The U.S. Department of Justices says that it has closed its review of the Hawaii Judiciary’s Language Access Program “following the department’s successful provision of technical assistance to the Hawaii Judiciary.”

That’s according to a press release issued Tuesday.

The DOJ had received complaints about the court system’s provision of language services to what are known as “limited English proficient” or LEP individuals in state court proceedings and operations.

Allegations were made regarding violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires recipients of federal financial assistance such as courts “to provide competent language services free of charge to LEP individuals in court proceedings and operations.”

A Hilo courtroom.

PF Bentley/Civil Beat

It’s estimated that almost 13 percent of Hawaii’s population have limited English proficiency.

“I commend the Hawaii Judiciary for its proactive efforts to provide all communities with equal access to justice regardless of the language they speak,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “The results we are seeing in Hawaii are a testament to what collaboration and cooperation can achieve. Hawaii knows its work is not done, and we welcome the opportunity to continue to provide assistance whenever needed.”

The judiciary’s accomplishments include:

• Issuing policy stating that all LEP individuals are to be provided “competent court interpretation free of charge in court proceedings, and that language services would also be provided for other court operations.”
• Implementing an awareness campaign “to increase the public’s knowledge on how to access the court’s language services, including the creation of multilingual outreach materials in hard copy and on the web.”
• Creating a language assistance complaint system.