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2018 | 36 | 25-46

Article title

INTERPRETING IN CRIMINAL CASES IN JAPAN: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

Authors

Content

Title variants

PL
TŁUMACZENIE PRAWNE SPRAW KARNYCH W JAPONII: PRZESZŁOŚĆ, TERAŹNIEJSZOŚĆ I PERSPEKTYWY NA PRZYSZŁOŚĆ

Languages of publication

EN

Abstracts

EN
In the extant literature in Japan, the description of criminal cases involving foreigners goes back to around the fifth century; however, detailed depictions of language problems requiring legal interpreters started to appear in the Edo period (1603–1868). The cases of an Italian missionary who entered Japan illegally in 1709 and the robbery of Ainu graves by British consular officers in 1865 presented communication difficulties between the interrogator and accused in criminal procedures. This is common even today. This paper introduces the history of legal interpreting with reference to high profile cases, and reviews changes in communication issues in criminal proceedings involving non-Japanese speaking defendants in modern Japan. It also presents prospects regarding the shift in attitude among legal practitioners toward legal interpreting against the backdrop of recent judicial reforms including the introduction of a lay judge system and visualisation of the investigation process.
PL
W istniejącej literaturze przedmiotu opis spraw kryminalnych z udziałem cudzoziemców sięga około piątego wieku. Jednak szczegółowe opisy problemów językowych wymagających udziału tłumaczy prawniczych zaczęły pojawiać się w okresie Edo (1603-1868), np. przypadek włoskiego misjonarza, który nielegalnie wjechał do Japonii w 1709 r., a także rabunek grobów Ainu przez brytyjskich urzędników konsularnych w 1865 r., wskazywały na trudności komunikacyjne między śledczym i oskarżonym w postępowaniu karnym. Jest to powszechne nawet dzisiaj. Niniejszy artykuł przedstawia historię tłumaczeń ustnych w odniesieniu do znanych przypadków, a także analizuje zmiany w kwestiach komunikacyjnych w postępowaniu karnym, w którym udział biorą osoby spoza Japonii. Przedstawiono również perspektywy dotyczące zmiany podejścia prawników do interpretacji prawnej na tle niedawnych reform sądownictwa, w tym wprowadzenia ławników i wizualizacji procesu dochodzenia.

Year

Volume

36

Pages

25-46

Physical description

Dates

published
2019-01-25

Contributors

author
  • Kinjo Gakuin University

References

  • Books and articles
  • Berk-Seligson, Susan. 2002. The bilingual courtroom: Court interpreters in the judicial process. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
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  • Mizuno, Makiko. 2008. Nick Baker case: The challenges encountered in improving the quality control of legal interpretation in Japan. Kinjo Gakjuin Daigku Ronshu Studies in Social Science 5, 1: 34–41.
  • Mizuno, Makiko. 2015. The sentence-ending particle Ne used by lawyers in cross-examination and its English interpretation. Language and Law 2: 85–105.
  • Mizuno, Makiko. 2016. Double negative questions used at witness examinations and their interpretation. Kinjo Gakjuin Daigku Ronshu Studies in Social Science 12: 1–6.
  • Mizuno, Makiko, Yumiko Terada and Xiaufei Ma. 2016. The issue of court interpreting: Roundabout expressions and ambiguous wording used by lawyers in court. Language and Law 3: 61–80.
  • Nakamura, S. 2013. Issues of interpreting in the Bernice case. Language and Law 1: 27–37.
  • Nakamura, Sachiko, and Makiko Mizuno. 2010. Court experiment: Impact of interpreting on impressions of mock lay judges. A statistical study of language use in trials under the lay judge system. The Institute of Statistical Mathematics Cooperative Report 237: 53–66.
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  • Tanaka, Yasuha. 2005. Gaikokujin jiken to keiji shihōu: tsūyaku wo ukeru kenri to shihō tsūyakunin ni kansuru ichikousatsu [Cases involving foreign nationals and criminal justice: Discussion on the right to interpreters and legal interpreter]). Hokkaido University Graduate School of Law, Junior Research Journal 12: 1–41.
  • Yoshimura, Akira. 1991. Kurofune [Black ships]. Tokyo: Chūō kōron sha.
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  • Watanabe, Osamu. 2012. Saiban-in saiban to “goyaku enzai”: Garusupaha Benīsu jiken [Lay judge trial and “wrongful conviction due to misinterpretation”: Bernice Gerspacher Case]. In Mitsui Makoto Sensei Koki Shukuga Ronbunshū [Essays to celebrate Professor Makoto Mitsui’s 70th Birthday], ed. M. Inoue and T. Sakamaki, 725–750. Tokyo: Yūhikaku.
  • Newspapers
  • Ikeda, Teiichi and Noritake Misawa. 2016. Hotei tsūyaku, mondai darake [Court interpreting, so many mistakes]. Tokyo Newspaper, October 18.
  • Yomiuri Newspaper. 2017. Torishirabe tsūyaku misu 120 ken cho [Over 120 interpretation errors at interrogation]. May 24.
  • Websites
  • Tamagawa Gakuen, Tamagawa University and Taga, Kenji. Genko wa naze okita ka, nihon wa dō kawatta ka [Why Mongolian invasion occurred and how Japan changed]. http://www.tamagawa.ac.jp/sisetu/kyouken/kamakura/genkou/index.html (accessed April 15, 2018).
  • The Japan Federation of Bar Associations. Opinion Concerning Proposal for Legislation Regarding Court Interpreters. https://www.nichibenren.or.jp/en/document/opinionpapers/20130718.html (accessed May 5, 2018).
  • Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Center for Multilingual Multicultural Education and Research http://www.tufs.ac.jp/blog/ts/g/cemmer/news/post-23.html (accessed June 14, 2018).

Document Type

Publication order reference

Identifiers

YADDA identifier

bwmeta1.element.ojs-doi-10_14746_cl_2018_36_2
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