Up to 50 court cases a day were delayed or postponed because of failures by a language translation contractor to provide an adequate language interpreting service.

Applied Language Solutions (ALS), the company that secured a multimillion pound contract to provide translators for courts and inquests in the UK, is being monitored daily after repeated complaints were received about interpreters failing to turn up for work and money wasted through court delays and cancellations, according to the UK Ministry of Justice.

There have also been several farcical moments, including a judge ordering a retrial of a burglary prosecution after a Romanian interpreter confused the words “beaten” and “bitten”.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “We continue to monitor performance on a daily basis.”

“However, the contract is now delivering an effective service and we expect to see improvements in the coming months.”

He added: “There are now only a tiny handful of cases each day when an interpreter job is unfilled. Disruption to court business and complaints has reduced substantially.”

Over a three-month period ALS received 26,059 requests for translators covering 142 languages. Four languages, Polish, Romanian, Urdu and Lithuanian, accounted for more than a third of requests.

Would using a certified or registered court interpreter reduce the number of interpreting errors?

Alex Dupont

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  The company tasked with providing translators to courts and tribunals will be monitored daily after failing to meet targets, the Ministry of Justice said today.