The public at large, and more specifically judges, are unaware of the intricacies of interpretation. Interpreting is misunderstood and so are the repercussions of deafness on a deaf person’s capacity to communicate. This misunderstanding is likely to seriously affect legal decisions as well as the mental state of the deaf person involved in the legal process. It also has a bearing on interpretation in general and on the interpreter’s performance in particular. In this article, the author explains the court interpreter’s task and discusses related problems posed by deafness.