Sign Language Interpreting in legal settings A European overview

1. Sign Language Interpreting in legal settings A European overview European Forum of Sign Language Interpreters (efsli) Marinella Salami, efsli vice-president

2. efsli – representing SLI in Europe • Sharing information and experience • Improve the standards • Provide advice and support • Present interests • Membership

3. efsli - members 27 full members: national associations of sign language interpreters 16 associate members: organisations, for example interpreter training programmes 275 individual members: interpreters or individuals

4. Survey – our data Total 94 respondents • Individual SL interpreters (67%) • National Associations (16%) • Training Programmes (10%) • Agencies (3%) • Other (5%)

5. Survey – respondents • Mostly from: UK, Norway & Netherlands • But also: Austria, Albania, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

6. Experience in legal settings

7. Survey – our questions European Directive 2010/64/EU • Article 2 – Right to interpretation • Article 3 – Right to translation of essentialdocuments • Article 4 – Costs of interpretation & translation • Article 5 – Quality of interpretation & translation • Article 6 – Training • Article 7 – Record-keeping

8. Right to sign language interpretation State of the art

9. Right to sign language interpretation State of the art • “They say it is but in reality the legal settings rarely provide it”. • “It's provided by law but not always used that way”. • “The right is provided but not applied in reality”. • “There is no Law providing sign language interpreting, but sign language interpreters do attend court sessions if needed”.

10. Right to sign language interpretation State of the art • “I don't think by law but in 90% they use a SL interpreter. Because SL was recognisedin Flanders in 2005”. • “I don't know if itis provided by law, but in criminal proceedings court/ police etc always try to arrange an interpreter”. • “Not in criminal proceedings, Some judges and lawyers know that there are SL interpreters and try to findsomeoneavailable”

11. Right to sign language interpretation

12. If a suspected or accused Sign Language user/Deaf person needs an interpreter for a criminal proceeding, what is the procedure to follow? • Interpreting agencies • Deaf associations • Individual interpreters are contacted directly • Register & database • List of sworn interpreters/qualified interpreters • Relatives of Deaf people

13. Right to sign language interpretation? “Some say they have a right to have an interpreter, some say they don't. Even if they [Deaf people] get the permission to use one, there is no way of knowing how to get an interpreter on the setting. The procedure is always unclear, always different and includes a whole lot of phone calls to figure out...”

14. Translation of documents • Sight translation provided on request • Deaf translators are contracted to providetranslations of documents • Itdepends on deafpeople’sreadingabilities

15. Team interpreting in court

16. Costs of SL interpretation Depending on the procedure itself: • Government • Police • Court

17. SL interpreting fee per hour

18. Costs of SL interpretation “Due to cutbacks, there have been proposals to significantly reduce payment for interpreters in legal settings, which is leading to a 'race to the bottom' in terms of price. This will impact on the quality of interpretation offered - who is willing to study for 4 years to work for €12 per hour and no costs for travel? Commitment to quality seems to be dependent on economic matters rather than a commitment to equality before the law in any meaningful way”.

19. How is quality of sign language interpretation in legal settings ensured in your country? • National Registers • National Association of Interpreters • Some training & ad-hoc workshops provided by experienced legal interpreters • Some courts are allowed to decide who they want to be the interpreter in their proceedings. It is then possible to make use of an "interpreter" without any qualification or certification. • No quality assessment

20. Is there a National Register only for legal sign language interpreters in your country?

21. Is the sign language interpretation of questioning and hearings by an investigative or judicial authority video recorded?

23. The European Directive 2010/64 What do SL interpreters know about the Directive?

24. Have you heard about the European Directive 2010/64 on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings?

25. As far as you know, is your National Government working on the implementation of the European Directive 2010/64?

26. Is your National Association of Sign Language Interpreters lobbying for the implementation of the European Directive 2010/64?

27. Challenges • No full recognition of the profession of SLI • Not all sign languages are formally recognised • Working for a language minority community • Limited (or no) training, funding and payment • More research is needed

28. Marinella Salami: marinella.salami@efsli.org www.efsli.org