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Please provide a copy of any instructions issued by the UK government/Ministry of Justice/Public Health England or other relevant authorities to be used by courts in England and Wales in relation to ensuring a 2 meter / 1+ meter distance for face-to-face interpreters working with defendants and witnesses in view of the COVID-19 situation. Please provide a copy of any relevant guidelines in line of Question 1 above in respect of any PPE interpreters are to be supplied with when working for HMCTS directly or via contracting agencies.
The care of interpreters is an incredibly complex question and entirely depends on where they are sited. It is the responsibility of individual trusts to look after interpreters in hospital settings but, in other settings, it may be that of other organisations.
A police interpreter hired to talk to a Slovak couldn’t speak the lingo, it was claimed.
Another translator told force chiefs the blunder could have jeopardised a domestic slavery trial.
The UK’s only independent, voluntary regulator of professional interpreters working in the public sector is concerned that law firms are employing unregulated interpreters to provide translation services.
