The Role of an Interpreter in Police Station Interviews (PACE-Compliant)

For a non-English-speaking suspect, the interpreter is the channel through which the caution, the disclosure, the legal advice and the interview itself all pass. If that channel fails, the integrity of the entire interview is in question. This article sets out what PACE requires, what the interpreter's role actually is, and the checks defence solicitors should make before the recording starts. It is a companion to the practical booking guide, Instructing an Arabic Interpreter for a PACE Interview.

What PACE Code C requires

Section 13 of PACE Code C governs the use of interpreters in police custody. The core obligations are straightforward:

• A detainee who does not speak or understand English, or who has a hearing or speech impediment, must not normally be interviewed without an interpreter.
• The custody officer is responsible for identifying the need for interpretation at booking-in — including the correct language and dialect.
• Interpretation must be provided at no cost to the suspect, and the suspect must be able to understand the caution, the grounds for detention, and their rights and entitlements.
• The Notes for Guidance direct that interpreters for police purposes should ordinarily be drawn from the National Register of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI) or hold equivalent assessed qualifications.

These are not box-ticking provisions. Where interpretation is inadequate, the defence may later argue that admissions should be excluded under section 76 or section 78 of PACE, or that the interview record cannot safely be relied upon.

What the interpreter does — and does not — do

The interpreter's duties

A PACE-compliant interpreter renders everything said in the interview room completely, accurately and impartially — questions, answers, the caution, special warnings, and significant statements or silences. That includes preserving register: if a suspect answers vaguely, the English must be vague; if they use a community euphemism, it is rendered as used and glossed, not silently "upgraded" to a tidier term. The interpreter also alerts the parties where a dialect mismatch or comprehension problem arises, rather than papering over it.

The limits of the role

The interpreter is not an advocate, an advisor, a cultural commentator or a member of either team. They do not explain the law, summarise, soften, or have private exchanges with the suspect during interview. Strict impartiality is what makes the interpreter's record usable by both prosecution and defence — and it is a professional obligation under the NRPSI Code of Professional Conduct.

Five checks for defence solicitors before the interview

• Verify registration. Ask for the interpreter's NRPSI number and check it on the public register. Registration confirms assessed qualifications, vetting and a binding code of conduct.
• Confirm the dialect, not just the language. "Arabic" covers mutually challenging varieties — Yemeni, Sudanese, Syrian, Iraqi and Gulf dialects differ significantly. A mismatch surfaces mid-interview, when it is most damaging.
• Check comprehension of the caution. The caution is conceptually dense. A competent interpreter renders it accurately; the solicitor should still confirm the client has understood its effect before interview.
• Watch the mechanics. Interpretation in interview is consecutive: short segments, one speaker at a time. Officers talking over the interpreter, or compound multi-part questions, degrade the record.
• Note any interpretation issues on the record. If the client signals confusion, raise it during the interview, not after. A contemporaneous note is worth far more than a retrospective complaint.

Why the standard of interpreter matters

Police station work is performed live, under pressure, with no second take. The recording becomes evidence. An NRPSI-registered interpreter with legal-specialist training (DPSI Law) brings assessed competence in legal terminology, interview protocol and the ethics of the role — the difference between an interview record that holds up and one that becomes a ground of challenge. For the full booking and instruction process, see the Police & PACE service page.