Caution, statement, record
The most common case. The person concerned stays in the interview room; only the interpreter joins remotely.
Sector · law enforcement
When the interview cannot wait.
Cautions, suspect and witness interviews, filing reports. Language barriers do not keep office hours. Through lingomatch a qualified or sworn person joins within minutes, nationwide and in languages nobody in the district covers in person.
The legal framework
Three provisions that shape daily practice.
Your legal department will look at these first.
Relevant provisions
Section 136 StPO
The interview begins with the caution, and it has to be understood, otherwise the statement is open to challenge.
Section 163a StPO
The suspect must be interviewed before the investigation concludes. That presupposes being able to communicate.
Section 187 GVG
An interpreter must be brought in for suspects who do not speak German.
The fee follows the JVEG where your station bills under it, otherwise the agreed rate. Section 201 of the German Criminal Code prohibits recording the spoken word uttered in private; the platform displays a notice to that effect before every join.
Typical situations
Where things get stuck in practice.
Six everyday situations in which a language barrier holds up the case.
Suspect interview
Witnesses and injured parties
Statements without losing time
The same applies here: someone who does not understand says nothing usable. The process is the same as for suspects.
Filing a report
At the desk and in the patrol car
Short cases for which travel is not worth it. Billing is rounded up to half hours.
Nights and weekends
When nobody in the district is reachable
Precisely the times when the phone chain takes longest. If your station bills under the JVEG, surcharges apply then.
Rare languages
Nationwide instead of district-bound
Languages for which nobody is listed in your own district. The pool knows no district boundary.
Higher protection requirements
Your own pool, your own rules
You can have requests go exclusively to your own security-cleared contacts and set the minimum level.
In practice
What changes for case handling.
Three points where the difference shows in daily duty.
Before
The phone chain
15 to 30 minutes of phone calls, often several attempts, then 30 to 90 minutes of travel. Two officers are tied up and the person concerned waits.
Meanwhile
The request
Enter the case number, language and estimated duration, then send. Requests go out in stages to those who cover the language and are available.
Afterwards
The record
A PDF record for each assignment with duration, language and case number. No fee income flows through lingomatch; you settle directly with the interpreter.
Not every situation is suited to remote interpreting.
For identity parades, for participants with hearing or speech impairments and in situations where the physical presence of a third person is part of the procedure, we advise on-site interpreting. That is your decision, not ours.
Next step
Let's talk aboutyour interpreting needs.
Half an hour, based on your own situations.
- Free of charge for the authority
- Operated in Germany
- On-premise on request