AVIDICUS 3: Assessing video-mediated interpreting in the Criminal Justice System
Start date
2014End date
2016Project website
ViewOverview
This project built on the work conducted in the AVIDICUS 1 and 2 projects (see below). The practical insights from these projects relate directly to European eJustice. The important role of videoconferencing in European eJustice and the multilingual nature of Europe mean that bilingual, interpreter-assisted videoconferences are likely become frequent in legal proceedings across Europe. Justice sector institutions in Europe therefore need to make appropriate provisions for the integration of interpreters in video links, especially links between courts and remote defendants or witnesses. In line with this, AVIDICUS 3 focused on the design and implementation of bilingual videoconferencing solutions in the justice sector. The project conducted a comprehensive assessment of the videoconference solutions used in different types of justice sector institutions across Europe in order to ascertain whether these solutions are suitable for bilingual communication involving an interpreter. A related aim was to make the training solutions developed in AVIDICUS 1 and 2 more accessible. Based on the insight that that traditional face-to-face training can be costly or impractical, AVIDICUS 3 developed an innovative method for using the medium of videoconference itself to deliver training in bilingual videoconferencing.
Partners
- University of Surrey (lead partner)
- KU Leuven (BE)
- Ministry of Security Justice (NL)
- Institut Télécom (FR)
- University of Alicante (ES)
- University of Trieste (IT)
- Ann Corsellis OBE (UK).
Principle Investigator
Professor Sabine Braun
Professor of Translation Studies; Director, Centre for Translation Studies; Co-Director, Surrey Institute for People-Centred AI
Biography
I am a Professor of Translation Studies, Director of the Centre for Translation Studies, and a Co-Director of the Surrey Institute for People-Centred Artificial Intelligence at the University of Surrey in the UK. From 2017 to 2021 I also served as Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Surrey.
My research explores the integration and interaction of human and machine in translation and interpreting, for example to improve access to critical information, media content and vital public services such as healthcare and justice for linguistic-minority populations and other groups/people in need of communication support. My overarching interest lies in the notions of fairness, trust, transparency, and quality in relation to technology use in these contexts.
For over 10 years, I have led a programme of research that has involved cross-disciplinary collaboration with academic and non-academic partners to improve access to justice for linguistically diverse populations. Under this programme, I have investigated the use of video links in legal proceedings involving linguistic-minority participants and interpreters from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives. I have led several multi-national research projects in this field (AVIDICUS 1-3, 2008-16) while contributing my expertise in video interpreting to other projects in the justice sector (e.g. QUALITAS, 2012-14, Understanding Justice, 2013-16, VEJ Evaluation, 2018-20). I have advised the European Council Working Party on e-Law (e-Justice) and other justice-sector institutions in the UK and internationally on video interpreting in legal proceedings and have developed guidelines which have been reflected in European Council Recommendation 2015/C 250/01 on ‘Promoting the use of and sharing of best practices on cross-border videoconferencing’.
In other projects I have explored the use of videoconferencing and virtual reality to train users of interpreting services in how to communicate effectively through an interpreter IVY, 2011-3; EVIVA, 2014-15, SHIFT, 2015-18).
A further example of my work on accessibility is my research on audio description (video description) for visually impaired people. In the H2020 project MeMAD (2018-21) I have recently investigated the feasibility of (semi-)automating AD to improve access to media content that is not normally covered by human AD (e.g. social media content).
In 2019, the Research Centre I lead was awarded an ‘Expanding Excellence in England (E3)' grant (2019-24) by Research England to expand our research on human-machine integration in translation and interpreting. As part of this, I am currently leading and involved in a number of pilot studies aimed at better human-machine integration in different modalities of translation and interpreting.
The insights from my research have informed my teaching in interpreting and audiovisual translation on CTS’s MA programmes and the professional training courses that I have delivered (e.g. for the Metropolitan Police Service in London).
From 2018-2021 I was a member of the DIN Working Group on Interpreting Services and Technologies and co-authored the first standard on remote consecutive interpreting worldwide (DIN 8578). I am a member of the BSI Sub-committee Terminology. From 2018-2022, I was the series editor of the IATIS Yearbook (Routledge) and am currently associate series editor for interpreting of Elements in Translation and Interpreting (CUP) and a member of the Advisory Board of Interpreting (Benjamins). I was appointed to the sub-panel for Modern Languages and Linguistics for the Research Excellence Framework REF 2021.
Co-Investigator
Dr Elena Davitti
Associate Professor in Translation Studies
Biography
I am an Associate Professor in Translation Studies with expertise in interpreting, both conference and dialogue. I am also Programme Leader of the MA Interpreting (Multilingual pathway) and MA Translation and Interpreting offered by the Centre for Translation Studies (CTS) where I am based. I hold a PhD in Translation and Intercultural Studies from the University of Manchester and an MA in Conference Interpreting from the University of Bologna at Forlì. Before joining Surrey in 2013, I practised as a freelance interpreter and translator and worked as interpreter trainer at different universities both in the UK and in Italy, such as the University of Leeds, University of Birmingham, University of Macerata and UNINT, Rome. I am currently working on hybrid modalities at the crossroads of traditional disciplines such as translation, interpreting , subtitling, with a particular interest in real-time speech-to-text communication across languages.
Funder
Funded by the European Union Criminal Justice Programme, Project JUST/2013/JPEN/AG/4553, 2014-16.