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Philadelphia Court Interpreter Services Study National Center for State Courts February 15, 1995 |
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| VII. Document Translation
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VII. DOCUMENT TRANSLATION Document translation
is one of the duties that staff interpreters perform when they are not needed
in court. Interviews and observations suggest that there is no systematic
procedure for receiving and assigning translations, and for the efficient
retrieval of information about what documents have been translated. Moreover,
translation is a special skill that is not equivalent to the oral skills required
for interpreting. Sound procedure is to assign translations to individuals
who have established their qualifications for written work, and to always
provide for review of all translations by at least one other professional.
The following recommendations would improve this aspect of the services the
court provides to linguistic minorities. Requests for
official translations of forms and documents made by judges or administrators
should be directed only to the supervisor of OIS, rather than to individual
interpreters. Comment: This
allows the work to be prioritized, quality control standards maintained, and
an inventory of translated documents to be kept more systematically. A log of all requests for document translations should be maintained
in the OIS, including:
·
Request
date
·
Document
identification (form #, name, etc.)
·
Requesting
official
·
Name
of assigned primary translator and reviewing translator(s)
·
Completion
date All bilingual signs or other notices posted in the court facilities should be prepared or reviewed by the OIS.
VIII. Concluding Summary of Recommendations
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