Public Act 0133 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB3620 Enrolled LRB099 09653 HEP 29862 b

Public Act 099-0133

AN ACT concerning courts.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by adding Section 8-1403 as follows:

(735 ILCS 5/8-1403 new)

Sec. 8-1403. Interpreters for civil cases.

(a) Whenever any person is a party or witness in a civil action in this State, the court shall, upon its own motion or that of a party, determine whether the person is capable of understanding the English language and is capable of expressing himself or herself in the English language so as to be understood directly by counsel, court, or jury. If the court finds the person incapable of so understanding or so expressing himself or herself, the court shall appoint an interpreter for the person whom he or she can understand and who can understand him or her. All appointments for court interpreters in civil matters shall be pursuant to the Illinois Supreme Court Language Access Policy and the judicial circuit's Language Access Plan that is appropriate for the demands and resources specific to the Illinois courts within that particular circuit.

(b) The court shall enter an order of its appointment of the interpreter who shall be sworn to truly interpret or translate all questions propounded or answers given as directed by the court.

(c) As used in this Section, "interpreter" includes a sign language interpreter.

Effective Date: 1/1/2016