Linguistic Study of Court Interpreting in Lay Judge Trials in Japan

Abstract

In Japan, the increase of immigrant workers who do not speak Japanese is a relatively new phenomenon and the government is not yet fully prepared to cope with the resulting communication problems. Language services such as interpreting and translation for non-Japanese-speaking residents have been made available, often on an ad hoc basis. There is no well-developed public certification system nor systematic training programs for so-called “community interpreters.” This article mainly discusses current issues of court interpreting which is one of the most important areas of community interpreting and research findings of recent years, with a special focus on the lay judge system introduced in 2009. There have been several interpreter-mediated court cases in which accuracy of interpreting became an issue. Most such problems are due to the poor interpreting skills of some court interpreters and the lack of a proper screening system and adequate training programs. Recent linguistic studies based on court experiments have revealed that court interpreters’ renditions influence the formation of impressions by and decision-making of lay judges. An example of such findings is that if the interpreter chooses words which have more incriminating connotations, lay judges tend to perceive the defendant as more blameworthy. Court interpreters can affect legal proceedings in many ways, even when they make no obvious mistranslation in meaning. These kinds of data-driven linguistic studies can elucidate realities in terms of the impact of interpreting, which can lead to better awareness toward quality control in various areas of community interpreting.