The exercise of judicial discretion in rent arrears cases - Sheffield ...

Language difficulties
An earlier study into the perceptions and experiences of black and ethnic minority
defendants in housing possession cases (Blandy et al, 2002) found there to be a number of
problems arising in the repossession process for defendants for whom English is not the first
language. Their difficulties may range from an inability to understand the court documents,
to not being able to read signs pointing to the duty desk scheme at the court building, to not
understanding what is said in court nor the actual outcome of the case. In light of these
findings we sought to explore judges’ views on how awareness of language difficulties may
impact on the decision-making process.
As a variant of Scenario 2 (above) judges were asked if their original decision would change
if the defendant did appear in court, unrepresented and apparently unable to understand
English. In the first scenario which just involved the non attendance of the tenant as set out
above, a range of outcomes were recorded. The majority of judges stated they would be
likely to grant either a suspended possession order or adjourn the case on terms.
Interestingly, when judges were given the additional information that there may be language
difficulties preventing the defendant from understanding the proceedings, a much higher
level of consistency in responses was recorded with all except three stating that they would
adjourn the case without making any terms until an interpreter was present (see Chart 9
below).
Chart 9: The impact of language difficulties on outcomes
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2
0
17
OPO SPO ADJ
3
7
18
65
No language problems
Language difficulties
Various reasons were given as to why the case could not be dealt with until an interpreter
was present. Some judges stressed the importance of being certain that the defendant
understood what was happening: