Going to court for legal proceeding can make anyone feel uncomfortable unless you are an attorney. For the hearing impaired, court proceedings can lead to anxiety and fear. This is due to the stress of wondering how he or she will be to hear what is going on. Are there any interpreters on the site than are available to them? Legal proceedings involving the hearing impaired has many participants such as the judge, the attorney for each side, jury and so on. Another person that is present is an interpreter for the hearing impaired individual. The role of the interpreter is as important as the role of the attorney but with a major distinction of being completely neutral to the outcome of the proceedings.

Requirements of Qualified Interpreter

The legal system has many requirements, from an attorney’s standing with the bar association to the certification of an interpreter for the hearing impaired. An interpreter must be considered “qualified” in order to translate at legal proceedings; there are three options in order to be considered “qualified”. The first option is that the individual must have obtained specialized certification from either a state agency or commission serving the hearing impaired. The second option is that the interpreter must have obtained certification from the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) or the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). The third option in order to be considered to be a “qualified” interpreter is that the interpreter can effectively facilitate communication between the hearing impaired and individuals in court who are not impaired such as the attorneys or the judge.

No Family Members Please

An additional prerequisite of the interpreter is that he or she must be a relative or friend of anyone involved in the proceeding. For example, the interpreter cannot be a niece of one of the attorneys involved in the case.

How to request an Interpreter?

The hearing impaired can request an interpreter, with the help of his or her attorney. Most court systems have a specific department in order to process the requests for interpreters. The attorney of the hearing impaired will most likely know how much notice needs to be given to this department in order to guarantee an interpreter for a specific court date. The necessary information in order to request an interpreter for the hearing impaired includes: names of the people in the case, case number and any other special needs present. The attorney can have someone on his staff make the request.

Additional Services may be available

In addition, the attorney for the hearing impaired individual scheduled in court can see if there are other services specifically geared towards the hearing impaired. Some of these services include real-time captioning, assistive listening devices, and relay. Real-time captioning involves a high-skilled captionist who enters steno shorthand into advanced software. The steno shorthand is then translated into readable English which is displayed on a computer screen, television screen, video or overhead projector.