BEI Ethical & Professional Conduct 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: During testimony, a witness uses profanity and offensive language. How should the interpreter handle this?
- Substitute milder language to avoid offending the court
- Interpret the language accurately, including its register and tone (Correct answer)
- Omit profanity and note the omission in the record
- Ask the judge for permission to sanitize the language
Correct answer: Interpret the language accurately, including its register and tone
Interpreters must render all speech faithfully, including profanity and offensive language, to preserve the tone and register of the original statement.
Question 2: An interpreter is asked to sight-translate a document written in a dialect they can read but with difficulty. The interpreter should:
- Proceed slowly and flag any uncertain sections
- Decline the sight translation and request a credentialed translator (Correct answer)
- Accept and have the document reviewed later for accuracy
- Ask an attorney to read the document aloud for easier interpretation
Correct answer: Decline the sight translation and request a credentialed translator
If an interpreter lacks confidence in their ability to accurately sight-translate a document, they must decline to protect the integrity of the record.
Question 3: An interpreter learns through interpreted proceedings that a witness is about to commit perjury. The interpreter's ethical duty is to:
- Warn the witness privately that perjury is illegal
- Alert the judge about the impending false testimony
- Continue interpreting faithfully and take no independent action (Correct answer)
- Notify the prosecution after the proceeding ends
Correct answer: Continue interpreting faithfully and take no independent action
Interpreters must maintain strict neutrality and may not act on information learned through the interpreting role, including suspected perjury.
Question 4: A court interpreter receives a call from a newspaper reporter asking about a case they interpreted. The interpreter should:
- Provide only publicly available information from the court record
- Decline to discuss any aspect of the case and maintain confidentiality (Correct answer)
- Confirm basic facts but decline to interpret or analyze proceedings
- Refer the reporter to the court's public information officer
Correct answer: Decline to discuss any aspect of the case and maintain confidentiality
Interpreters must maintain strict confidentiality about all matters encountered in their professional role and should not discuss cases with the media.
Question 5: What is the primary purpose of the BEI code of professional conduct for interpreters?
- To restrict interpreters from taking on too many assignments
- To ensure equal access to justice for individuals with limited English proficiency (Correct answer)
- To protect interpreters from liability in civil proceedings
- To standardize interpreter pay rates across jurisdictions
Correct answer: To ensure equal access to justice for individuals with limited English proficiency
The BEI's professional standards exist primarily to protect the due process rights of LEP individuals by ensuring accurate, impartial, and confidential interpretation.
Question 6: An interpreter is assigned to a case where they previously worked as a paralegal for one of the attorneys. The interpreter should:
- Accept the assignment since the paralegal role was not legal practice
- Disclose the prior relationship immediately and recuse themselves (Correct answer)
- Accept only if the prior work was more than two years ago
- Proceed if the attorney gives verbal consent
Correct answer: Disclose the prior relationship immediately and recuse themselves
Prior professional relationships with attorneys involved in a case create conflicts of interest that must be disclosed and typically require recusal.
Question 7: During a remote video interpretation session, the interpreter experiences significant audio distortion that affects comprehension. The correct action is to:
- Continue and interpret what can be heard clearly
- Immediately alert the court to the technical problem and pause if necessary (Correct answer)
- Request the speaker repeat every statement as a workaround
- Switch to text-based interpretation as an alternative
Correct answer: Immediately alert the court to the technical problem and pause if necessary
Technical problems that compromise interpretation accuracy must be reported immediately so the court can address the issue before the record is affected.
BEI Ethical & Professional Conduct 4
During testimony, a witness uses profanity and offensive language.
How should the interpreter handle this?