CITATION: R. v. Khamphila, 2017 ONSC 5445
COURT FILE NO.: 4/17
DATE: 20170913
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - ONTARIO
RE: R. v. Nham Thavinh Khamphila
BEFORE: Morissette, J.
COUNSEL: S. Monaghan for the Crown
C. Conron for the defendant
HEARD: September 13, 2017
ENDORSEMENT
[1] The interpreter, Ms. Pattanun Woodtikarn, present on this day for the Charter application is not accredited in the Laotian language, much to the surprise of counsel for defence and the Crown.
[2] The Court inquired of the administration of justice, Ms. Weaver, what process is involved in getting an accredited interpreter. She informed the Court that the Ministry of the Attorney General has retained an agency charged with the responsibility to provide accredited interpreters. In the case of the Laotian language, only two were available, one with a conditional accreditation and the other without (i.e. Ms. Woodtikarn).
[3] Ms. Weaver has also advised that some interpreters are accredited for the Immigration Board but not for the Ministry of the Attorney General. It is not clear to me what the different forms of accreditation entail.
[4] There seems to be no good reason why an accredited or objectively tested interpreter cannot be produced that is one who has already passed even some modest form of testing to the satisfaction of experts, in order to meet the standard for the Ministry of the Attorney General for the purpose of this Court.
[5] This issue of the lack of qualified interpreters is not new to the Superior Court of Justice. In fact, it is quite clear that in our multicultural/multilingual society, this issue must become a priority. With the pressures of Jordan, combined with the fundamental rights conferred by s. 14 of the Charter, the administration of justice must take this matter very seriously indeed.
[6] Accordingly, in the interest of the administration of justice, this Court has asked Ms. Weaver to ensure that before the first day of trial on October 16, 2017, a properly accredited Laotian interpreter be made available for the duration of the trial.
[7] The Charter application on “voluntariness” will be heard at the start of the trial, following the selection of the jury. Counsel have advised that the time for the Charter application will not extend the time for the trial.
“Justice J. N. Morissette”
J. N. Morissette
Date: September 13, 2017