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.
Name
Bandara WMU
Phone
0372237848
upali_b@parliament.lk
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