LACK OF INTERPRETERS

Lack of interpreters threatens court cases

ANTONELLA ARTUSO

SUN, Toronto, 2010-06-11 

Criminal charges across the province are in jeopardy as the courts grapple with a desperate shortage of accredited interpreters, Tory MPP Frank Klees says.

The Newmarket-Aurora MPP said he attempted unsuccessfully to question Attorney General Chris Bentley this week regarding his ministry's retesting of interpreters — a program that resulted in many losing their accreditation.

The shortage is causing serious problems within the court system, leading to charges being thrown out or bargained down to a lesser charge, Klees said.

"Who's in control of this little project here?" he said.

Lou Strezos of the Criminal Lawyers' Association said some cases have been adjourned by the courts for a lack of interpreters, but he's unaware of any charges being dismissed.

Defence lawyers are insisting that a ministry-accredited interpreter be used in the courts, and the Crown's delay in producing one causing a backlog, he said.

The accused has a constitutional right to be tried within a reasonable time frame or the charges can be thrown out by the courts.

"The clock is ticking in the criminal cases," Strezos said.

The CLA has asked Bentley for a public inquiry but has failed to gain a positive response.

Roger Nadarajah, a 20-year Tamil interpreter who has lost his accreditation, said the test was poorly designed by someone unfamiliar with the courts, leading to a high number of failures.

Currently, there is only one person in the province accredited by the ministry to interpret Tamil, two for Cantonese and none for Mandarin, he said.

"It's a huge problem that is just brewing and it's starting to overflow," Nadarajah said. "Usually I have bookings 10 months ahead."

Defence lawyers are arguing that the use of a non-accredited interpreter is grounds for appeal, and charges are being knocked down or out, he said.

Nadarajah said the test was broken into three parts, including a speed translation that did not reflect the true nature of their work.

The situation could have been avoided had the ministry consulted with interpreters in drafting an exam that appropriately assesses their abilities, he said.

Strezos said it's critical that interpreters can skilfully translate the law to ensure fair trials.

"I don't know whether the test was a good test or a bad test," Strezos said. "What we know now is you had a very large fail rate."

Bentley's office would provide only a written response Friday.

"Ontario has a strong court interpreter testing program in place but we recognize the need to continue to make improvements as the demand for court interpretation changes and grows," the e-mail said. "The old test exceeds the standard of most other provinces, and the new testing will ensure that Ontario continues to be a leader in court interpreter testing and accreditation in Canada. The Ministry is taking steps to ensure that there are not unnecessary delays in individual cases during the transition period."

The e-mail appears to suggest the ministry is altering the tests, but did not say if it was a response to the high failure rate.