Vol. V, No. 3 - Summer 1996

Miami Dialogue Continues

Lydia Pellegrin

The author is Chief of the Court Administration Division of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. For the viewpoint of an interpreter who attended her presentation at the NAJIT conference, see Era of Budgetary Constraints.

I had the recent pleasure of speaking at the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters & Translators meeting held in Miami on May 17-18, 1996. Because of time constraints, I was not able to address all the questions asked at that time and thought it best to address them through an article. The following is a representative sampling of topics that the questions addressed.

Federal Certification Exam

In June 1995, the Administrative Office (AO) contracted with a language testing expert for an independent study of the interpreter certification program. The review was completed in January 1996 and the AO is presently evaluating the recommendations set forth in the contractor's report. The federal court interpreter Spanish/English written examination will be admininistered on November 9, 1996. The AO will be evaluating a certification approach for those languages other than Spanish.

Fee Increase

 The AO will study the fee issue for certified/noncertified interpreters with review and recommendation by the Court Interpreters Advisory Subgroup (CIAS) to the District Clerks Advisory Group, which will then make a recommendation to the Judicial Resources Committee. The CIAS is comprised of two clerks, one chief deputy, and three staff interpreters.

Interpreter Manuals

 Through conference calls and e-mail, the CIAS has been working diligently on finalizing an Orientation Manual for new interpreters and on the Federal Court Interpreters Policies and Procedures chapter to the Guide to Judiciary Policies and Procedures. Once this work is completed, the District Clerks Advisory Group will review and approve it before action by the Judicial Conference. The goal is to distribute the material early next year.

Use of Two Interpreters

 The policy on using two interpreters will be reviewed by the Court Interpreters Advisory Subgroup, with guidance to be published in the Federal Court Interpreters Policies and Procedures chapter to the Guide to Judiciary Policies and Procedures and in the Orientation Manual for new interpreters.

Telephone Interpreting

 The Judicial Conference at its March 1994 session approved the use of telephone technology for short proceedings. This initiative will provide qualified interpreting to courts in remote locations that do not have certified and otherwise qualified interpreters, saving time and the expense of travel by interpreters. The use of interpreting by telephone is not intended to displace onsite interpreters but rather will enhance the level of use of certified interpreters and make available qualified interpreters in rare languages.

I wish to express my thanks for the feedback I received at the meeting and welcome your input to help in our evaluation efforts.