My wife and I were both injured in a car accident. However, my wife does not speak English, she needs an interpreter. Will that be a problem for her to go to court with me? Will she be able to have an injury case against the driver that caused the accident?
Yes, there will be no problem for your wife to bring a case with an interpreter. New York has been a melting pot of immigrants for centuries. A City this size has multiple languages and cultures. So the Courts have adapted to accommodate its citizens by granting access to Courts for all individuals, regardless of their language.
At Trial
Your wife has the right to have a court appointed interpreter if she testifies in Court. Litigants do not have to pay for their interpreter. 22 NYCRR 217.1. The Office of Court Administration certifies interpreters for Court. Many interpreters are per diem employees and file an oath with the county clerk in which they work. Judiciary Law section 387. Court interpreters have a code of ethics. They are required to be unbiased toward either party. Their job is solely to interpret a witnesses statements.
Judges must scrutinize the interpreters. The Office of Court Administration has issued a “bench card” to guide judges. For example, if the interpreter appears to carrying on a full conversation with a witness while only giving terse one or two word answers, then the judge must intervene. The judge must instruct the interpreter to just interpret the language and not become an advocate for the witness. See “bench card” reprinted in Matter of Yovanny L., 338 Misc3d 894, 931 NYS2d 485 (Fam Ct 2011).
Depositions
Similarly, your wife would not pay if she testifies in a deposition (New York attorneys call depositions “examinations before trial”). The opposing party who wishes to question your wife in a deposition must pay for the interpreter. CPLR section 3114.
Conduct During Testimony
Even if a witness understands some English, once they start with an interpreter, they must continue to use the interpreter. This means that even if your wife might understand a question or certain words in English, she must wait for the translation to be completed. She then must answer the question in her native tongue and wait for the interpreter to interpret her answer back into English. The jury and court reporter will only consider the English questions and answers as stated by the attorney and interpreter respectively.
A prior post describes the way you and wife should behave during a deposition. But that post pertains to conduct for all witnesses during a deposition, not just witnesses testifying with an interpreter.
By James Santner, Esq.
If you have questions about a similar situation, feel free to contact us. Consultations are free and there is no fee unless we win.