On the quality of outsourced interpreting services in criminal courts in Spain

Abstract

Globalisation, cross-border human mobility and international migration flows have prompted cross-linguistic and cross-cultural services (e.g. translation and interpreting) in all spheres of current societies, including a sector as sensitive as justice. In Spain, as in many other countries, in the last two decades, despite fierce criticism from practitioners and academics, there has been a trend for the authorities to meet these needs by outsourcing these services to private companies rather than hiring qualified professionals individually, on the grounds that this system allows for cheaper and more efficient services. This article presents the most relevant results of a research project based on the analysis of a corpus of authentic interpreter-mediated criminal proceedings, the first project of this kind in Spain. After briefly explaining how the project was carried out and how the corpus was transcribed, annotated and analysed, special attention is paid to the findings in relation to the interpreters’ performance in terms of fidelity and accuracy, and some illustrative examples are provided. The aim is to address the quality of outsourced interpreting services in Spanish criminal courts as well as to indicate areas for improvement.