6. Interpreter ethics versus customary law
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Michael S. Cooke
Abstract
This is is an exploration of the tensions between interpreting ethics and customary law distilled from interviews with interpreters in Aboriginal languages as part of research commissioned by the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (2006). While accuracy, impartiality and confidentiality are key principles in interpreting ethics, it was found that for Australian Indigenous interpreters each of these principles may be seriously compromised in practice by rules of customary law. Suggested strategies for resolving potential conflict between interpreting ethics and customary law include: Indigenous communities requiring public education about the interpreter’s role; health and legal professionals undertaking cultural awareness training; requiring use of trained and accredited interpreters; and an expanded role for interpreters to occasionally act as cultural broker.
Abstract
This is is an exploration of the tensions between interpreting ethics and customary law distilled from interviews with interpreters in Aboriginal languages as part of research commissioned by the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (2006). While accuracy, impartiality and confidentiality are key principles in interpreting ethics, it was found that for Australian Indigenous interpreters each of these principles may be seriously compromised in practice by rules of customary law. Suggested strategies for resolving potential conflict between interpreting ethics and customary law include: Indigenous communities requiring public education about the interpreter’s role; health and legal professionals undertaking cultural awareness training; requiring use of trained and accredited interpreters; and an expanded role for interpreters to occasionally act as cultural broker.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- 1. Introduction. Quality in interpreting 1
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Part I. A shared responsibility
- 2. Forensic interpreting 13
- 3. The tension between adequacy and acceptability in legal interpreting and translation 37
- 4. A discourse of danger and loss 55
- 5. Is healthcare interpreter policy left in the seventies? 71
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Part II. Investigations and innovations in quality interpreting
- 6. Interpreter ethics versus customary law 85
- 7. A shared responsibility in the administration of justice 99
- 8. Interpreting for the record 119
- 9. Court interpreting in Basque 135
- 10. Community interpreting in Spain 149
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Part III. Pedagogy, ethics and responsibility in interpreting
- 11. Toward more reliable assessment of interpreting performance 171
- 12. Quality in healthcare interpreter training 187
- 13. What can interpreters learn from discourse studies? 201
- 14. Achieving quality in health care interpreting 221
- 15. Research ethics, interpreters and biomedical research 235
- Contributors 251
- Index 253
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- 1. Introduction. Quality in interpreting 1
-
Part I. A shared responsibility
- 2. Forensic interpreting 13
- 3. The tension between adequacy and acceptability in legal interpreting and translation 37
- 4. A discourse of danger and loss 55
- 5. Is healthcare interpreter policy left in the seventies? 71
-
Part II. Investigations and innovations in quality interpreting
- 6. Interpreter ethics versus customary law 85
- 7. A shared responsibility in the administration of justice 99
- 8. Interpreting for the record 119
- 9. Court interpreting in Basque 135
- 10. Community interpreting in Spain 149
-
Part III. Pedagogy, ethics and responsibility in interpreting
- 11. Toward more reliable assessment of interpreting performance 171
- 12. Quality in healthcare interpreter training 187
- 13. What can interpreters learn from discourse studies? 201
- 14. Achieving quality in health care interpreting 221
- 15. Research ethics, interpreters and biomedical research 235
- Contributors 251
- Index 253
