European Legal Interpreters and Translators Association (EULITA)
| Published date | 01 December 2011 |
| DOI | 10.1177/203228441100200410 |
| Author | Liese Katschinka |
| Date | 01 December 2011 |
| Subject Matter | Update |
New Journal of Eur opean Crimina l Law, Vol. 2, Issue 4, 2011 465
EUROPEAN LEGAL INTERPRETERS
AND TRANSLATORS ASSOCIATION (EULITA)
L K*
ABSTRACT
e European Legal Interpreters and Translators Assoc iation (EULITA) was established
in 2009 to represent the interests of th e legal interpreting and transl ation profession.
is article desc ribes the short history of EULITA, its structure and ac tivities, focusing
especially on an EU project (TR AFUT = Training for the Future) that aims to support
EU Member States in the transposition of the EU Direc tive on the right to interpretation
and translation in criminal p roceedings.
Aer World War II the Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,
which the Council of Europe adopted si xty years ago, was the rst document in
Europe that sp elled out clearly that
– “everyone who is arrested shall be infor med promptly, in a language which he
understands, of the rea sons for his arrest and of any charge against him” and that
– “everyone charged with a criminal oe nce has [the right] to be informed promptly
and in a language which he understa nds and in detail, of the nature and cause of the
accusation against him” and
– “to have the free assistance of an inte rpreter if he cannot understa nd or speak the
language used in cour t.”
e human right to be able to use one’s own language a nd to obtain interpreting
services when faced w ith a situation in which a foreign la nguage is spoken, was
therefore recognised by the Member States of t he Council of Europe a long time ago.
Over the years, cas e law of the European Court of Human Rights ha s interpreted the
scope and implications of these provi sions. (For more information please refer to the
presentation by James Brannan on the EC HR’s case law at an AIIC seminar in October
2010, on www.eulita.eu). is development of the human right to use one’s mother
* Liese Katsch inka, President of EUL ITA, Vienna, December 2011.
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