Court interpreter costs increase

Opposition politicians have called for more access to English lessons

The cost of providing interpreters for defendants in Scottish courts who do not speak English has quadrupled in the past five years, it has been revealed.

Figures from the Scottish Court Service show £826,728 was spent on interpreters the financial year to March 2008, compared with £198,896 in 2003/2004.

Opposition MSPs have called for more access to English lessons for migrants.

The Scottish Government said it had a duty under the Human Rights Act to provide interpreters in court.

A spokesman said: "Under the terms of article six of the Human Rights Act, everyone charged with a criminal offence has the right to the free assistance of an interpreter if they cannot understand or speak the language used in court.

"The issue at stake here is the integrity of Scotland's world-renowned justice system and part of that is the ability of those going through the justice system to understand what is going on in the court and what is being said."

Fresh Talent

The service has provided interpreters at sheriff courts and the High Court since 2002.

The latest figures found the Glasgow and Strathkelvin sheriffdom had the highest costs and saw £99,464 spent in the last financial year compared with £47,898 in 2003/04 - with a peak of £103,319 spent in 2006/07.

In Edinburgh the figure rose from £14,248 in 2003/04 to £92,670 in 2007/08, with a rise in Aberdeen from £2,338 to £70,960 over the same period.

Mary Scanlon, Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands, said: "The previous Scottish Executive's Fresh Talent initiative was successful in recruiting people from overseas but there was very little in terms of English language classes.

"For most people working nine-to-five there was no evening class, and there was no block classes when they first arrived to get them off to a good start.

"Because money was not invested in providing opportunities to learn English that led to increased costs not just for the courts but for the NHS, the police and others."

Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker MSP said: "We massively increased funding in education and within that there was additional provision for people from abroad wanting to learn English, so I don't think that in itself was the reason for the rise in costs.

"It is a big increase in expenditure and while it is right for the Scottish Government to look at why there has been this increase, my overall position is that everyone has to have equal access to justice."