How many languages can a rabbit speak ?

Interpreters before the Parliament.

             Globetrotters have to be linguists. They have to know languages. How else could they communicate in all those countries they visit ? And back home they could use those linguistic skills to earn a few bob. Better than washing up in a pub. Or cleaning, for that matter. If you have visited a few countries and can get by in their languages – you could get a job as a multilingual court interpreter in a U.K. based company. You think you don't know those languages enough? Don't worry, it's simple, even a rabbit can do it.

The company, named Applied Language Solutions (ALS), has already secured the government contract to supply interpreters for courts. Until the 1^st of January 2012 the courts had to use translators accepted by National Register of Public Services Interpreters (NRPSI), which is not an agency but a register of interpreters who have qualifications sufficient for court assignments. It is not easy to get onto this register. One has to pass a tough exam, such as Diploma in Public Services Interpreting (DPSI). I can tell you, this exam is a wringer. It is not enough to know two languages absolutely fluently, with all the legal jargon as well as all the swears and prison slang, one has to know some other skills as well, like taking quick notes (what was the third figure in that long telephone number?) or interpreting simultaneously while the speaker speaks without stops (a frequent occurrence in the courts). I can tell you, it is a wringer, I myself once tried and failed. But I can understand it, after all it is not only difficult but also responsible job, a slight misunderstanding may result in somebody ending up in the wrong place for a long time. Until recently it was recognised as such by the authorities and was appropriately remunerated. I myself a year and a few hundred quid later tried that wringer exam again and passed it. Since then interpreting for courts has fed my globetrottering addiction. One can say that I have lived off crime, as all the court interpreters do.

Andy Slaughter MP at the demo

However, the British Government has decided to put a stop to this practice. Not because they think it's wrong to live off crime – after all the police, prosecutors and all the criminal lawyers live off crime just as well. No, the government decided that the interpreters earn too much. Who are they, anyway? Most of them are immigrants. They don't need all that dosh, they don't need to feed their globetrottering and other habits. Let's slash their pay, teach them a lesson. If they are not happy, we can employ other people. Cleaners for example. They are immigrants as well, aren't they? They know the lingos. They won't demand all that appropriate remuneration. 

What happened next is this: the Government decided to subcontract all court interpreting to one company called ALS. Its owner, Gavin Wheeldon, is a young man who started his company a few years ago from his bedroom. He likes to brag in the media about the Ferraris he drives but his company is the cheapest on the market, which is why it was chosen by the MoJ. It is the cheapest for a very simple reason: they pay less than a third of what the court interpreters received thus far. Not surprisingly, the NRPSI interpreters don't want to work for them. As a result this agency doesn't have enough qualified interpreters and either they don't send anybody to the assignments or on the contrary – they send just about anybody. If you are an immigrant cleaner – you can sign up with them and be sent to courts to interpret. Results would be funny if they weren't serious. I myself know of cases where the defendant left the courtroom not knowing what the sentence was, even though he had an ALS interpreter at his side.

Can you imagine the Ministry of Health deciding that the medical doctors are too expensive? Why not ask the hospital cleaners to look after the patients. They have worked in the hospital for years, they know the job,  don't they? 

One may think this is a local British problem not interesting to readers from elsewhere. Well, not quite so. It could be actually interesting to foreign governments, especially their sports ministers, as we are told that ALS has also the contract to interpret at the London Olympics!

Jajo Kralicek at the demo

Of course the professional interpreters haven't just given in. There are a few spontaneous actions, apart of boycotting the said agency. One of those actions is observing those ALS interpreters who actually turn up at courts. The NRPSI interpreters don't have much work these days but they do have time. They can go to courts and just sit there and watch. What do they see? Not surprisingly all too often lack of competence on the part of the ALS interpreters. A perfect example was observed by my friend Irena Falcone (a Polish interpreter like myself). She was watching the proceedings where the defendant had an ALS interpreter but after they left the courtroom the defendant asked Irena (he knew she was Polish as he heard her talking on the phone): “What actually was the sentence?” This demonstrates perfectly that ALS would send just about anybody. One Czech interpreter decided to prove that point and registered her pet rabbit with the agency. The rabbit, named Jajo Kralicek, was not only duly registered but actually received some assignments at courts!

On the 15^th of March the interpreters took to the streets of London. Only two: Petty France (where the MoJ has its offices) and Abingdon Street (in fron of the Parliament). A few hundred showed up, a surprisingly high number considering the nature of the profession (interpreters normally work alone and seldom meet their colleagues). It was the demo against the contract with ALS but the biggest star was actually one of the ALS interpreters. You know who? Of course Jajo the Rabbit!