Foreign Language Interpreters

The Commission will provide interpreters at its expense when requested for non-English speaking parties and witnesses in the evidentiary hearing setting. In lieu of a Commission-provided interpreter, parties independently may obtain and use the services of a qualified interpreter of their own choosing and at their own expense. Such interpreters need not be certified by the Supreme Court of Virginia, but must be competent to serve.

Parties and counsel who desire a Commission-appointed interpreter should notify the office of the Deputy Commissioner to whom the case is assigned of the need for same as soon as possible but in any case at least 30 days prior to the scheduled hearing date.

Commission-provided interpreters shall not be considered witnesses in the proceedings, but rather Commission contractors. It shall be within the Deputy Commissioner’s discretion whether to permit voir dire of any interpreter, whether or not provided by the Commission, in the event that a party questions the competence or neutrality of that interpreter. It shall likewise be within the Deputy Commissioner’s discretion whether to allow continuances of hearings where an interpreter is needed but not requested in sufficient time to allow one to be scheduled.