Description

This paper is based on the observation that when an Aboriginal person speaks some English, lawyers often overestimate their capacity to be fairly interviewed in English. The paper explores the principal English based language varieties used by Aboriginal people in order to explain how easily Aboriginal evidence can be misunderstood, and discusses interpreting issues in the context of the dynamics of evidentiary discourse. The final section of the paper looks at alternative ways in which the need for interpreting assistance for Aboriginal witnesses can be appropriately assessed for courtroom purposes. The paper was originally presented to the 2001 Annual Conference of the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration. (Introduction, edited).