GUARDIAN AD LITEM PROGRAM, PETITIONER,
v.
O.R., FATHER, RESPONDENT
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The Florida Third District Court of Appeal reversed a trial court's order requiring the Guardian ad Litem Program to provide Spanish translations of its motions in a dependency proceeding. The court held that while trial courts have broad discretion in child dependency cases, they cannot impose conditions not authorized by law to restrict a litigant's access to court, even if such conditions seem fair or beneficial.
The trial court's order requiring Spanish translations of the motions was not justified by law. Trial courts cannot impose conditions not authorized by law to restrict a litigant's access to court, even if such conditions seem fair or beneficial. The appropriate remedy is to provide an interpreter pursuant to Florida Statute § 90.606 so the father can be present in court where an interpreter can translate the pleading.
[1] A trial court cannot impose conditions on a litigant's access to the court that are not authorized by law.
[2] A trial court may order an interpreter for a witness who cannot understand English, pursuant to statute.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“a trial court may not, in effect, restrict a litigant's access to the court, by imposing a condition not authorized by law — in this case a costly one — just because she thinks it is a good idea or the "fair" thing to do.”
Establishes the core legal principle that trial courts lack authority to impose conditions not authorized by law to restrict access to court, even if well-intentioned.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn a dependency proceeding, the trial court ordered the Guardian ad Litem Program to provide Spanish translations of its 'Motion for Best Interest Fin…
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Considering the appropriate and what we find to be the correct concession of the Department of Children and Families, and even though the imprisoned respondent father is literate only in that language, we conclude that the trial court’s order in this dependency proceeding that, before its motions may be heard, the Guardian ad Li-tem Program must provide Spanish translations of its “Motion for Best Interest Finding” and its request for an “Order for the Department to Provide an Adoption Case Plan,” is not justified by the law. See Jimenez-Ramos v. U.S., 2008 WL 227975, at *5 (M.D.Fla. Jan.25, 2008) (“Jimenez-Ramos has cited no law, and there is no law, requiring the Court to provide Jimenez-Ramos copies of the pleadings translated into Spanish.”); compare § 39.6011(2), Fla. Stat. (2007) (“The case plan must be written simply and clearly in English and, if English is not the principal language of the child’s parent, to the extent possible in the parent’s principal language.”); § 443.151(8)(a), Fla. Stat. (2007) (“The Agency for Workforce Innovation shall provide printed bilingual instructional and educational materials in the appropriate language in those counties in which 5 percent or more of the households in the county are classified as a single-language minority.”).
As the Department says,
[pjursuant to § 90.606, Fla. Stat. (2010), when the lower court makes the determination that a witness cannot understand English, the court orders an interpreter. Thus, the appropriate measure is to have the Father present in court [by telephone or in person] where an interpreter can translate the pleading.
As in every other legal situation, a trial court may not, in effect, restrict a litigant’s access to the court, by imposing a condition not authorized by law — in this case a costly one — just because she thinks it is a good idea or the “fair” thing to do.1 See Republic Fed. Bank, N.A. v. Doyle, 19 So.3d 1053, 1054 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009), and cases cited.
Accordingly, the application for certiora-ri is granted and the order under review is quashed.
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Hedman v. Hedman, 97 So. 3d 249 (Fla. 3d DCA 2012)…Holding, LLC v. Brown, 59 So. 3d 322, 323 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011) (holding that “it is established ... that the trial court is not free to refuse to follow the law because of some personal disinclination or otherwise”); Guardian Ad Litem Program v. O.R., 45 So. 3d 974, 974 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010) (holding that “a trial court may not ... impos[e] a condition not authorized by law — in this case a costly one-just because she thinks it is a good idea or the “fair” thing to do”). (2) Even if the contrary principle could…1 / 2
Authorities Cited
- Republic Fed. Bank, N.A. v. Doyle, 19 So. 3d 1053 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)