Consolidated practice directions

___________________________________________________________ 
1. 
This Practice Direction sets out the Court's approach to the use of 
interpreters in proceedings as well as other issues relating to barriers 
to effective communication. The Court does not provide translators, 
but will arrange for interpreters in criminal proceedings and can book 
an interpreter for a party in a civil proceeding. Requests for the use of 
an interpreter must be made on the booking form not less than 14 days 
prior to the date of the hearing at which the interpreter is to be used.
Lawyers should be alive to conflict of interest issues that may arise 
with the use of an interpreter. The Practice Direction provides 
guidance to counsel appearing in hearings in which an interpreter is 
interpreting for a party or witness. The Practice Direction also 
includes a Protocol for the Use of Interpreters. The Protocol provides 
guidance to interpreters undertaking assignments for Supreme Court 
hearings. 
Background 
2. 
Within the constraints of its resources, the Court endeavours to 
provide equitable access to justice to people who are unable to 
communicate effectively in English or who are deaf or hearing 
impaired. The language services guidelines of the Court, set out in this 
document, deal with the use of interpreters, translators and technical 
solutions. 
An interpreter is a 'person who facilitates communication between two 
parties who use different languages' (As defined in the Office of 
Multicultural Interests (OMI) 
Western Australian Language Services 
Policy 
2014 
& 
Guidelines, 
page 
45, 
available 
online 
at:
https://www.omi.wa.gov.au/Languages/Pages/WALanguageServicesP
olicy.aspx
)
. In this document, a 'Court interpreter' is an interpreter 
arranged by the Court in distinction to a 'private interpreter' who is an 
interpreter arranged by a party or a witness. 

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9. Specialised Procedures 
PD 9.13 
Supreme Court of Western Australia 
Consolidated Practice Direction
A translator is a 'person who makes a written transfer of a message or 
statement from one language into another language with accuracy and 
objectivity to enable communication between two parties who use 
different languages' (
Western Australian Language Services Policy 2014 & 
Guidelines
, page 46). 
In developing its language services guidelines, the Court has had 
regard to 
Western Australian Language Services Policy 2014 & Guidelines
and the 
Department of Justice Language Services Policy and Procedures 
(online at: 
http://www.department.dotag.wa.gov.au/C/customer_service.aspx?ui
d=1163-9829-1813-1792
, updated 16 April 2019). The guidelines have 
been developed in consultation with relevant interpreter service 
providers and industry bodies.