Several points regarding how to address the challenges of legal interpreting

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The legal interpreting is a kind of interpreting service usually used in the civil or criminal proceedings. This essay will discuss how to overcome challenges relating to legal interpreting and to achieve and maintain accuracy. It will be discussed in three parts， including equipping with a wide range of legal knowledge， keeping truthfulness for the meaning of words expressed by clients or witnesses， and having a clear understanding of some questions which seem to be simple， but harbor the deep meaning.

Having a wide range of legal knowledge is essential， such as terminology， expression terms and relevant legal concepts. Russell （2012） noted that interpreters working in such situations must be familiar with law process， related terminology and expression terms， which are basic elements in legal interpreting. For instance：

A： Why did she petition for divorce？

B： she petitioned for divorce on account of unreasonable behavior by her ex-husband.

A： What about the custody of the children？

B： Custody of the children was awarded to her husband， but she wants to ask the custody.

A： What about the maintenance payments？

B： The court presumes the maintenance payments are being paid on time.

In this dialogue， petition， on account of， custody and presumes are legal terminologies which are required to be clearly understood by legal interpreters. Thus having a good preparation of a wide range of terminology is fundamental to conduct legal interpreting.

Interpreters should keep truthfulness for the meaning of words expressed by clients or witnesses. Mikkelson （2012） suggested that Interpreters should only repeat opinions expressed by clients or witnesses no matter what situations interpreters are dealing with. For example：

A： I just want to extent the time to solve it.

B： She is a bitch， she does not want me to see my son.

According to the above example， the interpreter can not translate the first sentence into “she said that she wants to extent the time to solve it”. The appropriate way to deal with it is to repeat the words by first person. The second one is a sentence that contains a swear word in expression. Interpreters may said： “she is not good because she does not want me to see my son.” it sounds more comfortable than the original one， but the meaning and attitude provided by client are changed in a certain way. Accurately convey the meaning is necessary， even if swear words spoke by a witness such as bitch， motherfucker or hell. Interpreters can not use euphemism to replace that.

Having a clear understanding of some questions which seem to be simple， but harbor the deep meaning. Russell （2008） pointed out that during the hearing， some words seem to be easily to understand， but might have different meanings in different situations. In this case， if interpreters are confused about the meanings or difficult to understand the words， they must ask court staff or client for help in time. Otherwise， interpreters may be making errors that affect the quality of interpretation， and affect the sentence， resulting in the miscarriage of justice. For instance：

A： How did you get the message？

B： The manager of the company sent to me， for which I worked before.

A： Can you use the computer？

B： No.

A： Have you guys catch up before it happened？

B： Yes， but I did not know he is the manager.

For the conversation above， there are two meanings for “can you use the computer”， one is to ask the person if they are able to use computer， the other is to ask whether or not the person can use computer in that situation. In this situation， Interpreters should understand it by asking court staffs or witnesses for explanation so that they can avoid making mistakes.

Legal is a specialized area that require interpreters to make great effort to it. Interpreters in the legal field should take every aspect into consideration so as to reach accuracy in the context of legal area.

References：

[1]Mikkelson，H.（2012）.Fundamentals of court interpretation：Theory，policy，and practice.Carolina Academic Press.

[2]Russell，D.（2008）.Interpreting in Legal Settings.Gallaudet University Press.

[3]Russell，D.（2012）.Court/legal interpreting.Handbook of translation studies，3，17.