PROJECT

ImPLI - Improving Police and Legal Interpreting - is a European research project funded by the Directorate-General for Justice of the European Commission (Grant agreement JUST/2010/JPEN/1562/AG). The main aim of the project is to contribute to the implementation of Directive 2010/64/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20th October 2010 on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings.

The project aimed at achieving the following goals:

- ensuring that the interpreter training institutes participating in the project acquired greater knowledge of investigative interview techniques used by law enforcement agencies in order to improve interpreting in this field, and

- informing the police and other law enforcement agencies about interpreting techniques and how interpreting can provide a valuable contribution to their work if used properly.

The project focused on the very early stages of criminal proceedings since they have a decisive impact on the following ones. A comparative study of existing practices was conducted in the countries of the six partners participating in the project (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic and Scotland) in order to have a general picture of the state of the art. The results of this study are presented in a final report and in six educational videos aiming to raise awareness about the communication strategies adopted by the parties involved in investigative interviews and to improve the quality of training for both interpreters and interviewers. The results of this project were the foundations for the development of inter-professional training modules in three subsequent research projects.