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An Examination Of The Influence Of Court Interpreters Upon Attributions Of Defendant And Plaintiff Culpability, Grace Frances

Theses : Honours

An expressed reluctance of the courts to employ interpreters has been challenged on the basis that a failure to provide such assistance to the Non-English Speaking (NES) witness contravenes the principles of natural justice. Further, NES defendants risk being misunderstood and incapacitated in their ability to effectively communicate the intended meaning of the evidence they are giving. In order to determine whether the presence of an interpreter exerts influence upon attributions of culpability given to a NES defendant, it was .important to identify whether evaluations were based on the interpreter's presence or on the defendant's ethnicity. Therefore, three trial conditions …