Legal interpreting and translation in asylum/immigration proceedings in Italy

Flavia Caciagli Conigliaro, legal/technical translator for the Universities of Florence, Catania and Palermo, Court Interpreter, president of the Sicilian section of AITI (Italian Association of Translators and Interpreters)

The southern Sicilian coasts of Italy are, in certain way, the first European frontier as far as illegal immigration is concerned. The evergrowing flow from central and northern Africa, is posing very complex language challenges, and the supplying of qualified interpreters has become a real problem both for the asylum and illegal immigration proceedings as well as for the judiciary. The present paper shows how asylum and immigration proceedings work in Italy and the interpreting services supplied for each proceeding, especially in Sicily. Through the analysis of some cases, which are some of the problems faced and which have been the solutions implemented while at the same time portraying the professional status of qualified interpreters in the country.