Found in Translation

Meeting the costs of translation.

In the matter of Z (A Child) [2017] EWCA Civ 157

The Court of Appeal outlined the approach to translation and interpretation costs and disapproved of a 'rule'  that the costs should fall on the party who produces the document. In particular the obligation of disclosure required documents to be produced which might be ‘against interest’ and so it could not be a general rule that in producing the document the party was deploying it for his benefit.

The Court of Appeal judgment approves the following approach

a) Interpretation in court is the responsibility of HMCTS

b) Out of court interpretation falls to an individual party's public funding certificates

c) The cost of translating pre-proceeding documents falls to the local authority in any event (LAA Guidance on Remuneration of Expert Witnesses paragraph 6.21)

d) Only those documents which are necessary should be translated (Re L)

e) Which documents need to be translated is a matter which needs to be determined during the case (and probably done on a Section of the Bundle basis….)

f) The determination of which document should be translated has to be made by the judge if the parties are unable to agree or a likelihood the LAA will not accept the disbursement has been reasonably incurred.

g) Once that decision has been made, the burden of paying for the translation of a document will depend on the context

-           where they relate to establishment of threshold the Local Authoruty should usually pay subject to the caveat that:

"it is essential to focus on the forensic context… it is necessary for K to understand the case as a whole and to be aware of the important substance – not the fine details – of the various other witness statements, reports and assessments". (See Re L (Procedure: Bundles: Translation) above).

-          In other cases it may be appropriate for the party who seeks to adduce it to meet a burden which falls on him to meet the costs

 

-          However there is no definitive rule; all must depend on the circumstances of the cases.