Court Interpreters and the Unique Challenges of COVID-19
**Update: Since this post was originally published, the remote interpreting court rule has been greatly expanded in response to the pandemic. A new rule has also been adopted requiring interpreting teams for lengthy proceedings**
The library’s COVID focused posts addressed a swiftly changing legal landscape. Some information in this post may no longer be valid and some links may be broken or redirect to different content than originally published. Our intent is for these posts to be used for historical research purposes. Some resources with broken links may be found by searching the original URL in the Wayback Machine.
Over the past months we have been blogging about the impacts of COVID-19 on the judicial process and access to justice. With courtroom closures and court proceedings shifting to online and other remote formats, there is one group of personnel who have been particularly impacted by the changes in procedure: court interpreters.
Court interpreters provide translations of civil and criminal court proceedings for witnesses and defendants who speak limited or no English. Interpreters also assist individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. “The interpreter is tasked with relaying statements and information provided across the language barrier; her presence is arguably imperative to ensuring a fair trial.” (88 UMKC L. Rev. 771) The American Bar Association recently reported on the importance of “language justice,” especially during the time of COVID-19.
To address the changes and special challenges the pandemic has presented, the Washington State Supreme Court Interpreter Commission recently held a forum with interpreters to discuss how their jobs have been impacted by COVID-19. Topics included telephonic hearings, interpreter assignments, confidentiality issues, standards for interpreters, and best practices. The Interpreter Commission and Court Interpreter Program also published guidance for interpreter services and a Court Interpreting Information and Resources during COVID-19 website to assist interpreters during this time.
As courts make the transition back to in-person proceedings, state and national organizations have also put together recommendations to ensure the safety of interpreters. These include using special face masks that allow visibility of the interpreter’s mouth and wireless technology to ensure physical distancing between the interpreter and the person receiving interpreter services. The Oregon Judicial Department put together a comprehensive COVID interpreting toolkit covering in-person and remote proceedings and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) created a Video Remote Interpreting Resource Center.
Revised Code of Washington (RCW) chapters 2.42 and 2.43 govern the use of interpreters in the courts. Additionally, Washington court rules GR 11–11.3 authorize the use of qualified interpreters in legal proceedings, provide for the scope and purpose of the Interpreter Commission and set out a code of conduct for interpreters. Interpreter resources can be found at the Language Access Services Section of the NCSC. If you are interested in becoming certified as a court interpreter, the law library has a number of resources available to help:
The Interpreter’s Edge instruction series
Interpreting in Legal Settings
ABA Standards for Language Access in Courts
The Bilingual Courtroom: Court Interpreters in the Judicial Process
You can search the library catalog for these and other related titles and check them out by using our curbside library service. (LE)
