National Association of Judiciary Interpreters & Translators

1707 L street, NW, Ste 507, Washington, DC 20036
202-293-7642 x201, 202-293-0495 (fax)
headquarters@najit.org · www.najit.org

The National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT), founded in 1978, is the only nationwide organization of active court interpreters. Current membership stands at 1100 and includes state and federal court interpreters of many languages.

We include among our stated purposes: a) to advocate training and certification of interpreters through competent and reliable methodologies, b) to promote professional standards of performance and integrity, and c) to advance the highest quality services.

NAJIT’s membership supports certification as an objective, science-based method of testing to ensure that court interpreters meet minimum standards of competence. General consensus in the field holds that testing is an essential step to guaranteeing the provision of competent, cost-effective court interpreter services. These services are fundamental to equal access to the courts and linguistic due process for the deaf and Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals.

We agree with the publication of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification: “Court Interpretation: Model Guides for Policy and Practice in the State Courts,” which states “To address the causes of problems with court interpreting, comprehensive, statewide mechanisms and procedures need to be formalized by statute.…” “Formalized testing of language and interpreting proficiency (certification testing) is the best way to assess interpreter qualifications.” (NCSC, 1995, pp. 12, 89, available from http://www.ncsconline.org/D_Research/CourtInterp.htm).

We are aware that the Hawaii judiciary began examining court interpreter issues in 1994 and joined the Consortium in 1997. It is our hope that the pending legislation will definitively implement a certification program. SB 625, in its original form, is a good bill, largely based on the Model Act in the NCSC report cited above. We urge you to revert to the original language of SB 625 as introduced. This will put Hawaii on track to improve the quality of court interpreter services. With it, Hawaii will be able to create a meaningful, effective, cost-conscious and legally defensible court interpreting program.

We fully support this bill, which will mandate a court interpreter training, testing, and certification program. Please pass SB 625.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Alexander Raïnof, Ph.D.
Chair, Board of Directors
National Association of Judiciary
Interpreters and Translators
 

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