When a recording offered in evidence is in another language, courts work from an English translation of its transcript. Subtitled transcribes 60+ spoken languages and can translate into English in the same step, timestamped with each speaker named, in court format. It is a machine translation: use it to review the evidence and to brief a qualified translator, and have the version you file prepared or certified the way your court requires. It costs $0.25 per hour of audio, translation included.
$0.25 an hour · first hour free
Rules differ by court. In federal courts in the Ninth Circuit, the model jury instruction for a recording in a foreign language tells jurors that the English transcript is the evidence when its accuracy is not in dispute, which is why the translation's accuracy matters so much. Expect the other side to be able to challenge it.
Run the recording twice, once in the language spoken and once in English, and both transcripts share the same timestamps, so a translator or interpreter can check each English line against the original.
Sources: Ninth Circuit Manual of Model Criminal Jury Instructions, 2.7.
Last reviewed 27 October 2026. Not legal advice.
It makes a machine translation, which is useful for review and as a starting point. Where a court requires a certified translation, a qualified translator prepares or certifies the version that is filed.
More than 60, detected on their own, and it translates into 16, including English and Spanish.
No. Transcripts cost $0.25 per hour of audio, translated or not.