JULY 19, 2021

JUDICIAL COUNCIL OF CALIFORNIA​​​
Honorable TANI GORRE CANTIL-SAKAUYE, Chief Justice
NANCY EBERHART, Chair of the Court Executive Advisory Committee
455 GOLDEN GATE AVENUE
San Francisco, CA 94102
 

DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
KATRINA HAGEN, California Director of Industrial Relations
1515 Clay Street
Oakland, CA. 94612
 
Dear Chief Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye, and Mss. Eberhart and Hagen:
 
The American Alliance of Professional Translators and Interpreters (AAPTI) urges the Court to enforce the following laws, codes, and rules which ensure the use of certified or registered interpreters in all legal and medical-legal cases:

1)    Federal Court Interpreters Act, 28 U.S. Code § 1827 
2)    Government Code §68580 (c)
3)    Government Code §68560
4)    Government Code §68561
5)    Government Code §68562
6)    Government Code §68564
7)    Judicial Council of California Rule 984.2
8)    Judicial Council of California Rule 2.893
9)    SB1160 Mendoza
10)  California Code of Regulations, Title 8
 
In 1990, the Chief Justice of California established the Judicial Council Advisory Committee on Interpreters for Court, Administrative Hearing and Medical proceedings to improve the quality of interpreter services and address miscarriages of justice caused by errors in translation and interpretation. Similarly, in 2009 certification requirements were established for the medical field.
 
Since then, certification and registration exams have been administered and required in order to provide language services as follows:
 
For the State of California civil and criminal courts: approximately 2,500 certified and registered interpreters in roughly 96 languages on the Master List of the Judicial Council of California; approximately 1,000 certified federal interpreters nationwide; 950 certified sign language interpreters.
 
For medical/legal proceedings/evaluations/examinations: over 2,000 medical interpreters certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (NBCMI), and the State Personnel Board (SPB).
 
For administrative hearings: approximately 292 Administrative Hearing Certified interpreters certified through the State Personnel Board (SPB).
 
Currently, there are certification and registration exams and requirements available for all fields listed above. Interpreters who are not certified, registered, or licensed (wherever specific language certification/registration/licensing is available) have not
successfully completed the rigorous examinations and certification/registration process. Furthermore, unlike certified interpreters whose hours of continuing education requirements exceed those of lawyers and judges, non-certified interpreters do not have any continuing education requirements.
 
As demonstrated in the numbers above, there is no shortage of duly certified or registered interpreters in both the legal and the medical fields. There is also a path to certification through existing exams and the ability to maintain certification by continuing education for optimum performance. The purported shortage can be remedied by returning to the previous rates and terms negotiated by certified interpreters. Resorting to non-certified interpreters as a solution to such alleged shortage deprives end users of due process and language access, resulting in a miscarriage of justice.

We, the undersigned AAPTI Board, as well as duly certified and registered professional interpreters and translators, thank you for defending the right to language access and due process of all individuals in accordance with the laws in effect in the State of California.
 
Sincerely,
 
AAPTI Board and AAPTI Members
Professional Registered and Certified Interpreters and Translators in the State of California
 
AAPTI is a California-based national nonprofit membership association of certified, registered, and licensed interpreters and translators in the legal and medical fields. Our mission is to promote the professionalization and advancement of translators and interpreters for the benefit of the communities and the profession we serve.