NC courts seek more money for interpreters; groups filed complaint about access in civil cases

[The Northerner]

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina court system is asking for more money for interpretation services, which is the focus of a filing with the U.S. Justice Department by three groups who represent people who don't speak English well enough to function in the judicial system.

A spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the Courts says the office is seeking additional resources for interpretation services from the Legislature this year, as it has in the past.

The Latin American Coalition, the Muslim American Society of Charlotte and the Vietnamese Coalition of Charlotte filed the complaint on Monday with the U.S. Department of Justice about the lack of interpretation services in civil courts. AOC spokeswoman Sharon Gladwell says it would cost about $1.4 million to expand interpretation services to civil cases.

Source: http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/0a79be3389964d9eb94b3eb528b0278a/NC--Court-Interpreters/

[murphyj87]

1. In Canada...

In the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms it is a constitutional right that an interpreter must be provided when a person has to appear in court as a witness or defendant if they do not speak either French or English or are deaf. Someone who is a defendant and who does speak French or English has the right to have the proceedings in his first language.