Lost in translation: Implementation of the right to a translator through the use of machine translators in the light of EU and Polish Law

Abstract

Both national and EU law provide for the right of an accused person to receive essential procedural documents in a language they understand and to participate in the proceedings in the presence of an interpreter. The need to implement these procedural guarantees raises several problems, such as the limited availability of interpreters and the cost to the State. This prompts the search for other solutions to implement the indicated individual rights. This article aims to answer the question of the admissibility and legitimacy of using machine translators to implement the right to an interpreter for defendants in criminal proceedings, and to indicate the opportunities and risks associated with the use of AI-based systems in this regard. The article presents the result of a linguistic, systematic and purposive interpretation of the relevant provisions of national laws and the provisions of Directive 2010/64/EU. Formal-dogmatic and statistical methods were used. The results of research into the quality of machine translations and statistics on the costs of translations are presented. The results support the recognition of the admissibility and legitimacy of the use of machine translators in criminal proceedings in order to implement the indicated rights. The text presents possible ways of applying these solutions in judicial practice and formulates a demand to the Ministry of Justice to begin work on the programme without delay. However, currently, both law enforcement and justice authorities can use publicly available machine translation software.