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1 Harv. Latino L. Rev. 121 (1994)
Lessons in Administering Justice: What Judges Need to Know about the Requirements Role and Professional Responsibilities of the Court Interpreter

handle is hein.journals/hllr1 and id is 125 raw text is: LESSONS IN ADMINISTERING JUSTICE: WHAT JUDGES NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE REQUIREMENTS, ROLE, AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE COURT INTERPRETER HON. LYNN W. DAvIs* WILLIAM E. HEWITT** Introduction Immigration and cultural diversity are among the nation's most significant trends for the 1990s and the next century. These trends have had a significant impact on the administration of justice in the courts and on the rights of non-English speakers. In the court- room, judges have tried to accommodate these changes through an increasing reliance on court interpreters. Judges, however, gener- ally do not understand the significance of the court interpreter's role and the unique needs of the linguistic minority in the court- room. As a result, only a handful of the nation's trial judges know what should be required of a court interpreter, what judicial du- ties arise in a case where interpreter services are used, and what can and does go wrong when court interpreting is improper. Al- though there is a significant body of literature concerning court- room interpretation available to assist attorneys, interpreters, court administrators, and other professionals,1 there is a paucity of * Judge, Utah Circuit Court. J.D., J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. Chairperson, Utah State Court Interpreter and Translation Committee; Mem- ber, National Advisory Committee to the National Center for State Courts on its project, Court Interpretation: Challenge for the 1990's. The atthors would like to thank Ken Parkinson, law-clerk/bailiff to Judge Davis, and Brian P. Miller and Alan R. Davis, law students at Brigham Young University, for their contributions to this paper. ** M.Phil. 1967, University of California, at Davis. Senior Research Associate, Re- search Division for the National Center for State Courts; Project Director, Court Inter- pretation: Challenge for the 1990's.' I See, e.g., G. Craney, Language v. the Law, BARRISTER MAO., 1989, at 20 - 23, 27, 42; A. Crouch, Interpreters, Translators and Legal Services: Towards a Better Understanding, LAv INsT. J., May 1981, at 264 - 69; A. Crouch, Barriers to Understanding in the Legal Situation, LAw INST. J., Sept. 1979, at 505 - 08; D. Dahl, Bridging the Barrier of Lan- guage, MAss. LAwYERS WEEKLY, June 27, 1988, at 29, 37; Bill Piatt, Attorney as Inter-

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