Interpreter and Translation Services Quarterly Bulletin
October – December 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 October to December 2011.

Summary

During this period a total of 1,078 requests were received for interpreter services in court proceedings. The comparable figure for the same quarter in 2010 was 900, representing an increase of % (see Figure 1 below). There was also a request for a sign language interpreter to attend a meeting between court staff and a potential juror with severe hearing difficulties.

Figure 1

3. During the period the following requests were received; 23 requests for sign language interpretation and 49 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

*This includes 4 requests for a sign language interpreter
**This includes 1 request for a sign language interpreter
***This includes 1 request for a sign language interpreter
****This includes 16 requests for a sign language interprete

Language Interpretation – Criminal Proceedings

4. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) are responsible for arranging an interpreter for the first court appearance at a criminal court. The Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service is responsible for arranging an interpreter at a second or subsequent hearing of a criminal case.

5. The costs of providing in court interpretation services for defendants at first appearances will be met by the PSNI. The costs of providing in court interpretation services for defendants at second and subsequent hearings will be met jointly by NICTS, PPS and DoJ.

6. During this quarter, a total of 949 requests were received to arrange foreign language interpreter services for defendants in criminal proceedings.

7. Business volumes for the previous 12 months are illustrated in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Number of requests for interpreting services in criminal court proceedings

8. A breakdown of requests by court venue is illustrated in Table 3 below. Further detail on the breakdown of requests by language type for each venue can be found at Annex A.

Table 3: Breakdown of requests by court venue

* Ballymena Courthouse reopened Monday 4 April 2011 following refurbishment.
** Banbridge Courthouse is currently being used for public inquiries and court hearings for Banbridge are listed at Newry courthouse.

9. The highest number of requests for interpretation services in criminal proceedings was received from Craigavon Courts.

10. A breakdown of the requests received this quarter by language type is illustrated in Table 4 below.

Table 4: Breakdown of requests in criminal cases by language type

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

Sign Language Interpreters / STTR Requests

12. If a deaf or hearing impaired defendant involved in criminal proceedings requires the assistance of a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter, Irish Sign Language (ISL) or other Language Service Professional (LSP), the arrangements for provision of the service will be met by NICTS and payment of the service will be met jointly by NICTS, PPS and DoJ.

13. NICTS will arrange and pay for interpreters in all civil, family, coroners, tribunal hearings and Enforcement of Judgment interviews/hearings for deaf and hearing impaired persons to ensure the fullest compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

14. During the reporting period a total of 23 requests were received to arrange a sign language interpreter. This includes a meeting between court service staff and a potential juror with severe hearing difficulties. The comparable figure for the previous quarter was 10.

15. A breakdown of requests by court tier is set out in Table 5 below.

Table 5: Breakdown of requests for Sign Language Interpreters by court tier

Extradition proceedings

16. NICTS arranges and pays for interpreters to attend extradition proceedings.

17. During the reporting period a total of 43 requests were received to arrange a foreign language interpreter in Extradition Proceedings. The comparable figure for the previous quarter was 48.

18. A breakdown of requests by language type is set out in Table 6 over.

Table 6: Breakdown of requests by language type for extradition proceedings

Civil and Family Proceedings

19. 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 human rights legislation to provide an interpreter and meet the costs.

20. 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.

21. 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.

Civil Proceedings

22. During the reporting period there was 1 request for foreign language interpreters to attend civil proceedings comparing this with 5 requests for the previous quarter.

Family Proceedings

23. There were 54 requests to arrange foreign language interpreter services in Family Proceedings. This compares to 35 for the previous quarter. Details of the languages and locations are contained in Table 7 over.

Table 7: Breakdown of requests in Family Proceedings by court type / venue

Coroners Court

24. NICTS will arrange and pay for an interpreter in Coroners’ Courts whenever directed by the Coroner. This would happen in circumstances where a witness or an interested party at an inquest is unable to understand English sufficiently to give testimony.

25. During the reporting period 1 Polish request was made to arrange an interpreter to attend a Coroners’ Court.
Tribunals

26. NICTS will arrange an interpreter for language translation at an appeal hearing when directed by the Judge / Adjudicator / legal chairman. This would happen in circumstances where the appellant or witness has difficulty understanding proceedings in English.

27. Where the NICTS has administrative responsibility for a Tribunal the costs of providing an interpreter will be met by the NICTS in the first instance, however the NICTS will bill back to the sponsoring department to recoup the costs.

28. There were 6 requests (Turkish, Arabic, Polish, Portuguese) for interpreters to attend a hearing for a CICAP (Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel) tribunal during this quarter.

Enforcement of Judgments Office

29. NICTS will arrange and pay for an interpreter for language translation at Enforcement of Judgment interviews/hearing when directed by the Chief Enforcement Officer or the Master.

30. There was 1 Polish and 1 Lithuanian request for an interpreter to attend a hearing/interview on behalf of the EJO during this reporting period.

Document Translation

31. The NICTS also provides a translation service for documents placed before the court that are in a foreign language for example in child abduction cases or extradition proceedings. The NICTS meets the costs of all requests that are made for the translation of court documents.

32. During the quarter 49 requests were received for document translation. The comparable figure for the previous quarter was 53.

33. 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

34. All courthouses now have access to a telephone interpretation facility provided by thebigword. This service was also extended to the Coroners Office, all Tribunal venues and the Enforcement of Judgments Office.

35. In the period October to December 2011, 2 Portuguese calls were made in Dungannon and 1 Albanian call in Old Townhall.

Estimated Costs*

* For the purpose of this report and going forward, costs are presented on an accruals basis and reflect the costs for the period October to December inclusive.

Costs are therefore reflected when they are incurred and not when the requests for interpreting services are received or the invoices processed. This means that contained within the costs for any quarter will be a portion which is an estimated figure in respect of those services provided but where an invoice has not yet been received and processed.

In bulletins produced before April 2011 costs were presented as invoices processed within the quarter therefore no direct comparison between previous quarters prior to April 2011 can be made.

* On investigation it appears that an amount of £240 was accrued in June incorrectly as this invoice had actually been posted onto the system in May. Therefore last quarter’s interpreters’ figures were over stated by £240. This has led to the negative figure in this quarter’s civil proceedings as this is correcting the overstatement in the previous quarter

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 2922
Text phone: 028 9041 2920
E mail interpreterrequests@courtsni.gov.uk

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Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service
Laganside House
23-27 Oxford Street
Belfast
BT1 3LA
www.courtsni.gov.uk