While it is crucial for court interpreters to be highly qualified, new testing systems are making it harder for courts to find interpreters at all.

Which situation is preferable in a courtroom: poorly-qualified interpreters, no interpreters at all, or hopelessly delayed judicial proceedings?

This is a tough question, and of course the only correct choice is "none of the above."

However, as more states adopt standards to assure the quality of interpreters, some courts are facing the sticky wicket of simply not being able to find a qualified interpreter. Add this to the existing shortage of interpreters in general, and you can see why managing multilingual judicial arenas is not an easy task.

Pennsylvania, for example, is facing the possibility that some of its interpreters will drop out of court venues now that the state is enforcing tests to see if interpreters are qualified.

The law mandating the test was passed in 2006, and gave a 5-year grace period that ended January 1st of this year.

But the state's interpreters are apparently in no hurry. Philly.com reported on Friday that of the state's 1,000 or so active court interpreters, only 138 have passed the certification process. 900 are "involved in the testing process" -- but no longer able to practice.

"The question arises: Were some of these practitioners always substandard, or is the test unrealistically difficult? And given the high hurdle, will practitioners just drop out of the process, leaving courts scrambling to find certified interpreters?" writes journalist Jane M. Von Bergen.

 The huge percentage of interpreters who haven't passed -- or even taken -- the tests after 5 years is indeed cause for concern.

Betty Carlson

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• Language Translation, Inc.
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