The cross-party House of Lords Public Services Committee has
today launched a short inquiry into interpreting and
translation services (ITS) in the courts.
The inquiry seeks to understand the experience of procuring ITS
in the courts, policy recommendations for supporting service
providers, and the potential role of technology in enabling
ITS. The Committee is inviting written evidence on topics
including;
- The extent the current ITS provided in court meets the needs
of defendants, prosecutors, witnesses and legal professionals;
- The key issues in the provision of ITS and how they impact
the running of the courts, public trust, interpreters and
translators, including whether there is any data on miscarriages
of justice in relation to ITS;
- The qualifications and experience of interpreters and
translators and the recruitment process, including any barriers
to recruitment;
- Quality assurance and complaints procedure in relation to
ITS;
- The potential role of new technology (such as artificial
intelligence, machine translation and the digitisation of court
proceedings) in the future of interpreting or translation
services in the courts; and
- The current capability and accuracy of market leading
artificial intelligence and machine translation tools in relation
to ITS.
The Committee has invited written evidence to be submitted
by 30 September 2024 and expects to report on
its findings towards the end of the year.
, Chair of the
Public Services Committee said;
“It is vital that people in court, including victims of
crimes, witnesses and those charged with offences have equal
access to justice, can be understood and understand what is
happening in the court, regardless of what language they speak.
However, there are concerning reports of people struggling to
access interpreting and translation services in the courts.
“Existing issues surrounding the procurement and provision of
language services for the public sector have already been
highlighted in an October 2023 report by
the Association of Translation Companies. That report included a
conclusion that the provision of interpretation and language
services was fragmented across the UK, which in turn caused
complications with procurement and implementing and monitoring
best practice. Other studies have also highlighted problems with
recruitment and retention of translators due to poor
remuneration.
Organisations across the public sector use interpretation and
translation services (ITS) to help people who use public services
to overcome language barriers and communicate effectively. Our
inquiry will focus on how ITS is used in the courts.
“We have asked for written evidence submissions and will be
holding a small number of oral evidence sessions during this
short inquiry. Our aim is to effectively scrutinise the ITS
policy and process, including the potential use of technology in
providing these services, solutions to translator recruitment,
quality assurance and impact of ITS on the courts and court
users. Effective delivery of ITS in the courts is essential and
we will be seeking recommendations to facilitate this.”
