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Simultaneous Interpretation
Simultaneous interpretation was first introduced to
the Sri Lankan Legislature in 1957 and Sri Lanka was the first
country in the Asian region to introduce this facility to its
Legislature. At the beginning, this facility was available only
to interpret Sinhala and Tamil speeches into English. Subsequently
this facility was extended and interpretation is now available
for English, Sinhala and Tamil.
There are 24 interpreters in three streams (Sinhala/Tamil/Sinhala,
Sinhala/ English/Sinhala, Tamil/English/Tamil) in the Sri Lankan
Parliament at present and the Interpreters' Division is headed
by a Chief Parliamentary Interpreter. The uniqueness of this
job lies in the instant interpretation of a speech and its simultaneous
delivery. All speeches made by Members of Parliament are interpreted
into the other two languages as required. For instance, if a
Member speaks in English his/her speech will be simultaneously
interpreted into Sinhala and Tamil.
Members of Parliament have the option to select a language of
their choice from among Sinhala, Tamil or English which can
be heard over a headphone.Each seat in the Chamber has been
provided with a language selector switch and a headphone for
this purpose. In addition to Members of Parliament, media personnel,
Speaker's Staff, Officers of various departments of the Parliament,
guests in the Speaker's Gallery and Public Officers in the gallery
also make use of the interpretation facility. Headphones are
available in the Press Gallery and other areas.
As every Member has the right to be heard and to hear what is
being said by other Members of Parliament, simultaneous interpretation
has become an indispensable service of the House. Standing Order
No: 12 specifically states that it is the duty of the Hon.Speaker
to make arrangements for simultaneous interpretation of speeches
and other proceedings in to the other two languages. Interpretation
services are available to Parliamentary Committees too, whenever
required, and also when such Committee Meetings are held in
Committee Rooms 1 or 2 where interpretation facilities are available.
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