Observer of a Civil Trial

   On October 19th, I went to Tokyo district court and heard a civil trial, which defendant is a foreign people with an interpreter. I decided to go to the court because it was additional assignment of the class, "Interpreting in Society" to write a report about that.

   When I entered the room, I remembered the movie of "Hero", acted by Takuya Kimura. It was smaller room than I expected, and there is tense atmosphere. There are two people in the center of the room, a defendant and an interpreter. It was the first time for me to observe the trial, but it was interesting for me. The trial which I heard is about the application for refugee status, by a Turkish man. Interpretation in the trial is consecutive interpretation, which means the interpreter starts interpreting when the speaker finish talking to some extent, in short, it was not simultaneous interpretation.

   I thought the job of interpreter is so hard! She has to hear the question from Japanese attorney with taking notes, and translate Japanese into Turkish, and hear the answer of Turkish defendant , and translate Turkish into Japanese for Japanese attorney. It means that interpreter have to listen two language conversation carefully, because interpreter can change the defendant's destiny and future, so it's responsibility is heavy. Also, interpreter has to be fair for both. I understood that prof. Hongo said "Interpreter has a role of mediator."