ABOUT THE PROFESSION OF
COURT AND LEGAL INTERPRETING AND TRANSLATING

You can find interpreters and translators in many different settings--at conferences, in medical and health facilities and escorting visitors from other countries. The profession of judiciary interpreting and translating is set apart, and covers those professionals who work either in the court room interpreting legal proceedings, or those professionals who in quasi-judicial settings or out-of-court settings on legal cases or in law-enforcement situations.

Court and legal interpreters are set apart because of the stringent ethical and professional standards they must meet. These professionals are highly skilled individuals who fulfill an essential role in the administration of justice. Limited-English-proficient (LEP) defendants, litigants, victims, and witnesses depend upon their services. Court Interpreters must be impartial officers of the court, with a duty to serve the judicial process.

Judiciary interpreters work in a variety of places: juvenile, municipal, state, or federal court, or in out-of-court settings such as attorneys' offices, jails, law enforcement facilities, or other locations. and work on every kind of civil and criminal cases. They work at both the state and federal levels.

Both federal and state courts are required, in many cases, to provide interpreting services to LEP individuals, under the Civil Rights Act and under other regulatory and statutory requirements imposed by the federal and state governments.

Because of these requirements many states and the federal government have established certification requirements for professional court and legal interpreters. These programs usually require interpreters to take a certification examination and to regularly take professional training in both interpretation techniques and ethics.

In addition, court interpreters are subject to codes of ethical practice. All members of NAJIT agree to the terms of the NAJIT Code of Ethics. In addition, state and federal courts impose their own ethical standards.