Interpreter and Translation Services Quarterly Bulletin January - March 2011

Introduction

1. The purpose of this report is to provide an analysis of business volumes and costs associated with the provision of language interpretation (both foreign language and sign language) and translation services during January to March 2011.

Summary

2. During this period a total of 983 requests were received for interpreter services in court proceedings. The comparable figure for the same quarter in 2010 was 827, representing an increase of 15.8% (see Figure 1 below).

Figure 1 - Number of requests for interpreting services in court proceedings

3. During the period the following requests were received; 10 requests for sign language interpretation 51 requests for translation of documents.

A breakdown of requests by court type and tier is illustrated in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Breakdown of requests by Court Tier / Type

*4 of these requests were for sign language interpretation
**2 of these requests were for sign language interpretation
***4 of these requests were for sign language interpretation

Language Interpretation – Criminal Proceedings

5. During this quarter, a total of 825 requests were received to arrange foreign language interpreter services for defendants in criminal proceedings.
6. Business volumes for the previous 12 months are illustrated in Figure 2 over.

Figure 2 - Number of requests for interpreting services in criminal court proceedings

7. A breakdown of requests by court venue is illustrated in Table 2 below. Further detail on the breakdown of requests by language type for each venue can be found at Annex A.

Table 2: Breakdown of requests by court venue

* Banbridge Courthouse is currently closed
** Ballymena Courthouse is currently closed for refurbishment. It will reopen Monday 4 April 2011

8. The highest number of requests for interpretation services in criminal proceedings was received from Laganside Courts.
9. A breakdown of the requests received this quarter by language type is illustrated in Table 3 below.

Table 3: breakdown of requests in criminal cases by language type

Includes figures for North Africa Arabic and Egyptian Arabic
** A language spoken in Nigeria

10. The top 4 languages requested during this quarter were Lithuanian, Polish, Mandarin and Latvian.

Extradition proceedings

11. During the reporting period a total of 61 requests to arrange interpreter services in Extradition Proceedings were received. The comparable figure for the previous quarter was 37.
12. A breakdown of requests by language type is set out in Table 4 below.

Table 4: Breakdown of requests by language type for extradition proceedings

Civil Proceedings 

13. There were 3 requests for foreign language interpreters in civil hearings in this period.

Family Proceedings

14. During the reporting period there were 78 requests to arrange interpreter services in Family Proceedings. This compares to 61 for the previous quarter. Details of the languages and locations are contained in Table 5 below.

Table 5: Breakdown of requests in Family Proceedings by court type / venue

Coroners Court

15. During the reporting period 3 requests were made to arrange interpreting services in a Coroners’ Court. The comparable figure for the previous quarter was 1.

Sign Language Interpreters / Palantypist Requests

16. During the reporting period a total of 10 requests were received to arrange an interpreter for deaf or hearing impaired customers attending court.  The comparable figure for the previous quarter was 11.
17. A breakdown of requests by court tier is set out in Table 7 below.

Table 7: Breakdown of requests for Sign Language Interpreters / Palantypist by court tier

Document Translation

18. During the quarter 51 requests were received for document translation. The comparable figure for the previous quarter was 41.
19. A breakdown of requests by location and language type is illustrated in Tables 8 and 9 below.

Table 8: Breakdown of requests for document translation by location

Table 9: Breakdown of document translations by language

Telephone Interpretation

20. A telephone Interpretation facility is available at Laganside, Dungannon, Newry and the RCJ. In the period January to March 2011, 2 calls were made.

Costs*

* For the purpose of this report, costs are calculated on the basis of payments made in the period rather than requests received.

Criminal Proceedings

21. The Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service [NICTS] is responsible for arranging the attendance of an interpreter to support defendants who require the assistance of a language interpreter at a second or subsequent hearing of a criminal case.
22. The cost of providing interpreters at criminal hearings from January – March 2011 was £148,886.33. This compares to £98,222.26 which was the amount for the previous quarter.

Civil and Family Proceedings

23. Generally, when an action is privately funded, it is a matter for the party requiring the services of an interpreter to make the arrangements and meet the costs. However, where the action is in respect of civil committal proceedings, NICTS has a legal obligation under the human rights legislation to provide an interpreter and meet the costs.
24. The Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service will arrange language interpreters for civil and family hearings in the following circumstances:

Domestic violence, family cases involving children and cases proceeding under the Forced Marriage Act.

25. Because of the sensitivity of these types of proceedings, the NICTS will arrange and pay for an interpreter if required. This is irrespective of whether solicitors are involved or public funding is available.
26. There was a cost of £141 incurred for interpreters in civil proceedings during this quarter.
27. The cost for interpreters engaged for family proceedings during this quarter was £11,322.74. The cost for the previous quarter was £5,502.70.

Coroners Courts

28. There was a cost of £358.40 associated with coroners’ courts this quarter.

Extradition Proceedings

29. The total cost of interpreters engaged for extradition proceedings during this period was £5,514.11. The comparable figure for the previous quarter was £2,531.19

Sign Language Interpreters

30. There was a cost of £850 attributed to the booking of sign language interpreters attending criminal cases during this quarter.
31. The Cost for interpreters engaged to assist deaf or hearing impaired customers in civil and family proceedings was £896.25. Comparing this with the previous quarter the amount came to £1,386.

Document translation

32. The total costs incurred by NICTS for document translation this quarter amounted to £3,470.58. The figure for the previous quarter was £2,441.85.

Telephone Interpretation

33. The cost incurred for the use of the telephone interpretation facility during this period was £52.38. The figure for the previous quarter was £38.99.

If you have any comments or queries regarding the content of this report, please contact;

Judicial and Customer Services Group
4th Floor
Laganside House
23-25 Oxford Street
BT1 3LA
DX 478 NR Belfast 1

Telephone: 028 9041 2366
Text phone: 028 9041 2920           
E mail interpreterrequests@courtsni.gov.uk

This document will be made available in a wide range of alternative formats. Requests for alternative formats should be made by contacting our Communications Group