COURT INTERPRETING IN SINGAPORE

NAMA CALON:

Muhammad Nizam Bin Mustafa

Soalan :

Write an essay of about 1000 words IN MALAY/ENGLISH on Court Interpreting in

Singapore.

Introduction

Justice is the most sought after needs of the world. There must be law and order for the

group of people living together for them to be able to live and function in peace and

harmony. In this notion, there must be a body that governs the law of a certain country.

In Singapore, the official court of justice is called The Supreme Court. This court houses

the Court of Appeal and also The Subordinate Court. The Supreme Court has full

judicial powers vested in by the Constitution of Singapore.

The text of the Singapore Constitution which took effect from 9 August 1965 was a

product of provisions drawn from three statutes: the Constitution of the State of

Singapore 1963, the Federal Constitution of Malaysia made applicable to Singapore by

the Republic of Singapore Independence Act 1965 and the Republic of Singapore

Independence Act itself. The Supreme Court consists of the Court of Appeal and

the High Court. There used to be jury trials during the British rule but jury trials were

abolished in 1969 and the Criminal Procedure Code was amended in 1992 to allow for

trials of capital offences to be heard before a single judge. Therefore, The Court of
Appeal is Singapore's final court of appeal after the right of appeal to the Judicial

Committee of the Privy Council in London was abolished in April 1994. In Singapore,

the president has the power to grant pardons on the advice of the cabinet. This would

be termed the Presidential Pardon.

Singapore practices the common law legal system, where the decisions of higher courts

constitute binding precedent upon courts of equal or lower status within their

jurisdiction. The main language of communication is English even though the national

language of Singapore is Malay. Therefore, English is considered as the working

language of the court.

Court Services

The Supreme Court not only handles cases but they do provide services to the

court users. The services are Interpretation, Translation, Digital Transcription,

Commissioner for Oaths, service of documents and also Sheriffs services. All the

service that are provided are for the court users to be able to have a service that fit their

need and cause.

Court Interpretation

In the Supreme Court, court interpretation is still one of the most important aspect of

any proceedings. This is because the proceedings should be fair and the terms or

language used should be clear and transparent for all court audiences. This would be

more crucial if the people involved in the proceedings are not able to converse or

understand English. This scenario would usually be more prevalent in foreign subject or

non-English educated individuals.

 The role of a court interpreter is to render accurate and professional

interpretation and translation of documents in English and Malay. In addition, it will

include attending to Complaints and Enquiries, conducting pre-assessment

tests on Complaint Suitability and also conducting mediation. The court interpreters

working hours are not necessarily only during trial and proceedings but they sometimes

have to assist lawyers and police in getting statements from witnesses out of office

hours.

In a proceeding, a court interpreter is needed if any unit of the proceedings,

namely the attorney, client, witness, defendant or accused is not able to understand or

converse in the courts working language which is English. Counsel and litigants in civil

matters who require the services of court interpreters should submit their requests using

an E-Form via the Supreme Court website in accordance with Supreme Court Practice

Directions. All requests should be submitted at least 7 days before the commencement

of the court/chamber proceedings and services of court interpreters in Supreme Court

proceedings is free of charge.

Where the use of an interpreter is needed, the process is usually done by

Simultaneous Interpretation. However, it is up to the judge to decide if there is a need

for an Electronic process or just Chuchotage (whispering) process to be applied during

the proceedings. Court interpretations are imperative due to the nature of the case that

needs accuracy and understanding of the language and the terms and jargons used in

the court. There is also Sight Translation services available for the hearing-impaired.

This would also be done in using the Simultaneous Interpretation technique however

this could only be used to interpret written source material. For multiple individuals who

needs interpretation in a proceeding, the interpreters might be seated in an electrically

wired booth and the interpretation is done in there. The level of understanding of the

language plays a vital role in the transparency, understanding and fairness of the

proceedings. This is the exact reason why Court Interpreters have to be a highly skilled

individual in their field and also mastery of language.

Interpretors qualifications

In the Singapore Supreme Court, it offers interpretation services in 3 languages

which are Chinese, Malay and Indian languages. Chinese Languages consists of

Mandarin, Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese. Malay Language Languages would

consist of Malay, Javanese and Boyanese and Indian Languages would consist of

Tamil and Malayalam. Therefore, the minimum qualifications are as listed in the graph

below,

University degree, preferably majoring in Chinese studies or English. You must also have
Chinese
at least a B4 credit in Chinese at GCE AO/H1 level and a B4 credit in General Paper
(GP).

University degree, preferably majoring in Malay studies or English. You must also have
Malay
at least a B4 credit in Malay at GCE AO level and a B4 credit in General Paper (GP).
You must be able to read and write in Jawi.

You must have at least 2 A/H2 level and 2 AO/H1 level passes including GP or EL2 at
Indian
AO/H1 level and Tamil at A/H2 level, or a Diploma, with
at least a B4 credit in GCE O level English and Tamil.

Conclusion

In this era of the world where English is the working language of the country, it is

very crucial that the minorities that do not understand or converse in English be

represented. In Singapore, as it is a multicultural country and it has 4 main languages

used, it is therefore very important for these languages to be represented in the court of
law and during a proceeding. This will therefore portray a fair and transparent judicial

proceedings and also the enforcement of the law in the country. The enforcement of the

law would also protect the honour, integrity and sovereignty of Singapore as a country

of fair and esteemed judicial proceedings. Singapore would be a more respected

country and well-known for its fairness in The Supreme Court.

Bibliografi

The Supreme Court of Singapore, http://www.supremecourt.gov.sg/about-us/the-

supreme-court/supreme-court-jurisdiction

The Supreme Court E-Practice Directions,

http://www.supremecourt.gov.sg/docs/default-source/default-document-

library/epde3363033f22f6eceb9b0ff0000fcc945.pdf?Status=Temp&sfvrsn=0.170472136

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