Ethical challenges in different interpreting settings

Abstract

This article addresses professional ethics and codes of conduct for interpreters who work in different interpreter-mediated settings and therefore have to adapt to a great range of different circumstances and expectations. Codes of ethics provide guidelines but some of them remain very general when it comes to specific questions such as that of impartiality and of the role an interpreter assumes in any given setting. It will be argued that although some of the more general rules apply across the board, those that are more specific need special attention as they have to be applied differently from one setting to the next. It therefore pleads for a training environment in which setting-specific deontologies can be trained, as well as for more information to the general public who must understand that well-trained interpreters in all fields are essential for the services to be rendered in bi- or multilingual intercultural encounters of all types.