Interpreting at the Court of Justice of the European Union

Abstract

The goal of this article is to give an account of the characteristic features of the work of a conference interpreter at the Court of Justice of the European Union: a multilingual legal setting par excellence. The starting point is the institution’s regulatory framework, especially the provisions laying down language arrangements (from Regulation No 1 of 15 April 1958 to the various Rules of Procedure). The principle of multilingualism is enshrined therein and underpins the work of the three jurisdictions which make up the Court of Justice of the European Union: the Court of Justice, the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal. The main features of the work of the interpreter in this specific context are then reviewed, with particular reference to ethical considerations, types of user, the role of mediation in an environment of «highly-shared context» and the case preparation phase, which is a key and distinguishing feature of interpreting at the Court of Justice