ILETA is proud to announce an evening with Sue Leschen. Sue is a lawyer linguist and owner of Avocate Legal And Business French Interpreting and Translation Services Ltd. 

Together we will explore the topic ‘Cross Cultural Miscommunications in Asylum Application Interviews and Tribunal Hearings’. 

ABSTRACT

In the area of asylum applications consistency and credibility are everything but, unfortunately they are not guaranteed. They should be, but, for a variety of reasons they are not. One of the main problems is that interpreters sourced by the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice may or may not be familiar with the Asylum seekers’ culture, language and/ or dialect.

A classic example of interpreting gone wrong is where the asylum seeker refers in their own language to my “brother” but meaning a close friend and the interpreter unwittingly interprets this as my “brother”. This misinterpretation may now haunt the asylum seeker throughout the asylum process with the worst case scenario being that the Home Office brands them a “liar”and rejects their claim for asylum.

Had the interpreter been au fait with the asylum seeker’s culture, they would have checked if “brother” referred to a blood relative such as a brother or cousin or to a friend or even to someone who practiced the same faith.

Unfortunately, the allocation of interpreters to these sorts of jobs is completely random – there is no attempt to get a good “match” so it is a complete lottery as far as the asylum seeker is concerned. To make matters worse, Home Office and tribunal interpreters are not obliged to do any sort of cultural training resulting in the more experienced interpreters gradually becoming more culturally adept after several years in the hot seat but of course at the expense of their clients in the early years when they were exercising their profession in something of a cultural vacuum.

This sort of problem is magnified where there there is similar ignorance at judicial level. Fair it is not.

ABOUT SUE LESCHEN

Sue Leschen is an entrepreneurial lawyer – linguist who has married her passions for law and languages together. She is the Director of niche market Manchester, UK based company Avocate Legal and Business French Interpreting and Translation Services Ltd (https://www.avocate.co.uk).

Sue not only interprets and translates to and from English but she also mentors legal and business clients who need legal English support in their businesses. Sue is a Fellow of both the ITI and CIOL and has Chartered Linguist (Interpreter) status. She sits on CIOL’s Interpreting Division Steering Group Committee as well as on their Professional Conduct Committee. Sue is an NRPSI registrant and is very active on behalf of public service interpreters in the UK.

EVENT DETAILS 

WHEN:                   30 September 2025

TIME:                     18:00-19:00 (ROME TIME); (17:00-18:00PM LONDON TIME)

WHERE:                TEAMS

COSTS.                   €20 per person for their attendance. 

NOTE:                      Cost: ALL PARTICIPANTS AT THE ILETA CONFERENCE 2025 are able to participate at this event free of charge. 

REGISTRATION:     To register fill in the form here Special Event – Sue Leschen

Looking forward to seeing you all at our ILETA Events – STAY TUNED FOR OUR NEW EVENTS 

Till then

Stay Safe,

Sofia & Team

Sofia Parastatidou

President