Two recent court cases have led to developments which may help more deaf people to be treated fairly when they access the justice system.
In the first case, which was reported in the Law Gazette, a trial in which the alleged victim, defendant and witnesses were all deaf and use sign language was filmed so that any misunderstandings could be resolved quickly.
As the article says:
During the proceedings, a video crew recorded the signers – people translating the spoken word into sign language – so that, should a dispute over meaning arise, evidence could quickly be reviewed and the uncertainty resolved. Courts in previous cases involving deaf people had refused access to film crews.
Liz Sargeant of London firm Needham Poulier, acting for one of the defendants, said: ‘Complications arose from lexical differences between signing and the spoken word. For example, the words ‘assault’ and ‘translation’ are too abstract to be translated into sign language. This makes any written transcript of the proceedings almost worthless.
‘Happily, the judge in the case, HHJ Wilkinson, allowed a film crew into the court. This was a far-sighted decision because courts in previous cases had refused to allow filming. It was a big step forward for disability rights and, we hope, all cases regarding deaf people’s evidence will be recorded in future.’
In the second case, the of Court of Appeal decided that all family court cases involving a Deaf person must now include expert analysis and support around the impact of Deafness from a skilled professional.
The judgement was issued as a result of proceedings earlier this year involving a Deaf couple who were challenging a full care order given to a local authority in respect of their daughter.
A full summary of the Court of Appeal ruling can be read in Family Law Week: http://www.familylawweek.co.uk/site.aspx?i=ed128861
The second of these stories was sent to us by Deaf Parenting UK (DPUK), which is a charity that provides specialised support for Deaf Parents and can offer specialist caseworkers to provide one-to one support, or for advocacy to support casework with individual Deaf parents and their families. For information about Deaf Parenting UK Specialist Parenting Support, please contact Nicole Campbell, Families Project Coordinator: info@deafparent.org.uk
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queby
July 1, 2014
I don’t know why they can’t have ‘speech to text’ operators. I was called for jury service once but had to ask for an exemption because of my hearing problems. They asked me what they could have done to make it easier for me to serve and I mentioned speech-to-text but obviously nothing was done.
Tim
July 1, 2014
These cases do well as examples that push aside the false ‘equality’ that some people espouse. These people think that ‘equality’ means just treating everybody the same. As these cases show, it actually means treating people differently in order to bring about more equal and fairer outcomes.
Editor
July 1, 2014
Well said, Tim.
donaldo of the wasatch
July 2, 2014
Tim’s comment is spot on. Access is the “equality” buffer. The arbitrariness of bureacratic equality is stunning. They assume that simple compliance and world is perfect – Rubbish! But, access has to be both ways. If you are talking speech to text (CART), in America, that requires literacy in written English in our culture. I have met so many deaf adults who are not proficient in written and read English and we wonder – why? The Deaf have to become increasingly literate. Mere proficiencies at the fingers is insufficient. So just as the culture of hearing folks has to understand and act smarter – so do the Deaf and the DC. And finding CART personnel is difficult because it is a very demanding and extracting process that wipes out most of its applicants as operators.
Lesley Diss
December 29, 2015
I am extremely hard of hearing and as a litigant in person, I was denied a fair trial by a judge who refused to adjourn when the audio equipment provided by the court was of the wrong sort. Despite my plea that the hearing should be adjourned because I was awaiting hearing aids, the judge insisted that the trial went ahead, telling me that he would ensure that everyone spoke up. They didn’t and I became very confused under cross examination. I withdrew halfway through proceedings and the other side was awarded costs of tens of thousands of pounds. They enforced the order by a charge on my home are now threatening an order for sale. I can’t believe the British judiciary system can be so unfair to people with a disability.