ACCURACY IN COURT INTERPRETING

In Poland, the right to a fair trial is guaranteed in both international and national documents: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 1950, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000/C 364/01), and Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings; the Polish Code of Civil Procedure, and the amended (by way of implementation of Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime) Code of Criminal Procedure. An ethical principle of accuracy binding upon Polish court interpreters, as set forth in the Polish Sworn Translator's Code (applied equally by sworn translators, court interpreters, and public service interpreters in all settings), contribute to making a non-Polish speaking party to court proceedings understand and be understood. Taking the above into consideration, interpreters are admonished against literal interpreting, which can possibly modify a sense of the original statement. As Shlesinger notices, the requirement of accuracy in court interpreting is so fluid that it “leaves considerable discretionary power to the interpreter” (1991: 153). The aim of this study is to discuss the concept of accuracy in court interpreting on the basis of naturally occurring data. The episodes of interaction are analyzed from the point of view of complying with ethics and classified according to a particular problem faced by the interpreters.