FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions About Court Interpreting
Fees - court rates for contract court interpreters
Late Cancellation Policies
For Attorneys
Witness Interpreters
Find an Interpreter
Local Roster of Interpreters
For Interpreters
Orientation Materials for Interpreters
Forms for Interpreters
Staff Travel Regulations (Attachment Staff Travel Regulations)
Rate & Information Sheet Attachments
Contract (Attachment Contract)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: What is a certified interpreter?
A: A certified interpreter is an individual who has passed an interpreter certification exam, usually mandated by legislation.
Q: Which languages are federally certified?
A: Federal certification is available in Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Navajo.
Q: If there is no federal certification in languages other than Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Navajo, who determines the qualifications of interpreters of languages other than those three?
A: It is up to the court to determine the qualifications of interpreters of languages where there is no federal certification available. New interpreters are screened by the manager of interpreter services and given an orientation session and relevant materials prior to being included on the court’s local roster. Interpreter performance is periodically reviewed by the manger. A resume, an interpreter’s written oath, and a signed Contract Court Interpreter Services Terms and Conditions document is kept on file in the department.
Q: What about criminal background checks for interpreters?
A: In keeping with the year 2000 directive from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, all interpreters contracted for work in court must undergo a background check by the U.S. Marshal. Interpreters must also provide their fingerprints for an FBI fingerprint check. Once the interpreter is cleared by the U.S. Marshal and the FBI, and ID tag with the interpreter’s picture, signed by the Clerk, is given to the interpreter prior to their first assignment. The interpreter is advised to display the tag at all times while on assignment.
Q: Who pays for the services of an interpreter in federal court?
A: In all judicial proceedings instituted by the United States that require the appointment of an interpreter, the cost of the court appointed interpreter will be paid by the United States from appropriations available to the judiciary, except that the United States attorney is responsible for securing the services of such interpreters for governmental witnesses. For a detailed description of which proceedings qualify for appointed interpreters, please refer to sections (a) and (j) of the Court Interpreters Act. When defense counsel need the services of an interpreter away from the courthouse, they should make arrangements to contact, contract, and pay the interpreter. Please see “For Attorneys” below.
Q: When does a case qualify for a court-appointed interpreter?
A: Interpreters may be appointed only for defendants (or defense witnesses) in proceedings instituted by the United States. Interpreter services for all other proceedings must be provided and paid for by the parties to the case.
Q: How does an attorney, in a civil case not instituted by the United States, go about finding an interpreter?
A: Attorneys may refer to the links below, starting with the paragraph entitled, “FIND AN INTERPRETER”
Q: What about persons who are deaf or hearing impaired?
A: Pursuant to the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1996, courts are required to provide reasonable accommodations to persons with communications disabilities. All participants in judicial proceedings who are deaf or hearing impaired are entitled to court-appointed interpreters or listening-assisted devices. Please refer to the court’s web page for additional information on ADA related services.
Q: Does the court certify written translations?
A: No. Interpreters certify their own translation work.
Q: Is there federal certification for translators?
A: No. Federally certified interpreters are not tested for translation ability. To find translators who are certified by the American Translators Association, you may search the membership listing at: www.atanet.org.
Q: Will the court pay to have the indictment or other documents translated into a foreign language?
A: In most instances, the translation of documents is an expense that the parties must bear. The use of the general authorization for court interpreting is not appropriate for payment of document translations. If a non-English-speaking defendant or other participants in a court proceeding need to be advised of the content of an English-language document, this should be done by means of a sight translation, where an interpreter orally renders the document into the foreign language. For sight translation, the contract interpreter rates set by the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts apply.
The rate schedule in effect as of May 1, 2009 is as follows:
Certified and Professionally Qualified and California State Certified Interpreters:
Full day: $384
Half day: $208
Overtime: $54 per hour or part thereof
California State Registered Interpreters:
Full day: $305
Half day: $165
Overtime: $45 per hour or part thereof
Language Skilled Interpreters:
This court has been authorized by the Administrative Office to match the rates paid by the State of California, i.e.,
Full day: $265
Half day: $147
Overtime: $35 per hour or part thereof
For fee schedules applicable to interpreters working with CJA appointed attorneys, please refer to the court’s web site under Attorney Assistance.
LATE CANCELLATION POLICIES
(Applicable to interpreters contracted through interpreter services)
The Interim Regulations of the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, implementing the Court Interpreters Amendments Act of 1988, state in pertinent part:
§19. Schedule of Fees, (d.): An interpreter shall be paid fees for services on the basis of days and half days. More than four hours and up to eight hours, excluding normal meal periods, constitutes a full day of service. Four hours or less shall constitute a half day’s service. An interpreter who is called to and appears at the courthouse and is not used shall be compensated for a minimum of a half day.
§21. Payment on Late Cancellation: If the interpreter is not notified by the court of the cancellation at least 24 hours prior to the start of an assignment, the interpreter shall be paid compensation for at least a half day’s services and, if applicable, per diem travel expenses in accordance with the Judiciary Travel Regulations, unless otherwise agreed in advance.
Interpreter services will make every effort to re-assign an interpreter in a late-cancellation situation; however, if another assignment cannot be found, the above cancellation policies will apply.
The interpreter services department of the United States District Court, Central District of California provides interpreter and translation service for the court and for other court-related agencies such as the pretrial services office and U.S. probation office. For a detailed description of which proceedings qualify for appointed interpreters, please refer to sections (a) and (j) of the Court Interpreters Act.
For cases that do not qualify for appointed interpreters, please refer to the court’s on-line local roster or other sources for names and telephone numbers of interpreters. You may also contact interpreter services at 213 894-4370 for additional information.
While the United States attorney’s office secures interpreters for prosecution witnesses, defense counsel should contact, contract, and pay for interpreters when their services are needed for attorney/client meetings away from the courtroom. Appointed counsel may refer to the Attorney Assistance, Criminal Justice Act Information section on the Court’s web site for guidance as to rates applicable to interpreting and translating service. The court’s Local Roster of interpreters and other resources are available on the court’s Internet homepage for review by other federal agencies, law firms and the public at large. (See links under “Find an Interpreter”, below.)
When interpreters are needed for prosecution witnesses, the United States attorney’s office secures contract interpreters as needed. When defense witnesses need interpreters, in cases that qualify for appointed interpreters (For a detailed description of which proceedings qualify for appointed interpreters, please refer to sections (a) and (j) of the Court Interpreters Act.), defense counsel should notify the courtroom deputy clerk who will then place a request with interpreter services. If the language needed by the witness is the same as the defendant’s, it is customary for the proceedings interpreters to also interpret for the defense witness. As with any interpreter requests, in cases that qualify for appointed interpreters, interpreter services should be notified of any witness interpreter changes, continuances, or cancellations as soon as possible in order to avoid late-cancellation situations. If a witness interpreter appears but is not used, that interpreter is entitled to payment:
§19. Schedule of Fees, (d):..........An interpreter who is called and appears at the courthouse and is not used shall be compensated for a minimum of a half day.
For interpreter assistance during attorney-client meetings, or when appointed interpreters are not indicated, counsel may refer to the links below. Appointed counsel may refer to the Attorney Assistance, Criminal Justice Act Information section on the Court’s home page for guidance as to rates applicable to interpreting and translating service, when such service is not incident to a court proceeding on the same half or full day. Please be aware that in order for interpreters to be admitted into federal detention facilities and courthouse lock-up areas, the interpreters must display the picture identification pass issued by the court. Interpreters are not admitted into the Metropolitan Detention Center or similar facilities without being accompanied by counsel or other legal representatives, or probation/pretrial officers.
LOCAL ROSTER OF INTERPRETERS
(Disclaimer: Please note that the certification levels indicated for each interpreter are self-reported, except in the case of AO-certified interpreters. Users should verify an interpreter’s credentials as needed.)
The following abbreviations are used in the court’s Local Roster to indicate various certifications held by the interpreters:
AO certified: the interpreter is certified by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Certification is currently available for Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Navajo.
ATA certified: the interpreter has passed an examination offered by the American Translators Association in a language pair for which examinations are available.
CA certified: the interpreter is certified by the Judicial Council of the State of California. Certification is currently available for Arabic, Armenian, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
CA registered: the interpreter has passed the Judicial Council Court Interpreters Program English fluency exam, offered to interpreters of languages where there is currently no certification examination available.
RID certified: the Sign language interpreter holds a certificate in one or more levels of proficiency evaluated by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.
Click here to view the Local Roster of Interpreters.
Click here to view the California Judicial Council’s listing of interpreters.
Click here to view the American Translators Association’s listing of translators.
Thinking of becoming an interpreter? The first requirement is near-native fluency in English and one other language. To find out more about the interpreting profession, visit the California Judicial Council’s website at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs for a comprehensive introduction to court interpreting in California.
For purposes of the United States District Court, the Court Interpreters Act of 1978 (PL 95-539) requires the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to prescribe, determine, and certify the qualifications of persons who serve as interpreters in federal courts, when the Director considers such certification to be merited. At this time, federal certification is available for Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Navajo. It is up to the court to determine the qualifications of interpreters of all other languages. To be included on the roster of official court interpreters, applicants in all languages are screened by the manager of the interpreter services department.
Spanish is the language in highest demand in the federal courts, with Mandarin, Vietnamese, Korean, Arabic, and Russian as runners-up at this court. In all, around 50 different languages are needed in California Central District each year. There are currently five Spanish staff interpreter positions (no vacancies), and the court’s local roster contains the names of over 300 interpreters of 90 different languages.
Guidelines for Qualifying Court Interpreters
AO (Administrative Office of the United States Courts) Certified Interpreters:
An interpreter who has successfully completed the Federal Court Interpreter examination for a language in which an examination is currently available. At this time, examinations are available for the Spanish, Navajo, and Haitian Creole languages.
Otherwise Qualified Interpreters:
When a certified interpreter is not reasonably available, the court may use an “otherwise qualified interpreter” (28 U.S.C. §1827(b)(2)). Otherwise qualified interpreters consist of the following two categories:
- professionally qualified interpreters (languages other than Spanish, Navajo, and Haitian Creole); and
- language-skilled interpreters (all languages).
Professionally Qualified Interpreters:
To be included on the Director’s master list of interpreters who are “professionally qualified,” an interpreter must demonstrate to the local court:
- Prior existing employment as a conference or seminar interpreter (staff or freelance) for the Office of Language Services of the United States Department of State, or the United Nations, or related agencies for which examinations are a condition of employment: or
Membership in good standing in a professional interpreters association whose by-laws and practices at a minimum require as follows:
- An application specifying a minimum of 50 hours of conference experience in the language(s) of expertise; and
The sponsorship of three active members in good standing who have been members of the same association for at least two years, whose language(s) are the same as the applicant’s, and who attest to having witnessed the performance of the applicant, as well as the accuracy of the statements on the application.
Interpreters wishing to be included on the master list of professionally qualified must submit a resume to the local district court detailing education, training, experience, current telephone number and mailing address, and when applicable, membership accreditation as required by this section.
Language Skilled Interpreters:
Interpreters who do not qualify as “professionally qualified” interpreters or certified interpreters, but who can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the court their ability to interpret court proceedings from English to a designated language and from that language to English, will be placed on the court’s local list and will be included on the Director’s master list as a “language skilled interpreter.”
The Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination (FCICE)
The Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination for Spanish-English interpreters is administered under contract from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts with the National Center for State Courts. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) also administers the Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification. For more information about NCSC see: www.ncsconline.org.
For more information about the FCICE go to: www.uscourts.gov/interpretprog/interp_prog.html.
Professional organizations for interpreters and translators
American Translators Association: www.atanet.org
National Association of Judiciary Interpreters & Translators: www.najit.org
Southern California Translators & Interpreters Association: www.scatia.org
National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf: www.rid.org
California Court Interpreters Association: www.ccia.org
ORIENTATION MATERIALS FOR INTERPRETERS
(See attachments below)
Court Interpreter Management Plan (Attachment 1) Revised 01/10/2006
Initial Appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge (Attachment 2) Revised 01/07/09
Post Indictment Arraignment (Attachment 3)
Pretrial Hearings (Attachment 4) Revised 12/01/08
Change of Plea (Attachment 5) Revised 10/28/08
The Trial (Attachment 6)
Interpreting at the Witness Stand (Attachment 7) Revised 1/07/09
Pre-sentence Investigation and Report (Attachment 8) Revised 11/05/08
Sentencing (Attachment 9) Revised 8/05/08
Government Witnesses (Attachment 10) Revised 10/26/05
Services Provided under CJA (Attachment 11) Revised 07/11/2007
Translation of Tapes, Videotapes, and Compact Discs (Attachment 12) Revised 07/11/2007
Translation of Documents (Attachment 13) Revised 07/11/2007
This section contains forms for interpreters on the court’s local roster. Many of the forms can be filled in on-line and printed for use by the interpreter. All forms submitted for payment must contain original signatures.
CJA 21 - out-of-court attorney-client interviews, tape & document translation
CJA 31- out-of-court attorney-client interviews in death penalty cases
Standard Form 1034 - all work done for the U.S. attorney’s office, including in-court interpreting for a government witness
I-2, Contract Interpreter Purchase Agreement and Invoice (Court’s claim form) - all in-court work, and all work incident to a court appearance during the same half day or full day; pretrial & probation interviews; sight-translation of pre-sentence investigation reports. Interpreter must be contracted by Interpreter Services, U.S. District Court, Central District of California
I-3, Interpreting Services Invoice (Psychological evaluation of inmate) - work done at the Metropolitan Detention Center
I-3, Interpreting Services Invoice (Intake screening of inmate) - work done at the Metropolitan Detention Center
I-4, Contract Interpreter Employment Application - fill out prior to orientation interview
I-5, Tape/Compact Disc Assignment Work Log |