Abstract
Recently the number of penal cases with foreign defendants is increasing in Japan and the Japanese courts started to notice the importance of the quality of the performance of court interpreters, although the screening for qualified interpreters and training are still on-going process. In the United States of America, on the other hand, the Court Interpreters Act, established in 1978, stipulates various regulations, including the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination Program, for the quality and services which court interpreters should posses. After reviewing its history, contents and actual examination status, this paper examines the Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification Program in details. At the end of the paper, some suggestions are presented for those concerned with the Japanese court interpreters system.
