Fernando A. Gascón Nasarre Vicepresident APTIJ Abogado (Spanish lawyer) Sworn translator for German (Intérprete Jurado de Alemán)
Legal interpreters and translators from a lawyers’s point of view: Deontology
1. The law
Robinson Crusoe
social component subjective dinamic related to moral and ethics Norms could be complicated
Norms Rules of conduct Prediction Security
Law books are not almighty SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Sworn translation
Court interpreter
Ethics Moral
Reasonable Good faith Proportional
2. Deontology and codes of ethics
Group of professionals
1 Working for other people 2 Social function 3 Social expectation
Group of professionals 1 Irreproachable conduct 2 Good praxis
Law books are not almighty SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Code of professional ethics Code of conduct: Maximalist (how things should be) Voice of previous experience PREVIOUS TO LEGAL REGULATION
PREVIOUS TO LEGAL REGULATION Directive 2010/64/EU
Need of professional ethics?
Situation in Spain
No need of title. No examination. No verification of competence. No code of ethics.
The Police have arrested two people that were doing sworn translations in courts and police stations in Catalonia and that were linked to the leaders of the dismantled organisation. 16 Julio 09 - Madrid - Efe
TERUEL Hearing suspended because the only Chinese interpreter was the defendant. While in the dock, the accused offered himself to translate from Spanish into Chinese and viceversa. However, the judge rejected his kind offer. 03/03/2010 a las 06:00
MÁLAGA It sounded like Chinese to the interpreter. Hearing against an Eastern woman suspended because the interpreter could not speak Spanish.
Following the privatization of the service and the low fees, several police interpreters have been arrested under charges of fraud, Kidnapping and drug dealing. When the Drugs and Organised Crime Unit of the Police was trying to identify one of the men in custody, they discovered that actually the drug dealer was one of their translators.
Interpreters with criminal record Amateurs with no training Interpreters with wrong languages Any kind of error
Mox
3. Need of professional ethics? Principles.
No rules
Social function
Interpreters Lawyers
Interpreters Working with other professionals following a CoE Guideline for beginners Avoids conflicts of interest
Lawyers Did not know the language Depends on that guideline Only tool to know about competence and expected conduct How can I protest about a bad interpretation?
ONLY TOOL?
Accuracy / Professional secret
Judge Police Interpreter (Wolof) Solicitor
Independence / ImpartialityCompetence Linguistic (accuracy - completeness) Cultural Legal Training IntegrityProfessional secret / ConfidentialityProbityDiligence