Common Law in an Uncommon Courtroom: Judicial Interpreting in Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a research project which examined the interactional dynamics of court proceedings in the bilingual common-law Hong Kong courtroom, a legal setting different in many ways from other courts where common law is practised. This creates a unique legal setting and specific challenges for the interpreters who work in it. Drawing on authentic courtroom data obtained from the High Court of Hong Kong, this paper illustrates how the power of the court interpreter diminishes as compared with their predecessors in the early colonial days. It also demonstrates how the use of chuchotage, commonly adopted for much of a trial in most other courtrooms, proves inadequate and inappropriate in the Hong Kong courtroom. It explores the impact of the use of chuchotage on the participation status of both non-English speaker (NES) and non-native English speaking (NNES) court actors and its implications for the delivery of justice.