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Netherlands: Interpreters criticised

01 March 1995

Complaints by a solicitor from Nieuwegein, Mr P Bogaers, led to the National Ombudsman issuing a very critical report on the functioning of interpreters working for the Justice department in asylum cases. According to the Ombudsman's report, many of these interpreters are inept and unreliable. The Ombudsman demanded better selection procedures to avoid the present situation in which interpreters repeatedly intervene in the conversations they are supposed to translate and even misstate certain answers because they disagree with the asylum applicant's position. Mr Bogaers, supported by Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland (the official Refugee Work organisation), claims that interpreters have been known to threaten asylum applicants and to pose as police officers or members of a secret service.

Some civil servants are quoted as saying "Well, another death warrant signed" while signing a negative advice on an asylum application. In a reaction, the Justice Department has announced measures such as the founding of a training centre for interpreters and the introduction of a professional code of conduct and a complaints procedure.

The lack of proper standards and adequate training for interpreters has been an issue pressed by lawyers and refugee workers for years. After the Ombudsman's report was published, other cases involving poor translation came to light. Sometimes, family members of defendants have corrected interpreters in court sessions from the public benches, and errors in translations of telephone taps have resulted in court cases being dismissed.