The Role of the Interpreter

in the

Legal System of

Northern Ireland

POLICE

• Suspects; victims; witnesses

• Procedures

• Interviewing techniques

• Specialist areas

COURTS

• Magistrates’ Court

• Crown Court

• Family

• Youth

PRISONS

• Lawyer consultations

• Video links

• Parole Board

The Interpreter

Skills:

Knowledge:

Ethics:

Code of Conduct:

What is a police interview?

• A conversation ?

• A chat ?

• A question and answer game ?

• A search for the truth ?

• An attempt to obtain a confession ?

• A literal reproduction ?

Standard interviewing techniques

• Open-ended questions

• Closed-ended questions

• Multiple choice

• Leading questions

• Cognitive interview: avoid interrupting witness; allow for long pauses and silences

PITFALLS

• Failure to interpret everything• Give a personal opinion to the police officer • Changing the specific choice of words, eg

“did you take something away?” to “did you steal something ?”

• Failure to follow the system of open-ended questions = change to close-ended questions

DEFINITION OF DOMESTIC ABUSE

• ‘Any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, verbal, sexual, financial or emotional) inflicted on one person by another where they are or have been intimate partners or family members, irrespective of gender or sexual orientation.’

DOMESTIC ABUSE STATISTICS

1 April 07 – 31 Jan 08

1 April 08 – 31 Jan 09

Incident 19,414 19,309

Crime 7,839 7,462

DOMESTIC ABUSE

• Interpreter might be required to attend at the scene of an incident

• Form filling

• DASH 2009 RISK AND IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT MODEL FOR POLICE

Main Sexual OffencesMain Sexual Offences

• Art.5. Rape;

• Art.6. Assault by Penetration;

• Art.7. Sexual Assault (by touching);

• Art.8. Causing sexual activity

Some ChangesSome Changes

• Rape is redefined to include oral and anal penetration

• Consent is defined in the Order• Age of consent is lowered to 16• New Offences eg Assault by

Penetration, Abuse of Trust, Familial Offences, Carers, Kerb Crawling.

Medical examination room

S O BA unique initiative:

“PSNI does not have officers available who are fluent in the languages most frequently required…….we have identified a number of interpreters and have provided familiarisation training to them alongside our Specialist Firearms Officers.”

The Court Interpreter

• Simultaneous interpreting - defendant

• Consecutive interpreting - the record

• Witness’ demeanour

• Translation - documents

• Ethics - fidelity; confidentiality; impartiality; professional conduct

• Quality - monitoring

Cellalone!

The dreaded night call