*** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER *** Electronically Filed Supreme Court SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX 16-FEB-2021 07:52 AM Dkt. 29 OP IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAI‘I ---o0o--- ________________________________________________________________ CAMBRIDGE MANAGEMENT, INC., Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. NICOLE JADAN, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________ SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX CERTIORARI TO THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS (CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX; CIVIL NO. 1RC16-1-4118) FEBRUARY 16, 2021 RECKTENWALD, C.J., NAKAYAMA, McKENNA, AND WILSON, JJ., AND CIRCUIT JUDGE TONAKI, ASSIGNED BY REASON OF VACANCY OPINION OF THE COURT BY RECKTENWALD, C.J. I. INTRODUCTION The Hawaiʻi State Judiciary has committed that all litigants who cannot meaningfully access court proceedings based on their English proficiency will be given language access assistance, including the services of a court-appointed *** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER *** interpreter. The courtroom setting is often intimidating; its language, technical. In light of this reality, it is the court’s responsibility to determine whether a litigant can speak and understand English such that they are able to meaningfully access justice in this extraordinary setting – not simply whether their English is passable, adequate, or otherwise “good enough” to meet ordinary day-to-day demands. In the instant case, the Judiciary’s language access commitment was not kept. Specifically, the District Court of the First Circuit (district court) failed to determine whether defendant Nicole Jadan’s participation in the court proceedings would be meaningful absent language assistance when it resolved her repeated requests for an interpreter. We accordingly vacate the judgment with respect to Jadan’s counterclaim for damages and remand to the district court, which must give due consideration to her request for the services of an interpreter, for further proceedings. We also clarify that the meaningful access mandate extends to all proceedings in Hawaiʻi state courts, including appeal. We recognize, however, that our rules do not contemplate how to ensure adequate language access on appeal. We therefore refer this matter to the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Committee on Court Interpreters and Language Access to determine 2 *** FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER *** what services are necessary and how best to provide those services in the course of the appellate process. II. BACKGROUND A. District Court Proceedings All told, the district court held nine hearings on respondent Cambridge Management’s (Cambridge) complaint and Jadan’s counterclaim, presided over by five different judges. Although the record lacks transcripts of the district court proceedings, in light of the issues presented by this case and pursuant to Hawaiʻi Court Records Rules Rule 4 1 and our authority under Hawaiʻi Rules of Appellate Procedure (HRAP) Rules 11(b)(3) 2 and 10(e)(2), 3 this court ordered that the audio and video recordings of the proceedings below be transmitted. 4 We have reviewed those recordings, and we observe that at eight of those 1 Hawaiʻi Court Records Rules Rule 4 provides that “[t]he record of each case . . . shall include . . . (d) . . . audio or video recordings of court proceedings[.]” 2 HRAP Rule 11(b)(3) provides in relevant part: “Physical exhibits ...
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