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Paper short abstract

Despite the utmost importance of accuracy in court interpreting, Japan lacks an accreditation system for court interpreters. In this paper, however, I will argue that courts provide interpreters with reasonably good working conditions, which contribute to enhancing accuracy in court interpreting.

Paper long abstract

Most democratic nations, including member states of the European Union, the United States, Australia, as well as the neighboring South Korea, have long been hailed in Japan as examples of countries “doing court interpreting right.” That is because, unlike those nations, Japan still lacks an accreditation system for court interpreters. This is despite the fact that the legal setting is one where “the stakes of working in these contexts [legal and medical] are so high that interpreting mistakes can become, literally, a matter of life and death” (Ng and Creeze 2020:1). The Japan Federation of Bar Associations (Nihon Bengoshi Rengōkai) has consistently maintained that the establishment of such a system constitutes a necessary precondition for the protection of defendants’ linguistics and legal rights. Nevertheless, to date, these appeals have yielded no tangible results.

It is hard to argue against the notion that such systems are a potent tool for screening adequate candidates for court interpreters and for securing accuracy and quality of their work. In this paper, however, I will argue that implementing such a system is not the only way to achieve these goals. Further, I will also demonstrate that despite lacking an accreditation system for court interpreters, Japanese courts provide them with reasonably good working conditions, which in turn helps provide non-Japanese speakers in criminal court cases (be it defendants, witnesses, or victims of crimes) with quality interpreting and translation services.

By no means is that to suggest, however, that Japan should not consider implementing an accreditation system or that the quality of court interpreting in Japan is beyond reproach. The point I am raising is that Japanese courts, despite numerous challenges, deal with the provision of interpreting and translation services reasonably well.

Keywords: accreditation, accuracy, court interpreter, legal interpreting, working conditions