“The contracting out of key services by the Ministry of Justice could end in a ‘multiple train crash’ because the department displays naivety and lacks the capacity to understand what it is doing, according to a parliamentary watchdog.”
The Guardian, 20th June 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Regina v Applied Language Solutions Ltd: [2013] EWCA Crim 326; [2013] WLR (D) 123
“Where a company had an agreement with the Ministry of Justice to provide interpreters, including interpreters for criminal proceedings, it was essential that an interpreter was provided on every occasion when one was required. If there was successive non-attendance of an individual interpreter or successive failures in systems a court was entitled to view that as amounting to serious misconduct rendering the company liable for the costs thereby incurred by the Crown Prosecution Service and the defence.”
WLR Daily, 25th March 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
“The company contracted by the Ministry of Justice to provide court interpreters has won an appeal against a decision to award a third-party costs order after a sentencing hearing was adjourned due an interpreter’s non-appearance.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 26th March 2013
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“The privatisation of court interpreting services has been ‘shambolic’, MPs warn saying it has caused more trials to collapse and suspects to be remanded unnecessarily in custody.”
The Guardian, 6th February 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Nearly 200 trials were disrupted or postponed in England and Wales in the first quarter of the year because interpreters provided by a private firm failed to appear, according to a damning report by the select committee.”
The Guardian, 14th December 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Britain’s leading translators today accused the government of endangering justice with a cut-price private contract for courtroom interpreters, which is ‘dangerous to the interests of public safety.'”
The Independent, 23rd October 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“The Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) privatisation of court interpreting services became ‘fully operational before it was ready’ and was initially ‘wholly inadequate’, according to a highly critical report by the National Audit Office.”
The Guardian, 12th September 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Interpreters from a private company have been working in courts in England and Wales without the required criminal record checks, the BBC has been told.”
BBC News, 9th August 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“A court descended into farce when a man translating vital evidence revealed he was only there because his wife – the real interpreter – was too busy.”
Daily Telegraph, 20th July 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“The way in which a private contractor was awarded a £300m monopoly of court interpreting services throughout England and Wales and the firm’s ‘underperformance’ are to be investigated by MPs.”
The Guardian, 20th July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Up to 50 court cases a day were delayed or postponed because of failures by a translation contractor to provide an adequate service,.”
Daily Telegraph, 24th May 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A defendant dubbed a ‘pervert’ by mistake, a rabbit applying to be a Czech language specialist and solicitors using the Google Translate website to understand their clients: the debacle surrounding court interpreters has had its amusing moments.”
The Independent, 21st May 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A trial at a London court collapsed last Friday after it was revealed that an interpreter employed by Applied Language Solutions had made a grave interpreting error.”
The Lawyer, 17th April 2012
Source: www.thelawyer.com
“Court staff and lawyers have been forced to use Google Translate to communicate with non-English speaking defendants because of problems with the new interpreter service, it has been claimed.”
Daily Telegraph, 27th March 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“The attorney general has been urged to bring contempt of court proceedings against the private contractor awarded a monopoly to provide interpreters to all courts in England and Wales.”
The Guardian, 19th March 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Very few people know what the job of a professional court interpreter involves. ALS is trying to get it done on the cheap.”
The Guardian, 15th March 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has decided to allow courts to revert to the old system of selecting interpreters from the National Register of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI) in order to avoid further hearings being adjourned as a result of interpreters from a new agency failing to turn up to court.”
The Lawyer, 23rd February 2012
Source: www.thelawyer.com
“A £300m private contract providing interpreters to all courts across England and Wales has been partially abandoned two weeks after being launched.”
The Guardian, 16th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The government is hoping to save £18m a year by changing how interpreters are provided for court hearings – but it is said the new system is causing chaos and costly delays.”
BBC News, 13th February 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Detainees at police stations in four areas of the north-west are at risk of miscarriages of justice due to the police forces’ use of inadequate interpreters, the Gazette has been told.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 3rd February 2011
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
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