Sakhi Presents Results of National Court Interpreter Survey Policymaker, Advocates Join to Celebrate Progress, Recognize Challenges

New York City has the largest number of immigrants from around the world. There are more languages spoken here than any other metropolis on the planet. And rightly so, the City is known as the global city with people of all regions, languages, religions, nationalities and ethnicity making it their home. Hence the demand for services catering to the diverse needs of every group is also of immense importance. Sakhi for South Asian Women presented key findings and recommendations from its groundbreaking national court interpreter survey at a New York City Bar Association panel last month honing in on the importance of better and more consistent training for interpreters, attorneys and judges and more resources for non-Spanish language interpretation.

Sakhi Executive Director Purvi Shah acknowledged the concrete progress made by the court system in recent years, including mandatory training, per diem interpreter pay raises and Court Rule 217 mandating the availability of interpreters, saying, "We have a lot to celebrate." She also pointed to results of the Justice Speaks Initiative national survey of 157 interpreters nationwide, which showed that a majority of interpreters received no training on domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault cases despite expressing a desire to become better informed on these issues.

"There is a critical need for training and interpreter education, especially in areas for which they interpret frequently," Shah noted. The survey revealed that for New York State interpreters, order of protection/restraining order hearings—of great importance to domestic violence survivors—were the second-highest category for which interpretation was carried out. Sakhi began advocacy around the issue of language access in the courts after witnessing first-hand the impact poor interpreting services had on domestic violence survivors in court cases in the 1990s. Some interpreters could not accurately translate and others fraternized with the opposing party or intimidated survivors directly.

The event's 60 attendees—more than half of whom were interpreters—heard opening remarks by Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau followed by a panel of advocates and experts who celebrated achievements of recent years while also pointing to persisting issues. Judge Pfau thanked the panel for the "robust criticism that we really need," and said ethics and accountability were key components of the court interpreter system. Panelist Nancy Mangold, who serves as a director at the New York State Office of Court Administration in the Division of Court Operations, praised the positive steps taken so far, saying, "Without language access, justice is denied." She pointed in particular to mandatory English exams for interpreters, a move implemented the last two years following advocacy by Sakhi and other members of the Justice Speaks: Initiative to Ensure Language Access project. "It created quite a stir," she said of the change, noting that only 45 percent of those tested passed the exam, but "now (we) have a more qualified pool of resources for the courts." In another positive development, Mangold addressed an issue raised by fellow panelist Dimple Abichandani of Legal Services for New York City, who sought clarity on the meaning of a part of Court Rule 217 that says court users could wave rights to an interpreter if they provide their own. Mangold indicated Judge Pfau has drafted a memo to be delivered within a week providing further guidance on that clause.

Stressing the importance of training for attorneys— a need highlighted by the Sakhi survey— Sanctuary for Families Community Law Project Director Vivian Huelgo said it was essential to communicate to court users in "plain, simple English."

"I really have shifted my focus on attorneys and judges," she said, adding that greater judicial training and awareness would enable interpreters to perform their jobs better. The Sakhi survey showed that most court interpreters believed attorneys and judges need more training on using interpreters' services: two-fifths disagreed with the view that judges were trained on how to best use their services and more than half disagreed with the view that attorneys were trained to use their services.

Lionel Bajana, an interpreter with the Bronx County Hall of Justice who has more than a decade of experience, concurred. "Once you become a judge, it becomes difficult to train you," he said to laughter. He also seconded Sakhi's recommendation that interpreters receive ongoing training and support in order to stay effective, suggesting a mentoring program led by seasoned interpreters to help newer ones. "Two essential elements for having good interpreters are education and experience," he observed.

For a copy of Sakhi's survey and a copy of their preliminary report go to:
www.sakhi.org/about/Survey.php

- BY RITU PANDEY