Summary of the impact

Research in CTISS (Centre for Translation and Interpreting Studies in Scotland) by Böser, Mason, Perez, Wilson on face-to-face interpreting has facilitated equal access to justice for speakers of foreign languages in police investigative processes at national and international level. Three mature strands of impact can be identified:

• Informing and guiding changes to police practice and training for working with interpreters at national and international level, and influencing legal professionals and policy makers in the area of communication support in investigative processes.
• Providing the foundation for evidence-based policy-making in multilingual communication support.
• Intervening in a vicious circle of under-professionalization by focusing on the development of professional training, quality assurance and professional accreditation.

Since 2009 the focus and driver for this impact has been the transposition of European milestone legislation on language rights in criminal proceedings (EU Directive 2010/64).

Summary of the impact

Professor Hodgson's empirical criminal justice research has resulted in the creation of new professional standards encouraging proactive defence lawyering and quality assessment requirements for the legal profession in England and Wales. A model of more effective defence rights, underpinned by empirical research in English, Welsh and French criminal justice, has also influenced recent developments in Scotland and in EU criminal justice; has been relied upon in extradition proceedings in the UK and Canada; and, through a study at the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), has improved legal representation of those seeking to have their cases reviewed for appeal, as well as the Commission's ability to work with defence lawyers.

Summary of the impact

The research:

1.1 was used in EU negotiations on EU Directives on procedural rights for suspects and defendants as the `leading study in the field' to address deficiencies in existing mechanisms;

1.2 informed the training of more than 250 judges, prosecutors and lawyers from at least 23 EU member states regarding respect for and implementation of procedural rights;

1.3 provided a template used by NGOs in other regions in their investigations of procedural rights in practice; these include a consortium of NGOs in six Latin America countries who are using it in order to produce positive changes in regulation and practice.