Al Gallo
August 16, 2011
The
Bar of Cameroon highlights how important it is the presence of an
interpreter in court during criminal proceedings.
Blaise Djouokep's interview
of Paul Baombé for Le Quotidien Mutations
has revealed how essential it is to eliminate language problems when it
comes to getting to the truth in criminal trials.
One of the
fundamental rights of the defence is that the defendant is well
understood by the court and that the defendant and the judge fully
understand what is said by all other stakeholders.
It thus
appears that the problem of language is fundamental. Taking into
consideration the vast amount of different languages in the world, the
legislator has foreseen the cases where the language spoken by the
court members is not understood by the defendant.
In
situations where the accused communicates in a language that is not
understood by the court and other stakeholders, the court must suspend
the hearing, find an interpreter to translate the statements of the
accused to the court, as well as translate the statements of other
parties to the defendant, so that everyone is in phase.
This
is included in section 354 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which states
that if the accused does not speak an official language understood by
the members of the court, it should be requested the presence of an
interpreter who is at least 21 years of age. The interpreter must swear
that is able to faithfully translate the words of people speaking the
different languages, or translate accurately the document in question.
In these cases, the Clerk of the Court, witnesses or other parties to
the proceedings are not allowed to be interpreters for the sake of
objectivity.
If any of the parties questions the accuracy of
the translation, the Court can be asked to seek a new interpreter and
not take into account the statements made by the previous one.
The
law expresses a determination to ensure the objectivity of the
interpreter. If the interpreter does not convey all that has been said,
or there has been a failure to request a supplement of a statement by
one of the parties, the interpreter betrays his/her obligation. At that
point the person is put aside and another interpreter is requested.
There
are even cases when a deaf mute individual may be prosecuted; in such
situations section 357 of the Criminal Procedure Code provides for the
use of a sign language interpreter.
At this moment, the
Cameroonian courts don't have people recruited specially for this job.
There may be a list of translators, but there isn't a list of experts
in judicial jargon. Truly, the courts have to rely on someone who can
offer a level of objectivity and is willing to assist in the search for
the truth.
Al Gallo is the Editor of Translation Reference. Google: Google+
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