On 20 October 2010 the European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive 2010/64/EU on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings. This is a landmark document and decision for all stakeholders involved in criminal proceedings across languages and cultures.
In this document, particularly Article 2 (Right to interpretation), Article 3 (Right to translation of essential documents), Article 5 (Quality of the interpretation and translation) and Article 6 (Training) deserve our close attention and commitment.
Indeed, as Article 9 on the Transposition stipulates: “Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 27 October 2013”.
This means that virtually all member states are now facing the urgent challenge to implement substantial changes in their national systems for the provision of translation and interpreting in criminal proceedings.
EULITA, the European Legal Interpreters and Translators Association, and Lessius University College Antwerp have been awarded EU funding under the EU Criminal Justice Programme for a project (JUST/JPEN/AG/1549 – TRAFUT – Training for the Future) that is intended to assist in and contribute to the implementation of the EU Directive.
The TRAFUT project team has developed the format and content of four regional workshops throughout the EU that will be held over the next 18 months. They are scheduled to be held in
- Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 24 to 26 November 2011
- Madrid, Spain, from 15 to 17 March 2012
- Helsinki, Finland, from 13 to 15 June 2012
- Antwerp, Belgium, from 18 to 20 October 2012.
Representatives from six to seven EU member states per workshop will be invited to attend these regional workshops. Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden have been selected as the countries for the third workshop in Helsinki.
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