26 March 2025
Interpreting services in court are ‘unacceptable’, presenting a ‘significant risk’ to the administration of justice and placing an undue demand on an already overburdened court system, peers have declared.
The House of Lords Public Services Committee highlighted poor-quality interpreting and missed errors in its report, ‘Lost in translation? Interpreting in the courts’, published this week. Moreover, the complaints process is inaccessible to non-English speakers.
The committee’s chair, Baroness Morris of Yardley, said ‘low remuneration means people are less willing to be interpreters and the lack of technology in the courts means more innovative and alternative methods cannot be explored’.
