An Analysis and Comparison of Court Interpreting Certification Examinations, Certification Systems, and Training Programs around the World

Despite the increasing demand for court interpreting, Republic of Korea is not yet equipped with a national or provincial system to select and maintain competent court interpreters. One of the first steps in developing an optimized system is to look into the institutional frameworks of other nations with long-standing traditions in court interpreting. Hence, this paper analyzes and compares court interpreting certification examinations, certification systems, and training programs around the world. Countries analyzed and compared herein include those implementing a national certification system (e.g. the US, Canada), those administering court interpreting certification system and test (e.g. Austria, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland), those conferring national qualification (e.g. South Africa), and those administering accreditation system (e.g. Australia, China). Following the analysis of individual countries, a comparison of the distinct and common features are be made.