In Re AMENDMENTS TO the FLORIDA RULES FOR CERTIFICATION AND REGULATION OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE COURT INTERPRETERS

159 So. 3d 804, 40 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 120, 2015 Fla. LEXIS 445, 2015 WL 919790
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMarch 5, 2015
DocketSC14-1055
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 159 So. 3d 804 (In Re AMENDMENTS TO the FLORIDA RULES FOR CERTIFICATION AND REGULATION OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE COURT INTERPRETERS) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re AMENDMENTS TO the FLORIDA RULES FOR CERTIFICATION AND REGULATION OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE COURT INTERPRETERS, 159 So. 3d 804, 40 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 120, 2015 Fla. LEXIS 445, 2015 WL 919790 (Fla. 2015).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The Court Interpreter Certification Board (Board) asks the Court to adopt amendments to the Florida Rules for Certification and Regulation of Spoken Language Court Interpreters (Court Interpreter Rules). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 2(a), Fla. Const.

This Court has charged the Board with the responsibility to continuously study the court system’s interpreting services program and to consider and propose program changes to improve the provision of court interpreting services. Under Court Interpreter Rule 14.110(f)(5), the Board has authority to make recommendations to the Court on language access issues and to recommend amendments to court rules relating to court interpreting services. With the minor exceptions discussed below, we adopt the amendments as proposed.

In March 2014, this Court adopted amendments to the Court Interpreter Rules. See In re Amends, to Fla. Rules for Certif. & Regul. of Court Interprtrs., 136 So.3d 584 (Fla.2014). With those amendments, we established and set the qualifications for the three “designations” of court interpreters: certified, language-skilled, and provisionally approved. The amendments also subjected undesignated interpreters working in the courts-by court appointment on a regular or recurring basis to the court interpreters’ Code of Professional Conduct and, to a limited extent, to the disciplinary procedures for designated court interpreters.

The amendments we adopt today include a definition of the term “court interpreter” that is more inclusive than previously understood. “Court interpreter” is defined to include all persons providing spoken language interpreting services in all court and court-related proceedings, except those providing services without pay to indigent persons when court appointment is not required. We also adopt a definition of “court-related proceeding” that will make clear that the provision of high-quality court interpreting services is intended to include not only proceedings presided over by a judge, magistrate, or hearing officer but also ancillary activities such as depositions, mediations, and other similar proceedings. The purpose of these amendments is to broaden the application of the Court Interpreter Rules and to elevate the quality of court interpreter services throughout the court system.

The new rules require all court interpreters, as newly defined, to register with the Office of the State Courts Administrator. The act of registration will now be an *805 interpreter’s first step toward becoming a designated interpreter. After an individual registers, the rules require the registrant to make progress toward achieving designation by undertaking the required qualifying steps with respect to training, experience, and testing. Other changes are made throughout the rules to coordinate existing provisions with the new registration requirement.

Under the amendments we adopt today, the Code of Professional Conduct and disciplinary rules will apply to all court interpreters, as newly defined, working in the court system.

The amended rules will apply the standards of the court interpreter certification program more broadly throughout the court system. Current rule 14.205, Certified Court Interpreter Designation, provides that certified interpreters are given preference in court appointments, contracts for interpreter services, and interpreter staff hiring decisions. Rule 14.215, Language Skilled Designation, provides that language-skilled interpreters are given preference in court appointments. Amended rules 14.205 and 14.210 (current rule 14.215 is renumbered as 14.210) extend the preference for certified and language-skilled interpreters to “selection, appointment, staffing, [and] private retention of court interpreters.” These changes are intended to promote the use of more highly qualified interpreters when interpreters are privately retained as well as when they are court-appointed.

As part of a reorganization that changes the order in which various provisions will appear in the body of rules, current rule 14.210, Waiver of Examination Requirement, is renumbered as rule 14.220. Current rule 14.210(b) provides: “Upon presentation of proof satisfactory to the board, the examination requirement shall be waived for anyone who has passed an equivalent examination in another state, if in accordance with board-approved requisites.” As proposed for inclusion in subdivision (b) of new rule 14.220, this sentence reads: “Upon presentation of proof satisfactory to the board, the examination requirement shall be waived for anyone who has taken an equivalent examination in another state and meets minimum qualifying board-approved requisites.” We do not agree that the words “has passed an equivalent examination” should be changed to read “has taken an equivalent examination.” We retain the words “has passed” in adopting new rule 14.220(b). Also, we change the heading of subdivision (b) from “Reciprocity” to “Equivalent Examination” to more accurately describe the content of the subdivision.

In addition to the matters discussed above, the amendments include changes in the organization of the rules and changes to coordinate the various new provisions with the existing rules and to make terminology consistent.

We thank the members of the Court Interpreter Certification Board for their service in preparing these rule amendments for our consideration. We adopt the rule amendments shown in the appendix to this opinion. New language is indicated by underlining. Deleted language is shown in struck-through type. All of the amendments will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on April 1, 2015, except for amended rules 14.200(a), 14.205(b)(1), 14.210(b)(1), and 14.215(a)(1). The latter amendments will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on October 1, 2015.

It is so ordered.

LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, QUINCE, CANADY, POLSTON, and PERRY, JJ., concur.

*806 APPENDIX

FLORIDA RULES FOR CERTIFICATION AND REGULATION OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE COURT INTERPRETERS

PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS Rule 14.100. Definitions

The following terms have the meanings shown as used in these rules:

(a) Court Interpreter. Any person providing spoken language court interpreting services during a court or court-related proceeding, except persons performing such services without remuneration on behalf of indigent persons in circumstances not requiring appointment of a court interpreter.

(ab) Certified Court Interpreter. An interpreter who has completed all requirements for certification in accordance with these rules and holds a valid certificate issued by the Office of the State Courts Administrator.

(be) Language Skilled. A designation reserved for interpreters who have completed all requirements in accordance with these rules, but who are seeking certification in a spoken language for which there is no state-certifying examination, such persons-holdingand hold a valid certificate issued by the Office of the State Courts Administrator.

(ed) Provisionally Approved.

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Related

In Re AMENDMENTS TO the FLORIDA RULES OF JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION
176 So. 3d 267 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2015)

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159 So. 3d 804, 40 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 120, 2015 Fla. LEXIS 445, 2015 WL 919790, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-amendments-to-the-florida-rules-for-certification-and-regulation-of-fla-2015.