AB 1127, as amended, Chau. Courts: California Language Access Task Force.
Existing law requires, when a witness is incapable of understanding the English language or expressing himself or herself in the English language so as to be understood directly by counsel, court, and jury, an interpreter to be sworn to interpret for him or her. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to conduct a study of language and interpreter use and need in court proceedings, with commentary, and to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and to the Legislature every 5 years. Existing law requires that this study serve as the basis for determining the need to establish interpreter programs and certification and for establishing these programs and examinations through the normal budgetary process.
This bill would,begin delete on or before March 1, 2014,end deletebegin insert
upon the appropriation of funding for these purposes,end insert require the Judicial Councilbegin insert, on or before March 1, 2014,end insert to establish the California Language Access Task Force, as specified, which would be responsible for developing a comprehensive statewide Language Access Plan (LAP) for use by courts to address the needs of all limited-English-proficient individuals in conformance with state and federal law. The bill would require the task force to, among other things, establish standards for meaningful and timely provision of language services in all court proceedings and at all public points of contact within the courts, and to establish a statewide plan to provide for the translation of court documents using competent and qualified interpreters. The bill would requirebegin delete the Judicial Council to adopt a statewide LAP on or before December 31, 2014.end deletebegin insert
the task force to provideend insertbegin insert the LAP to the Judicial Council by September 1, 2014, and would require the Judicial Council to adopt a statewide LAP based on the LAP provided by the task force by December 31, 2014.end insert The bill would also make related legislative findings and declarations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature hereby finds and declares the
2following:
3(a) California is one of the most linguistically diverse states in
4the nation. As language diversity continues to increase, there is a
5greater need to ensure that all Californians have meaningful access
6to the court system.
7(b) There continues to be a need to expand and improve
8California’s ability to provide language assistance within the
9judicial system.
10(c) Currently, California has not developed a statewide plan to
11address the needs of
limited-English-proficient individuals in all
12court proceedings and at all public points of contact within our
13courts.
Section 68567 is added to the Government Code, to
15read:
(a) On or before March 1, 2014, the Judicial Council
17shall establish the California Language Access Task Force, which
18shall be responsible for developing a comprehensive statewide
19Language Access Plan (LAP) for use by courts to address the needs
20of all limited-English-proficient individuals in conformance with
21state and federal law.
P3 1(b) The task force shall include court executive officers,
2presiding judges, interpreter coordinators, interpreters, at least two
3of whom shall be nominated by an exclusive representative of
4interpreter employees, representatives of legal services
5organizations and organizations representing individuals with
6limited English
proficiency, and others the Judicial Council
7determines necessary. The task force shall also include a
8representative from a rural community in order to highlight the
9particular challenges of providing court interpreter services in rural
10communities.
11(c) In developing the LAP, the task force shall do all of the
12following:
13(1) Establish standards for meaningful and timely provision of
14language services in all court proceedings and at all public points
15of contact within the courts.
16(2) Establish procedures for gathering comprehensive data on
17the language access needs of court users, including, but not limited
18to, providing a means of registering an individual’s language needs
19in court documents. These procedures
should provide metrics on
20the need for interpreter services in court proceedings and ancillary
21programs and services.
22(3) Review current court interpreter procedures and recommend
23improvements or additional procedures to provide the most
24competent interpreter services to limited-English-proficient court
25users and to ensure compliance with Rule 2.890 of the California
26Rules of Court.
27(4) Review current court procedures and recommend
28improvements or additional procedures to maximize existing
29language resources, including bilingual staff, court interpreters,
30translators, and other resources shared among courts to expand
31access to language services at all public points of contact within
32the courts.
33(5) Review
current practices and develop strategies to provide
34interpreter services that comply with the Trial Court Interpreter
35Employment and Labor Relations Act (Chapter 7.5 (commencing
36with Section 71800) of Title 8) in all court proceedings. The review
37may include the evaluation of any programs providing interpreters
38in domestic violence cases or other civil cases, including any pilot
39projects.
P4 1(6) Establish a statewide plan to provide for the translation of
2court documents using competent and qualified interpreters.
3(7) Establish a plan to provide education and training to judicial
4officers, court personnel, and court-appointed professionals on the
5legal requirements for language access, court policies and rules
6pertaining to language access, language service provider
7qualifications,
ethics pertaining to interpreter services, the effective
8use of translated court documents, and effective techniques for
9working with language service providers.
10(8) Review and consider the American Bar Association’s
11Standards for Language Access in Courts, as adopted February
122012.
13(9) The Judicial Council shall adopt a statewide LAP on or
14before December 31, 2014.
15(d) On or before September 1, 2014, the task force shall provide
16the LAP to the Judicial Council.
17(e) On or before December 31, 2014, the Judicial Council shall
18adopt a statewide LAP based on the LAP provided by the task
19force.
20(f) The requirements of this section shall be implemented upon
21the appropriation of funding for these purposes in the annual
22Budget Act or another statute.
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