Controversy over professional ethics typically arises when interpreting takes place in the public service or institutional discourse setting. Should interpreters simply relay and coordinate the interlocutors' utterances, or should they act as gatekeepers and advocates fulfilling a conciliatory function? Based on examples from practice, training, and research, this article examines the controversy in light of the interpreter' s professional status, as well as concepts such as the exercise of discretion and trust - notions that are central to research on professions and their development in general. The article argues that the controversy, which depends on whom people consider to be the interpreter's clients, has consequences for not only the interpreters' professional status, but also for the integrity of the professionals in charge of the interpreted institutional encounters as well as their clients' and patients' rights to information and voice.