Court Interpreter Change in Britain Causes Problems

Sara Bell of the BBC reported that a change in how interpreters are provided for court hearings is causing some chaos and costly delays.

For example, a suspect charged with perverting the course of justice was told they were accused of being a pervert. Another was told that being charged means they have to give the police money.

Courts in England and Wales previously hired freelance interpreters from a national register. The change is that interpreters are now provided by a single agency, Applied Language Solutions (ALS), which has promised to cut the annual translation bill by a third. You can read the full report here.