Translating
for A Non-English Speaking Suspect At a Police station
On April 1st 2003, revised versions of the Police
and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Codes of Practice came into
in force. The Codes set out procedures for police to follow when
investigating crime and exercising their powers under PACE.
The changes update the codes to reflect changes in legislation,
particularly police powers, and the developments and improvements
in operational police practice and procedures, particularly concerning
the care of persons in custody, which have taken place since the
previous major revisions in 1995.
The provisions of Codes C and E include a range of safeguards for
suspects when they are questioned by police. The provisions governing
the conduct and tape recording of interviews help police to ensure
that interview evidence is admissible in court.
Code C, paragraph 13 deals specifically with interpreters and sets
out the circumstances under which police must call for an interpreter.
Paragraph 13.4 sets out the method for recording (taking) a statement
from a non-English speaking suspect; as follows:
“13.4 In the case of a person making a statement other than
in English:
(a) the interpreter shall record the statement in the language it
is made;
(b) the person shall be invited to sign it;
(c) an official English translation shall be made in due course.“
The interpreter must be allowed sufficient time to make a written
note of each question and answer.
The general rule for witness statements from non-English speakers
is that the witness must have read and confirmed by signature their
written statement in their own language, and this can subsequently
be formally translated. A signature on a statement which has already
been translated, and which therefore the witness cannot have read
and understood, can make such a statement inadmissible at court.
This has been confirmed in the cases of Saifi v (1) Governor of
HM Prison Brixton (2) Union of India (2001) TLR 24/1/2001: (2001)
Crim LR 653: (2001): 4 All ER 168 and R v Raynor (2000) TLR 19/9/2000.
The situation is exactly the same where the statement is from a
suspect and provided within a taped interview. A suspect's statement
made other than in English can only be admitted as evidence in a
criminal trial if it is written in the language which the person
speaks, the person has been allowed to read it and confirm that
they understand what it says and signed it (separate rules apply
if the person cannot or refuses to read it). When the original statement
has been recorded and signed in this way, a translation can be made
and used in court.
Most police interviews nowadays are tape-recorded but the same
principles would apply to any written statement made by a suspect
under caution.
Inspector Brian Roberts and Amanda Clement
Criminal Justice Office Linguistic & Forensic Medical Services
Metropolitan Police Service
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