Sign language interpreting in legal settings

Sign language interpreting in legal settings

Sign language interpreters can work in legal settings, from the courtroom to the police station. A sign language interpreter is bound to a professional code of conduct. The interpreter is bound by confidentiality and the interpreter’s sole task is to provide a correct interpretation, both linguistically and culturally.

The sign language interpreter must be qualified to work in legal settings. This can be verified through the national registry of legal interpreters of the country, or another similar national system qualifying the interpreters.

Many countries have national legislation stating that any deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind persons who use sign language are entitled to a professional and qualified sign language interpreter in criminal proceedings. In addition, the Directive 2010/64/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 establishes common minimum rules for European Union (EU) countries on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings as well as in proceedings for the execution of the European arrest warrant.

The EU Commission funded JUSTISIGNS[1] project states:

When the law is applied, we use models of social policy, knowledge of majority cultural behavior and morality, assumptions about the use of a shared common language and the application of legal precedents. None of these assumptions work well when Deaf people are included in legal settings. Consequently, the claim that justice will provide for the protection of an individual’s rights, is brought into question when it is assumed that Deaf people access the legal system in the same way and experience the same outcomes as their hearing (i.e. non-Deaf) peers.

JUSTISIGNS recognizes specific reasons for this problem:
The lack of, or limited status, afforded to sign languages which inhibits access to information at all stages of the legal process for Deaf people;
Limited understanding in legal settings of the constraints imposed by the interpreting process when working between any two languages, with additional challenges arising when working between a spoken (auditory-verbal) and signed (visual-spatial) language;
A lack of awareness (among legal professionals) of the historical educational and cultural background of Deaf people which gives rise to challenges in legal settings.

This emphasises the relevance of being able to provide qualified sign language interpreters to sign language users in legal settings.

We have also gathered some information on conference sign language interpreting and sign language interpreting in public service settings.