The cross-party House of Lords Public Services Committee has today launched a short inquiry into Interpreting and Translation Services (ITS) in the Courts.

• Inquiry: Interpreting and Translation Services in the Courts
• Call for evidence: Interpreting and Translation Services in the Courts Service
• Public Services Committee

The inquiry seeks to understand the experience of procuring ITS in the courts, policy recommendations for supporting service providers, and the potential role of technology in enabling ITS.  The Committee is inviting written evidence on topics including;

• The extent to which the current ITS provided in court meets the needs of defendants, prosecutors, witnesses and legal professionals;
• The key issues in the provision of ITS and how they impact the running of the courts, public trust, interpreters and translators, including whether there is any data on miscarriages of justice in relation to ITS;
• The qualifications and experience of interpreters and translators and the recruitment process, including any barriers to recruitment;
• Quality assurance and complaints procedure in relation to ITS;
• The potential role of new technology (such as artificial intelligence, machine translation and the digitisation of court proceedings) in the future of interpreting or translation services in the courts; and
• The current capability and accuracy of market leading artificial intelligence and machine translation tools in relation to ITS.

The Committee has invited written evidence to be submitted by 30 September 2024 and expects to report on its findings towards the end of the year.

Source: https://www.parliament.uk/

Full article: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/430/public-services-committee/news/202447/committee-launches-probe-into-interpretating-and-translation-services-in-the-courts-service/