Muhammad Gamal - Humanities

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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
Page 3: 657quality and integrity of the int
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Page 12 and 13: 666(Gibbons: 1994) interpreters’
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Page 18 and 19: 672Hale, S. (1999). Interpreters’

Muhammad Gamal - Humanities

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