United States District Court, Southern District of New York
Sunday, September 21, 2008
The Southern District of New York Interpreters Office coordinates the provision of interpreters and/or translators as needed by the District Court, Pretrial Services Agency, Probation Department or other arm of the court.
Pursuant to the Court Interpreter's Act (28 USC 1827), each federal court is required to provide, at judiciary expense, a certified or otherwise qualified interpreter in judicial proceedings instituted by the United States for a party who speaks only or primarily a language other than English. According to the Act, the United States Attorney's Office is responsible for securing the services of interpreters for government witnesses.
Pursuant to Judicial Conference policy (September 1995), each federal court is required to provide, at judiciary expense, sign language interpreters or other appropriate auxiliary aids and services to participants in federal court proceedings (civil as well as criminal cases) who are deaf, hearing-impaired, or have other communications disabilities.
This site is designed to provide information about the field and practice of court interpreting —also known as judiciary interpreting or legal interpreting— to court personnel, members of the bar and bench, interpreters and the public.
New procedures for requesting in-court interpreting services
Effective August 1, 2008, the Assistant United States Attorneys are no longer responsible for notifying the Interpreters Office of the need for court interpreters in matters before the District Court. Instead, the Judges' staff -- courtroom deputies and law clerks -- will assume this responsibility, primarily by means of a request management web application developed by our office.
For further information, please see our instructions for requesting interpreters.
Attention Contract Interpreters:
Please be advised that the contract and other relevant documents are posted at:
http://www1.nysd.uscourts.gov/forms.php
Click "Interpreters' Forms" in the navigation bar on the left.
In accordance with the policy of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the SDNY contract for interpreter services has been revised for the period covering April 2, 2007 through September 30, 2008.
All contract interpreters working with the SDNY will need to submit a new signed contract. You may submit the contract electronically, via email, mail or in person. Please date it on the day you have signed.
Your signature is required in two places. Click on "Rate and Information Sheet" in the first line of the contract to download the two-page form that needs to be signed. Your signature is also needed on page 13 of the contract. You do not need to submit the entire contract; the signature page alone is sufficient.
Please read the contract carefully. You will note that contract interpreters are specifically prohibited from submitting more than one voucher to any federal district court or CJA attorney for a work assignment (or travel expenses incurred) covering the same time period. In the event an interpreter works in one federal district in the morning and in another federal district in the afternoon, the second half of the day must be billed at the second half-day rate, not the first half. If two half-days are worked on the same day in different districts, the total amount of the vouchers submitted should add up to one complete day.
A second document posted at the above site is referenced in the contract, "Standards for Performance and Professional Responsibility for Contract Court Interpreters in the Federal Courts." You do not need to sign this, but may download it for your own reference. By signing the contract, you are agreeing to abide by these standards.
Contract Interpreter Rates
Please note the new contract interpreter rates, effective 02-January-2008.
I need a court interpreter
For out-of-court Spanish interpreting services, please see our roster of federally certified interpreters and contact one of the interpreters listed there. To arrange for an interpreter for criminal matters in our District Court, please see our instructions for requesting court interpreting services.
I am a Spanish interpreter looking for federal court work
You will need to pass the federal certification examination. If you already have federal court certification and you are in the New York area, please contact us.
I am an other-than-Spanish interpreter looking for federal court work
Please mail a hard-copy résumé and cover sheet to our office. We will keep it on file and contact you if there is a need for interpreters in your language.
For other questions please see our FAQ file.
Most of the documents on this site were written by Nancy Festinger; some were authored by or with assistance from David Mintz. Design, construction, maintenance, server-side programming by David Mintz.
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Last updated 25-Jul-2008 11:35 am
