Judge used Google Translate to speak to African asylum seeker

Case against Eritrean national adjourned because no interpreter who spoke his language could be found, A judge had to use Google Translate to speak to an asylum seeker in court because an interpreter who spoke the man’s language could not be found. Abdoela Berhan, an Eritrean national who gave his age as 34, appeared before magistrates on charges of assault and criminal damage. The court was told that he could not speak any English.

District Judge Orla Austin said she could not take Mr Berhan’s pleas or outline the circumstances of the case if he could not understand what was being said.

The court clerk said a translator who spoke the same African language could not be found, and so had to adjourn the case to try to find one.

But Mr Berhan needed to be informed of his bail conditions and the date when he had to return to court. 

District Judge Austin typed the bail conditions and instructions for returning to court into Google Translate on her laptop, and the clerk approached the dock and held up the device to the defendant so he could read it.

Translation bill rising

The case highlights the difficulties UK courts face in dealing with immigrants who cannot speak English.

Ministry of Justice figures for 2023 showed that £59.2 million was spent on interpreters in three years. The majority of this was for foreign criminals in court hearings, although some was also for witnesses or tribunals. 

The figures also showed that, since 2020, the MoJ’s translation bill increased from £16 million to £22 million a year. A spokesman said this was because courts are hearing more cases since the Covid pandemic.

Mr Berhan is alleged to have assaulted a Subway assistant manager on Nov 30, punched a woman in the face at a nightclub on Dec 7 and smashed a window at the hotel in Bournemouth, Dorset at which he is living on Feb 19. His case was adjourned until May.

Eritrea is a one-party state and has not held elections for several years. According to Human Rights Watch, it has one of the worst human rights records in the world.

It has no official language, but the main working languages are Tigrinya, Arabic and English. Eritreans are one of top 10 nationalities applying for asylum in the UK, and have a high acceptance rate.