Legal and Court Interpreting in a Reforming Judiciary: Accuracy, Role Boundaries, and Training Needs in the Uzbek Context

Legal and court interpreting occupies a uniquely consequential position within the field of translation and interpreting studies, since errors of rendition in this domain can directly affect a person's liberty, property, or legal standing. This article examines the theoretical foundations of legal interpreting, principally the role-space and discourse-based models developed by Sandra Hale, Susan Berk-Seligson, and Cecilia Wadensjö, together with their implications for professional practice in judicial and quasi-judicial settings. Drawing on current scholarly literature and an analysis of contemporary institutional practice, the study considers how Uzbekistan's ongoing judicial reforms, the growth of cross-border litigation and foreign investment disputes, and the increasing use of remote and AI-assisted language technologies are reshaping the demands placed on legal interpreters. Particular attention is given to the structural and terminological challenges of Uzbek–English legal interpreting, arising from the divergence between Uzbekistan's civil-law tradition and the common-law provenance of much English legal terminology, and to the current state of legal interpreter training and certification in the country. The article concludes with concrete recommendations for curriculum development, certification policy, and institutional cooperation between universities, the judiciary, and the Ministry of Justice.