The Role of Court Interpreting in Police Detainment Procedures Involving Foreign Citizens Suspected of Committing a Crime in Slovenia: The Suspects' Perspective

Abstract

The present paper focuses on the rights of suspects, who do not speak or understand the Slovenian language, to interpretation and translation in pre-trial procedures. The aim of the research was to examine whether the right to use one's own language is properly exercised and protected in the early stages of criminal procedures, especially during the first contact between a suspect and police officers conducting investigative and other actions. The empirical part of this contribution includes seven interviews with foreign citizens who were apprehended by the Slovenian Police on suspicion of committing a criminal offence. A detailed questionnaire was used to collect the data, asking the suspects to evaluate their communication with police officers and legal interpreters in terms of guaranteeing their language rights, as well as efficiency, ethics, fluency, expectations and positions of power. The analysis demonstrates that the suspects expressed no complaints regarding their treatment by the police, the provided communication with an interpreter and the quality of interpretation during their apprehension and detention. The authors conclude that Slovenian legislation provides sufficient protection of human rights regarding the use of a suspect's native language or another language of communication in the pre-trial procedure. Nevertheless, the issue of interpretation and translation for foreign nationals in criminal procedures deserves further attention.