Current Issues in Legal Translation and Interpretation.

本研究的主要目的是从语言的角度阐明法律的翻译的现状和存在的问题。为此，我对专业的法律的笔译和口译人员进行了集体访谈。争议点包括笔译/口译的准确性、笔译/口译员的作用、无线口译系统、语言系统或每个法院的固有差异造成的问题、社会或文化差异的影响、培训系统的影响、专业资格和标准的作用，研究结果表明，尽管翻译/口译服务的功能应该是保证被告获得公正的法律的听证的权利，法院的机构可能会从完全不同的角度看待笔译/口译员的职能，也就是说，这是使听讯顺利进行的一种方式。此外，笔者还调查了法律的记录中涉及外国人的三个案件，对翻译的准确性和法律的程序的公正性产生了争议，从而对日本司法程序的近代史进行了考察。为此，我着重探讨了司法行政人员如何评价笔译/口译员和被告的语文熟练程度。

The main purpose of this study is the clarification of the present situation in and problems related to legal translation and interpretation, from the perspective of language. To this end, I carried out group interviews with professional legal translators and interpreters. The points at issue included the accuracy of translation/interpretation, the role of the translator/interpreter, wireless interpreting systems, the problems caused by either language systems or the inherent differences of each court, the effects of societal or cultural differences, the impact of training systems, the role of professional qualifications and standards, and issues related to payment and pay scales for translators and interpreters.The results of this study revealed that even though the function of the translating/interpreting service should be to guarantee the defendant the right to a fair legal hearing, the translators/interpreters' function may be seen in an entirely different light by the institution of the court - that is, as a way to smooth the progress of the hearing. This situation, in combination with the structurally weak position of the translator/interpreter leads to an accumulation of other problems for the defendant.Additionally, I looked into the recent history of the administration of the judicial process in Japan by investigating three cases in the legal records which involved foreigners and where accuracy in translation and fairness in the legal process appeared to be at issue. To this end, I focused on how the people concerned with the administration of justice might evaluate the language proficiency of both the translator/interpreter and the accused.