Behind the screens: Exploring the experiences of online court interpreters in England and Wales

Anna Tsalapatanis

doi:10.35295/osls.iisl.2689

Authors

Anna Tsalapatanis University College London (UCL) Social Research Institute https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7096-7485

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl.2689

Keywords:

Online Hearings, Interpreting, British Sign Language, Translation, COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Despite their crucial role in facilitating participation for those unable to communicate effectively in the language spoken by the court, foreign language and British Sign Language interpreters have received comparatively little attention in research on online hearings and barely feature even in internal evaluations conducted by the court service. To help fill this knowledge and evidence gap, this paper draws on findings from a national survey conducted in England and Wales by the ESRC-funded Supporting Online Justice Project, which received an overwhelming number of responses from interpreters (n=323). It delves deeper into the diverse concerns of interpreters with experience of the pandemic-driven move to online hearings, including problems with technology, the lack of information and access to documents, the specific issues of being remote to the person they are interpreting for as well as concerns about how the online hearing space is laid out and managed.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Global Statistics

73 Views	28 Downloads
101 Total

Author Biography

Anna Tsalapatanis, University College London (UCL) Social Research Institute

Dr Anna Tsalapatanis is an Associate Professor in Sociology and Social Policy at University College London. Her research interests include access to justice, digital disadvantage, migration, bureaucracy, and social policy, and she has extensive experience across a range of qualitative and mixed method research methodologies.

References

Aliverti, A., and Seoighe, R., 2017. Lost in translation? Examining the role of court interpreters in cases involving foreign national defendants in England and Wales. New Criminal Law Review [online], 20(1), 130–156. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1525/nclr.2017.20.1.130 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/nclr.2017.20.1.130

Amato, A., Spinolo, N., and González Rodríguez, M. J., 2018. Handbook of remote interpreting [online]. Bologna: University of Bologna, Department of Interpretation and Translation. Available at: https://doi.org/10.6092/unibo%2Famsacta%2F5955

Braun, S., 2013. Keep your distance? Remote interpreting in legal proceedings: A critical assessment of a growing practice1. Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting [online], 15(2), 200–228. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.15.2.03bra DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.15.2.03bra

Braun, S., 2015. Remote interpreting. In: H. Mikkelson and R. Jourdenais, eds., The Routledge handbook of interpreting. London: Routledge, 252–367.

Braun, S., 2019. Technology and interpreting. In: M. O’Hagan, ed., The Routledge handbook of translation and technology. London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315311258-16

Braun, S., Davitti, E., and Dicerto, S., 2018. Video-mediated interpreting in legal settings: Assessing the implementation. In: S. Braun, J. Napier and R. Skinner, eds., Here or there [online]. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press, 144–180. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2rh2bs3.9 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2rh2bs3.9

Braun, S., and Taylor, J. L., 2011a. Video-mediated interpreting: an overview of current practice and research. In: S. Braun and J. L. Taylor, eds., Videoconference and remote interpreting in criminal proceedings. Cambridge/Antwerp: Intersentia.

Braun, S., and Taylor, J.L., 2011b. AVIDICUS comparative studies – part I: Traditional interpreting and remote interpreting in police interviews. In: S. Braun and J. L. Taylor, eds., Videoconference and remote interpreting in criminal proceedings. Cambridge/Antwerp: Intersentia.

Brennan, M., 1999. Signs of injustice. The Translator [online], 5(2), 221–246. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.1999.10799042 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.1999.10799042

Brown-Blake, C., 2006. Fair trial, language and the right to interpretation. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights [online], 13(4), 391–412. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1163/157181106779848368 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/157181106779848368

Clark, J., 2021. Evaluation of remote hearings during the COVID 19 pandemic. HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

Durdiyeva, S., 2026. Cultural, linguistic and procedural barriers to access to justice in immigration and asylum tribunals [online]. Public Law Project. Available at: https://publiclawproject.org.uk/content/uploads/2026/07/PLP_Cultural-Linguistic-and-Procedural-Barriers.pdf

Elder, B. C., and Schwartz, M. A., 2018. Effective deaf access to justice. The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education [online], 23(4), 331–340. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/eny023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/eny023

Gibb, R., and Good, A., 2014. Interpretation, translation and intercultural communication in refugee status determination procedures in the UK and France. Language and Intercultural Communication [online], 14(3), 385–399. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2014.918314 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2014.918314

House of Commons Justice Committee, 2013. Interpreting and translation services and the Applied Language Solutions contract. No. HC 645.

House of Lords Public Services Committee, 2025. Lost in translation? Interpreting services in the courts. No. HL Paper 87.

Hynes, J., 2025. Physical and virtual spaces across a continuum of remoteness: Exploring spatial ruptures in remote court hearings. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers [online], 50(2), e12694. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12694 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12694

Jukes, C., 2024. Looking at the future of remote hearings – Inside HMCTS [online]. Inside HMCTS Blog. 25 January. Available at: https://insidehmcts.blog.gov.uk/2024/01/25/looking-at-the-future-of-remote-hearings/

Loizou-Griggs, M., and Torrilla, T., 2022. Preparing our courts to support Deaf jurors - Inside HMCTS [online]. 28 September. Inside HMCTS Blog. Available at: https://insidehmcts.blog.gov.uk/2022/09/28/preparing-our-courts-to-support-deaf-jurors/

Lumsden, K., and Black, A., 2022. “Sorry, I’m dead, it’s too late now”: Barriers faced by D/deaf citizens when accessing police services. Disability & Society [online], 37(3), 476–495. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1829555 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1829555

Ministry of Justice (MOJ), 2026. A Guide to language interpreter and translation services statistics [online]. 25 June. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2026/a-guide-to-language-interpreter-and-translation-services-statistics

Mulcahy, L., and Tsalapatanis, A., 2022. Exclusion in the interests of inclusion: who should stay offline in the emerging world of online justice? Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law [online], 44(4), 455–476. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2022.2136713 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2022.2136713

Mulcahy, L., Rowden, E., and Tsalapatanis, A., 2022. Supporting online justice: Enhancing accessibility, participation and procedural fairness. Oxford: Centre for Socio-legal Studies.

Myers, D. A., 2020. On demand: Transforming virtual remote interpreting. Trends in State Courts, 2020, 8–13.

Napier, J., and Haug, T., 2017. Justisigns: A European overview of sign language interpreting provision in legal settings. Law, Social Justice & Global Development [online], 2016(2). Available at: https://doi.org/10.31273/LGD.2017.2015 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/LGD.2017.2015

National Register of Public Service Interpreters, 2016. National Register of Public Service Interpreters Code of professional conduct.

Roziner, I., and Shlesinger, M., 2010. Much ado about something remote. Interpreting [online], 12(2), 214–247. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.12.2.05roz DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.12.2.05roz

Russell, D., and Takeda, K., 2015. Consecutive interpreting. In: H. Mikkelson and R. Jourdenais, eds., The Routledge handbook of interpreting. London: Routledge, 108–123.

Skinner, R., 2024. “When he comes into police custody, he has certain rights”: The burden for achieving access in a video-mediated interpreted custody interview. International Journal of Police Science & Management [online], 26(3), 381–394. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/14613557241245585 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14613557241245585

Skinner, R., and Napier, J., 2022. “Help is on the way”: (In)accessible policing in the UK through sign language interpreting. Translation and Interpreting Studies. The Journal of the American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association [online], 17(3), 455–477. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.21040.ski DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.21040.ski

Stern, L., 2012. What can domestic courts learn from international courts and tribunals about good practice in interpreting?: From the Australian war crimes prosecutions to the International Criminal Court. T&I REVIEW, 7–30.

Stone, J. H. D., 2018. Court interpreters and fair trials. Cham: Springer.

Tsalapatanis, A., 2024. Written evidence to HL Public Services Committee [online]. Available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/130846/html/

Tsalapatanis, A., Mulcahy, L., and Rowden, E., 2022. Methodology report: Supporting online justice project [online]. Oxford: Centre for Socio-Legal Studies. Available at: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d2f7afe7-b459-44eb-8d4a-d3f933eee589/files/scz30pt669

Tyer, T., 2018. Don’t leave me hanging on the telephone: Telework, professional isolation, and the work of video remote British Sign Language/English interpreters. In: J. Napier, R. Skinner and S. Braun, eds., Here or there [online]. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press, 61–88. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2rh2bs3.6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2rh2bs3.6

Wong, W. K., 2019. The role of preparation using case-related materials in court interpreting [online]. PhD Thesis. UNSW Sydney. Available at: https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/21804