A Number 10 petition petition has been set up around the use of accredited and professional interpreters in legal proceedings. This isn't limited to BSL, but other languages too:
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure that accredited and professional interpreters are used in legal proceedings, from time of arrest throughout the judicial system, and that 'language agencies' who provide unqualified so-called interpreters should be strictly monitiored and disqualified from providing interpreting services. More details
Further detail is provided as:
Unqualified interpreters are being employed at police stations and at Court, to provide a service that must be accurate and professionally undertaken.Only interpreters from the 'Nation Register of Public Service Interpreters' should be used for judicial purposes (including the initial stages of an investigation). Members have proved themselves to be proficient, having passed stringent exams, and are monitored regularly.
Most agencies employ unqualified interpreters, many of whom cannot speak English; they are generally unqualified and do not meet the standard required, thus, foreign offenders 'get off', due to poor interpretation services from the outset.
The police, CPS, and Courts MUST use accredited interpreters.
With so many foreign migrant workers in the UK, the NRPSI network of accredited interpreters MUST be used, in order that foreign offenders can be treated in the same way as indigenous Britons.
Whilst I support this, I feel frustrated how little people really understand how things work online. Again, as with my question around the subtitling petition, I immediately ask is the time frame realistic? Waiting one whole year loses momentum, and a week is a long time in cyberspace, nevermind a year. I will have forgotten about this in a month, and the long timeframe discourages me from the urgency to address this. Even if you need time to reach out to others through conferences, and written publications, it is still too long. Do people really need one year to collect names?
