Forums about proz.com » Translation news »
'Unqualified' interpreters working in courts (Canada)

This discussion belongs to Translation news » "'Unqualified' interpreters working in courts (Canada)".
You can see the translation news page and participate in this discussion from there.

Hege Jakobsen Lepri
Hege Jakobsen Lepri  Identity Verified
Norway
Local time: 18:40
Member (2002)
English to Norwegian
+ ...
Comparing it to what is paid elsewhere in the world for this kind of work Mar 16, 2011

I'd say even 35 $ is pitiful.
 
Giuseppina Gatta, MA (Hons)
Giuseppina Gatta, MA (Hons)
English to Italian
+ ...
Indeeed Mar 16, 2011

I would never work as an interpreter for 35$. It is ridiculous. Obviously they don't get qualified interpreters..
 
Gustavo Martínez Ursi
Gustavo Martínez Ursi
Australia
Local time: 04:40
Spanish to English
+ ...
Similar to what happened in Spain Mar 18, 2011

We had a similar case in Spain where the Court Interpretation service was granted to one of the large Spanish private companies (Seprotec).

They had won the tender by dumping prices (as usual) and had quoted prices that no self-respecting interpreter would work for. The result of that was that they hired people (pretty much off the street) to provide the interpretation service. These, of course, were people who had absolutely no qualifications as interpreters, who were not fluent in l... See more
We had a similar case in Spain where the Court Interpretation service was granted to one of the large Spanish private companies (Seprotec).

They had won the tender by dumping prices (as usual) and had quoted prices that no self-respecting interpreter would work for. The result of that was that they hired people (pretty much off the street) to provide the interpretation service. These, of course, were people who had absolutely no qualifications as interpreters, who were not fluent in legal language at best and not fluent in one of their working languages at worst, with the consequence that defendants were absolutely "defenseless". I hear these people were getting paid something like 10€ an hour.

There was even one case where the interpreter did not speak the defendant's language. I can´t remember the specifics, but it was something like they sent a Polish interpreter to provide the service to a Bulgarian defendant.

When the case was made public, the company had the audacity to come out on TV and state that they always use "sworn" translators and interpreters. ▲ Collapse
 
Mako Ruan
Mako Ruan
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:40
English to Chinese
+ ...
In B.C. Mar 19, 2011

In BC, only interpreters who were certified by our local interpreting program or CTTIC will be on the call list in Provincial court, if I remember correctly, minimum wage for those is $52 (?) and up?
 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:

Moderator(s) of this forum
Jared Tabor[Call to this topic]

You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

'Unqualified' interpreters working in courts (Canada)







CafeTran Espresso
You've never met a CAT tool this clever!

Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer. Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools. Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free

Buy now! »
TM-Town
Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business

Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.

More info »