Panhellenic Association of Professional Translators Graduates of the Ionian University (PEEMPIP) on the declarations made by the Greek Minister of Justice, Mr. G. Floridis, concerning the use of AI-based, automated translation and interpreting systems in judicial proceedings
18/10/2024
On 16 October 2024, while being interviewed for the TV news programme “Syndeseis” on the Greek state channel ERT1, the Greek Minister of Justice, Mr. Floridis, revealed the Greek MoJ’s plans to integrate AI-based automated translation and interpreting with the intention of making them available to judges, lawyers and forensic experts for their translation and interpreting needs in a wide range of judicial proceedings, also breaking the news that a system has already been developed by the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance. He pinpointed the inadequacy of translators and interpreters as the source of all problems and glorified AI as a miraculous panacea for all language needs in the justice sector, asserting that an innovative interpreting programme, perhaps the first of its kind in the whole of Europe, has been developed to cover 100 languages. He also confirmed that the programme has been tested and certified for its adequacy, and that it will ensure “safe interpreting before the courts”. These are some grandiose statements that even Google has not made, having already poured billions of dollars into developing such technologies.
A lot could be said about how the Greek MoJ has handled over the years the right to translation and interpreting as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), from the shamefully low fees paid to court interpreters (a staggering €17 for a day’s work [2 sessions][1]), the Ministry’s meagre budget for T&I services, the low qualification requirements for registering on the T&I lists of the Courts of First Instance (high school diploma), to cancelling the recruitment of qualified translators/interpreters to staff the Ministry despite the very obvious needs. These shortcomings are not the ascertainment of some disgruntled professionals, but the findings of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR) itself which, as early as 2015, had published a report on the right to interpreting and translation in criminal proceedings and the right to information in criminal proceedings[2]. Among the GNCHR’s numerous remarks and recommendations, it is noted that “just any quality of translation or interpreting service does not meet the requirements of the ECHR” and that “the services provided must be of adequate quality”.
PEEMPIP would be rightfully disappointed and disheartened with the constant devaluation and repeated targeting of an entire professional sector as if we are the source of all problems and responsible for MoJ’s lack of strategy, if we were not so utterly surprised and in disbelief with such attempted misuse and abuse of modern technology which was not developed to replace, but to assist in the delivery of services by professionals. And while such an intended system could ensure, at a theoretical level, the requirements for interpreting “without delay” and translation “within a reasonable time”, it cannot ensure the necessary quality to guarantee, for instance, a fair trial, equality of arms or the effective exercise of defence rights, let alone reliable judicial assistance. Certainly not without the involvement of the human factor, namely trained translators and interpreters who are familiar with and use such systems; systems not designed for non-knowledgeable and non-linguist users.
We fear that on the altar of speeding up procedures and reducing (the already reduced) spend, as well as because of the misguided and overrated trust in the capabilities of such systems, and the over-optimistic way of their use possibilities despite their well-known inherent limitations, in combination with the apparent absence of any human control and legal liability (who is responsible in case of errors, complications and mistrials?), human rights are at stake, and this is the crux of it all.
PEEMPIP salutes those invisible heroes, the translators and interpreters who provide their services under such adverse conditions to keep the wheels of justice turning. We call upon the Greek Ministry of Justice to clarify effectively and not with vague and fanciful claims, how the intended system will be used, how the quality of the services will be ensured and what is the place of professional translators and interpreters in this system.
You can read (a translated into English version of) the statements made by the Greek Minister of Justice, Mr. Floridis, during his interview on the news TV programme “Syndeseis” on 16 October:
“We will apply artificial intelligence on a trial basis and then extend it into two areas that are causing great delays: one is the translation of documents; we have cases coming from abroad, along with the case files, considering that crime is now international and translations are being done at a very slow pace, also because the volumes of these files are huge, resulting in great delays. Subsequently this leads to delays in Greece’s obligations for judicial assistance. We have signed a memorandum with Mr. Papastergiou [Greek Minister of Digital Governance] and he has prepared a programme to carry out the translation work very quickly with the aid of artificial intelligence. Secondly, and this will probably be groundbreaking, perhaps even a first in Europe, an interpreting system has also been developed. The Greek judicial system has to deal nowadays with people coming from all the races of the world speaking languages that we did not even know existed. [Therefore,] it is not easy to find interpreters for such cases and if you do find someone [that can cover such need and language combination], they are certainly not reliable in what they translate [interpret]. A programme has been developed that has certified in a completely correct way about a hundred languages and especially such [rare] languages, so that we can ensure safe interpreting before judicial authorities; the system will be similarly deployed in forensic investigations to make [procedures] much easier for forensic experts. If we may say so, artificial intelligence is a development in human science that can help judicial work very much. This is our direction. By next June, we will have many tools [developed and set] at the disposal of judges and lawyers.”
[1] See https://www.efsyn.gr/ellada/koinonia/407773_hrostoyn-200000eu-stoys-dikastikoys-diermineis (article in Greek).
[2] See https://www.nchr.gr/images/pdf/apofaseis/dikaih_dikh/FAKELOS_Dier_Met-Enhm.pdf (text in Greek).
