When a witness in a Georgia commercial truck accident case cannot communicate effectively in English, the deposition or trial testimony must be taken through a qualified interpreter. Georgia has built a layered framework to handle this situation: Supreme Court rules establishing a statewide interpreter program, Uniform Superior Court Rule 7.3 governing notice and appointment, the Civil Practice Act on the conduct of depositions, and a Code of Professional Responsibility for interpreters that governs accuracy and impartiality.
The Statewide Framework
The Supreme Court of Georgia, by order dated June 27, 2023, adopted updated rules for court interpreting that consolidated and modernized prior orders dating back to 2003. The rules establish a Committee on Interpreters in the Office of Court Professionals, charged with policy oversight; a licensure system with three tiers, Master Licensed Legal Interpreter, Licensed Legal Interpreter, and Conditionally Licensed Legal Interpreter; and a Code of Professional Responsibility for interpreters.
The Supreme Court Rule on Use of Interpreters for Non-English Speaking and Hearing Impaired Persons applies to civil and criminal proceedings and to court-related events such as judicially supervised mediations.
Depositions Under the Civil Practice Act
A deposition is taken under OCGA Sections 9-11-28 and 9-11-30. The officer presiding over the deposition, typically a court reporter authorized under Georgia law, places the witness under oath. When the witness needs an interpreter, the interpreter is sworn separately before the witness testifies. The interpreter’s oath is to interpret accurately, completely, and impartially.
Parties typically agree on the interpreter in advance and document the interpreter’s licensure or, if a licensed interpreter is not available for the language, the qualifications and reasons for using a non-licensed interpreter. The court reporter records both the interpreter’s identification and the oath, creating a record that can be reviewed if questions about accuracy arise later.
Voir Dire of the Interpreter
It is common practice to voir dire the interpreter on the record before the witness is sworn. The voir dire typically covers the interpreter’s training, credentialing, native and target language proficiency, familiarity with legal terminology, prior interpreting experience, any conflicts of interest with the parties or witness, and willingness to follow the Code of Professional Responsibility. The Judicial Council of Georgia has published model voir dire forms and instructions for use of non-licensed interpreters that counsel and judges follow.
Document Translation in Depositions
Many commercial truck cases involve documents originally created in another language, such as bills of lading, foreign medical records, or pre-employment records issued in a non-English jurisdiction. The Georgia interpreter rules address translated exhibits used during depositions. When a translation of a non-English document is offered, and the original is in the same language the deponent speaks, both the translation and the original are marked as exhibits under the same exhibit number. This practice allows the trier of fact to evaluate the accuracy of the translation later by comparing it to the original.
Translations are typically prepared in advance by a credentialed translator, and the translator may be required to provide a certification of accuracy. The certification is usually attached to the translated document.
Modes of Interpretation
Three modes are used in legal interpreting, and the proper mode depends on the setting.
Consecutive interpretation, in which the speaker pauses to allow the interpreter to render each segment, is the default for witness testimony. It produces a clean record and allows counsel to control questioning pace.
Simultaneous interpretation, in which the interpreter speaks at the same time as the speaker, is sometimes used for proceedings the witness or party is observing but not directly answering, such as opening statements or argument. It requires technical equipment for clean audio.
Sight translation, in which the interpreter reads a document aloud in the target language, is used for documents the witness must review during testimony. The interpreter takes a separate oath to render the document accurately.
Trial Testimony
At trial, the interpreter sits beside or near the witness and renders questions and answers in the first person, preserving the witness’s grammatical voice. The trial judge instructs the jury that the interpreter’s English rendering is the testimony, and that any private linguistic knowledge a juror may have of the source language is not to be used. The Georgia Suggested Pattern Jury Instructions include charges on the role of interpreters.
If the witness’s testimony in the source language is itself important, for instance because the witness’s idioms or grammatical structures bear on credibility, the record may include both the original utterance and the English translation. The court reporter and any audio recording capture the original-language utterance for later review.
Challenges to Interpretation
Counsel who believes an interpretation is inaccurate has several options. The first is contemporaneous objection, identifying the specific concern and requesting a clarification. The second is requesting a check interpreter, an independent interpreter who reviews the live interpretation and reports concerns to the court. The third is creating a record by preserving the source-language statement and obtaining post-hoc review of the recording.
Appellate review of interpretation issues is typically for abuse of discretion. Georgia appellate decisions have addressed the adequacy of voir dire, the qualifications of interpreters, and the materiality of alleged errors in published opinions.
Federal Driver English Proficiency
Commercial drivers governed by 49 CFR Section 391.11(b)(2) must read and speak English sufficiently to converse with the general public, understand highway traffic signs and signals, respond to official inquiries, and make entries on reports and records. Whether a particular driver met this requirement may itself be a contested issue in a truck case, and counsel may explore the driver’s pre-employment screening, English-language testing, and post-hire documentation. The driver’s need for an interpreter at deposition or trial does not automatically establish a violation, because the regulation’s standard is operational sufficiency rather than fluency.
Cost Allocation
For court appearances, the Supreme Court Interpreter Rules provide that the court appoints and pays for the interpreter from the statewide pool. For privately noticed depositions, the party that notices the deposition typically retains and pays the interpreter, with costs sometimes recoverable as taxable costs under OCGA Sections 9-11-54 and 9-15-1 at the conclusion of the case.
Confidentiality
Interpreters are bound by Canon 6 of the Code of Professional Responsibility to maintain confidentiality of privileged information. When an interpreter is used during attorney-client communication, communications retain their privileged character provided the interpreter is necessary to the communication and is held to the duty of confidentiality. Counsel commonly retains a separate interpreter for attorney-client communication so the trial interpreter is not exposed to privileged content.
Sign Language and Hearing Impairment
The Supreme Court Interpreter Rules apply to interpreters for deaf and hard-of-hearing participants as well as for non-English speakers. Uniform Superior Court Rule 7.3 notice requirements include identifying the need for sign language interpretation, and the Commission maintains rosters of qualified sign language interpreters.
Disclaimer
This article is provided strictly for general educational and informational purposes. It is intended to explain how Georgia law works as a matter of public legal education, and it does not constitute legal advice, a legal opinion, or a recommendation about any particular course of action. Reading this article, or contacting the website on which it appears, does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and any law firm, attorney, or author.
The law changes over time. Statutes, regulations, court rules, and judicial decisions discussed here may have been amended, repealed, superseded, or reinterpreted after the date of publication, and citations to specific code sections or cases reflect the law only as it was understood when this article was written. The application of any legal principle also depends heavily on the specific facts and circumstances of an individual matter, and outcomes vary from case to case.
For these reasons, no one should rely on this article as a substitute for advice from a licensed Georgia attorney who can review the particular facts involved. The author and publisher make no warranty, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or applicability of the information provided, and disclaim any liability for any action taken or not taken based on this content.