ABSTRACT
Traditionally relegated to a secondary position in US court systems, court-related translation has been the object of recent developments, standards, guidelines and practice. Momentum in court-related translation has resulted from significant upsurges in limited English proficiency individuals, increased awareness at the national and federal levels and from progress made in implementing reliable interpreting services. Nevertheless, court-related translation still trails behind court interpreting in that its funding sources are less stable, best practices are at an earlier stage of development and the notion of a court translator and court translator qualifications are not as defined or professionalized. This chapter discusses relevant federal and national policies, standards and guidelines for translation in US court systems. It shows how their interface in individual courts varies and how individual courts’ translation practices and criteria for qualifying court translators remain unstable. The chapter concludes with a discussion weighing advantages and disadvantages of certain translation practices and criteria used to qualify practitioners.
