A crisis is brewing in Ontario, all because of a bewildering shortage of qualified court interpreters. And it's leaving some to worry that serious criminal charges will soon have to be tossed because of unfair delays.

The court interpreter crisis recently grabbed headlines, thanks to a high-profile prosecution in Toronto involving grocer David Chen, who was charged after a controversial citizen's arrest of a thief near his store.

The case stalled when it was revealed that the province had no fully accredited Mandarin court interpreters to help Chen with his defence.

Many were stunned, wondering how a city such as Toronto, which boasts a huge Chinese population, could not have a single person qualified enough to translate in court.

The trial eventually moved ahead using one of the few "conditionally" accredited Mandarin translators.

But plenty of other cases are being put over or adjourned. Some risk being thrown out altogether, as defendants file applications under section 11(b) of the Charter, which guarantees the right to a speedy trial.

Stella Rahman, the president of the Court Interpreters Association of Ontario, says that's already happening at the courthouse in Newmarket, north of Toronto. Despite a large Tamil community, there is currently only one fully accredited Tamil interpreter.

"They cannot schedule any trials there," Rahman tells CTV.ca. "So what's happening is that 11(b) applications are being filed right and left because of undue delay."

What's more, she says, defendants are agreeing to plead guilty to reduced charges, in exchange for the Crown dropping more serious charges.

"The Crown wants to expedite these matters. So instead of waiting to fight all these 11(b) applications, they're making plea bargains," Rahman explains.

Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General spokesperson Brendan Crawley admits that there are only two conditionally accredited Mandarin interpreters in the province at the moment.

"But, we expect that pool of accredited interpreters to increase as more (test) results become available and testing continues on an ongoing basis," he told CTV.ca in an email, adding that the ministry is also actively trying to recruit more interpreters.

Crawley says the ministry is "taking steps to ensure that there are no unnecessary delays in individual cases during the transition period," noting that in each case, it is up to the judge to determine whether to use an accredited, conditionally accredited or unaccredited interpreter.

Louis Strezos, a defence lawyer and the secretary of the Criminal Lawyers Association, says while some cases are going ahead using conditionally accredited interpreters, he's not surprised that some defence lawyers are challenging their use.

"For myself, I would be remiss to go with a partially-accredited interpreter, because I don't have any way of knowing the accuracy of the translation," he tells CTV.ca. "I need to know that my questions are being properly asked and answered."

The court interpreter crisis actually dates back to 2005, when an assault case in Brampton ended in a mistrial because of serious issues with the translation provided by a long-standing Punjabi interpreter. The interpreter had to stop the court proceedings 27 times in a 36-page transcript to say he didn't understand the questions or couldn't hear them.

That led to a class-action lawsuit against the Ministry of the Attorney General, from people claiming they were wrongly convicted because of inadequate interpretation.

The ministry responded last year by requiring all current court interpreters to undergo more comprehensive testing. The tests are meant to evaluate the high level of skill required for court interpretation, the ministry has said, and to move Ontario "towards a better standard" for accreditation.

The problem is that the interpreters are failing the tests in droves. And that includes some interpreters with years of experience translating in the courts.

Of the first 225 interpreters who have taken the test (there are 800 registered court interpreters in Ontario), at least 34 per cent have failed. Those who received a mark of between 51 and 70 per cent are "conditionally" accredited. They can still work in the courts if judges decide they are qualified for a particular case.

Conditionally accredited interpreters can also take the test again in two years, after taking an upgrading workshop.

Rahman says she knows of one Mandarin interpreter who's been working in the court system for 20-plus years but who failed the test.

"He's also an official interpreter when any Chinese dignitary comes to Canada -- but he failed to meet the ministry's standard in Mandarin. He's not even conditionally accredited," she says.

She contends the computerized accreditation tests were unreasonably difficult and didn't reflect the real-life court room. For example, while most interpreters easily passed the component involving translating a document, most couldn't manage the simultaneous oral translation component, in which the interpreters were asked to translate a speaker's words as they talked.

"We do this kind of interpreting on a regular basis in court, but the judge always cautions everybody to be mindful of the interpreter and watch their speed," she said. "The speed was going at 190 words a minute when a normal English speaker uses 140 words per minute," she says.

"It's not possible even for an English speaker to repeat ideas in English at that speed," she says.

The ministry has defended the tests, which it says are based on actual trial transcripts from Ontario court proceedings. It says the test was developed by the Vancouver Community College, an internationally recognized specialist in court interpreter training.

Rahman says that while interpreters in B.C might pass the test, court interpreters there also undergo a two-year certificate training program before qualifying. In Ontario, there's no formal training.

She also notes that in B.C., court interpreters are paid $45 an hour, whereas in Ontario, they earn just $25.

The ministry's Crawley says the province is "committed to providing resources and training to interpreters, to assist them in succeeding under the new model."

"Test preparation classes will be offered free of charge," Crawley said, adding the prep classes will build on test prep self-study materials already available on the ministry's website.

Defence lawyer Strezos says the interpreter crisis is a serious one and raises another question: How many trials have already gone ahead using what may have been unqualified translators?

Earlier this year, the Criminal Lawyers' Association requested an inquiry into the state of the province's court translators, to look into whether some people might have been convicted because of poor translations. Attorney General Chris Bentley denied the request.

Strezos says a solution to the interpreter crisis needs to be found.

"This is a non-partisan issue," he says. "There is a common interest to ensure that interpreters are offering translation that is concise and correct.

"This is not a political football. Everybody has an interest to ensure that trials are conducted fairly."