Interpreting strategies in prosecution interviews using videoconference interpreting

AVIDICUS 2 Assessment of Video-Mediated Interpreting in the Criminal Justice Services EU Criminal Justice Programme, Project JUST/2010/JPEN/AG/1558, 2011-2013 Interpreting strategies in prosecution interviews using videoconference interpreting Joanna Miler-Cassino, Zofia Rybińska TEPIS, Poland INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM Multilingual Videoconferencing in Legal Proceedings Antwerp, 19th-20th April 2013 BACKGROUND INFORMATION Stage of the criminal procedure: pre-trial hearing of a witness Three scenarios: drug trafficking case car accident case credit card fraud case Each scenario tested in three different settings: Face-to-face VCI 1 (the prosecutor with the interpreter at one location, the witness at another location) VCI 2 (the prosecutor at one location, the witness with the interpreter at another location) 2 12-14 January 2010 1

KEY ASSUMPTIONS Real-life scenarios Full course of a witness hearing from the beginning till the end (approx. half an hour) Room arrangement and seating of the witness, the prosecutor and the interpreter as in a real-life situation Interpreters licensed court interpreters with interpreting experience to ensure good quality 3 TESTS SCHEDULE Tuesday 12th January 2010 Wednesday 13th January 2010 Thursday 14th January 2010 SCENARIO 1 DRUG TRAFFICKING CASE Face-to-face CI: A VCI 1 (Interpreter with the Prosecutor) CI: M VCI 2 (Interpreter with the Witness) CI: R SCENARIO 2 CAR ACCIDENT CASE Face-to-face CI: R VCI 1 (Interpreter with the Prosecutor) CI: A VCI 2 (Interpreter with the Witness) CI: M SCENARIO 3 CREDIT CARD FRAUD CASE Face-to-face CI: M VCI 1 (Interpreter with the Prosecutor) CI: R VCI 2 (Interpreter with the Witness) CI: A 4 12-14 January 2010 2

MAIN HEARING ROOM 5 VIDEOTERMINAL 1 CAMERA 42 SCREEN DVD RECORDER 6 12-14 January 2010 3

VIDEOTERMINAL 2 17 SCREEN CAMERA DOCUMENT CAMERA 7 DOCUMENT CAMERA 8 12-14 January 2010 4

FACE-TO-FACE SETTING THE SCREEN WAS OFF DURING THE HEARING INTERPRETER WITNESS PROSECUTOR 9 VCI 1 SETTING INTERPRETER WITH THE PROSECUTOR, WITNESS AT A REMOTE LOCATION WITNESS AT ANOTHER LOCATION INTERPRETER PROSECUTOR 10 12-14 January 2010 5

VCI 2 SETTING INTERPRETER WITH THE WITNESS, PROSECUTOR AT A REMOTE LOCATION THE WITNESS AND THE INTERPRETER AT ONE LOCATION THE PROSECUTOR ALONE AT ANOTHER LOCATION 11 STRATEGIES Analysis of strategies* adopted by professional interpreters in order to solve a problem in reaching a communicative goal *Strategy - a way of dealing with a specific communication problem (Andrew Chesterman) 12 12-14 January 2010 6

STRATEGIES SPELLING PROBLEMS Example (Day 3, Credit Card Fraud, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote): Prosecutor: Miejsce zamieszkania świadka. Interpreter: Your current address. Witness: 117 22 nd Fyvie Avenue, New York. Interpreter: 5 V Avenue. Witness: Fyvie. Interpreter: New York. Witness: Fyvie Avenue. Interpreter: 5 E Avenue, New York. OK. 117. 13 STRATEGIES SPELLING PROBLEMS Example (Day 1, Drug Trafficking, VMI-B: interpreter with witness, prosecutor remote): Prosecutor: Imiona pani rodziców. Interpreter: Your parent, your parents first names. Witness: Arthur and Anna. Interpreter: Artur i Ana. 14 12-14 January 2010 7

STRATEGIES SPELLING PROBLEMS Example (Day 3, Credit Card Fraud, VMI-B: interpreter with witness, prosecutor remote): Prosecutor: Nazwisko rodowe świadka. [ Family name of the witness.] Interpreter: [Eh] Your maiden name? Witness: Hale. Interpreter: Hill. Recording Clerk: Jak to się pisze? [ How do you spell that?] Prosecutor: Heel. Recording Clerk: Proszę przeliterować to. [ Please spell that.] Prosecutor: Proszę panią [Eh] tłumacz o przeliterowanie tego nazwiska jeżeli moglibyśmy prosić, żeby nie było pomyłek w protokole. [ I d like the interpreter to spell this surname if that s alright, so there are no mistakes in the record. ] 15 STRATEGIES SPELLING PROBLEMS Continued Interpreter: [pointing to her notebook]: Is it spelled that way? Witness: No, Hale, H A L E. Interpreter: H... Witness: A L E. Interpreter: L [Eh]. Witness: L E. Interpreter: A. Witness: L E. Interpreter: That way? Witness: No. Interpreter: [passing her notebook to the witness] Can you write it please? 16 12-14 January 2010 8

STRATEGIES - RECOMMENDATION Recommendation: whenever technically possible, it should be recommended that in videoconferenced interviews personal data taken during the interview should be confirmed by foreign language witness in writing and shown on the document camera. 17 STRATEGIES SOURCE TEXT PRODUCTION Example (Day 2, Car Accident, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote): Witness: [Eh] I think it was [Eh] I can t exactly remember, but I was driving from my pals. [Eh] I was heading [Eh] towards Warsaw, yeah, but I had to go to Piotrków [Eh]. Interpreter: Excuse me you were heading to Warsaw from Piotrków? Witness: No, I was heading from Katowice from my pals. The road, I think, is towards Warsaw, but I was going to Piotrków. 18 12-14 January 2010 9

STRATEGIES SOURCE TEXT RECEPTION Example (Day 2, Car Accident, VMI-B: interpreter with witness, prosecutor remote): Witness: [Eh] I saw the front nearside door was open. [Eh] There was a woman there and... Interpreter: Excuse me, front side door? Witness: [Eh] Front nearside door. Interpreter: Nearside. Nearside door, what s which door is nearside? Witness: Nearside door that s the passenger s ones and the offside ones are the driver ones. Interpreter: Exactly. So this is passenger s, nearside. Passenger s? 19 STRATEGIES SOURCE TEXT RECEPTION Continued Witness: Uhm. Interpreter: Passenger s door. Front passenger s door? Witness: Yes. Interpreter: [Pointing to her notebook] Here? Passenger? Witness: [Eh] The vehicle was just like this. So that was the front and that was the rear. This door was open. The nearside door. Interpreter: Thank you. Uhm. 20 12-14 January 2010 10

STRATEGIES SOURCE TEXT RECEPTION Example (Day 2, Car Accident, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote): Witness: The front nearside door was opened. Interpreter: [Eh] I [Eh] przednia część [Eh] przód samochodu [Eh] [Eh] był otwarty. [ And the front part, front of the car was opened.] 21 STRATEGIES TARGET TEXT PRODUCTION Example: (Day 1, Drug Trafficking, VMI-B: interpreter with witness, prosecutor remote): Prosecutor: [Uhm] Proszę świadka w tym momencie [Eh] okażemy świadkowi materiał poglądowy, materiał fotograficzny z wizer... [ Now, we are going to show the witness evidence, photographic evidence showing an ima...] Interpreter: Now, we will present the chart... Prosecutor:...z wizerunk... z wizerunkami dziesięciu mężczyzn... [...with an ima with images of ten men. Interpreter: With tiny images of ten men 22 12-14 January 2010 11

STRATEGIES COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS Establishing the mode of interpreting Example: (Day 2, Car Accident, VMI-B: interpreter with witness, prosecutor remote B): Prosecutor: Pani tlumacz proponował... [ I d advise the interpreter...] Witness: [Eh] Prosecutor: Przepraszam bardzo. Pani tłumacz proponowałbym, żeby pani tłumaczyła [Eh] bardziej na bieżąco, ponieważ pewne rzeczy mogą, mogą uciec, że tak powiem z pamięci. [ I do apologize. I d suggest that you interpret more frequently, because some things might escape, so to say, the memory. ]. Interpreter: So. OK. I need an interpretation break right now. OK? 23 STRATEGIES COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS Turn taking (Interpreter) Example: (Day 1, Drug Trafficking, VMI-B: interpreter with witness, prosecutor remote): Prosecutor: Zgodnie z procedurą, z procedurą, z polską procedurą karną podpisy... [ Pursuant to procedure, to procedure, to the Polish criminal procedure, signatures...] Interpreter: Pursuant to the Pol...pol...Polish criminal proce... Pursuant to the Polish criminal procedure. Prosecutor:...protokół przesłuchania świadka winny podpisać osoby w niej uczestniczące. [..the witness examination record should be signed by persons participating in it. ] Interpreter: This proto... protocol of hearing of the witness should be, should be signed by all the, by all participating persons. 24 12-14 January 2010 12

STRATEGIES COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS Turn taking (Prosecutor) Example: (Day 1, Drug Trafficking, VMI-B: interpreter with witness, prosecutor remote): Prosecutor: Dziękuję bardzo. proszę świadka czy świadek ma jeszcze coś do dodania w sprawie? [ Thank you. Does the witness have anything to add in the case? ] Interpreter: [Eh] Do you have anything.... Prosecutor: W tej sprawie oczywiście. [ In this case of course.] Interpreter:...to add on your own in this matter?. 25 STRATEGIES COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS Turn taking (Witness) Example: (Day 1, Drug Trafficking, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote): Prosecutor: Proszę świadka o okazanie dokumentu tożsamości, a pana informatyka o okazanie go nam na naszym monitorze. [ May the witness present identity document, and may the IT specialist show it to us on our screen please.] Interpreter: Please show me... Witness: My passport please... Interpreter: Please show your identity document and Mr, and our IT specialist will show us. This is the passport of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Number ABC113355.. 26 12-14 January 2010 13

STRATEGIES COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS Prompt to stop/continue Example: (Day 1, Drug Trafficking, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote): Witness: [Eh] When I left the bathroom [Eh] someone knocked at our door and Joanna opened the door and she let [Eh] in a man. [Eh] I didn t know him and aft... She actually introduced me to him. She was very friendly with him, so I thought they were friends. [Em] She introduced him as a friend called Yasek or something like that. I m not sure how to pronounce it in Polish. I m sorry. [Em]... Interpreter: Interpretation break please. [Eh] Właściwie wyszłam [Eh] z ł..., z łazienki [Eh] ktoś [Eh] za..., zapukał do drzwi. Otworzyła Joanna. Wpuściła mężczyznę. Nie, nie znałam [Eh] go. Przedstawiła mi. Wydawało mi się, że są [Eh] przyjaciółmi, był taką [Eh] bardzo przyjazną osobą. [Eh] Wydaje mi się, że miał na imię Yasek, ale nie wiem czy jestem, czy moja wymowa po polsku jest właściwa. Please continue. 27 STRATEGIES COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS Taking control Example: (Day 3, Credit Card Fraud, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote): Witness: [Eh] So in Warsaw we had [Eh] few hours to spare, so we decided why just to sit at the airport, [Eh] so we decided to go and see the old town in Warsaw. So that s how we spent our time. So we got there and after few hours, I think two and a half hours, [Eh] we came back to the airport. Interpreter: Please, one moment please. [Eh] Po dotarciu do Warszawy, stwierdziliśmy, iż skoro już tu jesteśmy to nie ma sensu, abyśmy siedzieli na lotnisko, że możemy zwiedzić miasto. Udaliśmy się na stare miasto, gdzie spędziliśmy około dwóch i pół godziny. You spent approximately two and a half hours at the old town? Just about that. OK. Please resume. Please continue. 28 12-14 January 2010 14

STRATEGIES COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS Taking control Example: (Day 3, Credit Card Fraud, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote): Interpreter: Może po prostu przeczytam świadkowi cały protokół. [ Maybe, I can just read the whole record to the witness.] Prosecutor: No proszę bardzo.[by all means. ] Interpreter: Będzie prościej. [It will be easier] Prosecutor: Proszę bardzo. [Go ahead.] 29 STRATEGIES COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS Awareness of what is going on in another location Example: (Day 3, Credit Card Fraud, VMI-A: interpreter with prosecutor, witness remote): Witness: What did he say? Interpreter: [Eh] Prosecutor: Przesyłamy protokół drogą elektroniczną i poproszę świadka o podpisanie protokołu. [ The record is going to be sent via email and I d like the witness to sign the record.] Recording Clerk: [Indistinguishable words] Prosecutor: [Indistinguishable words] Interpreter: Now the protocol is being [Eh] sent to [Eh] us, to our place and the Prosecutor also instructed me that when the protocol [Eh] is [Eh] [Eh] when we already have [Eh] the protocol and when you sign [Eh] sign it, you are also asked to [Eh] put. 30 12-14 January 2010 15

STRATEGIES COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS Physical resolution - seems to contribute to resolving some problems - applied by interpreters: passing a notebook to the witness for her to write down her name gestures change in posture: leaning closer towards the witness to hear her better 31 STRATEGIES - RECOMMENDATION Recommendation: it should be recommended that in videoconferenced interviews the mode of interpreting and signals to be used should be agreed before the commencement of the interview 32 12-14 January 2010 16

STRATEGIES - RECOMMENDATION Recommendation: it should be recommended that whenever possible, the interpreter should be offered documents for sight translation 33 STRATEGIES - RECOMMENDATION Recommendation: it should be recommended that prosecutors should make use of visual tools as an aid in communication 34 12-14 January 2010 17

STRATEGIES - SUMMARY The problems cited above may occur and do occur during face-to-face interaction with the interpreter. However, the frequency of at least some of these problems seems to be noticeably greater in the case of video-mediated interviews, when the interpreter is separated from the foreign-language speaking witness 35 Thank you! POLISH SOCIETY OF SWORN AND SPECIALIZED TRANSLATORS TEPIS POLSKIE TOWARZYSTWO TŁUMACZY PRZYSIĘGŁYCH I SPECJALISTYCZNYCH TEPIS ul. Krasińskiego 16 lok. 134 01-581 Warsaw Poland phone/fax: +48 22-839-49-52 e-mail: tepis@tepis.org.pl website: www.tepis.org.pl 36 12-14 January 2010 18