Legal Interpreting Guidelines in New Hampshire

Requirements for Interpreters in New Hampshire

New Hampshire does not require certified interpreters for any legal proceeding, nor does the state offer certification in any language.

However, interpreters will be provided at the state’s expense to limited-English litigants and witnesses in court proceedings and to individuals who request information or services over the phone or in-person at a court clerk’s office

Classification of Interpreters in New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Judicial Department defines legal interpreters in the following three ways:

• Certified Interpreter: An interpreter who has passed the federal Administrative Office of the Courts examination for Spanish, Haitian Creole or Navajo.

• Professionally Qualified Interpreter: An interpreter who has passed the State Department conference or seminar interpreter test in a language pair that includes English and the target language; or, passed the interpreter test of the United Nations in a language pair that includes English and the target language; or, is a current member in good standing of AIIC or TAALS.

• Language Skilled Interpreter: An interpreter who does not qualify as a professionally qualified interpreter, but who can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the court the ability to interpret court proceedings from English to a designated language and from that language into English.

Please consult with Legal Language Services for the rules pertaining to your specific New Hampshire venue and language.

Common Languages Spoken in New Hampshire

According to a recent American Community Survey, approximately 8.05% of the New Hampshire population speaks a language other than English.

What’s more, more than 76% of the non-English speaking population in New Hampshire speak one of the following 10 languages:

Other languages spoken in New Hampshire include Russian, Gujarathi, Serbo-Croatian, Polish, Nepali, Indonesian, Korean, Tagalog, Romanian, Telugu, Hebrew, Tamil, Bantu, Cantonese, Mon-Khmer/Cambodian, Japanese, Laotian, Swedish and Dutch.

*This table was created based on respondents’ written answers, the majority of whom wrote “Chinese” while others specified “Cantonese” or “Mandarin.”

Judicial Districts in New Hampshire

New Hampshire has 10 judicial districts, one for each county.

Call Legal Language Services at 1-800-788-0450 to find New Hampshire interpreters who meet state interpreting rules for courtroom trials, hearings, depositions, arbitrations and other legal proceedings.

Please Note

The content provided on this page is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The information about legal interpreting guidelines in New Hampshire is believed to be accurate at the time of posting; however, Legal Language Services is not responsible for any errors or omissions.