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In addition Peter Piper, it may not have been a criminal case but it was an arm of the state which was bringing the case. You've already accepted that interpreters should be provided without charge to someone appearing in the criminal courts. Logically you should accept that these parents should have the benefit of an interpreter provided by the state without charge. In both cases the individuals are faced with the powerful state taking action against them.

As for your claim that you would learn the language if you were going to live in a particular country. It's not clear whether these Roma parents were intending to settle permanently or had just come for some seasonal work. They may be unskilled farm workers, here this year, in France next year and in Italy the year after. Must they learn all three languages?

Following you suggesting that you would learn the language before you moved to a country, would you do so if you were offered a well paid but short term contract to work abroad for, say six months? What about going on holiday abroad? Do you do that? You don't have to spend months or years in a country to have the misfortune of falling foul of the law, civil or criminal. Are you really saying that you would never visit a country without learning the language first?
The adage about justice being seen to be done isn't just a saying. It matters that we ensure that it is true, otherwise the freedoms our ancestors fought for will be gradually whittled away.