THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed minimum standards for interpretation and translation for suspects standing trial in a country where the language is not their own. The proposed legislation is designed to help people to get a fair trial anywhere in the EU, even when they cannot understand the language of the case.
The need for standardised procedural rights and the barriers which can lead to unfair convictions during judicial proceedings in other EU countries have been highlighted by a number of real-life cases. These include an Italian tourist involved in a traffic accident in Sweden who was not allowed to talk to an Italian-speaking lawyer during trial, and a Polish suspect who could not see written translations of evidence used against him in a French court.
The proposed new Directive replaces a Framework Decision on interpretation and translation rights in July 2009, which became void upon the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on December 1st, 2009.
On November 30th, 2009, EU governments asked the commission to put forward proposals on a “step-by-step” basis to establish EU-wide standards for a series of procedural rights. The commission is thus turning the proposed Framework Decision into a Directive.
This proposal is the first step in a series of measures to set common EU standards in criminal cases. The Lisbon Treaty enables the EU to adopt measures to strengthen the rights of EU citizens, in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The proposal strengthens citizens’ rights to interpretation and translation in three ways: interpretation would have to be provided for communication with lawyers as well as during investigations – such as police questioning – and at trial; the proposal covers written translation of all essential documents such as the detention order, the charge sheet or indictment, or vital pieces of evidence; citizens must have the right to legal advice before waiving the right to interpretation and translation; translation and interpretation costs will have to be met by the member state, not by the suspect – irrespective of the final decision.
“We are taking a first important step towards a Europe where justice knows no borders. Nobody in the EU should ever feel that their rights and their protections are weakened simply because they are not in their home countries,” said vice-president Viviane Reding, the EU’s commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship.
The Directive on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings, proposed by the commission, will be the first Directive to strengthen criminal justice since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au .
Showing posts with label legal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label legal. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Being a court translator is more than having the skills
From Laramie Boomerang
When Julie Sellers is in a courtroom, she’s oftentimes thinking in two languages.
For nearly 10 years, Sellers has been a courtroom translator, providing an impartial voice for Spanish — speaking people who do not have the English language skills necessary to follow the proceedings of court.
It’s not easy — while many people are knowledgeable in more than one language, it’s often Sellers’ duty to translate English to Spanish — and vice versa — simultaneously. This means forever being on the edge of overwhelmed — Sellers explained that to many people, the feeling of perpetually being behind in their translation can be too much.
“Just because you speak some or even a lot of both languages doesn’t mean you have the skills to be an interpreter,” Sellers said. “I found that I did; I was able to stay calm, and that’s one of the things when people first start — especially with simultaneous interpreting — they just freak out because you’re five words behind, and you always feel like you’re never going to be able to cover everything, to remember everything and have the words come out correctly.”
Recently Sellers completed a rigorous course in order to become a federally certified court interpreter — a course that Sellers said has only a 10 percent pass rate. Although Sellers has been translating in Wyoming for years — the Equality State has no certification requirements for court interpreters — her federal certification now means that she can serve as a translator in any federal case, all of which require the use of a certified translator.
“I can be called anywhere there is a federal trial, that could be here in Wyoming or elsewhere. As far as I know there are no other federally certified interpreters in the state of Wyoming so they’ve been having to call people in, mostly from Colorado but they’ve also flown people in from places like Miami,” Sellers said.
Translating for a court means understanding a veritable cornucopia of languages within languages — everything from national to regional slang, Spanish equivalents of legal terms, and everything else from weapons and drug terminology to the tiniest parts on an automobile.
“I knew a surprising amount of weapons terminology, partly because I grew up on a farm in Kansas so I’ve shot,” Sellers said. “But there are other things that were less familiar to me, like intricate vehicle parts. I’ve had to crawl under our truck before so I could look at things and better remember them.”
But being a successful court interpreter means more than just having a seemingly endless knowledge of a second language — it also means doing nothing more — and certainly nothing less — than translating languages. That means when a Spanish speaker asks Sellers what a legal term or phrase means, she immediately translates into English “What does that mean?”
“I absolutely, for the professional code of ethics, cannot offer advice or a legal opinion. I cannot do anything that would give an appearance of partiality,” Sellers explained. “That’s hard, especially in cases here where there may be no one else around who’s spoken Spanish to them since they either were arrested or had contact with the justice system. I’ve had families follow me out before, and I have to tell them, “I cannot talk to you.” It’s hard, because it comes across as rude but that’s the ethical code of the profession which, again, is why it’s important when lawyers or judges are looking for a translator that they have someone who is a professional.”
In that vein, Sellers said that she has been working with a number of local judges to get a more concrete interpreter policy installed in Wyoming.
“The state needs to have that for their own benefit and protection and also to make sure that anyone participating in the judicial system in this state can do so fully and fairly,” Sellers said.
When Julie Sellers is in a courtroom, she’s oftentimes thinking in two languages.
For nearly 10 years, Sellers has been a courtroom translator, providing an impartial voice for Spanish — speaking people who do not have the English language skills necessary to follow the proceedings of court.
It’s not easy — while many people are knowledgeable in more than one language, it’s often Sellers’ duty to translate English to Spanish — and vice versa — simultaneously. This means forever being on the edge of overwhelmed — Sellers explained that to many people, the feeling of perpetually being behind in their translation can be too much.
“Just because you speak some or even a lot of both languages doesn’t mean you have the skills to be an interpreter,” Sellers said. “I found that I did; I was able to stay calm, and that’s one of the things when people first start — especially with simultaneous interpreting — they just freak out because you’re five words behind, and you always feel like you’re never going to be able to cover everything, to remember everything and have the words come out correctly.”
Recently Sellers completed a rigorous course in order to become a federally certified court interpreter — a course that Sellers said has only a 10 percent pass rate. Although Sellers has been translating in Wyoming for years — the Equality State has no certification requirements for court interpreters — her federal certification now means that she can serve as a translator in any federal case, all of which require the use of a certified translator.
“I can be called anywhere there is a federal trial, that could be here in Wyoming or elsewhere. As far as I know there are no other federally certified interpreters in the state of Wyoming so they’ve been having to call people in, mostly from Colorado but they’ve also flown people in from places like Miami,” Sellers said.
Translating for a court means understanding a veritable cornucopia of languages within languages — everything from national to regional slang, Spanish equivalents of legal terms, and everything else from weapons and drug terminology to the tiniest parts on an automobile.
“I knew a surprising amount of weapons terminology, partly because I grew up on a farm in Kansas so I’ve shot,” Sellers said. “But there are other things that were less familiar to me, like intricate vehicle parts. I’ve had to crawl under our truck before so I could look at things and better remember them.”
But being a successful court interpreter means more than just having a seemingly endless knowledge of a second language — it also means doing nothing more — and certainly nothing less — than translating languages. That means when a Spanish speaker asks Sellers what a legal term or phrase means, she immediately translates into English “What does that mean?”
“I absolutely, for the professional code of ethics, cannot offer advice or a legal opinion. I cannot do anything that would give an appearance of partiality,” Sellers explained. “That’s hard, especially in cases here where there may be no one else around who’s spoken Spanish to them since they either were arrested or had contact with the justice system. I’ve had families follow me out before, and I have to tell them, “I cannot talk to you.” It’s hard, because it comes across as rude but that’s the ethical code of the profession which, again, is why it’s important when lawyers or judges are looking for a translator that they have someone who is a professional.”
In that vein, Sellers said that she has been working with a number of local judges to get a more concrete interpreter policy installed in Wyoming.
“The state needs to have that for their own benefit and protection and also to make sure that anyone participating in the judicial system in this state can do so fully and fairly,” Sellers said.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Texas So Poor It Can't Afford Interpreters?
"Police officers arriving at a murder scene at a north side apartment complex could not speak Spanish to the residents, so a cameraman from a local TV station translated until bilingual officers arrived hours later. It is a situation that plays out across Houston several times a week as officers who speak only English rely on wrecker drivers, bystanders or victims' children to act as translators if bilingual officers are not available."
This is not a report from a third world country, or some war-torn conflict zone in the Middle Chaos. This is, ladies and gentlemen, Houston, TX. The state of the guy who was known for being less than mono-lingual, a bit oily, and into world conflicts.
Mooooo...
Makes you wonder if the recession is really so bad in the USA that the Houston Police Department cannot afford hiring professional interpreters (something the Australian Government provides for free in such cases) or whether they are so backwards that they just don't get it. The comments underneath the rather shameful article make me think it is the second.. "Why can't they learn English?" Hey, why can't you learn Vietnamese, Mr. Cowhide?
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
This is not a report from a third world country, or some war-torn conflict zone in the Middle Chaos. This is, ladies and gentlemen, Houston, TX. The state of the guy who was known for being less than mono-lingual, a bit oily, and into world conflicts.
Mooooo...
Makes you wonder if the recession is really so bad in the USA that the Houston Police Department cannot afford hiring professional interpreters (something the Australian Government provides for free in such cases) or whether they are so backwards that they just don't get it. The comments underneath the rather shameful article make me think it is the second.. "Why can't they learn English?" Hey, why can't you learn Vietnamese, Mr. Cowhide?
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
Google Legal Dictionary Available
From the Law Librarian Blog
Google has invaded the legal world in yet one more way. It now offers a dictionary which includes legal terms. It's not exactly going to challenge Black's for authority or definitions, but it seems to have some value. Search for res ipsa loquitur and there will be a set of results that define and link to further information. Random comparisons with Black's entries show nothing for fettering of property, and feorme, but definitions for terms such as feoffment, food safety and inspection service, and Hatch Act certainly appear.
As for the Anglo-Saxon term feorme, which is a portion of the land's produce owed by the grantee to the terms according to the terms of the charter (Do I owe West any money for reproducing that?), a general Google search will bring up some results in context. The site also features and English to 28 language term translator, and language to English service. The page is not linked from any of the Google Menus, but can be found here or by searching Google dictionary in the main search page.
Be aware, all of the examples in the addendum are not actually from Google's new dictionary. Instead, they are a different view of the same information you would see if you put the phrase [define: removal action] in the regular google search box. They are just "web definitions" available from reputable or obscure websites alike. To see what Google's new dictionary looks like, try a non-law word, like ennui . Compare that with removal action. With ennui, we see the parts of speech, definition, etc., with web definitions below and removal action is only web definitions.
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
Google has invaded the legal world in yet one more way. It now offers a dictionary which includes legal terms. It's not exactly going to challenge Black's for authority or definitions, but it seems to have some value. Search for res ipsa loquitur and there will be a set of results that define and link to further information. Random comparisons with Black's entries show nothing for fettering of property, and feorme, but definitions for terms such as feoffment, food safety and inspection service, and Hatch Act certainly appear.
As for the Anglo-Saxon term feorme, which is a portion of the land's produce owed by the grantee to the terms according to the terms of the charter (Do I owe West any money for reproducing that?), a general Google search will bring up some results in context. The site also features and English to 28 language term translator, and language to English service. The page is not linked from any of the Google Menus, but can be found here or by searching Google dictionary in the main search page.
Be aware, all of the examples in the addendum are not actually from Google's new dictionary. Instead, they are a different view of the same information you would see if you put the phrase [define: removal action] in the regular google search box. They are just "web definitions" available from reputable or obscure websites alike. To see what Google's new dictionary looks like, try a non-law word, like ennui . Compare that with removal action. With ennui, we see the parts of speech, definition, etc., with web definitions below and removal action is only web definitions.
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
Dow Jones has a new translation gadget
From VIP Live Wire
Dow Jones Factiva has launched the beta version of a new translation tool. It uses technology from Language Weaver, and as with other automated translation systems, the results are mixed. However, this free service gives a general indication of meaning and will thus open a significant volume of international content to business researchers.
VIP readers will already be aware of the various free online tools for translating text and web pages, including Yahoo's Babelfish and Google Translate. They are useful for getting the sense of source material but still no match for the human translator.
Factiva's tool is a welcome addition, being an integral part of the system, thus saving the researcher time. It allows articles to be machine-translated from seven languages (Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese Traditional, and Chinese Simple) into English as well as English into the same languages. Translation between these languages (i.e., French to Spanish) is not available as yet.
Not all content is available for translation. The Factiva announcement states that 5,800 sources from approximately 360 information providers are currently available including Dow Jones, Interfax, N.C.N. Limited of Xinhua News Agency, Russica-Izvestia Information, South American Business Information and Newsquest Digital Media.
Clicking the Translate Article icon above available articles shows the languages options in a pop-up box. A new window opens to display the translation. At the moment there is no indication from the headings list whether an article can be translated, so users need to open the full article to find out. Changing this would be a useful modification.
Translation programmes are based on different approaches and systems – Babelfish uses SYSTRAN, and Google and Language Weaver have both developed statistically based technology. Looking at some German language examples (into and from English), Factiva's Language Weaver translation gave the gist, but had some difficulties. Users with a high need for such tools may want to compare Babelfish, Google Translate and Language Weaver to see which best fits their needs for international business news.
One should always turn to a professional human translator for mission critical information in a foreign language, however, for those of us who regularly research international markets, free online translation has been an important tool for quickly accessing content. Despite the mixed results, the results can provide key clues for further research. Even Factiva has this warning in place:
"The content of this translation is generated by way of automated translation software and is no substitute for a professional human translator. Only the text from the Dow Jones Factiva service is translated; additional web sources and links to the Internet are not translated as a part of this service. Dow Jones does not take responsibility for the accuracy, reliability or completeness of this translation and the results of this translation are “as is.” Dow Jones makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the translation on this site or its contents and disclaims any liability, loss or damages suffered based on the user’s reliance of any kind or for any purpose with respect to the content of this translation."
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
Dow Jones Factiva has launched the beta version of a new translation tool. It uses technology from Language Weaver, and as with other automated translation systems, the results are mixed. However, this free service gives a general indication of meaning and will thus open a significant volume of international content to business researchers.
VIP readers will already be aware of the various free online tools for translating text and web pages, including Yahoo's Babelfish and Google Translate. They are useful for getting the sense of source material but still no match for the human translator.
Factiva's tool is a welcome addition, being an integral part of the system, thus saving the researcher time. It allows articles to be machine-translated from seven languages (Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese Traditional, and Chinese Simple) into English as well as English into the same languages. Translation between these languages (i.e., French to Spanish) is not available as yet.
Not all content is available for translation. The Factiva announcement states that 5,800 sources from approximately 360 information providers are currently available including Dow Jones, Interfax, N.C.N. Limited of Xinhua News Agency, Russica-Izvestia Information, South American Business Information and Newsquest Digital Media.
Clicking the Translate Article icon above available articles shows the languages options in a pop-up box. A new window opens to display the translation. At the moment there is no indication from the headings list whether an article can be translated, so users need to open the full article to find out. Changing this would be a useful modification.
Translation programmes are based on different approaches and systems – Babelfish uses SYSTRAN, and Google and Language Weaver have both developed statistically based technology. Looking at some German language examples (into and from English), Factiva's Language Weaver translation gave the gist, but had some difficulties. Users with a high need for such tools may want to compare Babelfish, Google Translate and Language Weaver to see which best fits their needs for international business news.
One should always turn to a professional human translator for mission critical information in a foreign language, however, for those of us who regularly research international markets, free online translation has been an important tool for quickly accessing content. Despite the mixed results, the results can provide key clues for further research. Even Factiva has this warning in place:
"The content of this translation is generated by way of automated translation software and is no substitute for a professional human translator. Only the text from the Dow Jones Factiva service is translated; additional web sources and links to the Internet are not translated as a part of this service. Dow Jones does not take responsibility for the accuracy, reliability or completeness of this translation and the results of this translation are “as is.” Dow Jones makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the translation on this site or its contents and disclaims any liability, loss or damages suffered based on the user’s reliance of any kind or for any purpose with respect to the content of this translation."
For all your English to Arabic and vice versa translations that will help you expand your business into the Middle East visit Arabic Language Experts at http://www.arabic.com.au/.
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