News
Directive 2010/64/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings was transposed into UK domestic law by 27 October 2013 when it came into force. The Government has no plan currently to alter those provisions.
Police used an interpreting company that recruited unqualified translators even after a criminal trial collapsed because one of its linguists told a suspect what to say.
Interpreting firm is stripped of its police contract after 'unqualified' translators caused court delays and led one case to collapse when an employee told a teenage suspect 'not to say too much' to officers.
Unqualified police interpreters have cost the public thousands of pounds by causing court delays and in one instance the collapse of a case, the BBC has learned.