancelled requests. During the period covered by this bulletin (30 January 2012 to 30 September 2013), there were 11,100 complaints recorded relating to completed requests made. There were 5,700 complaints made in 2012, with 5,400 complaints made in the first three quarters of 2013.

The number of complaints made increased to 2,150 in Q1 2013 – a high since the contract began - before decreasing to 2,000 in Q2 2013 and again to 1,300 in Q3 2013. The overall complaint rate decreased from a complaint relating to 6% of completed requests in Q1 2013, down to 5% of completed requests in Q2 2013 and to 3% of requests in Q3 2013. The decrease in complaint rate in Q2 and Q3 coincided with the improvement in the success rate, again coinciding with the settlement in the mileage rate paid to interpreters.

In Q3 2013 – the second quarter for which data is held centrally – a total of 1,349 off contract bookings were made by criminal courts, civil & family courts and tribunals. This accounted for 3% of all bookings made for languages services in Q3 2013, and have decreased in volume by 55% over the latest quarter.

Read the report (PDF)

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- See more at: http://www.crimeline.info/news/statistics-on-the-use-of-language-services-in-courts-and-tribunals#sthash.Hz0Vsp0t.dpuf

Interpreters, the voice of the law courts

Their task is to translate for foreigners who are involved in legal proceedings. It doesn’t matter if the foreigner is accused of murder, rape, robbery with violence or drug trafficking. They go to the cells to offer interpreting services, something to which anybody from any other country who is involved in a judicial process in Spain is entitled, free of charge, in accordance with the Universal Charter of Human Rights.

They work with people who are charged with an offence, whether guilty or innocent, and also with victims. This is difficult work, which is part of their lives for 24 hours a day and is often also a type of psychological assistance. Crime doesn’t stick to office hours and the interpreters, like judges and police officers, are always on call.

Frédérique Robert, whose father is French and who was educated in Switzerland, is one of the most veteran court interpreters in Malaga province. She has seen the situation change from the good times, when the service was directly contracted by the Junta de Andalucía in 1998, to the present; in 2002 the service was taken over by the Offilingua company in Granada and all the interpreters are self-employed.

“The salaries have changed a great deal, but the work is the same. You have to go rushing off to places all over the province. I even carried on working when, during the change of company, we were told that we wouldn’t be paid”, explains Frédériqueover a coffee in Estepona, the town where she, like most of the interpreters in the province, chooses to live because it is strategically placed to reach many different places easily.

She has seen just about everything and her knowledge of four languages has resulted in her attending suspected French, English and German offenders all over Malaga province. She complements this work with assisting foreigners in communities of residents all over the province. Her most regular client in the courts, she says, is not a person.

“Alcohol. That is my best client in the courts. Without alcohol, many of these people would not have committed an offence. They would not have done what they have done. And there are also victims who, if they had not been drinking, would not have become victims. So in the majority of cases my work has also been to console the victim and the suspect in their own language”, she says.

One of the most recent services that Frédérique provided as an interpreter was to translate for a suspected British paedophile who was wanted in his own country. “I’m very friendly to everybody. You can’t think about what they have done. We cannot judge them. In this specific case, my work also included ringing a taxi to take him home, because he was released on bail. I offered him my services if he needed an interpreter in the future”, explains this multilingual interpreter, who says she is good at calming people down in extreme situations.

“I have nerves of steel. A short while ago I was interpreting for a couple who had been involved in an incident of domestic violence, and I managed to calm them down”, she explains. She has noticed a drop in the number of offences committed by foreigners whose language she speaks. “Many foreigners have gone home: there are fewer British and German people now, and most of the offences they commit involve violence in the home environment”, she says.

Mantener el tipo

Claudia Ion is Rumanian and one of the youngest interpreters in the province. She says the most usual offences in her language are related to drug trafficking. In her own country, she was a journalist and this new work has led her back to university: she is now studying Law.

“I still remember my first day at work. I cried all evening. I arrived at the courts and the police officer told me to accompany him to the cell. When I saw that man, staring me fixedly in the eyes, hanging on to the bars of the cell, I nearly collapsed. I said to my husband: “I can’t do this”. And that was six years ago”, she says.

“I have often cried, too”, says Said Sadki, who is from Casablanca (Morocco), and who works as an interpreter in Arabic at courts and police stations. He has worked at Offilingua since 2006 and he will never forget the sight of young Moroccans who had arrived in Spain hidden in lorries, frightened and alone.

“A good interpreter needs to be able to speak the language very well, act as a pyschologist, and not put themselves on the defensive with the people for whom they have to interpret. Sometimes they become tense or aggressive, and the lawyers have often asked me to talk to these people because they see that I can calm the situation down”, says Claudia, and Said says the same.

“Sometimes they become very defensive. You have to stay very calm, be very transparent, because you sometimes find that people who are interpreting are trying to impose their own criteria. You have to leave your personal critera to one side, and also affection.This work is very delicate. You have to transmit word by word exactly what the person has said, so you don’t jeopardise their situation”, he explains, recalling the best advice that can be given to the suspects: “Always tell the judge the truth”. “It is very important that you don’t look at them as if they are guilty”, adds Claudia.

“With the crisis”, says Said, “people’s rights to a professional interpreter are not always being granted. Recently, we have seen that they are using someone from the street, or a friend of the accused who can get by in Spanish, and they shouldn’t do that”.

In the courts in Malaga province, about 60 interpreters have attended 18,000 foreigners this year. Seprotec, the company that provides the service to police stations, has received requests for assistance with languages such as Tamil, Nepalese and Punjabi.

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http://www.surinenglish.com/20140107/news/costasol-malaga/interpreters-voice-courts-201401071114.html

VOCATIONS: THE COURT INTERPRETER

Farah Elahi, 57, of Waukesha, Wis., is a court interpreter.

Q. How did you get started as an interpreter?

A. In 2008, I moved to the U.S., to New York, from Pakistan, where I had practiced law. To do so in the U.S., I would have had to go back to school and get a law degree here. A staff member at UpwardlyGlobal.org, which helps immigrants rebuild their careers, suggested this field. I speak Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi. I took an exam for New York court interpreters, qualified, and worked in the city.

Why did you move to Wisconsin?

My son enrolled in college here three years ago and I wanted to be with him, so my husband and I moved. The New York court system sent information about my qualifications so that I could interpret in the Wisconsin state court system.

What types of cases do you help with, and how long do they run?

I help with both civil and criminal cases, and I also interpret for people in family court. I’ve been involved in domestic abuse, robbery, fraud, sexual assault and child custody cases. They usually last from three to five days. Hearings are shorter. Most end within two hours.

What are some of the best things about the job?

People with my background, especially women, appear relieved when they see me. They seem to open up to me because I’m a woman. Also, this job gives me the opportunity to look into people’s lives. You realize that no matter where a person is from, we all have the same needs.

What’s one of your least favorite things about the job?

It can be emotionally draining when I see that things are not going well for the person for whom I’m interpreting.

How often does the court call you?

It varies. I may work a few times a month, but other times I’m not needed for several months. New York had a larger Pakistani and Indian population. I’d like to work three or four times a week. My husband has a master’s degree in history and was hoping to teach here but was unable to find a job. Luckily, we had some savings and we have friends and family who help out, which is common in our part of the world. This is how we pull each other up.

Vocations asks people about their jobs. Interview conducted and condensed by Patricia R. Olsen.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/jobs/speaking-their-language.html?_r=2&