Lesson 53

The Scandinavian countries are much admired all over the world for their enlightened social policies.
斯堪的纳维亚国家因其开明的社会政策而受到全世界的推崇。
Sweden has evolved an excellent system for protecting the individual citizen from high-handed or incompetent public officers.
瑞典已经发展出一套完善的制度，保护公民个人免受专横或无能的公职人员的侵害。
The system has worked so well, that it has been adopted in other countries too.
这个系统运作得如此之好，以至于它在其他国家也被采用了。
The Swedes were the first to recognize that public officials like civil servants, police officers, health inspectors or tax-collectors can make mistakes or act over-zealously in the belief that they are serving the public.
瑞典人最早意识到，像公务员、警察、卫生稽查员或税务征收员这样的公职人员，在坚信自己是为公众服务时，也可能会犯错或行为过激。
As long ago as 1809, the Swedish Parliament introduced a scheme to safeguard the interest of the individual.
早在1809年，瑞典议会就建立了一套制度来保护个人的利益。
A parliamentary committee representing all political parties appoints a person who is suitably qualified to investigate private grievances against the State.
一个代表所有政党的议会委员会任命一名具备合适资格的人，来调查针对国家的私人申诉。
The official title of the person is Justiteombudsman, but the Swedes commonly refer to him as the J.O. or Ombudsman.
这个人的官方头衔是司法监察专员，但瑞典人通常称呼他为 J.O. 或监察专员。
The Ombudsman is not subject to political pressure.
监察员不受政治压力的影响。
He investigates complaints large and small that come to him from all levels of society.
他调查从社会各界传到他那里的各种大小投诉。
As complaints must be made in writing, the Ombudsman receives an average of 1,200 letters a year.
由于投诉必须以书面形式提出，申诉专员每年平均收到1,200封来信。
He has eight lawyer assistants to help him and he examines every single letter in detail.
他有八个律师助手来帮助他，并且他详细地检查每一封信件。
There is nothing secretive about the Ombudsman's work, for his correspondence is open to public inspection.
监察员的工作没有什么秘密可言，因为他的通信是向公众公开查阅的。
If a citizen's complaint is justified, the Ombudsman will act on his behalf.
如果公民的投诉合理，监察员将代表他采取行动。
The action he takes varies according to the nature of the complaint.
他所采取的行动取决于投诉的性质。
He may gently reprimand an official or even suggest to parliament that a law be altered.
他可能会温柔地训诫一名官员，甚至向议会建议修改一项法律。
The following case is a typical example of the Ombudsman's work.
以下案例是监察员工作的一个典型例子。
A foreigner living in a Swedish village wrote to the Ombudsman complaining that he had been ill-treated by the police, simply because he was a foreigner.
一个居住在瑞典村庄的外国人写信给监察员，投诉说他仅仅因为是外国人而受到了警察的虐待。
The Ombudsman immediately wrote to the Chief of Police in the district asking him to send a record of the case.
监察员立即写信给该地区的警察局长，要求他发送一份此案的记录。
There was nothing in the record to show that the foreigner's complaint was justified and the Chief of Police strongly denied the accusation.
记录中没有任何迹象表明那个外国人的投诉是合理的，且警察局长强烈否认了这一指控。
It was impossible for the Ombudsman to take action, but when he received a similar complaint from another foreigner in the same village, he immediately sent one of his lawyers to investigate the matter.
申诉专员本不可能采取行动，但当他在同一个村庄收到另一个外国人的类似投诉时，他立即派了一名律师去调查此事。
The lawyer ascertained that a policeman had indeed dealt roughly with foreigners on several occasions.
律师查明，一名警察确实在好几次场合下粗暴地对待过外国人。
The fact that the policeman was prejudiced against foreigners could not be recorded in the official files.
那个警察对外国人有偏见这一事实，不能被记录在官方档案中。
It was only possible for the Ombudsman to find this out by sending one of his representatives to check the facts.
申诉专员只有通过派出一名代表去核实事实，才有可能发现这一点。
The policeman in question was severely reprimanded and was informed that if any further complaints were lodged against him, he would be prosecuted.
涉事警察受到严厉训斥，并被告知如果再有针对他的投诉，他将被起诉。
The Ombudsman's prompt action at once put an end to an unpleasant practice which might have gone unnoticed.
监察员的迅速行动立即结束了一种可能被忽视的令人不快的做法。