Article published In:
InterpretingVol. 15:2 (2013) ► pp.200–228
Keep your distance? Remote interpreting in legal proceedings
A critical assessment of a growing practice1
Remote interpreting, whereby the interpreter is physically separated from those who need the interpretation, has been investigated in relation to conference and healthcare settings. By contrast, very little is known about remote interpreting in legal proceedings, where this method of interpreting is increasingly used to optimise interpreters’ availability. This paper reports the findings of an experimental study investigating the viability of videoconference-based remote interpreting in legal contexts. The study compared the quality of interpreter performance in traditional and remote interpreting, both using the consecutive mode. Two simulated police interviews of detainees, recreating authentic situations, were interpreted by eight interpreters with accreditation and professional experience in police interpreting. The languages involved were French (in most cases the interpreter’s native language) and English. Each interpreter interpreted one of the interviews in remote interpreting, and the other in a traditional face-to-face setting. Various types of problem in the interpretations were analysed, quantitatively and qualitatively. Among the key findings are a significantly higher number of interpreting problems, and a faster decline of interpreting performance over time, in remote interpreting. The paper gives details of these findings, and discusses the potential legal consequences of the problems identified.
Cited by (59)
Cited by 59 other publications
Cavents, Dries, July De Wilde & Jelena Vranjes
2025. Towards a multimodal approach for analysing interpreter's management of rapport challenge in onsite and video remote interpreting. Journal of Pragmatics 235 ► pp. 220 ff. 
Chan, Venus
2024. Impact of technology on interpreting practice: a review of studies on technology and interpreting practice from2013 to 2024. Interactive Technology and Smart Education
Vranjes, Jelena & Bart Defrancq
2024.
To repair or not to repair?
Repairs and risk taking in video remote interpreting
. Perspectives 32:5 ► pp. 867 ff.
Yi, Ran
2024. Justice Under Microscope: Analysing Mandarin Chinese Markers in Virtual Courtroom Discourse. Discourse Studies 26:1 ► pp. 117 ff.
Zhang, Wei, Elena Davitti & Sabine Braun
2024. Charting the landscape of remote medical interpreting: an international survey of interpreters working in remote modalities in healthcare services. Perspectives ► pp. 1 ff.
Zorlu, Beyza Nur & Esra Özkaya
2024. Evaluation of Remote Interpreting in Terms of Stress and Burnout. Trakya Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 14:28 ► pp. 139 ff.
Chen, Sijia & Jan-Louis Kruger
2023. The effectiveness of computer-assisted interpreting. Translation and Interpreting Studies 18:3 ► pp. 399 ff.
Defrancq, Bart
2023. Technology in interpreter education and training. In Interpreting Technologies – Current and Future Trends [IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature, 37], ► pp. 302 ff.
Downie, Jonathan
2023. Where is it all going? Technology, economic pressures and the future
of interpreting. In Interpreting Technologies – Current and Future Trends [IVITRA Research in Linguistics and Literature, 37], ► pp. 277 ff.
Feng, Cheng, S. Zhu, Y. Chen & J. Liang
2023. Studies on Global Remote Interpreting: A PRISMA Systematic Review. SHS Web of Conferences 162 ► pp. 01031 ff.
Grieshofer, Tatiana
2023. Remote Interpreting in Immigration Tribunals. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique 36:2 ► pp. 767 ff.
Napier, Jemina & Sandra Hale
2023. Exploring mixed methods in interpreting research. In Introducing New Hypertexts on Interpreting (Studies) [Benjamins Translation Library, 160], ► pp. 22 ff.
Salaets, Heidi & Katalin Balogh
2023. Are interpreters and interpreting technology ready for the post-Covid era?. In Introducing New Hypertexts on Interpreting (Studies) [Benjamins Translation Library, 160], ► pp. 254 ff.
Trumm, Aile, Edward Jun Shing Lau, Shirley Farthing & Kieran Breen
2023. The use of video remote interpreting (VRI) in a medium secure psychiatric setting during the COVID-19 lockdown. The Journal of Forensic Practice 25:3 ► pp. 263 ff.
Warnicke, Camilla & Mathias Broth
2023. Embodying dual actions as interpreting practice. Translation and Interpreting Studies 18:2 ► pp. 191 ff.
Buján, Marta & Camille Collard
2022. Remote Simultaneous Interpreting and COVID-19: Conference Interpreters’ Perspective. In Translation and Interpreting in the Age of COVID-19 [Corpora and Intercultural Studies, 9], ► pp. 133 ff.
Cheung, Andrew K. F.
2022. Listeners’ perception of the quality of simultaneous interpreting and perceived dependence on simultaneous interpreting. Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting 24:1 ► pp. 38 ff.
Gilbert, Andrew Simon, Samantha Croy, Kerry Hwang, Dina LoGiudice & Betty Haralambous
2022. Video remote interpreting for home-based cognitive assessments. Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting 24:1 ► pp. 84 ff.
Hale, Sandra, Jane Goodman-Delahunty, Natalie Martschuk & Julie Lim
2022. Does interpreter location make a difference?. Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting 24:2 ► pp. 221 ff.
Jaiteh, Maïmouna, Clément Cormi, Louise Hannetel, Jean-Paul Mir, Edouard Leaune, Stéphane Sanchez & Barbara Schouten
2022. Perception of the use of a telephone interpreting service during primary care consultations: A qualitative study with allophone migrants. PLOS ONE 17:3 ► pp. e0264832 ff.
Vranjes, Jelena & Bert Oben
2022. Anticipation and timing of turn-taking in dialogue interpreting. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies 34:4 ► pp. 627 ff.
Zhu, Xuelian & Vahid Aryadoust
2022. A Synthetic Review of Cognitive Load in Distance Interpreting: Toward an Explanatory Model. Frontiers in Psychology 13
Corpas Pastor, Gloria & Fernando Sánchez Rodas
2021.
Now what?. In Corpora in Translation and Contrastive Research in the Digital Age [Benjamins Translation Library, 158], ► pp. 23 ff.
Huynh, Jennifer
2021. La Charla: documenting the experience of unaccompanied minors in immigration court. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 47:3 ► pp. 616 ff.
Karaban, Viacheslav, Anna Karaban, T. Andrienko, S. Potapenko & L. Slavova
2021. Exploring the potential for CAI implementation in interpreter training in Ukraine. SHS Web of Conferences 105 ► pp. 02002 ff.
Krystallidou, Demi, Wolf Langewitz & Maria van den Muijsenbergh
2021. Multilingual healthcare communication: Stumbling blocks, solutions, recommendations. Patient Education and Counseling 104:3 ► pp. 512 ff.
Angelelli, Claudia V.
2020. Community/Public-service interpreting as a communicative event. Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts 6:2 ► pp. 114 ff.
Braun, Sabine, Elena Davitti & Catherine Slater
2020. ‘It’s like being in bubbles’: affordances and challenges of virtual learning environments for collaborative learning in interpreter education. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 14:3 ► pp. 259 ff.
Davitti, Elena & Sabine Braun
2020. Analysing interactional phenomena in video remote interpreting in collaborative settings: implications for interpreter education. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 14:3 ► pp. 279 ff.
de Boe, Esther
2020. Remote interpreting in dialogic settings. In Linking up with Video [Benjamins Translation Library, 149], ► pp. 79 ff.
Goodman-Delahunty, Jane, Natalie Martschuk, Sandra B. Hale & Susan E. Brandon
2020. Interpreted Police Interviews: A Review of Contemporary Research. In Advances in Psychology and Law [Advances in Psychology and Law, 5], ► pp. 83 ff.
Havelka, Ivana
2020. Video-mediated remote interpreting in healthcare. Babel. Revue internationale de la traduction / International Journal of Translation 66:2 ► pp. 326 ff.
Lee, Robert G.
2020. Role-space in VRS and VRI. In Linking up with Video [Benjamins Translation Library, 149], ► pp. 107 ff.
Ng, Eva N.S. & Ineke H.M. Crezee
2020. Interpreting in legal and healthcare settings. In Interpreting in legal and healthcare settings [Benjamins Translation Library, 151], ► pp. 1 ff.
Russo, Mariachiara, Emilia Iglesias Fernández & Sabine Braun
2020. Introduction. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 14:3 ► pp. 235 ff.
Vranjes, Jelena & Geert Brône
2020. Eye-tracking in interpreter-mediated talk. In Linking up with Video [Benjamins Translation Library, 149], ► pp. 203 ff.
Davitti, Elena
2019. Methodological explorations of interpreter-mediated interaction: novel insights from multimodal analysis. Qualitative Research 19:1 ► pp. 7 ff.
Korpal, Paweł & Aleksandra Jasielska
Seeber, Kilian G., Laura Keller, Rhona Amos & Sophie Hengl
2019. Expectations vs. experience. Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting 21:2 ► pp. 270 ff.
Wang, Jihong & Jing Fang
2019. Accuracy in telephone interpreting and on-site interpreting. Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting 21:1 ► pp. 36 ff.
Biernacka, Agnieszka
2018. Virtual Classes as an Innovative Tool for Conference Interpreter Training. e-mentor 77:5 ► pp. 30 ff.
Han, Chao
2018. Mixed-methods research in interpreting studies. Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting 20:2 ► pp. 155 ff.
Kletečka-Pulker, Maria & Sabine Parrag
2018. Videodolmetschen als Kommunikationshilfe bei Flüchtlingen. Pädiatrie & Pädologie 53:S1 ► pp. 56 ff.
Mellinger, Christopher D. & Thomas A. Hanson
2018. Interpreter traits and the relationship with technology and visibility. Translation and Interpreting Studies 13:3 ► pp. 366 ff.
Braun, Sabine
2017. What a micro-analytical investigation of additions and expansions in remote interpreting can tell us about interpreters’ participation in a shared virtual space. Journal of Pragmatics 107 ► pp. 165 ff.
Braun, Sabine
2018. Video-mediated interpreting in legal settings in England. Translation and Interpreting Studies 13:3 ► pp. 393 ff.
Braun, Sabine
2020. “You are just a disembodied voice really”. In Linking up with Video [Benjamins Translation Library, 149], ► pp. 47 ff.
DONOVAN, Clare
2017. El lugar del intérprete y de la interpretación en un entorno institucional. CLINA: Revista Interdisciplinaria de Traducción, Interpretación y Comunicación Intercultural 3:2 ► pp. 91 ff.
Mellinger, Christopher D.
2017. Equal access to the courts in translation: a corpus-driven study on translation shifts in waivers of counsel. Perspectives 25:2 ► pp. 308 ff.
Powell, Martine B., Bronwen Manger, Jacinthe Dion & Stefanie J. Sharman
2017. Professionals’ Perspectives about the Challenges of Using Interpreters in Child Sexual Abuse Interviews. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law 24:1 ► pp. 90 ff.
Risku, Hanna, Regina Rogl & Jelena Milosevic
Risku, Hanna, Regina Rogl & Jelena Milosevic
2019. Translation practice in the field. In Translation Practice in the Field [Benjamins Current Topics, 105], ► pp. 1 ff.
Dumoulin, Laurence & Christian Licoppe
2016. Videoconferencing, New Public Management, and Organizational Reform in the Judiciary. Policy & Internet 8:3 ► pp. 313 ff.
Dumoulin, Laurence & Christian Licoppe
2017. Grasping the Discrete Link between Filming and Videoconferencing in the Courtroom. Reflections from the French Case*. Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais :112 ► pp. 115 ff.
Englund Dimitrova, Birgitta & Elisabet Tiselius
2016. Cognitive aspects of community interpreting. Toward a process model. In Reembedding Translation Process Research [Benjamins Translation Library, 128], ► pp. 195 ff.
Gallai, Fabrizio
2016. Point of view in free indirect thought and in community interpreting. Lingua 175-176 ► pp. 97 ff.
[no author supplied]
[no author supplied]
[no author supplied]
2019. Conversation-analytic transcription of Arabic-German talk-in-interaction [Working Papers in Corpus Linguistics and Digital Technologies: Analyses and Methodology, 2],
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 8 january 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.