The Supreme Court (SC) approved the judiciary-wide Rules on Filipino Sign Language (FSL) Interpreting to ensure that deaf Filipinos, whether they identify with the deaf community and use FSL, are provided “equal, relevant, and effective access to justice,” it said on Monday.

Where a deaf person is concerned in legal proceedings, courts must appoint accredited FSL Interpreters—who translate spoken language into FSL and vice versa—or Deaf Relay Interpreters—deaf persons able to relay communication between a deaf witness or party not proficient at FSL and persons who are able to hear but unable to use sign language.

All courts must be furnished by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) with an annually updated list of accredited interpreters. Deaf persons found to be proficient in FSL will be assigned an interpreter from this list.

If deaf individual(s) are found lacking proficiency in FSL, the court handling their case must refer them within three days to the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) for a Visual Communication Assessment of the Deaf (VCAD) to determine their “primary language and communication needs,” the court explained.

Unless the proceedings are complex, involve multiple deaf participants or deaf children, and video conferencing is not feasible, the High Court permits remote interpreting—especially when no accredited on-site interpreter is available, the proceeding does not involve testimony, and in situations that call for safety measures.

“Interpreters must act professionally and responsibly, provide accurate interpretation, remain impartial, maintain confidentiality, and respect the deaf person’s identity, language, culture, status, and personal characteristics, and beliefs,” the SC said.