The people below are all registered court intermediaries and, as you can see, they can offer additional services over and above that of a court or witness intermediary both inside and outside of the justice system. All are deaf themselves and work mainly in BSL.

What is a Registered Intermediary?

A Registered Intermediary is a self-employed communication specialist who helps vulnerable witnesses and complainants give evidence to the police and the court. They have been recruited and selected by the Ministry of Justice and have successfully completed training, assessment and registration. A witness who is deaf may need the help of a Registered Intermediary because of their age, their language ability, or if they have a learning disability, a mental or physical disability or disorder. The involvement of an intermediary can often make the difference between a witness being able to give evidence or not.

Registered Intermediaries are provided through the Ministry of Justice Witness Intermediary Scheme, which typically helps around 500 victims and witnesses every month. This scheme allows police officers and crown prosecutors to access high quality professional support when needed.

Requesting a Registered Intermediary

The National Crime Agency manages the scheme on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. Registered intermediaries are approved by the Ministry of Justice and are arranged and paid for by individual customers (typically police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service). For more information please click here and here for gov.uk information.

Chris Bojas

Chris Bojas is based in Yorkshire but travels throughout the UK. He is a fluent BSL user and has been working with Deaf people since 2001 in a variety of roles. Chris has worked as a Registered Intermediary for the Ministry of Justice since 2011. He is an Approved Service Provider under HMCTS’ Appointed Intermediary Services (HAIS).

Chris works with vulnerable children, young people, adults and older people delivering communication assessments and facilitating communication throughout the justice system. He supports vulnerable individuals with a range of communication requirements including Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL), people who are hard of hearing and who use speech, people who are Deafblind and individuals with a learning disability or brain injury who also experience hearing loss.

Chris works with vulnerable witnesses throughout the criminal justice system, supports parents in family court and enables vulnerable defendants to understand police investigations and criminal trials. He produces communication reports to support the court, solicitors and barristers to implement communication adaptations to meet the needs of people with a hearing loss.

In addition to his Intermediary role, Chris has also worked as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner since 2011 and as a Senior Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner since 2018. In this role, Chris can deliver assessments and therapy to children, young people, adults and older people. Chris works with patients with a range of communication requirements including Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL), people who are hard of hearing, people who are Deafblind and individuals with a learning disability who experience hearing loss. When Chris works as a PWP he receives regular supervision by Clinical Psychologist.

Chris enjoys working with psychologists and psychiatrists to co-produce assessments and treatment plans to ensure that the cultural and linguistic needs of patients are met. Chris can undertake communication assessments as part of capacity assessments and he can deliver training to families or young people about sex and relationships.

Professional Memberships

British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapists: 17017

Registered Intermediary with the MOJ

Additional Information

Contributor to Advocates Gateway, Toolkit No. 11 and to Visual Language Professionals Registered Intermediary training

BSL NVQ Level 6

Enhanced DBS Certification

Chantelle De La Croix

Chantelle is based in the Midlands but travels throughout the UK and Ireland. She is a native British Sign Language (BSL) user and has been working with Deaf people since 1998. She has specialised in working with deaf children and adults with additional complex communication needs for over 30 years.

Chantelle is a qualified Registered Intermediary with the Ministry of Justice providing communication support for deaf adults and children throughout their involvement with the police and the courts. She works with both victims and witnesses with a range of physical and learning disabilities from a wide range of social and ethnic backgrounds.

Chantelle has considerable experience and knowledge of working practices in family courts and mental health tribunals. She has also worked very closely with professionals such as psychiatrists, psychologists, family therapists and many others. She is passionate about empowering Deaf people to enable them to make informed choices.

Most of Chantelle’s experience lies in the police and court domains supporting deaf individuals with complex language needs and/or those who are not fluent in British Sign Language and are therefore unable to understand an ordinary British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter. Being deaf herself, she has a wealth of personal experience in working with people who use idiosyncratic, non-standard signs or gestures and she is able to recognise their individual life experiences and cultural differences.

Chantelle can undertake assessments for adults and children as well those with additional needs for communication and capacity. She can provide recommendations such as further training or mediation. Chantelle can also deliver bespoke training to families or young people about healthy families, sex and relationships. She also develops her own visual materials to match the client's needs to assist with their learning.

Contact

Email

croixintermediary@gmail.com

Phone

07875564233 (sms only)

Website:

www.deafintermediary.co.uk

Louise Harte

Louise is based in London but travels extensively throughout the UK.

Louise is a native British Sign Language (BSL) user. Her background is working directly with Deaf people in various sectors such as, education, community, police, and courts. She has specialised in working with Deaf children and adults with complex communication needs for over 30 years.

Louise is a qualified Registered Witness Intermediary with the Ministry of Justice providing communication support to Deaf children and adults in their involvement with the police, Criminal Justice System, and the courts. She facilitates effective, coherent communication between the witness and all professionals, ensuring the witness understands and is understood. She has worked with victims and witnesses from a variety of different social and ethnic backgrounds with a range of physical, mental, or cognitive learning disabilities and/or complex language needs.

Louise has considerable experience and knowledge of working practices in family courts and mental health tribunals. She also works very closely with professionals such as Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Family Therapists, Solicitors, Barristers, and Social Workers.

Louise is also a Deaf interpreter and translator, registered with the MET. Most of her experience is in police and court situations supporting Deaf individuals who have complex language needs, use other language bases, use idiosyncratic sign language or those with little language foundation. She is fluent in International Sign Language and holds a Diploma in Romanian Sign Language.

Louise has her own media company to translate, film and present information in BSL called In-Vision. She is also a qualified Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA).

Professional Memberships

MOJ (Ministry of Justice) Registered Intermediary - 30114

MET - (Metropolitan Police) Registered BSL Interpreter - 36450

MVLP -(Member of Visual Language Professionals) - 0148

RBSLI - (Registered British Sign Language Interpreter/Translator) - 150029

NRCPD - (National Registers of Communication Professionals Working with Deaf and Deafblind People) ) - 1023432

Additional Information

NVQ Level 6 in BSL Translation

Fluent in International Sign Language

Diploma in Romanian Sign Language