Interpreting strategies in prosecution interviews using ...wp.videoconference-interpreting.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/... · EU Criminal Justice Programme, Project JUST/2010/JPEN/AG/1558,

12-14 January 2010 1

AVIDICUS 2 Assessment of Video-Mediated Interpreting in the Criminal Justice Services

EU Criminal Justice Programme, Project JUST/2010/JPEN/AG/1558, 2011-2013

Interpreting strategies

in prosecution interviews

using ‘videoconference interpreting’

Joanna Miler-Cassino, Zofia Rybińska

TEPIS, Poland

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

Multilingual Videoconferencing in Legal Proceedings

Antwerp, 19th-20th April 2013

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Stage of the criminal procedure: pre-trial hearing of a witness

Three scenarios: • drug trafficking case • car accident case • credit card fraud case

Each scenario tested in three different settings: • Face-to-face

• VCI 1 (the prosecutor with the interpreter at one location, the witness at another location)

• VCI 2 (the prosecutor at one location, the witness with the interpreter at another location)

TEPIS, POLAND AVIDICUS 2 - INTERPRETING STRATEGIES 2

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TEPIS, POLAND AVIDICUS 2 - INTERPRETING STRATEGIES

KEY ASSUMPTIONS

Real-life scenarios

Full course of a witness hearing from the beginning till the end (approx. half an hour)

Room arrangement and seating of the witness, the prosecutor and the interpreter

as in a real-life situation

Interpreters – licensed court interpreters with

interpreting experience to ensure good quality

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4

TESTS SCHEDULE

Tuesday

12th January 2010

Wednesday

13th January 2010

Thursday

14th January 2010

SCENARIO 1

DRUG TRAFFICKING CASE

SCENARIO 2

CAR ACCIDENT CASE

SCENARIO 3

CREDIT CARD FRAUD CASE

Face-to-face

CI: A

Face-to-face

CI: R

Face-to-face

CI: M

VCI 1

(Interpreter with the Prosecutor)

CI: M

VCI 1


CI: A

VCI 1


CI: R

VCI 2

(Interpreter with the Witness)

CI: R

VCI 2


CI: M

VCI 2


CI: A


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MAIN HEARING ROOM

5 TEPIS, POLAND AVIDICUS 2 - INTERPRETING STRATEGIES

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VIDEOTERMINAL 1

CAMERA

42’ SCREEN

DVD RECORDER


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VIDEOTERMINAL 2

CAMERA

DOCUMENT CAMERA

17’ SCREEN


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DOCUMENT CAMERA


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FACE-TO-FACE SETTING

INTERPRETER WITNESS

PROSECUTOR

THE SCREEN WAS OFF DURING THE HEARING


VCI 1 SETTING INTERPRETER WITH THE PROSECUTOR, WITNESS AT A REMOTE LOCATION

TEPIS, POLAND AVIDICUS 2 - INTERPRETING STRATEGIES 10

INTERPRETER

WITNESS AT ANOTHER LOCATION

PROSECUTOR

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VCI 2 SETTING INTERPRETER WITH THE WITNESS, PROSECUTOR AT A REMOTE LOCATION

THE WITNESS AND THE INTERPRETER AT ONE LOCATION

THE PROSECUTOR ALONE AT ANOTHER LOCATION


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STRATEGIES


Analysis of strategies*

adopted by professional interpreters

in order to solve a problem

in reaching a communicative goal

*Strategy - a way of dealing with a specific communication problem

(Andrew Chesterman)

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STRATEGIES – SPELLING PROBLEMS


Example (Day 3, Credit Card Fraud, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote):

Prosecutor: Miejsce zamieszkania świadka.

Interpreter: Your current address.

Witness: 117 22nd Fyvie Avenue, New York.

Interpreter: 5 V Avenue.

Witness: Fyvie.

Interpreter: New York.

Witness: Fyvie Avenue.

Interpreter: 5 E Avenue, New York. OK. 117.

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Example (Day 1, Drug Trafficking, VMI-B: interpreter with witness, prosecutor remote):

Prosecutor: Imiona pani rodziców.

Interpreter: Your parent, your parents’ first names.

Witness: Arthur and Anna.

Interpreter: Artur i Ana.

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Example (Day 3, Credit Card Fraud, VMI-B: interpreter with witness, prosecutor remote):

Prosecutor: Nazwisko rodowe świadka. [Family name of the witness.]

Interpreter: [Eh] Your maiden name?

Witness: Hale.

Interpreter: Hill.

Recording Clerk: Jak to się pisze? [How do you spell that?]

Prosecutor: Heel.

Recording Clerk: Proszę przeliterować to. [Please spell that.]

Prosecutor: Proszę panią [Eh] tłumacz o przeliterowanie tego nazwiska jeżeli

moglibyśmy prosić, żeby nie było pomyłek w protokole. [I’d like the interpreter to

spell this surname if that’s alright, so there are no mistakes in the record. ]

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Continued …

Interpreter: [pointing to her notebook]: Is it spelled that way?

Witness: No, Hale, H A L E.

Interpreter: H ...

Witness: A L E.

Interpreter: L [Eh].

Witness: L E.

Interpreter: A.

Witness: L E.

Interpreter: That way?

Witness: No.

Interpreter: [passing her notebook to the witness] Can you write it please?

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STRATEGIES - RECOMMENDATION


Recommendation:

whenever technically possible, it should be

recommended that in videoconferenced

interviews personal data taken during the

interview should be confirmed by foreign

language witness in writing and shown on the

document camera.

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STRATEGIES – SOURCE TEXT PRODUCTION


Example (Day 2, Car Accident, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote):

Witness: [Eh] I think it was [Eh] I can’t exactly remember, but I was driving

from my pals. [Eh] I was heading [Eh] towards Warsaw, yeah, but I had

to go to Piotrków [Eh].

Interpreter: Excuse me you were heading to Warsaw from Piotrków?

Witness: No, I was heading from Katowice from my pals’. The road, I

think, is towards Warsaw, but I was going to Piotrków.

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STRATEGIES – SOURCE TEXT RECEPTION


Example (Day 2, Car Accident, VMI-B: interpreter with witness, prosecutor remote):

Witness: [Eh] I saw the front nearside door was open. [Eh] There was a

woman there and...

Interpreter: Excuse me, front side door?

Witness: [Eh] Front nearside door.

Interpreter: Nearside. Nearside door, what’s which door is nearside?

Witness: Nearside door that’s the passenger’s ones and the offside

ones are the driver ones.

Interpreter: Exactly. So this is passenger’s, nearside. Passenger’s?

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Continued …

Witness: Uhm.

Interpreter: Passenger’s door. Front passenger’s door?

Witness: Yes.

Interpreter: [Pointing to her notebook] Here? Passenger?

Witness: [Eh] The vehicle was just like this. So that was the front

and that was the rear. This door was open. The nearside door.

Interpreter: Thank you. Uhm.

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Example (Day 2, Car Accident, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote):

Witness: The front nearside door was opened.

Interpreter: [Eh] I [Eh] przednia część [Eh] przód samochodu [Eh] [Eh] był

otwarty. [And the front part, front of the car was opened.]

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STRATEGIES – TARGET TEXT PRODUCTION


Example: (Day 1, Drug Trafficking, VMI-B: interpreter with witness, prosecutor remote):

Prosecutor: [Uhm] Proszę świadka w tym momencie [Eh] okażemy

świadkowi materiał poglądowy, materiał fotograficzny z wizer...

[ Now, we are going to show the witness evidence, photographic

evidence showing an ima...]

Interpreter: Now, we will present the chart...

Prosecutor: ...z wizerunk... z wizerunkami dziesięciu mężczyzn...

[ ...with an ima… with images of ten men.

Interpreter: With tiny images of ten men

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STRATEGIES

COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS


Establishing the mode of interpreting

Example: (Day 2, Car Accident, VMI-B: interpreter with witness, prosecutor remote B):

Prosecutor: Pani tlumacz proponował... [ I’d advise the interpreter...]

Witness: [Eh] Prosecutor: Przepraszam bardzo. Pani tłumacz proponowałbym, żeby pani tłumaczyła

[Eh] bardziej na bieżąco, ponieważ pewne rzeczy mogą, mogą uciec, że tak powiem z

pamięci. [ I do apologize. I’d suggest that you interpret more frequently,

because some things might escape, so to say, the memory. ].

Interpreter: So. OK. I need an interpretation break right now. OK?

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STRATEGIES



Turn taking (Interpreter)


Prosecutor: Zgodnie z procedurą, z procedurą, z polską procedurą karną podpisy...

[ Pursuant to procedure, to procedure, to the Polish criminal procedure,

signatures...]

Interpreter: Pursuant to the Pol...pol...Polish criminal proce... Pursuant to the

Polish criminal procedure.

Prosecutor: ...protokół przesłuchania świadka winny podpisać osoby w niej

uczestniczące. [..the witness examination record should be signed by

persons participating in it. ]

Interpreter: This proto... protocol of hearing of the witness should be, should

be signed by all the, by all participating persons.

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STRATEGIES



Turn taking (Prosecutor)


Prosecutor: Dziękuję bardzo. proszę świadka czy świadek ma jeszcze coś do dodania w

sprawie? [ Thank you. Does the witness have anything to add in the case? ]

Interpreter: [Eh] Do you have anything... .

Prosecutor: W tej sprawie oczywiście. [ In this case of course.]

Interpreter: ...to add on your own in this matter?

.

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STRATEGIES



Turn taking (Witness)

Example: (Day 1, Drug Trafficking, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote):

Prosecutor: Proszę świadka o okazanie dokumentu tożsamości, a pana informatyka

o okazanie go nam na naszym monitorze. [ May the witness present identity

document, and may the IT specialist show it to us on our screen please.]

Interpreter: Please show me...

Witness: My passport please...

Interpreter: Please show your identity document and Mr, and our IT

specialist will show us. This is the passport of the United Kingdom of Great Britain

and Northern Ireland. Number ABC113355.

.

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STRATEGIES



Prompt to stop/continue

Example: (Day 1, Drug Trafficking, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote):

Witness: [Eh] When I left the bathroom [Eh] someone knocked at our door and Joanna

opened the door and she let [Eh] in a man. [Eh] I didn’t know him and aft... She actually

introduced me to him. She was very friendly with him, so I thought they were friends. [Em]

She introduced him as a friend called Yasek or something like that. I’m not sure how to

pronounce it in Polish. I’m sorry. [Em]...

Interpreter: Interpretation break please.

[Eh] Właściwie wyszłam [Eh] z ł..., z łazienki [Eh] ktoś [Eh] za..., zapukał do drzwi.

Otworzyła Joanna. Wpuściła mężczyznę. Nie, nie znałam [Eh] go. Przedstawiła mi.

Wydawało mi się, że są [Eh] przyjaciółmi, był taką [Eh] bardzo przyjazną osobą. [Eh]

Wydaje mi się, że miał na imię Yasek, ale nie wiem czy jestem, czy moja wymowa

po polsku jest właściwa. Please continue.

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STRATEGIES



Taking control

Example: (Day 3, Credit Card Fraud, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote):

Witness: [Eh] So in Warsaw we had [Eh] few hours to spare, so we decided why just

to sit at the airport, [Eh] so we decided to go and see the old town in Warsaw. So

that’s how we spent our time. So we got there and after few hours, I think two and a

half hours, [Eh] we came back to the airport.

Interpreter: Please, one moment please. [Eh] Po dotarciu do Warszawy, stwierdziliśmy,

iż skoro już tu jesteśmy to nie ma sensu, abyśmy siedzieli na lotnisko, że możemy zwiedzić

miasto. Udaliśmy się na stare miasto, gdzie spędziliśmy około dwóch i pół godziny. You

spent approximately two and a half hours at the old town? Just about that. OK.

Please resume. Please continue.

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STRATEGIES



Taking control


Interpreter: Może po prostu przeczytam świadkowi cały protokół.

[ Maybe, I can just read the whole record to the witness.]

Prosecutor: No proszę bardzo.[By all means. ]

Interpreter: Będzie prościej. [It will be easier]

Prosecutor: Proszę bardzo. [Go ahead.]

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STRATEGIES



Awareness of what is going on in another location


Witness: What did he say?

Interpreter: [Eh] Prosecutor: Przesyłamy protokół drogą elektroniczną i poproszę świadka o podpisanie

protokołu. [ The record is going to be sent via email and I’d like the witness to

sign the record.]

Recording Clerk: [Indistinguishable words]

Prosecutor: [Indistinguishable words]

Interpreter: Now the protocol is being [Eh] sent to [Eh] us, to our place and

the Prosecutor also instructed me that when the protocol [Eh] is [Eh] [Eh]

when we already have [Eh] the protocol and when you sign [Eh] sign it,

you are also asked to [Eh] put.

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STRATEGIES



Physical resolution

- seems to contribute to resolving some problems

- applied by interpreters:

passing a notebook to the witness for her to write down her name

gestures

change in posture: leaning closer towards the witness to hear her better

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Recommendation:

it should be recommended that in

videoconferenced interviews the mode of

interpreting and signals to be used should be

agreed before the commencement of the

interview

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Recommendation:

it should be recommended that whenever

possible, the interpreter should be offered

documents for sight translation

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Recommendation:

it should be recommended that prosecutors

should make use of visual tools as an aid in

communication

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STRATEGIES - SUMMARY


The problems cited above may occur and do occur

during face-to-face interaction with the interpreter.

However, the frequency of at least some of these

problems seems to be noticeably greater in the

case of video-mediated interviews, when the

interpreter is separated from the foreign-language

speaking witness

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POLISH SOCIETY OF SWORN AND SPECIALIZED

TRANSLATORS TEPIS

POLSKIE TOWARZYSTWO TŁUMACZY

PRZYSIĘGŁYCH I SPECJALISTYCZNYCH TEPIS

ul. Krasińskiego 16 lok. 134 01-581 Warsaw Poland

phone/fax: +48 22-839-49-52

e-mail: [email protected]

website: www.tepis.org.pl

Thank you !


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.tepis.org.pl/

Documents

Interpreting strategies in prosecution interviews using ...wp.videoconference-interpreting.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/... · EU Criminal Justice Programme, Project JUST/2010/JPEN/AG/1558,