Ensuring Access
There are many ways to welcome and provide language assistance to non-English speaking members of the public to your court, both physical and virtual. This section provides resources to help your court provide language assistance, including sample multilingual signage, multilingual resources about court proceedings, information on how to request an interpreter, and information about what other language access services may be available.
Translated Resources to Post at Your Courthouse/Online
Court Closure Signs
- Court Closure Signs for 2024
This file contains multilingual signs for all court holidays during the current calendar year that can be printed and displayed in your court. The languages of the signs are: English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean.
"I Speak" Cards
The "I Speak" Card enables individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP) to correctly identify the language for which they need interpretation services.
Notice of Language Access Services
- Multilingual Notice of Language Access Services
This multilingual notice contains information in the following languages: Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Arabic, Farsi, Korean, Punjabi, Russian, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. This document can be modified to add a room number, phone number, and email address for your local court. - Bilingual Notices of Language Access Services
The following bilingual documents contain information on language access services in English and one of nine other languages.These documents can be modified to add a room number, phone number, and email address for your local court.
- Request for Interpreter (Civil) (form INT-300)
The Judicial Council approved (effective July 1, 2016) Request for Interpreter (Civil) (form INT-300) as a model form. The council also approved rule 2.895 of the California Rules of Court to establish requirements for courts to publish their procedures and track requests for interpreters, and for attorneys of represented parties to inform the court if a limited English proficient (LEP) court user who has requested an interpreter will not be in court.
Translations: Request for Interpreter (Civil) INT-300 Form
Translated Welcome Video
- Mixteco Community, Welcome to the Courts Video (Ventura County Superior Court)
This video introduces members of the Mixteco community to the organization of a California state courthouse, the people involved, and how a case progresses through the system. The narration is in Mixteco Bajo. Above link will bring you to a page with a picture. Please click on the picture and the video will start in a pop-up window
Information on How to Best Serve Limited English Proficient (LEP) Court Users
Protocol and Action Guide for Serving LEP Court Users
This protocol provides recommended steps for court employees to follow that will help them meet the needs of LEP court users.
This Action Guide is a shortened version of the protocol and is designed to be a quick reference guide to assist court employees. It can be placed at various workstations throughout the courthouse (e.g., security, clerk counters, family law facilitator offices, or self-help centers). This Action Guide can be adapted by each court to provide court-specific information on the court’s available bilingual employees, telephonic interpreting services, and translated resources.
This document provides guidelines for courts that currently offer or are interested in developing volunteer opportunities for bilingual members of the community.
This points of contact document outlines the appropriate language standards and language access necessary, as well as resources, to help court staff meet the needs of LEP court users at critical points of contact.
Web Guidance Materials
Court web content guidance materials are designed to be helpful for courts to update their websites to promote consistency and uniformity throughout the state, including: updating local language access and LEP plan webpages; website placement of language access information; use of a universal language access icon; sample updated LEP plan template; and effective web practices in the California courts.
Use of a universal language access icon helps LEP court users to easily identify language access services provided by the court. Courts may use the language access icon (courtesy of Transcend) in their web and print materials, but not for any commercial purpose.
- Toolkit Button for Local Court Intranet Sites
Language Access Resources at your fingertips with a single click! If your court is interested in placing a link for the Language Access Toolkit on your local intranet site, you can download the graphic below and ask your site administrator to hyperlink it to the Language Access Toolkit.
Processes
Effective January 1, 2018, California Rules of Court, rule 2.851 requires each superior court to establish a language access services complaint form and related procedures to respond to language access services complaints that relate to staff or court interpreters, or to local translations, as soon as reasonably possible but no later than December 31, 2018. Individual courts may choose to develop their local complaint form and process based on the materials contained in the model packet. If you would like to register a language access services complaint about Judicial Council meetings, forms, or other translations hosted on the California Courts website, please go to the Language Access Contact Us page for more information.
Translations: Interactive (Fillable PDF) Model Complaint Form
Important Legal Information About Language Access in Court-Ordered Programs and Services
Under California Rules of Court, rule 1.300, limited English proficient court litigants may notify the court when they have been ordered to participate in a program or service that they cannot access because of a language barrier. This Fact Sheet explains the process for notifying the court and contains additional links and resources for LEP litigants.
Language Access in Court-Ordered Programs and Services: Information for Courts and Judicial Officers
Under California Rules of Court, rule 1.300, judicial officers should avoid ordering an LEP litigant to participate in a program or service when that program or service is not available in the language of the litigant. This Fact Sheet provides information about the rule of court and Judicial Council forms designed to help the courts ensure language access in court-ordered programs and services.