A fight has begun against a justice system which some deaf people regard as denying them basic human rights.
The executive officer of the National Foundation for the Deaf, Eileen McGee, said the murder trial of a deaf man in Wanganui highlighted years of injustice for the deaf.
The High Court trial was halted on Monday because two professional witnesses for the defendant — a psychiatrist and a psychologist — considered the fees insufficient.
Eileen McGee compared this case to the recent Wairoa gang trials where a large amount of Government money was spent on legal aid.
At the time the president of the New Zealand Law Society, Mr Graham Cowley, described the aid as “an investment in upholding the rights and freedoms upon which our society is based.”
Said Eileen McGee: “The justice system is absolutely intolerable when it cannot meet the costs required for interpreters and other professionals in order to deliver justice to a deaf person, yet money can be found for gang members.”
She said deaf people in New Zealand had no legal right to an interpreter and if a judge used his or her discretion to appoint one, there were only two available in the country.
“We have documented facts that deaf people, cannot speak or read, and write normal English, the professional cannot function adequately,” said Mrs Dugdale.
“Many are unable to admit that the difficulty exists, or that deafness may be a factor in the patient’s condition.”
Mrs Dugdale said that in the United States a survey found that some professionals avoided the use of interpreters because of drawbacks which included loss of eye contact, the presence of a third person in the relationship, and problems with terminology and ethics.
“A better alternative would be to have more professionals able to use language themselves.”
“However, the majority surveyed agreed that using interpreters provided fast, effective communication which could make counselling services available which otherwise would not be possible.”
