司法通譯在司法體系中專家角色與功能

Legal Interpreter as Expert in Taiwan’s Legal Proceedings

由於對合格司法通譯需求增加，美國國會於1978年通過「法庭通譯員法案」 （The Court Interpreters Act），其訓練和遴選方式廣受國際認同與仿效。該法中法院通譯除通譯角色外，認證資格者亦具專家證人（臺灣鑑定人）資格，兩種角色於司法程序中功能不同。臺灣刑事訴訟法鑑定人之規定，第211條規定：「本節之規定，於通譯準用之」，民事訴訟法亦有此規定。本研究聚焦在通譯專家在司法程序中之功能，先比較美國和臺灣專家證人和鑑定人的規定及制度，並以文獻分析法分析幾件美國案件，再以訪談法訪談法院通譯和律師，以探討目前實務誤譯情況、爭議譯文處理方式、專家通譯的功能和專家資格。

 

Due to an increasing need for qualified legal interpreters at the time, the US Congress passed the Court Interpreters Act in 1978, which has become a model for selecting and training court interpreters internationally. In the US legal system, certified court interpreters often serve as experts in legal proceedings apart from their roles as interpreters. Taiwan’s code of criminal procedure stipulates that provisions in the expert section shall apply mutatis mutandis to interpreters. There are also similar regulations in the civil procedure code. This paper focuses on the role of interpreters as experts through comparing related regulations for experts as part of legal proceedings in the US and Taiwan. Adopting on document analysis method and reviewing some U.S. cases, this paper seeks to utilize in-depth interviews with court interpreters and lawyers to discuss mistranslation in legal proceedings, translation dispute resolutions, functions and qualifications of expert interpreters in Taiwan’s legal system