Rule 10-611 - Suggested questions for assessing qualifications of proposed court interpreter[For use with Children's Court Rule 10-167 and Evidence Rule 11-604 NMRA]
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS FOR PROPOSED COURT INTERPRETERS
1. Do you have any particular training or credentials as an interpreter?2. What is your native language?3. How did you learn English?4. How did you learn [the foreign language]?5. What was the highest grade you completed in school?6. Have you spent any time in the foreign country?7. Did you formally study either language in school? Extent?8. How many times have you interpreted in court?9. Have you interpreted for this type of hearing or trial before? Extent?10. Are you familiar with the code of professional responsibility for court interpreters? Please tell me some of the main points (e.g., interpret everything that is said).11. Are you a potential witness in this case?12. Do you know or work for any of the parties?13. Do you have any other potential conflicts of interests?14. Have you had an opportunity to speak with the non-English speaking person informally? Were there any particular communication problems?15. Are you familiar with the dialectal or idiomatic peculiarities of the witnesses?16. Are you able to interpret simultaneously without leaving out or changing anything that is said?17. Are you able to interpret consecutively? USE NOTES
This list of proposed questions is taken from Court Interpretation: Model Guides for Policy and Practice in the State Courts; Chapter 6, Judges Guide to Standards for Interpreted Proceedings; NCSC, 9/4/2002. The list of questions is not mandatory nor exclusive, and the judge retains the discretion to inquire into any subject matter necessary to determine whether the proposed court interpreter is qualified to serve.
N.M. R. Child. Ct. 10-611
Adopted by Supreme Court Order No. 12-8300-022, effective for all cases filed or pending on or after1/1/2013; 10-440 recompiled as 10-611 by Supreme Court Order No. 17-8300-029, effective for all cases filed or pending on or after12/31/2017. ANNOTATIONS Recompilations. - Pursuant to Supreme Court Order No. 17-8300-029, former 10-440 NMRA was recompiled as 10-611 NMRA, effective for all cases pending or filed on or after December 31, 2017.