ABSTRACT
Interpreter impartiality and notions of interpreter neutrality have long been enshrined in interpreter codes of conduct, but there are nonetheless clear distinctions evident between models of interpreting prescribed in codes of conduct and the way that these notions are articulated in institutional interpreting policies. Drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis, this chapter considers the interpreting policies of two voluntary sector advocacy organizations in the UK asylum application context to argue that institutional interpreting policy might act as an interface between codes of conduct and institutionally specific conceptualizations of interpreters and their roles. The author reconstructs two interpreter identities on the basis of interpreting policy articulations which diverge from professional codes of conduct and argues that these conceptualizations are, in part, ideologically shaped by institutional operational objectives. Hence both policies analyzed here position interpreters as impartial and neutral agents to greater or lesser extents. However, there are some crucial distinctions in the ways in which impartial and neutral interpreters are conceptualized.
