PERMANENT RULES
INDUSTRIAL INSURANCE APPEALS
Date of Adoption: November 7, 2000.
Purpose: New section WAC 263-12-097, the rule reflects the regulation of the use of interpreters in proceedings before the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals and the responsibility for payment of the services.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 51.52.020.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 00-17-142 on August 22, 2000.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
November 7, 2000
Thomas E. Egan
Chairperson
(1) When an impaired person as defined in chapter 2.42 RCW or a non-English-speaking person as defined in chapter 2.43 RCW is a party or witness in a hearing before the board of industrial insurance appeals, the industrial appeals judge may appoint an interpreter to assist the party or witness throughout the proceeding. Appointment, qualifications, waiver, compensation, visual recording, and ethical standards of interpreters in adjudicative proceedings are governed by the provisions of chapters 2.42 and 2.43 RCW.
(2) The industrial appeals judge shall make a preliminary determination that an interpreter is able to accurately interpret all communication to and from the impaired or non-English-speaking person and that the interpreter is impartial. The interpreter's ability to accurately interpret all communications shall be based upon either (a) certification by the Office of the Administrator of the Courts, or (b) the interpreter's education, certifications, experience, and the interpreter's understanding of the basic vocabulary and procedure involved in the proceeding. The parties or their representatives may question the interpreter as to his or her qualifications or impartiality.
(3) An interpreter shall not, without the written consent of the parties to the communication, be examined as to any communication the interpreter interprets when the communication is privileged by law. When a case is still pending in which an interpreter provided services, the interpreter shall not be examined as to any information the interpreter obtained, without the written consent of the parties to the communication.
(4) The board of industrial insurance appeals will pay interpreter fees and expenses when the industrial appeals judge has determined the need for interpretive services as set forth in subsection 1. When a party or person for which interpretive services were requested fails to appear at the proceeding, the requesting party or the party's representative may be required to bear the expense of providing the interpreter.
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