Qualified Foreign Language Interpreters

Supreme Court Certified Foreign Language Interpreters, and Provisionally (A) Certification A foreign language interpreter may receive certification from the Supreme Court Language Services Section and be styled a “Supreme Court certified foreign language interpreter” pursuant to the requirements of this rule. (B) General requirements for certification An applicant for certification as a Supreme Court certified foreign language interpreter shall satisfy each of the following requirements: (1) Be at least eighteen years old; Be a citizen or legal resident of the United States or have the legal right to (2) remain and work in the United States; (3) Have not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude. (C) Application for certification An applicant for certification as a Supreme Court certified foreign language interpreter shall file an application with the Section. The application shall include each of the following: (1) Verification the applicant is at least eighteen years old; (2) Verification the applicant is a legal resident or citizen of the United States or has the legal right to remain and work in the United States; (3) A copy of an oral assessment in English and the target foreign language demonstrating at minimum general professional proficiency based on an oral proficiency interview; (4) A nonrefundable application fee in an amount as determined by the Section. (D) Orientation training An applicant shall attend an orientation training session conducted or sponsored by the Section providing an introductory course to interpreting and addressing ethics, legal procedure and terminology, modes of interpretation, and other substantive topics. The Section may waive this requirement upon demonstration by the applicant of equivalent experience or training. The Section shall charge the applicant a nonrefundable fee in an amount as determined by the Section for attendance at a Section-sponsored training session. (E) Written examination (1) An applicant for certification as a Supreme Court certified foreign language interpreter shall take the written examination of the National Center for State Courts. The examination shall be administered by the Section in accordance with the standards described in the test administration manuals of the center. To pass the written examination, an applicant shall receive an overall score of (2) eighty percent or better in the English language and grammar, court-related terms and usage, and professional conduct sections of the examination. The written exam score may be carried to qualify for the oral exam for a period of no more than five years. (3) An applicant who fails the written examination shall wait no less than six months before retaking the examination provided that there are two written exams made available by the National Center for State Courts. (4) An applicant who has taken the written examination in another state within the past twenty-four months may apply to the Section for recognition of the score. The Section shall recognize the score if it is substantially comparable to the score required under division (E)(2) of this rule. (F) Post-written examination training course Upon compliance with the written examination requirements of division (E) of this rule, an applicant for certification as a Supreme Court certified foreign language interpreter shall attend a training course sponsored by the Section focusing on simultaneous, consecutive, and sight translation modes of interpretation in English and the target language of the applicant. The Section may charge the applicant a nonrefundable fee in an amount as determined by the Section for attendance at the training course. (G) Oral examination (1) After attending the post-written examination training course pursuant to division (F) of this rule, an applicant for certification as a Supreme Court certified foreign language interpreter shall take the oral examination of the National Center for State Courts. The examination shall be administered by the Section in accordance with the standards described in the test administration manuals of the center. (2) To pass oral examination, an applicant shall receive a score of seventy percent or better in each of the sections of the examination. The sight-translation section in either the English part or the foreign language part must be no less than sixty-four percent and must average at seventy percent or above in combination. (3) An applicant who receives a score of less than seventy percent but at least fifty-five percent in each of the sections of the oral examination shall receive provisional certification from the Section and be styled a “provisionally qualified foreign language interpreter.” The applicant may maintain provisional certification, provided the applicant’s certification is not revoked pursuant to Sup.R. 83. (4) An applicant who receives a score of at least seventy percent in two of the sections of the oral examination may carry forward the passing scores for up to thirty-six months or three testing cycles, whichever occurs last. If the applicant fails to successfully pass any previously failed sections of the examination during the time period which passing scores may be carried forward, the applicant shall complete all sections of the examination at a subsequent examination. An applicant may not carry forward passing scores from an examination taken in another state. (H) Written and oral examination preparation The Section shall provide materials to assist applicants for certification as Supreme Court certified foreign language interpreters in preparing for the written and oral examinations, including overviews of each examination. The Section also shall provide, approve, or coordinate training for applicants. (I) Reciprocity An applicant for certification as a Supreme Court certified foreign language interpreter who has previously received certification as a foreign language interpreter may apply to the Section for certification without fulfilling the training and examination requirements of division (D) through (G) of this rule as follows: (1) An applicant who has received certification from the federal courts shall provide proof of certification and be in good standing with the certifying body. (2) An applicant who has received certification from another state shall provide proof of having passed the oral examination. The Section may verify the test score information and testing history before approving certification. (3) An applicant who has received certification from the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators shall provide proof of having received a score on the examination of the association substantially comparable to the scores required under divisions (E)(2) and (G)(2) of this rule. The Section may verify the test score information and testing history before approving reciprocal certification. (4) Requests for reciprocal certification from all other applicants shall be reviewed by the Section on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration testing criteria, reliability, and validity of the examination procedure of the certifying body. The Section shall verify the test score of the applicant after accepting the certification criteria of the certifying body.