The right to an interpreter in case of civil or criminal trials held in Italy

Foreigners who for any reason should be part of a trial before an Italian civil or criminal court have the right to fully understand every single act, document or what is happening at a hearing, and thus they have the right to an interpreter. In case of a civil trial, when people are unfamiliar with the Italian language, the court may appoint an interpreter, who, before exercising his duties, must take an oath in front of the court to fulfill faithfully his office. In case of a criminal trial, any defendant who does not know the Italian language has the right to have free assistance from an interpreter in order to understand the charges moved against him, and to follow the completion of the acts and the conduct of the hearings in which he participates, as well as to communicate with the lawyer before an interrogation, or in order to submit a request/pleading/supplementary statement in the course of the trial.

The right to an interpreter in case of civil or criminal trials held in Italy

Foreigners who for any reason should be part of a trial before an Italian civil or criminal court have the right to fully understand every single act, document or what is happening at a hearing, and thus they have the right to an interpreter under the following provisions.

1) Civil trial

According to the Italian Code of Civil Procedure (Codice di Procedura Civile “c.p.c.”) art. 122, the Italian language is the official language of the civil trial. When people are unfamiliar with the Italian language, the court may appoint an interpreter, who, before exercising his duties, must take an oath in front of the court to fulfill faithfully his office.

In accordance with the prevailing case law, the aforementioned principle is applicable to all procedural acts strictu sensu (the provisions of the judge, the acts through which a civil action begins, the defensive acts, the minutes of the proceedings, etc.), but not to documents submitted by the parties during the trial. Therefore, when such documents (submitted by the parties) are drawn up in a foreign language, the court, pursuant to art. 123 c.p.c., has the power, but not the obligation, to appoint a translator, who will not be necessary when the text can be easily understood by both the judge and the parties (lawyers) (Cass. civ. Sect. III, March 12, 2013, no. 6093).

As a matter of fact, art. 123 c.p.c. establishes that when it is necessary to examine documents that are not written in Italian, the court may appoint a translator who takes an oath in accordance with article 122 c.p.c..

The act of an interpreter who did not take the oath is considered null and void. The invalidity can be contested by the interested party no later than at the time of the first defensive act.

Some special rules apply in specific cases. For instance, Constitutional Law February 26, 1948, n. 4, art. 38, establishes that in the Region of Valle d’Aosta the French language is equated to the Italian. Public documents can be written in either language, except for acts of the judicial authority, which are written in Italian.

In accordance with Presidential Decree July 15, 1988, n. 574, art. 1, in the Region of Trentino-Alto Adige the German language is considered as equivalent to the Italian language with regard to relations with the bodies and offices of public administration and public authorities, with judicial offices and with the ordinary administrative and tributary courts located in the province of Bolzano.n1

However, as confirmed by the Supreme Court (Cass. Civ. Sect. II, November, 22, 2012, no. 20715) according to art. 100 of the Statute of the Region Trentino-Alto Adige, which is intended to protect a linguistic minority, only “German-speaking citizens of the province of Bolzano” have the right to use their language in dealings with the courts, so that a German-speaking citizen who does not reside in the province of Bolzano must adhere to the general rule of the use of the Italian language as established in art. 122 c.p.c..

2) Criminal trial

Pursuant to article 143 of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedure (Codice di Procedura Penale “c.p.p.”), any defendant who does not know the Italian language has the right to have free assistance from an interpreter in order to understand the charges moved against him, and to follow the completion of the acts and the conduct of the hearings in which he participates, as well as to communicate with the lawyer before an interrogation, or in order to submit a request/pleading/supplementary statement in the course of the trial.

In the cases mentioned above, in order to fully guarantee the right of defense, the investigating authority shall order the written translation of the acts that set down personal precautionary measures, of the notice of conclusion of the preliminary investigation, of the decrees that indicate the preliminary hearing, of the citation to trial, and of the judgments and decrees of criminal conviction.

The assessment of one’s knowledge of the Italian language is made by the court.

The appointment of the interpreter is necessary even when the judge, the prosecutor or the police officer have knowledge of the language of the defendant. The performance of the office of interpreter and translator is mandatory except in the case of incompetence, incompatibility, objection (recusal) or abstention. The judge decides on the validity of the statement of objection or abstention (artt. 144 and 145 c.p.p.).n2

According to article 61 of the c.p.p. the right to an interpreter or translator is granted even in favor of the suspect subject to preliminary investigations (the person who is accused of a criminal act is called “indagato” = suspect until the public prosecutor issues the request for indictment, after which he/she is called “imputato” = accused/defendant).n3

n1 Pursuant to art. 13 of the same Act, offices and courts indicated in art. 1 must use, in their relations with the citizens of the province of Bolzano and in the acts in which they are concerned, the language used by the applicant, except as provided in the following articles. Art. 20 establishes that in civil proceedings each party has the right to choose in which language to draft the acts of the trial. The following art. 21 establishes that when the government acts as the plaintiff in a civil trial it shall use the presumed language of the defendant.

n.2 The investigating authority shall, after verifying the identity of the interpreter, warn him of the obligation to fulfill well and faithfully the task entrusted to him, to keep all the acts that are carried out by him or in his presence secret, and then invite him to fulfill the task (art. 146 c.p.p.).

For the translation of documents that require long-term work, the investigating authority shall assign the interpreter a deadline which, if not respected, may cause the replacement of the interpreter and also a sentence by the court to pay a fine (€ 51 to € 516).

n3 In accordance with Presidential Decree July 15, 1988, n. 574, art. 14, in the Region of Trentino-Alto Adige in case of arrest in flagrante delicto or of police custody, the judicial authority or the police, before interrogating the suspect or issuing any other act, shall ask him what his mother tongue language is. The interrogation and every other act must be conducted in the declared language. If the suspect refuses to answer, the refusal shall be recorded in the minutes and the language will be the presumed language. The acts adopted in violation of these provisions shall be null and void pursuant to article 185 of the c.p.p..