Choose a court interpreter the right way!

Posted on 01 May 2015

Choose a court interpreter the right way!

Why are court room interpreters crucial to any case that requires live language translations?

Many of us know someone who can speak more than one language, and if they could, would help us out with basic translation problems. However, when it comes to the legal aspect of translation, a far more advanced level of skill and expertise is required, particularly so when dealing with live translation, or as it is better known, interpreting. In the legal profession a highly qualified court interpreter should be used every time.

Is there such a wide gulf between someone who speaks another language and someone who speaks another language and is trained in legal translation or interpreting? The answer is yes.

Professional court interpreters are adept at dealing with challenging and changing situations. They have been educated to at least degree standard and usually have received training in a particular area of expertise e.g. medical, law or public services which helps when dealing with words that are unique to that particular area of work. Unlike many agencies, all City Legal's interpreters have a minimum of 5 years' professional interpreting experience before working with us.

Court room interpreters are crucial to any court case that requires someone to translate from one language to another. We ask for the following skills and qualities in our court interpreters:

They will be fluent in at least two languages, they will dress smartly for court, be punctual, be personable with excellent people skills and be fully able to converse with officials from the court and the person for whom they are interpreting. They will be expected to talk to the person that they are interpreting for through the proceedings - what is happening, decisions made, questions asked. They will be expected to have found out, where possible, the background to the trial, who the witnesses are and what evidence is likely to be presented.

Most importantly they will translate every sentence said to them with no bias or interpretation and they will speak loud and clear for the whole court to hear. These points are crucial to a just and fair court case.

It is a lot to ask. This is why we, at City Legal Translations, ask for a lot when recruiting. When we interview and hire new translators we ensure that they have the necessary qualifications and experience so that we can be confident in providing our clients with the best possible service at all times.

To find out more please visit our court interpretation page or contact us on:

Tel: 0800 0966 825 (UK only),

Tel: +44 (0)1329 828438 (outside UK)

Email: info@citylegal.co.uk