As I was sitting in the various courtrooms throughout my short stint as an intern at the Kuching High Court, I was struck by the multitude of roles court interpreters play in and outside the courtroom that helps the entire court organisation click and work well.
In my first exposure, I was sat next to the court interpreter who was sat directly below the judge’s podium as I saw her, Puan so and so help the judge and senior assistant registrars (SAR) manage a multitude of cases from civil matters to criminal matters with ease and grace.
It would not be an exaggeration that without these very resourceful and diligent people, the courts would certainly be at a standstill. On the first day, I saw one court interpreter do the work of a secretary, administrator, and her real job of interpreting with ease while commanding the respect of all in the court, including the judges and their SARs.
I saw her managing the judge’s calendar and help lawyers with their predicaments when it came to a clash of dates and trials with most of the cases managed in person, there were also live zoom sessions with those lawyers who could not make it to the courtroom on that day.
I was more than impressed. I was in fact in awe of the lady and soon as I went deeper into my internship, I realised she was not a one-off but in fact there were tens of these individuals who were equally good at what they do but at the same time they are all humble and down-to-earth people with no airs about them.
One might think, hey man, you’re just stating the obvious and that’s their job, so what’s the big deal. Well, the big deal is that their job is to be interpreters but they are functioning well beyond the parameters of what they are hired to do.
For instance, one day while I was in the magistrates’ court witnessing the arraignment of suspects and accused from the PDRM, JPJ and Immigration where the court was dealing with either a mention for a would-be trial, or debating remand requests to making judgements on accused who plead guilty to the charges they were read I saw first hand while the interpreters helped one of the accused frame an argument in attempt to mitigate her sentence and the Magistrate was in fact lenient to the accused.
In essence the accused was alone and without council and the interpreters help in framing the request for leniency was delivered as any competent learned lawyer would have and the reality is the interpreter was a pseudo lawyer in that moment and I should add from the facts of the case the accused deserved the second chance that she got.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the interpreters do not go out of their way to become pretend lawyers but while interpreting for people down on their luck, I believe all their years sitting in the courtroom and listening to the best of the best argue their cases the interpreters have adopted the vocabulary and while interpreting the hapless accused, she used the right words to allow the Magistrate in this case to come to a justiciable decision.
The accused was still punished for her crime but it also allowed her to return to her 8-year and 2-year-old children whom she stole for in the first place and that is what prompted me to write this quick note to the editor in the hopes that I may pay a tribute to all the court interpreters doing their duty in the name of justice.
I salute you, dear unsung heroes of justice.
Sivanesan Sanmugalingam is a UNISZA law student attending his Internship with the Kuching High Court.
