Article 5 Measures to Safeguard Various Rights
Act expressly safeguard the rights of indigenous peoples to access to judicial
courts. Indigenous peoples should be allowed to speak their native languages
in courts with the assistance of interpreters. This would allow them to have
unrestricted access to courts, direct communication with judges, and full
protection of their litigation rights, and ensure that they are not discriminated
against during judicial proceedings. The NHRC notes that there are at least
16 ethnic languages and 42 dialects among Taiwan’s indigenous peoples.
The national report only mentions that the court has a reserve list of 18
contract interpreters in 7 indigenous languages. For prosecutorial and police
authorities, the report only provides total numbers and total instances without
detailing usage by each specific ethnic group, particularly of contracted
interpreters, temporary interpreters, and agreed-upon interpreters. The
NHRC believes that difficulties with language and cultural interpretation
during judicial proceedings are two of the key disadvantages that indigenous
people face during trials. Given that contracted, temporary, and agreed-
upon interpreters are typically used on a temporary basis, there can be
instances when a witness, police officer, or accompanying relative serves as
the defendant’s interpreter out of expediency. However, this approach can
potentially compromise the quality and accuracy of the interpretation, thereby
undermining the rights of indigenous people to access and use the courts
effectively.
(b) New immigrants
45. A resolution was adopted at the 13th meeting of the New Immigrant Affairs
Coordination Committee (convened by the Executive Yuan on August 11, 2022)
to take an inventory of interpreting services, consolidate recommendations,
and propose a plan for the next two to three years. Following approval by the
Executive Yuan, a cross-agency, tiered interpretation system will be developed
35