People on trial who need interpreters or publicly appointed lawyers are underserved by the legal system, the National Human Rights Commission said in a statement yesterday, calling for judicial reform.
Low-income and non-Chinese-speaking defendants face barriers in obtaining court-appointed interpreters and lawyers, the commission said in a report on equal access to legal representation.
These barriers prevented some litigants from exercising their right to fair legal defense and compromised the fairness of Taiwan’s legal system, potentially breaching Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it said.
Photo: Liao Hsueh-ju, Taipei Times
The article stipulates that a person charged with a criminal offense is entitled to “have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court.”
Taiwan’s court interpreting system is flawed in terms of accessibility, accuracy and impartiality, the report said.
Defendants were not always given the services of an interpreter or served with legal documents translated into a language they understood in a timely manner, it said.
Court-appointed interpreters sometimes provide inaccurate translations of the defendants’ words, and there is no mechanism to verify the accuracy of their interpretations in real time or after the fact, the commission said.
The courts have no systematic method for assessing the impartiality of interpreters, and interpreter service departments were not funded or staffed enough to ensure quality professionals for defendants, it said.
Court-appointed or private lawyers are not fully independent due to structural challenges, the commission said.
Taiwan should establish legislation and national-level government agencies to guarantee the availability of competent and impartial interpreters for defendants, and provide funding, certification and reasonable compensation, it said.
The courts should consider using digital technology to assist in interpreting and implementing compulsory representation by a lawyer for people who face language barriers, the commission said.
Laws and regulations on court-appointed attorneys should be calibrated to mitigate risks that could jeopardize their independence, it said.
Language ability and wealth should not be barriers to equal protection before the law, the commission said.
Foreigners, migrant workers, indigenous Taiwanese and other disadvantaged groups must enjoy full and equal access to legal representation to uphold the human right to a fair trial, it said.
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