Being Understood – A Foreign Language Should be no Barrier to Justice

A Polish client, of one of our solicitor client firms, had been the victim of an RTA. The defendant had attempted to imply that it was the claimant”s fault, assuming her lack of knowledge of the English language would result in her not being able to defend herself. However,  the claimant, through the assistance of an interpreter, was able to explain the full facts of the incident, such that, the defendant had been texting on the phone and subsequently crashed into her car and was in fact driving without due care and attention.

A statement was prepared in Polish and English which the claimant signed and which was disputed by the defendant as being the truth.

The matter went to court. The interpreter did not have to attend the trial, but was able connect via the Court CVP system and interpreted remotely, live into the court room.

The case was successful and the claimant won her claim for personal injuries, compensation and costs.

This would not have been possible had she not been able to give a full account of what happened on the day, in her native language, duly and accurately translated firstly in writing and then verbally in the court room, on the day.

This is a regular occurrence for Dixon Associates, whereby we are asked to translate or interpret for non-English speaking clients in court in cases such as RTAs, accidents at work, breaches of contracts of employment, etc.

Please call us on +44 (0)1902 312988 for further details in this respect or email us.