People expect to see an attorney beside a defendant in a courtroom. But often in New Hampshire courtrooms, there’s another person at the table — an interpreter.

By the end of fiscal year 2011, the financially strapped state court system expects to spend $450,000 on interpreters to help foreign-language speakers understand civil and criminal court proceedings.

“From our perspective, it’s a matter of access to justice,” said Don Goodnow, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts.

It’s also a federal directive, Goodnow said. The Department of Justice requires courts to provide interpreters at hearings and trials in all cases, even if a person can afford their own.

Through early May of the 2010-2011 fiscal year, there have been 1,995 interpreter appointments made through Language Bank. In fiscal year 2009-2010, there were 2,105 interpreter appointments.

“The proceeding we try to conduct cannot be effectively conducted unless you are able to communicate effectively with the prosecutor, and the other attorney, and the judge,” Goodnow said.

The state has a contract with Language Bank, which is under the umbrella of Lutheran Social Services. The court system occasionally uses other interpretation services, if there is a conflict or if Language Bank can’t find an interpreter. The state also uses a different company for American Sign Language interpretation, which can be very expensive, Goodnow said.

Spanish is “overwhelmingly” the most requested language, he said.

In the last four years, interpreters in New Hampshire courts have translated complex legal arguments and verdicts into 40 languages, from Hungarian to Dinka, from Haitian Creole to Maay-Maay, from Swahili to American Sign Language.

See: Eagle Tribune