You speak some Spanish? Indicators of interpreters’ (non-) performance in Spanish criminal courts

In this paper we will attempt to establish the reasons for low-quality performance of court interpreters in the context of criminal proceedings in the courts of Barcelona. Drawing on a corpus of authentic recorded hearings, we explore four possible factors that may have an impact on interpreters’ performance: length of the hearing, conversation management problems, interpreters’ experience, and type of offence being tried. Furthermore, we also analyse unjustified nonrenditions, which are considered an important indicator of non-performance. The findings are discussed in the context of the linguistic competence of the interpreter, their role in the interaction with all the participants, and the established rules of professional codes of conduct. This paper will draw attention to the need to improve the qualification of interpreters, but also to raise awareness of the role of the interpreter among members of the judiciary in Spain, with a view to protecting the procedural rights of those who do not speak or understand the language in which the proceedings are conducted.