Criminal Practice Rules 1999

An interpreter owes a paramount duty to the court to be accurate to the best of the interpreter’s ability and impartial.

The duty to the court under subrule (1) overrides any duty the interpreter may have to a party to the proceeding (regardless of whether the party engaged the interpreter).

Unless the court orders otherwise, an interpreter must—

interpret questions and all other spoken or signed communications in the hearing of the proceeding for the witness or accused person from English into the other language and from the other language into English; and

subject to subrule (4), sight translate, whether before or during the course of a witness’s evidence, documents shown to the witness.

An interpreter may refuse to sight translate a document if—

the interpreter considers that the interpreter is not competent to do so; or

sight translating the document would be too onerous or difficult because of the length or complexity of the text.

Unless the court orders otherwise, an interpreter may not assist a party or a party’s legal representatives in their conduct of a proceeding (including a hearing) other than by—

interpreting questions and other spoken or signed communications in connection with the proceeding from English into the other language and from the other language into English; or

sight translating documents in connection with the proceeding from English into the other language and from the other language into English.