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Muhammad Gamal - Humanities

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657quality and integrity of the interpreting profession the user should be able toselect their own interpreters.INTERPRETER ACCREDITATIONIn Australia, interpreters gain their accreditation to practice through threeoptions: recognition of overseas interpreting qualifications, a completion of anapproved interpreting course in Australia or the successful completion of aninterpreting examination conducted by the National Accreditation Authority ofTranslators and Interpreters (NAATI) which is the only government institution incharge of the professional accreditation of interpreters and translators.However, NAATI accreditation is akin to licensing and not a registration board.Once the NAATI accreditation has been obtained, the interpreter is on theirown: they can choose which area to work in and can decide on professionaldevelopment the way they see fit. Likewise, NAATI has very little authority overaccredited interpreters. In the essentially free-lance, ad hoc practice ofcommunity interpreting, some interpreters specialize in an area they like (i.e.school meetings) or in an area that provides more work (social security).Naturally, there are several other equally valid factors that impact on workchoices and practices such as: registration with big translation agencies, lifeexperience, academic qualifications, the suitability of a freelance style ofemployment, professional development and Arabic language skills. The latteris a significant factor.


659many Latin American jokes depend on horrified reactions to a word thatis innocent in one place but shocking in another.Exposure to such linguistic phenomenon, and indeed interest in pursuingsuch linguistic differences would be the sine qua non for interpreters wishing toexert an extra effort to learn how to interpret for other speakers of Arabic whocome from far afield.ACCREDITED BUT NOT EXPERIENCEDThe above example shows how an accredited interpreter may not bequalified to work on a court case or in a police operation where not only theliberty of someone is at stake but also the resources and success of an entireoperation hinges on the interpreter’s ability to convey information both correctlyand accurately (<strong>Gamal</strong>: 2011).Yet, in Australia, neither the courts nor the police have their owninterpreters. One reason that explains this professional anomaly is the fact thatinterpreters are provided by the state (Bird: 1995) and therefore since the statepays for the services neither the courts nor the police would contemplateinvesting in such service. And this is wrong.Numerous court cases have been aborted or adjourned due to inadequateinterpreting stemming from the fact that the interpreter did not speak the samedialect of the defendant. The Begum case (1985) in the UK is a vivid exampleof a defendant who did not understand a word said by the interpreternotwithstanding her level of education. Moreover, the free-lance nature ofcommunity interpreting in Australia forces interpreters to accept assignmentswithout prior knowledge or experience of the context. Learning on the job is a


660common part of professional practice and is seen by some practitioners as“professional development” (Edwards: 1995). In the absence of a registrationsystem for police or court interpreters it is hardly surprising to see aninterpreter appearing in court to interpret in a trial for the first time. Likewise, aninterpreter who has had little experience outside the predictable and repetitiveinterpreting tasks at the Social Security office may be contacted to accompanypolice to do a house search. In both cases, the inexperienced interpreter couldeasily impede the course of justice and undermine police work. One of thesignificant aspects of police interpreting is police discourse which, more oftenthan not, is conducted under tense situations and with the ever present powerfactor. In this instance, the interpreter, consciously or sub-consciously viewtheir role as cultural mediators not only language interpreters (Nakane: 2009).THE AVAILABILITY FACTORThe police’s decision not to develop their own panel of professionalinterpreters lest they have to allocate time, resources and effort in developing itis a case of false economy. It would be unfathomable to have a police teamwell-trained, equipped and funded to bust a drug gang only to have an ineptand inexperienced interpreter who actually lets the whole team down. Policereports and interpreter experience show that invariably the police are busy andonly realize the need for an interpreter at the last minute and only then theycall for help. The government agency scrambles to provide the linguistic serviceand rushes the first “available” interpreter to the police. The governmentinterpreting agency has thus discharged its duty of supplying an accreditedinterpreter to the law enforcement sector and the police believe they


663agencies and accept various assignments from different agencies all the timeand may find it difficult to make themselves available for the needs of police.INTERPRETING IN LIVE OPERATIONSIn the frequent occasions when the interpreter is required to accompanypolice on a live operation, they are usually briefed last (if at all). Depending onthe interpreter’s experience, security clearance and relation with the policeteam, the interpreter may be involved in the briefing ab initio. Briefinginterpreters is another nebulous issue that the police/courts do not examineclosely. The prevalent perception is that a ‘fresh’ interpreter on the job withlittle knowledge of the matter is seen as a guarantee of impartiality.Practitioners strongly disagree as they need a context or a framework to workwithin. In the Tourist (2010), there is a scene of an interpreter called by thepolice to help interviewing a foreign suspect who asks to be given a context.The police officers look stunned “A context?” Failure to adequately brief theinterpreter, quite often, results in errors that could have serious consequencesand unnecessary embarrassment.The rules on how to use interpreters in live police operations have not beenwritten yet and the current practices are ad hoc left to the discretion of thecommander or team leader conducting the operation. It is appreciated that thepolice have little interest in examining the use of interpreters in live operationsas they have a lot of tasks on their hands. However, the issue is of greatsignificance to legal defense, and again, this is an area that defense lawyershave not paid sufficient attention to. Examining forensic linguistic evidence bydefense lawyers requires experience and most lawyers would feel out of their


664depth (Gray: 2010) challenging linguistic evidence presented by theprosecution.Basically in live operations, the interpreter becomes part of the police, and isengaged to get a certain task done. When it goes successfully and smoothlythere is little concern and it is seen as an ordinary community interpreting task.It is however, when it does not go successfully and smoothly thatcomplications appear and questions are raised. One such complication iswhen resistance or violence occurs and the interpreter becomes involveddirectly or indirectly. Quite often, the interpreter is blamed for the decoding ofthe conversation and in unfavorable circumstances may be abused bysuspects. Likewise, in a house raid with older persons, females, youngchildren, and several other people present, communication may easily breakdown and violence occurs. Very little information is known on the position ofthe interpreter.Quite often, the question that springs to student’s minds is: what if theinterpreter is hurt? Still, there is no solid information. The more vexing questionhowever is: to what physical extent can the interpreter help the police? Forexample: is it still within the interpreter’s brief to carry the police’s recordingdevice to be used in the interview? Can the interpreter touch and handleexhibits seized at the house? In sifting through Arabic language material (as interrorism cases) can the interpreter touch, pile up and carry the seizedmaterial? What does the law say about the interpreter assisting the police byshifting the police vehicle outside the house where the search warrant is beingexecuted? Police protocol, the interpreting literature and forensic linguistic


665research are all vague on the legal position, ethical responsibilities and theprofessional conditions of interpreting in live police operations.Generally speaking, police do not like to have interpreters on liveoperations. There are several reasons for this reluctance and some of thegood reasons are: safety of the interpreter, exposure to police practices andmodus operandi, security clearance and the risk of turning the interpreter intoan agent provocateur. The latter, even by police admission, is a grey matterthat needs more examination as well as real-life examples to examine further.Ironically, in a multilingual and multicultural community where the police useinterpreters in their daily work, Australian defense attorneys have shown littleinterest in exploring this area. Indeed the bar association may wish to explorethe various aspects of interpreter participation in live operations particularlywhen a seizure of goods or an arrest is made. It remains an open legalquestion on whether the yell by an interpreter during a house raid to alert apoliceman of the sudden appearance of a person on the premises isinterpreting or police work?SIGNIFICANCE OF LEGAL CULTUREInterpreting in the legal context is a specialized area and whether it is for thepolice and the pre-committal proceedings or after the matter goes to court andto a full trial, the scope of legal interpreting involves linguistic, pragmatic andcultural issues. While a number of scholars examined court interpreting(Gonzalez et al: 1994, Berk-Seligson: 2002) from a linguistic standpoint andfocused on discourse issues such as speech style (Lee:2011), politeness(Krouglov: 1999), police interviews (Nakane: 2009), legal language and


666(Gibbons: 1994) interpreters’ strategies in dealing with court interpreting(Hale:2004) and the interpreter’s role (Mikkelson: 1998), very little attention has beengiven to the role of legal culture in police and court interpreting. Hale (1999)argues that legal terminology is not one of the major challenges in legalinterpreting and posits that discourse markers are found by interpreters to bemore difficult. She qualifies her findings by confining her argument to Spanish.Discourse markers are part and parcel of the linguistic aspects of interpretingand deserve to be conveyed in toto by the interpreter but apart from theirsignificance it also depends on the professional experience and maturity of theinterpreter who may find it difficult and not merely hard to pay attention to thelinguistic and extra-linguistic features of the language thus reflecting thecognitive level and the emotional state of the interlocutor.When interpreters work between culturally diverse languages, such asArabic and English, both the legal language and legal culture pose greaterchallenges. As the legal system in most Arab states relies heavily on MuslimLaw and the French Code Civile (Civil Law) the idea of the Australian (Anglo)common law would pose an immediate epistemological challenge. Theterminology would be difficult for the generalist NAATI-accredited practitionerand so is the legal practice: the adversarial system and the trial by jury whichare not used in the Arab legal system. Yet apart from the linguistic andpragmatic aspects of police interpreting, the relevance of legal culture isparamount. As Muslim Sharia (law) is taught at schools it is entrusted withinstilling a moral code of behavior that is expected to be practiced at school, athome, in public and at work. These instructions form the ‘legal framework’ thatpeople know, talk about, behave according to and base their arguments upon.


667On the other hand, there is a total lack of legal education and this iscompounded by a total lack of trust in the government and its law enforcementagency; the police. As a matter of fact, in Arabic, the word El Hokouma(government) is synonymous with the word police. The Arab Spring of 2011 isessentially a revolt against both: the corrupt government and its strongest arm;the police.Most Arab viewers, and particularly Egyptians, did not grow up readingdetective novels or watching detective drama on television. Again, the worddetective novel in Arabic is Ruwaya Policiya (police story) and while it is atranslation from the French, most novels deal with the struggle between thepolice and the criminal elements from within the religious format of the strugglebetween good and evil and the ever present element of conscious and thebelief in Divine justice (Fawzi: 1997). When the police element is mentioned itis not a ‘detective’ work but a mere reference to what the police do. Likewise,on television, there is no police drama or detective drama in Arabic. Over thepast fifty years, most viewers in Australia and elsewhere grew up watchingdetective drama on television such as CSI, NYDP, LA Law, Miami Vice,Cojack, Colombo, Ironside, Quincy, The Fugitive and Perry Mason. This doseof detective/legal drama offers a cultural framework of the law, the rights ofcitizens, the types of problems with the law, police powers and methods andabove all it demystifies the police as the law enforcement organ of thegovernment. By contrast, the police in Egypt, for instance, have been able toobject to the way they are projected in cinema and can censor a film. The firstever full-fledged detective/legal drama With prior intent (2012) focused on acorrupt female lawyer did not escape the criticism of the Egyptian Law Society.


668Against this background, interpreting for Arabic-speaking persons inAustralia would encounter difficulties explaining the police caution, the terms ofbail, the concept of an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO), thepre-committal proceedings, the significance of entering a plea, the differencebetween a hearing and a trial, the difference between an instructing solicitorand a barrister. A part from the cost of being represented in court, most Arabicspeakerswould not understand the significance of the adversarial system andwould want to speak to the judge, directly, and to present their own case. Mostdo so without knowing the rules and more importantly, most do so for the firsttime ever. It is not uncommon to hear the phrase “This is my first time ever to acourt’ which is a direct result of the legal culture in Arabic: the court is the lastresort. There is a scene in Al-Ustaza Fatima (1952), a light comedy involving asimple uneducated man who decides to represent himself in court andaddresses the judge in a comic fashion reflecting his limited world view andlack of knowledge of the court system (Kassem: 2002). The lack of knowledgeof the Arabic legal system is actually high among most educated persons andthe knowledge of the Australian system comes, almost always, a posteriori,after the need has been established. Police interpreters who have a clearunderstanding of the Australian legal culture would have an easier taskexplaining the significance of the police taking out an ADVO, on behalf of afemale, to an unhappy Arabic-speaking male, even if the wife has asked thepolice and the court to drop the charge and withdraw about the complaint. Thisis why legal terminology is not only important but essential in police and courtinterpreting. Moreover, training police interpreters in the pre-committalproceedings which involves a significant work with the police is paramount. In


669order to do this, a deeper appreciation of the role legal culture plays in thework of police and court interpreters is required.GOING TO COURTUnlike (Arabic) military interpreters, police interpreters have not beenexamined by the academic literature or in the media. Their role andcontribution to the administration of justice remains, rather erroneously, withinthe scope of court interpreting. Little focus has been given to the contributionand challenges faced by police interpreters prior to the matter going to court(Krouglov: 1999). Police interpreters carry out a lot of interdisciplinary work(varying from interpreting in different modes to translation, subtitling andliaising with the police offering cultural and linguistic advice) from the momentan offence is committed, statements taken, victims or suspects interviewed,investigations completed and till the police case is completed and a brief isgiven to the Department of Public Prosecution to be tried in a court of law.When interpreters appear in court, a lot has been said and done and theexperience gained remains unexamined, if not wasted, since neither the policenor the courts attempt to reflect on the experience of police interpreters. Courtinterpreting continues to be the only visible aspect of legal interpreting.CONCLUSIONIn legal interpreting a great deal of work is carried out with and for the policeyet for too long police interpreting has been overshadowed by the more visiblecourt interpreting. Throughout this paper, the focus has been on thesignificance of specialization in this area of forensic linguistics. It has taken the


670less-examined area of Arabic interpreting for the police as its main focus. Incalling for training and specialization in forensic linguistics, the paper has beenforthright in casting light on some of the inadequacies of the current system oftesting, teaching and training generalist interpreters. Interpreting for the policeshould be seen as an area sui generis that requires closer academicexamination and research.While the professional and cultural foci have been based on the Arabicspeakingcommunity, the same applies to all other communities andirrespective of their language, culture or levels of democracy and politicalsophistication.The specialization in police interpreting is likely to become more evident notonly in migrant communities but throughout the world as Human RightsOrganizations and the World Trade Organization streamline existing nationallaws and introduce newer legislations that will facilitate the mobility of peopleand particularly workers. This can already be seen in places such as theEuropean Union, the United Kingdom, South East Asia and the Arab GulfStates, particularly Dubai.


671ReferencesBerk-Seligson, S. (2002). The bilingual courtroom: court interpreters in thejudicial process. 2 nd edition. Chicago. University of Chicago Press.Bird. G. (1995). “International law, natural justice and language rights inAustralia”. In D. Eades, (Ed.). Language in evidence. Sydney. UNSWPress.DFAT (2012) About Australia: people and culturehttp://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/people_culture.htmlEdwards, A. (1995). The practice of court interpreting. Amsterdam. JohnBenjaminsEinfeld, M.(1991) Language ability and justice. In P. Martin, C. Moore, C.Applekamp (Eds.) Interpreting and the law. Proceedings of aConference held on 28 July 1988. Canberra. NAATI.Fawzi, N. (1997) El Shorta fi ‘youn el-cinema el-masriya (Police through theeyes of Egyptian cinema). Cairo. General Book Organization.M. <strong>Gamal</strong>, “Examining translation experience”, in The American Journal ofTranslation Vol.2. No 4. Academic Press. Utah. 2010.M. <strong>Gamal</strong>, “Forensic linguistics for barristers 101. Paper presented at theApplied Linguistics Association of Australia Conference. 1-3 December2011.Unpublished.Gonzalez, R. & V. Vasquez, H. Mikkelson (Eds.).(1991). Fundamentals ofcourt interpretation. Durham, North Carolina. Carolina Academic Press.Gibbons, J. (Ed.) (1994). language and the law. London. Longman.Gray, P. (2010). The expert witness problem. In Speech, Language and theLaw. Vol.17, No.2 London. Equinox.


672Hale, S. (1999). Interpreters’ treatment of discourse markers in courtroom. InForensic Linguistics: the International Journal of Speech, Language andthe Law. Vol 6.1. London. Equinox.Hale, S. (2004). The discourse of court interpreting: discourse practices of thelaw, the witness and the interpreter. Amsterdam. John Benjamins.Kassem, M. (2002) Daleel al-Aflam fil qarn el-‘ishreen fi misr wal ‘alam al-‘arabi(Guide to Twentieth Century films in Egypt and the Arab world). Cairo.Madbouli Books.M. Kirby (1991). The right to an interpreter- A Damascus road to convention. InP. Martin, C. Moore, C. Applekamp (Eds.) Interpreting and the law.Proceedings of a Conference held on 28 July 1988. Canberra. NAATI.Kirby, M. (1994). Foreword. In Robinson’s Handbook for legal interpreters.Sydney. The law book company.Krouglov, A. (1999). “Police interpreting” in The Translator Vol. 5.2.Manchester. St Jerome.Lee, J. (20011). Translatability of speech style in court interpreting. In TheInternational journal of Speech, Language and the Law l. Vol 18.1.Equinox.Lee, J. & A. Buzo (2009). Community language interpreting. A workbook.Melbourne. Federation Press.Martin, P. & C. Moore & C. Applekamp (Eds.). (1991). Interpreting and thelaw. Proceedings of a conference held on 28 July 1988. Canberra.NAATI.Mikkelson, H. (1998). Towards a redefinition of the role of the court interpreter.Interpreting 3.1.


673Nakane, I. (2009). “The Myth of an 'Invisible Mediator': An Australian CaseStudy of English-Japanese Police Interpreting”, in the Journal ofMultidisciplinary International Studies. 2009.Robinson, L. (1994) Handbook for legal interpreters. Sydney. The law bookcompany.Wadensjo, C. (2008). Community interpreting. In Routledge Encyclopedia ofTranslation Studies. 2 nd edition. London. Routledge.FilmographyF.H. von Donnersmarck, The Tourist, 2010.F. Abdel-wahab, El-Ustaza Fatima, 1952. (Egypt)

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