Arrange an interpreter for court proceedings

Interpreters make sure people who have difficulty understanding or speaking English or deaf and hard of hearing persons can understand court proceedings, and that those present in court can understand testimony that is given.

The court provides interpreters for:

• All criminal proceedings
• Family proceedings in Provincial Court
• Traffic court and municipal bylaw proceedings

Court Services Branch does not provide language interpreters for provincial court small claims cases.

The court also provides visual language interpreters (American Sign Language) and CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation - captioning services) for any court proceeding.

If you need an interpreter, please advise the registry as soon as possible.

• Contact a local court registry

Get help finding an interpreter:

• Society of Translators and Interpreters of British Columbia
• Mosaic BC
• Clicklaw
• Immigration Interpreters Association
• DIVERSEcity
• Archway Community Services
• The Yellow Pages (under “translators and interpreters”)

Become a court interpreter

To be considered as a court interpreter, you will need to complete the Court Services Branch (CSB) Court Interpreter Application package.

• Spoken language application package
• Visual language application package

The Court Interpreter Application package and / or questions can be sent to the Court Interpreter Program Lead at AskCIP@gov.bc.ca.

Interpreter resources

The following information is available for CSB Court Interpreters

• Court Interpreter Handbook
• Frequently asked questions

If you have questions or need to contact CSB, please email AskCIP@gov.bc.ca.