The Belgian Chamber of Translators and Interpreters (CBTI) has warned of potential new strikes following a spontaneous protest by a dozen interpreters at the mega Sky ECC trial.
The verdict hearing of Belgium's biggest drug trial was delayed by 45 minutes on Tuesday morning due to the protest. On the same morning, the Ministry of Justice announced yet another delay in payments for sworn translators and interpreters.
"This was the last straw for them," said CBTI spokesperson Henri Boghe. "Some colleagues haven't been paid for two or three months. We work as freelancers and obviously need to pay our bills."
"We hope to have a discussion with the [outgoing] Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt. If this does not materialise or yield a positive outcome, we will plan structured actions from mid-November," Boghe continued. In the meantime, further spontaneous actions have not been ruled out.
The CBTI emphasised that interpreters are crucial for fair justice. Without them, suspects who do not speak French or Dutch cannot be interrogated, and defendants risk being acquitted due to procedural errors.
Payment delays have persisted for some time. Last week, outgoing Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt (Open VLD) announced a solution for the €23 million deficit for 2024 through reallocation of funds, but the CBTI is not convinced this will address the issue in time.
"We fear that this money will only be available after the Christmas holidays. Our services are closed at that time, so payments will only resume from January 2025. The Ministry of Justice's taxation office has also been reformed due to a staff shortage," Boghe added.
