The Importance of Allowing Full Interpretation in Legal Proceedings

Posted bystenoimperiumPosted inCourt ReportingTags:, , , , , , , , ,

Attorneys often work with interpreters when handling cases that involve witnesses or clients who speak languages other than English. While some attorneys may have a working knowledge of the language being interpreted, it is crucial to allow the interpreter to fully interpret all statements into English. This practice ensures clarity, accuracy, and a reliable legal record.

The Role of the Interpreter in Legal Proceedings

Interpreters serve a vital role in legal settings by facilitating communication between parties who do not share a common language. Their primary responsibility is to provide a precise and complete translation of testimony to maintain the integrity of the legal record. When an attorney understands the language being interpreted, there may be a temptation to bypass interpretation. However, this can lead to incomplete records, misunderstandings, and potential disputes over what was actually said.

The Perspective of the Court Reporter

Court reporters are essential in creating accurate and reliable transcripts of legal proceedings. When a deponent speaks a language other than English, the reporter relies on the interpreter to provide a complete translation. If statements are not fully interpreted, it becomes incredibly difficult for the court reporter to capture the testimony in its entirety. Court reporters must provide a verbatim transcript, which includes every word spoken in the proceeding. Gaps in the interpretation make this task more challenging and can result in incomplete, inaccurate, or unclear records.

In situations where the interpreter does not provide a full translation, the court reporter may be forced to indicate the lack of interpretation in the transcript. This can create confusion and make it harder for all parties involved to understand what transpired. Furthermore, if the case goes to appeal or if questions arise about the accuracy of the transcript, incomplete interpretation can complicate the resolution of these issues.

Why Every Statement Should Be Interpreted

1. Ensuring a Clear and Truthful Record

Legal proceedings rely on verbatim transcripts to document testimony accurately. If a deponent speaks in a language other than English, their words must be fully interpreted to maintain the integrity of the record. Omitting translations can result in gaps, misinterpretations, or ambiguity in the official transcript.

Consider the following exchange:

Q: “Did the car drive past you?”

A: “Yes, it passed me, but I didn’t notice it backing up toward me.”

Q: “Understood.”

A: (Spoken in Spanish; not interpreted into English)

Q: “So your statement is that the car just passed by?”

Q: “Could you clarify what you just said?”

A: (Spoken in Spanish; not interpreted into English)

Q: “Is that correct?”

A: (Spoken in Spanish; not interpreted into English)

Q: “Yes.”

In this scenario, critical portions of the testimony remain untranslated. If a dispute arises regarding the deponent’s exact words, attorneys and the court may lack a complete record to resolve inconsistencies.

2. Preserving Nuances and Context

Legal statements are often nuanced, and slight variations in language can significantly alter the meaning of testimony. When an interpreter fully translates each statement, they ensure that attorneys, the judge, and the jury understand not only the content but also the tone and implications of the deponent’s words. Without full interpretation, subtle but critical details may be lost.

3. Facilitating Equal Understanding for All Counsel

Not all attorneys, judges, or court reporters will understand the non-English language being spoken. If statements are not fully interpreted, counsel who do not speak the language may be at a disadvantage. They may miss objections, inconsistencies, or important statements that could impact their case strategy. Providing complete interpretation ensures that all parties have the same access to information and can respond appropriately.

Best Practices for Attorneys Working with Interpreters

To maximize the effectiveness of interpretation in legal proceedings, attorneys should:

  • Allow interpreters to fully interpret every spoken word to ensure a complete and accurate record.
  • Refrain from summarizing or paraphrasing statements in another language, even if they understand it.
  • Ensure that court reporters transcribe the full interpretation, rather than leaving untranslated gaps in the record.
  • Clarify any ambiguous statements by requesting a re-interpretation, if needed.

Conclusion

In legal proceedings, precision and accuracy are paramount. Attorneys must recognize the critical role of interpreters in creating a complete and truthful record. By allowing interpreters to fully interpret every statement into English, attorneys can ensure that all parties have equal access to testimony, preserve important nuances, and uphold the integrity of the legal process. Adopting these best practices ultimately leads to fairer, clearer, and more effective legal outcomes.

Published by stenoimperium

We exist to facilitate the fortifying of the Stenography profession and ensure its survival for the next hundred years! As court reporters, we've handed the relationship role with our customers, or attorneys, over to the agencies and their sales reps.  This has done a lot of damage to our industry.  It has taken away our ability to have those relationships, the ability to be humanized and valued.  We've become a replaceable commodity. Merely saying we are the “Gold Standard” tells them that we’re the best, but there are alternatives.  Who we are though, is much, much more powerful than that!  We are the Responsible Charge.  “Responsible Charge” means responsibility for the direction, control, supervision, and possession of stenographic & transcription work, as the case may be, to assure that the work product has been critically examined and evaluated for compliance with appropriate professional standards by a licensee in the profession, and by sealing and signing the documents, the professional stenographer accepts responsibility for the stenographic or transcription work, respectively, represented by the documents and that applicable stenographic and professional standards have been met.  This designation exists in other professions, such as engineering, land surveying, public water works, landscape architects, land surveyors, fire preventionists, geologists, architects, and more.  In the case of professional engineers, the engineering association adopted a Responsible Charge position statement that says, “A professional engineer is only considered to be in responsible charge of an engineering work if the professional engineer makes independent professional decisions regarding the engineering work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional engineer’s physical presence at the location where the engineering work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the engineering work.” If we were to adopt a Responsible Charge position statement for our industry, we could start with a draft that looks something like this: "A professional court reporter, or stenographer, is only considered to be in responsible charge of court reporting work if the professional court reporter makes independent professional decisions regarding the court reporting work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional court reporter’s physical presence at the location where the court reporting work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the court reporting work.” Shared purpose The cornerstone of a strategic narrative is a shared purpose. This shared purpose is the outcome that you and your customer are working toward together. It’s more than a value proposition of what you deliver to them. Or a mission of what you do for the world. It’s the journey that you are on with them. By having a shared purpose, the relationship shifts from consumer to co-creator. In court reporting, our mission is “to bring justice to every litigant in the U.S.”  That purpose is shared by all involved in the litigation process – judges, attorneys, everyone.  Who we are is the Responsible Charge.  How we do that is by Protecting the Record.

Leave a comment