Justice department funds translation services for 91 languages - but doesn’t include Irish

Stormont’s Department of Justice is paying over £250,000 a year to translate close to 100 languages, but the list doesn’t include Irish.

Justice Minister Naomi Long’s department pays for translation services for those who come into contact with the criminal justice system and are unable to speak English.

Article 6 of The European Convention of Human Rights, which Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK remains signed up to despite Brexit, states that everyone who is charged with a criminal offence has the right to be informed promptly in a language which they understand and in detail, of the nature and cause of the accusation against them.

In cases prosecuted by the Public Prosecution Service, the cost of supplying an interpreter for defendants at first court appearances is met by the PSNI. The cost of providing in-court interpretation for defendants at second and subsequent hearings is jointly met by the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunal Service, the PPS and the Department of Justice.

A response by Ms Long to an Assembly Question from DUP MLA Stephen Dunne revealed the number of languages which required translation as part of the justice system in the five years since 2020 was 91.

Among the languages which required translators were several little known regional languages, including Chin Tedim (Myanmar), Bahdini (Kurdish dialect) and Mauritian Creole.

• The total cost to the department for translation services in the last five years is over £1million, including £256,000 in the most recent full year period.

The most recent year’s figure jumped from £183,000 in the previous 12 months.

In the response, Justice Minister Naomi Long included a table of the 91 languages and added that the associated costs “include, but are not limited to” those in the table.

However, one minority language which is not included in the list is Irish.

Last year, the UK government announced it was to repeal a 300-year-old ban on languages other than English being used in court proceedings, paving the way for Irish to be spoken officially.

Table: All the languages which have been used during translation services by Stormont’s Department of Justice since 2020/21

However, guidelines have not yet been introduced in order to facilitate the implementation of rules around the use of Irish in court hearings.

Courts are obliged to provide an interpreter when a defendant can neither read, speak or understand English.

In a case sitting at Ballymena Magistrates Court last September, a 39-year-old man accused of speeding had requested to have his hearing conducted in Irish.

District Judge Nigel Broderick rejected the application by Sean Curran and denied the use of an interpreter, saying that he did not consider it “a good use of public funds”.

The Department of Justice has been contacted for further comment.