In Court in a Foreign Language-Fascinating
I recently appeared in Court in Spain because on the 14th October, 2009 I was travelling on my motorcycle into my local town. I was entering into a one-way street going into the town, when much to my surprise I encountered a car coming out, travelling the wrong way on this street.
I braked very hard to avoid a crash, but the rear wheel slid on some sand and the bike fell over to the left trapping my leg under it. As the full weight of the bike and myself came down the leg broke. It had been one year and a little more than 3 months since that incident, and the time had come to conclude the matter.
My case took forty-five minutes of Court time. There was the lady judge and her stenographer and a court usher. There was my lawyer, who speaks very little English. The lawyer for the other side was present, and I had a translator by my side.
I was asked to describe the events on the day, which I did in English, and that was translated for me. After I gave my Deposition my lawyer asked me several questions. I did not have a witness so it came down to my word against the driver of the car. I was asked how I could be so certain that the number of the car was so as I said it was, and I explained that the driver of the car was asked to move his car to one side, and at that moment I had the presence of mind to write down the car’s number while the car was before me. I produced the notepad on which I did that, and it was examined at length.
The other lawyer asked me only three questions, to the relief and delight of my lawyer who later said that was because the other lawyer was afraid of what I might say. The car owner was then asked whether he agreed with anything that I had said, or that he confirmed that he was the person in his car who had caused the accident. He said that he was not the one, and that he had never seen me before.
He did help me by admitting that he had visited my village, but not on the day in question, and we both agreed that the colour of his car was brown, although I said it was light brown and he said it was dark brown. Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of the car and driver at the time, but I had a broken leg. I have no problem with my description of the car, and when he drove away the car went in the direction of his town. But, I think they were trying to confuse me because the man who appeared in Court was not the person who drove the car on the day.
I remember that person as fitting another description, but the man in Court owned the car. That could have been something like if my son borrowed my car and had a problem for which I later appeared in court.
In any event we fully expected a denial from him because he committed two offences on that day. Firstly he was driving the wrong way along a one-way street. Given the appalling street signage in the town that would be very likely unless you really knew the place. Secondly, he left the scene of the incident without sharing information with me, or without even speaking to me to see if I was injured. You would be a very extraordinary person to admit to such offences.
The point of all this is to say that a lot of things are said that are completely not understood by the foreigner, things that are being said about you that affect your possible character. I was told afterwards that the other lawyer was saying that I was lying and that I only wanted to get some money because I was an immigrant. After he had spoken the judge asked me what was my profession and I told her that I am a retired accountant and that changed the colour of the other lawyer’s face.
I was on the correct side of the court in this case. The judge has to decide whether she wants to award compensation to me as prescribed by law, against the owner of the accused car. It’s not possible to tell what the lady was thinking when we left the court, and we shall have to wait and see. I would not want to ever have to go to court for something that I had done in this country, or even in my own country.
I think I have a little sense of the discomfort that people must feel when answering charges in a foreign court far from home. This begs the question: why do people walk into a foreign country carrying drugs? As the saying goes, “when you’re busted over there, you’re in for the hassle of your life.
Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael
I recently appeared in Court in Spain because on the 14th October, 2009 I was travelling on my motorcycle into my local town. I was entering into a one-way street going into the town, when much to my surprise I encountered a car coming out, travelling the wrong way on this street.
I braked very hard to avoid a crash, but the rear wheel slid on some sand and the bike fell over to the left trapping my leg under it. As the full weight of the bike and myself came down the leg broke. It had been one year and a little more than 3 months since that incident, and the time had come to conclude the matter.
My case took forty-five minutes of Court time. There was the lady judge and her stenographer and a court usher. There was my lawyer, who speaks very little English. The lawyer for the other side was present, and I had a translator by my side.
I was asked to describe the events on the day, which I did in English, and that was translated for me. After I gave my Deposition my lawyer asked me several questions. I did not have a witness so it came down to my word against the driver of the car. I was asked how I could be so certain that the number of the car was so as I said it was, and I explained that the driver of the car was asked to move his car to one side, and at that moment I had the presence of mind to write down the car’s number while the car was before me. I produced the notepad on which I did that, and it was examined at length.
The other lawyer asked me only three questions, to the relief and delight of my lawyer who later said that was because the other lawyer was afraid of what I might say. The car owner was then asked whether he agreed with anything that I had said, or that he confirmed that he was the person in his car who had caused the accident. He said that he was not the one, and that he had never seen me before.
He did help me by admitting that he had visited my village, but not on the day in question, and we both agreed that the colour of his car was brown, although I said it was light brown and he said it was dark brown. Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of the car and driver at the time, but I had a broken leg. I have no problem with my description of the car, and when he drove away the car went in the direction of his town. But, I think they were trying to confuse me because the man who appeared in Court was not the person who drove the car on the day.
I remember that person as fitting another description, but the man in Court owned the car. That could have been something like if my son borrowed my car and had a problem for which I later appeared in court.
In any event we fully expected a denial from him because he committed two offences on that day. Firstly he was driving the wrong way along a one-way street. Given the appalling street signage in the town that would be very likely unless you really knew the place. Secondly, he left the scene of the incident without sharing information with me, or without even speaking to me to see if I was injured. You would be a very extraordinary person to admit to such offences.
The point of all this is to say that a lot of things are said that are completely not understood by the foreigner, things that are being said about you that affect your possible character. I was told afterwards that the other lawyer was saying that I was lying and that I only wanted to get some money because I was an immigrant. After he had spoken the judge asked me what was my profession and I told her that I am a retired accountant and that changed the colour of the other lawyer’s face.
I was on the correct side of the court in this case. The judge has to decide whether she wants to award compensation to me as prescribed by law, against the owner of the accused car. It’s not possible to tell what the lady was thinking when we left the court, and we shall have to wait and see. I would not want to ever have to go to court for something that I had done in this country, or even in my own country.
I think I have a little sense of the discomfort that people must feel when answering charges in a foreign court far from home. This begs the question: why do people walk into a foreign country carrying drugs? As the saying goes, “when you’re busted over there, you’re in for the hassle of your life.
Copyright © 2011 Eugene Carmichael
