One area that often causes confusion for individuals involved in court cases where one party is unable to speak English is who pays for the translation of legal documents and evidence.
One recent case involving a Polish couple whose children were taken from them under an emergency protection order demonstrated that the translation of documents is paid for by the party who requires them to be translated.
One caveat to this was that the party or parties must only pay for documents to be translated if they have legal aid.
In this one particular case the couples grasp of the English language was said to be poor and this would have put them at a disadvantage in the courtroom had they not been able to have documents translated for them.
Initially the local council funded initial translations but funding for additional translations was brought into question. It was suggested that only those documents important for the case would should be translated.
Altogether the county council asked the court to look at four funding options:
Party funds their own translation
The local authority covers the cost
Translation costs are shared between the parties concerned
The parties translate their own documents individually
The judge in the case and the local authority agreed that option one was the right option in this particular case.