司法通譯語言風格如何影響國民法官對被告的印象

Abstract

《國民法官法》於2023年1月1日正式施行後，臺灣司法自此進入新紀元。由於臺灣近年來外籍犯罪人數增加，對司法通譯的需求也與日遽增。多數外籍犯罪被告教育程度較低，說話風格可能也有較多閃躲語或停頓等特徵，學者O’Barr將其稱為無力風格(powerless style)。司法通譯和被告的語言風格如有不一致，究竟會對國民法官產生什麼影響，在國民法官新制上路之際，實為值得研究的議題。 本研究旨在了解國民法官如何透過司法通譯來評價被告，以及如通譯的語言風格與被告語言風格不一致時，會如何對國民法官產生影響。本研究採用「假冒配對測試法」(matched guise technique)，讓受試者分為無力風格組和有力風格組聆聽模擬法庭錄音。無力風格組聆聽的錄音中，通譯說話時具有較多無力風格，而有力風格組則無此風格。受試者在聽完錄音後，針對他們對被告的智力程度、可信賴度、及證詞可信度做出評分，並給予建議量刑。研究結果顯示，無力風格組的受試者給予被告的可信賴度和證詞可信度評分較有力風格組低，給予被告的平均建議量刑也比有力風格組較重。相關性分析也顯示，受試者給予被告可信賴度和證詞可信度的分數越低，給予被告的建議刑期就越重。另外，兩組受試者在研究訪談中，對通譯的表現普遍感到滿意。有力風格組的受試者多半認為通譯在翻譯時不帶情緒是適合法庭的說話風格，因此給予正面評價，而無力風格組的受試者反而認為通譯能表達出被告的情緒忠實翻譯才是適合法庭的翻譯風格，也因此給予通譯正面評價。顯示受試者在聽不懂源語的情況下，可能基於對司法制度的信任，而傾向信任通譯。 本研究期望透過實驗及訪談研究，了解司法通譯的語言風格是否會對國民法官產生影響。在國民法官制度實施後，本研究希望能對於外籍被告在我國司法制度的人權保障議題拋磚引玉，並能為未來司法通譯制度的完善方向提供指引。

With the implementation of the Citizen Judges Act on January 1st, 2023, Taiwan's judicial system entered a new era. As the number of foreign criminal offenders in Taiwan increases, so does the demand for court interpreters. Many foreign defendants have lower education levels and may exhibit speech styles characterized by hedges or hesitations, which O'Barr refers to as “powerless style”. Whether the inconsistency between the speech style of court interpreters and foreign defendants has an impact on citizen judges is now a relevant issue in Taiwan, particularly in light of the new citizen judges system. This study investigates how citizen judges evaluate defendants through court interpreters and how the inconsistency between the speech styles of court interpreters and defendants impacts citizen judges' perceptions. The matched guise technique was employed, and participants were divided into two groups: the “Powerless Group” and the “Powerful Group”. The Powerless Group listened to mock trial recordings with interpretations featuring more powerless style features, while the Powerful Group listened to interpretations without such features. After listening to the recordings, participants rated the defendant's intelligence, trustworthiness, and convincingness, and provided sentencing recommendations. The results showed that participants in the Powerless Group rated the defendant lower in trustworthiness and convincingness compared to the Powerful Group, and they also suggested harsher sentences on average. Correlation analysis revealed that lower ratings for trustworthiness and convincingness were associated with heavier recommended sentences. In post-experiment interviews, participants expressed overall satisfaction with the interpreters' performance. Participants in the Powerful Group believed that interpreters should be emotionally neutral, as they considered it suitable for the courtroom. On the other hand, participants in the Powerless Group believed that interpreters should faithfully convey the defendant's emotions, also considering it appropriate for the courtroom. This suggests that participants, without understanding the source language, tend to place trust in interpreters based on their confidence in the judicial system. Through experiments and interviews, this study aims to investigate the potential impact of court interpreters' speech style on citizen judges. With the implementation of the citizen judge system, this study hopes to contribute to the human rights protections for foreign defendants within Taiwan's judicial system, while also providing insights for the future enhancement of the court interpreter system.