What exactly is arbitration?
Arbitration is a dispute resolution process where a neutral called arbitration panel is asked to make a binding decision, offering an alternative to traditional court proceedings. This method of resolving conflicts provides companies with several advantages compared to state court proceedings, such as flexibility, confidentiality, and speed.
In international arbitration, especially where not all parties, witnesses, or experts speak the same language, skilled interpreters are crucial. They ensure that everyone fully understands the proceedings and decisions, which helps maintain a fair and efficient process.
How do interpreters add value to arbitration proceedings?
Interpreters can assist in various ways during arbitration, as shown in these examples:
Parties during this arbitration are a claimant from Germany and a U.S. respondent. The arbitrators, witnesses, experts, and most lawyers all speak German. However, some representatives from respondent's US headquarters have come for the witness hearings and want to know what is going on.
Simultaneous interpreters, who have been professionally trained, are on hand to translate everything into English as it happens. The American representatives can listen to the translation in real time using professional receivers with comfortable headphones.
In a legal dispute involving two German companies, a technical expert from France is heard. The expert, who does not speak German, wishes to provide his testimony in his native language.
To accommodate this, interpreters offer what's called "consecutive interpretation". This entails the interpreters sitting beside the expert, taking notes as he speaks. After a few sentences, the expert pauses to allow the interpreters to translate his statements into German. Likewise, any questions from the arbitration panel are translated from German into French by the interpreters. No particular equipment such as receivers or earphones is needed.
A particularly high level of precision and attention to detail is imperative, since the German translation provided by the interpreters is also used by the court reporters to produce the record.
A dispute has arisen involving a Spanish company and a German firm, as the German partners have deemed the delivered products defective. The parties have agreed to resolve this matter through arbitration. The Spanish company has engaged an international law firm for this purpose and is represented by German attorneys to fully benefit from local representation.
Preparatory discussions are scheduled between the attorneys and the client to clarify the arbitration process and some important legal aspects. To make sure everybody is really on the same page and language is not an issue, professional interpreters are engaged.
In such a setting, interpretation may be either consecutive or simultaneous, depending i.a. on the number of participants and the format of the discussion. With consecutive interpretation, the interpreter will wait until the speaker has finished, while simultaneous interpretation happens in real time.
How arbitration will benefit from interpreters
Clarity
Arbitration cases often involve substantial financial stakes and complex subject-matters. In disputes that are international and multilingual, none of the parties can afford the risk of misunderstandings: At best, such misunderstandings may cause delays in the proceedings and lead to additional cost; at worst, they can result in unintended false statements. It is imperative that all parties involved in the proceedings can be sure that all technical and legal facts are presented accurately, whatever the language, and that their own submissions are understood precisely. Thus, working with professional interpreters means more efficient proceedings and ensures precise communication.
Flexibility
Unlike state court proceedings where interpreters are typically appointed by the court and not chosen by the parties, arbitration proceedings allow the parties to select their own interpreters. This provides the opportunity to consider important qualifying criteria, such as relevant training and academic degrees, expertise, experience, and specialization.
Procedural Efficiency
Efficiency is greatly helped by interpreters who get straight to the point, enhancing the effectiveness of multilingual proceedings. It is beneficial to involve interpreters in the process from the start, clarifying with them how they can offer support to prevent misunderstandings and make sure everything proceeds without undue delay. Direct communication between lawyers and interpreters is ideal when it comes to discussing arrangements or sharing essential information, thereby ensuring the process runs smoothly.
Transparent cost
Where interpreters for an arbitration are hired directly by the parties, the cost will be completely transparent. The interpreting firm will provide a quotation for their services, which allows the hiring party to control their expenses. In contrast, in state court proceedings, where interpreters are publicly appointed, costs are often allocated by court order, over which the parties have no control.
Confidentiality
Arbitration proceedings are highly confidential and have the advantage of being private, unlike state court proceedings. So it is crucial that all service providers keep this sensitive information confidential. Parties are free to choose interpreters they trust and can ask them to sign specific NDAs. Moreover, professional interpreters are often bound by confidentiality rules through their membership a professional organizations and know how to comply, e. g. with secure communication and appropriate document management.
Other dispute settlement alternatives: Conciliation and mediation
Alongside arbitration, there are other alternative dispute resolution methods such as conciliation and mediation. Both aim to resolve conflicts amicably, but they differ in their approaches. In conciliation, a neutral third party listens to both sides and then proposes a non-binding solution.
In mediation, a mediator facilitates discussions between the parties without offering their own solutions, helping the parties reach an agreement themselves. Both methods are less formal than arbitration and provide a more flexible, confidential, and often quicker alternative to state court proceedings.
When the parties don't speak the same language, interpreters may be used in conciliation and mediation. They will convey not only the facts but also the relevant emotions of the parties involved, while maintaining composure even in challenging situations.
For nearly 30 years, Syntax Sprachen GmbH has been offering expert language services to support arbitration proceedings. As a legal language specialist, we ensure that only interpreters with the appropriate training and experience are involved in your cases. Our interpreters' membership in international and/or national professional associations (AIIC or VKD) guarantees their commitment to excellence, professionalism, and confidentiality. The directors of Syntax Sprachen GmbH are active conference interpreters themselves, so they understand first-hand how crucial the highest quality and most precise translation is for a successful and swift resolution of arbitration proceedings. We step in when clarity is paramount and there can be no room for misunderstanding.
