Questionnaire responses on interpretation and translation

a) the obligation of the interpreter to refuse to take part in the proceedings in case he/she is not sufficiently proficient in language for specific purposes or in the form of expression of a deaf or mute person (§ 161(6) of CCP);

b) the right of the body conducting the proceedings to remove the interpreter if the interpreter does not perform his or her duties as required or if the quality of the interpretation or translation may impair the exercise of the right of defence of the suspect or accused (§ 162(21) of CCP);

c) the right of the suspect/accused or his/her counsel to complain against the provision of false interpretation/translation (§ 161(7) of CCP).

- to raise the current wages of sworn interpreters and translators (nowadays, too low wages limit the accessibility to professional sworn interpreters or translators; too low wages causes that professional interpreters or translators aren’t interested to become sworn interpreters or translators);

- improving relations, cooperation and communication of interpreters or translators with other figures of criminal proceedings – not only with representatives of investigation or criminal justice administration but also with witnesses, victims and suspects/accused (the figures of criminal proceedings shall understand better the specificity of interpreters’ or translators’ work);

- to provide for interpreters and translators by investigation or criminal justice officials basic information concerning the concrete criminal case before the beginning of the interpretation or translation;

- one of the most important elements to improve a quality of interpretation in criminal proceedings is sought in the earlier possibility of reading by an interpreter files of a criminal case before the interpretation or even in earlier contact with the persons whose testimonies, explanations or opinions will be interpreted in criminal proceedings

- to improve technical conditions of the interpretation or translation service during criminal proceedings (like, for instance, the acoustic of court chambers);

- to record activities of criminal proceedings (like, for instance, hearing of witnesses or examinations of suspects or accused) – it could ensure the impartial control and evaluation of the quality of interpretation or translation by analysis of the recorded material;

- observations of the work of interpreters or translators (such observations should be made by officials of investigation and criminal justice bodies);

- providing of trainings for interpreters and translators concerning various aspects of Polish criminal law and Polish criminal proceedings as well as their specificities (terminology, principles, institutions and so on);

- providing of trainings for interpreters and translators in the field of professional foreign language (including legal, economic and technical aspects of specialization). In particular, there is a need to provide trainings in the field of rare foreign languages (like, among others, Chinese, Vietnamese, Kurdish);

- providing of trainings for investigation and criminal justice officials to improve their foreign language skills and competences;

- in the context of professional trainings addressed to interpreters, translators or investigation or criminal justice practitioners – it’s necessary to develop offers of specialistic trainings in the field of domestic and foreign substantive criminal law and criminal proceedings or in the field of interpretation and translation techniques for purposes of investigation and criminal justice administration as well as cooperation with officials of the mentioned administration. Such trainings could be offered also in a form of e-learning programmes and financed or co-financed from public sources;

- to introduce a difference between interpreters and translators. (It’s remarkable that in the whole Polish legal system there is no formal terminological distinction between interpretation and translation and between interpreters and translators in the context of criminal proceedings or other legal proceedings). According to provisions on the Act of the 25th of November, 2004 on the profession of a sworn translator (consolidated text - Journal of Laws 2015, item 487 with subsequent amendment) there is no formal classification on interpreters and translators and every person who pretend to become a sworn translator shall pass the state exam containing two parts – translation and interpretation (Article 4 section 1). A sworn translator is principally obliged to prepare interpretations or translations in legal proceedings on demand of a court, a prosecutor, a police or bodies of public administration (Article 15);

- introduction of a requirement to inform about the specialization of interpreters (translators) on the official list of sworn translators;

- to improve a technical quality of documents and other writings in criminal proceedings which should be interpreted or translated (unfortunately, in Poland there exists an opinion basing on experiences of interpreters and translators that many documents handed over to interpretation or translation service are illegible or sloppy). Sometimes the given material should be interpreted or translated not by a single interpreter or translator but rather for a group of such persons (two or even more interpreters or translators);

- to update personal and contact data of persons listed as sworn translators (such data are very important especially in case of the necessity of prompt and urgent interpretation or translation in criminal proceedings);

- to establish a body of experts by the Ministry of Justice in order to prepare a glossary including recommendations concerning interpretations and translations of the names of institutions, titles of the most characteristic legislation and legal concepts in the most frequent foreign languages appearing in the context of criminal proceedings (in Poland, the problem of the application of a heterogeneous legal terminology is identified). Such glossary should be commonly available at the webpage of the Ministry of Justice and webpages of associations of interpreters and translators;

- developing of knowledge of interpreters and translators about the ethics principles of their profession.

The measures taken to ensure quality are a matter for the Ministry of Justice which conducts a vetting exercise of interpreters and translators provided by Capita under the National Agreement referred to above. There are serious concerns about the quality of interpreters and translators provided by Capita shared by legal professionals and the judiciary in England and Wales.

The Scottish Government’s collaborative framework agreement for the provision of interpretation, translation and transcription services includes specific criteria which must be met before an interpreter will be considered suitable for working in the criminal justice system. This includes minimum standards of qualifications or equivalent and court work experience. The gold standard is the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting. However, use is made of interpreters who have not achieved this level of qualification, particularly in situations where the language/dialect is uncommon and/or there is an urgency to the situation.

Yes. In practice FLEX interpreting devices have LAA contract. Competitive tender process re same