Interpretation in the Greenlandic judiciary

Anyone accused of a crime, according to human rights, has the right to free assistance from an interpreter if they do not understand or speak the language in court. This report examines the conditions for interpretation in the Greenlandic judiciary and deals with the challenges that arise in connection with interpretation in criminal cases by the courts in Greenland.

In the report, on the basis of the investigations, we identify legal-security challenges within the (1) framework for interpretation by the courts, (2) the need for dialect differences, when interpreting for North- or East-Greenlandic-speaking persons in the courts, and (3) the interpreters' competences within languages, interpretation techniques and professionalism.

The study shows that many legal security challenges within all three themes are solved on a practical level by so-called interpreting, where double-language members of the court (judges, defendants) can intervene and together with the interpreter find the right understanding and subsequent translation of a concept.