Source : Washington Times
By : Associated Press
Category : Attorney Matthews Bark of Orlando, Matthew Bark
By : Associated Press
Category : Attorney Matthews Bark of Orlando, Matthew Bark
 |
| Ohio city to help translate legal documents for immigrants |
A
southwest Ohio city wants to assist immigrants who have trouble
understanding legal documents in English by translating them into other
commonly spoken languages. The Dayton Daily News reports the city’s
municipal court system and some legal departments plan to translate
vital documents for immigrants. The Welcome Dayton initiative plans to
help translate victim-information pamphlets and victim-notification
letters from the Montgomery County prosecutor’s office and help the
court translate protection orders and sentence entries.
Ann
Murray, the Dayton Municipal Court administrator, said the goal is to
tackle some of the language issues they have had. The court has for
years offered some of its most important documents in Spanish. But the
courts have recently seen an uptick in defendants, victims and
plaintiffs who come from other parts of the world, including the Middle
East, Russia, China and Africa. “Over
the past couple of years, we’re getting more of the Russian, the
Turkish, the Swahili and a lot of different dialects,” Murray said.
Language barriers can make it difficult for citizens to access necessary
services, said Melissa Bertolo, program coordinator for Welcome Dayton.
She added that criminal defendants and victims have the right to
understand what’s happening in their cases.
Residents
appearing in court have previously had access to translators who can
provide verbal translations, but the move toward written translations of
documents comes after the city last year adopted a new language-access
policy stating that citizens cannot be denied access to services due to
limited proficiency in English. The cost of the document translation
service is not yet clear.
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