Workforce Language Services

Through immigration, through the internet, there is such a need to understand languages. And without language, it becomes difficult at best to provide basic services or in the case below, basic justice. Because of bad interpreters, the Scottland courts wasted thousands of dollars in services, wasted many hours of court time, and prevented three accused men of due process. Talk about getting lost in translation… Read more.

SCOTLAND’S justice system is ill-prepared for an influx of immigrants because of a lack of reliable interpreters, triggering fears of potential miscarriages of justice.

The Scotsman has learned that as much as £15,000 of public money has been wasted on a High Court trial that collapsed because three Vietnamese men accused of operating a cannabis factory did not understand the evidence against them. They will face a new trial next month.

The judge, Lord Menzies, called a halt to proceedings after just three days of evidence amid “farcical” scenes as interpreters were unable to relay the testimony of witnesses to the accused in their native language.

Inexperienced interpreters are increasingly being relied on by police, prosecutors and the courts to deal with a surge in the number of foreign nationals who are accused of committing crimes.

…Problems are most likely to arise for a vast array of less commonly spoken languages, such as Vietnamese. While the court authorities request qualified interpreters, they are increasingly having to use university students who are not properly trained.

One insider described last week’s trial as “a joke”, adding: “Witnesses were giving evidence and it was obvious that the interpreters just weren’t interpreting. [The accused] didn’t know what was going on. It was a bit of a farce.”