Links:
National Agreement on Arrangements for the use of Interpreters in the CJS (Revised 2007)
National Agreement Terms & Conditions (Revised 2007))
The National Agreement on the Arrangements for the use of Interpreters and Translators in the Criminal Justice System in England and Wales was revised in 2007. A copy of this agreement is available at the National Archive website.
The NA was produced in consultation with the Interpreters Working Group, which includes representatives from the Association of Chief Police Officers, Crown Prosecution Service, HM Courts Service, the Probation Service, Home Office, Magistrates’ Association, the Bar Council and the Law Society, as well as representatives of interpreter bodies.
The need to up-date the 2002 version of the National Agreement was identified by criminal justice agencies and interpreter bodies represented on the Interpreter Working Group, and is the result of a collaborative process over many months. The participants have included all the main spoken language and LSP (for deaf and deafened clients) organisations, as well as representatives of the criminal justice services. The IoL, IoLET and NRPSI have been privileged to contribute, along with others. The agreement is being made available to all those who have contributed and we shall play our part in its dissemination.
The Agreement reflects the introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 and emphasises the requirement to check the competency of an interpreter. In all cases, Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights requires that an interpreter in criminal proceedings be fully competent for the task assigned.
NA provides guidance on arranging suitably qualified interpreters when the requirements of Articles 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) apply.
It emphasises that face-to-face interpreters used in this context should be registered with NRPSI and NRCPD. It covers a number of related issues including security vetting, terms and conditions.