Police cannot find French, English and German interpreters: “Work for Justice generates too little income” | Inland

Last month, the Antwerp prosecutor’s office sent an angry letter to the professional association of court interpreters. The Antwerp police zones note that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find an interpreter to help them when questioning suspects. “It is not about a less common language, but about the more well-known languages ​​such as French and English,” the letter reads. “I am told that the interpreters are found, but they are not inclined to come.”

According to Henri Boghe of the Professional Association Sworn Translators and Interpreters (BBVT), it is a matter of money. “Many members now only work as a judicial interpreter as a secondary profession due to the low salary. They have been forced to look for another job elsewhere, because the work for Justice generates too little income.”

Last month, the BBVT proposed to Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open Vld) to raise the hourly rate and to pay an interpreter at least for a block of three hours. “But his cabinet has rejected that,” says Boghe.

The cabinet of the minister of justice told that a lot has already been achieved for the interpreters and that the proposal of the BBVT “is not feasible in the current economic context”.