经济学人34:自由捍卫者汤姆·宾翰

 　　Obituary¹; Lord Bingham;Tom Bingham (Baron Bingham of Cornhill), defender² of liberty, died on September 11th, aged³ 76;

　　讣告；宾翰勋爵；自由捍卫者汤姆·宾翰（康希尔的宾翰男爵）于9月11日逝世，享年76岁；

　　By general agreement, he was the greatest English judge since the second world war: the only man in the modern age to be, in short order, Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice (head of the judiciary in England and Wales) and senior law lord in the House of Lords. But to himself, as he strode out at weekends across the brooding hills of the Welsh borders, Tom Bingham was just a small, jobbing figure adding another grey stone or two to the ancient, intricate web of walls known as English common law.

　　他是公认的二战以来英国最伟大的法官：在当代只有他曾在短期内同时担任案卷主事官、首席大法官（英格兰和威尔士司法机构的首长）及上议院高级法官。但是对他来说，当他在周末跨越威尔士边界的忧郁的山林时，汤姆.宾翰只是一个微不足道的小人物，他整天忙碌于为一面古老而错综复杂的的墙上增添一两块石头，这面墙就是英国的普通法。

　　As a passionate⁴ historian, his subject at Balliol, he liked to put himself in a procession of judicial⁵ folk: 12th-century judges touring the shires to set up the royal writ⁶, 17th-century lawyers wrestling over the rights of king and Parliament. But the most interesting era of all, he thought, for a judge devoted⁷ to defending liberty, was the age he lived and worked in.

　　作为一个充满激情的历史学家，宾翰效力于巴尔·利奥尔国王。他喜欢效仿一系列关于法官的民间事迹：12世纪的法官遍访整个郡县来起草皇室文书，17世纪的律师与国王和议会夺权。但是他认为，对于一个想用一生来捍卫自由的法官来说，最适合的时代就是他们现在所生活和工作的时代。

　　His years at the apex⁸ of English justice involved coping with a government that tended, in the name of national security, to take the law into its own hands. But the rule of law was Tom Bingham's speciality. A centre for the study of it, named after him, opens next month. However loosely others defined it, for him its core was this: “that all persons and authorities within the state, whether public or private, should be bound by and entitled to the benefit of laws publicly made…and publicly administered in the courts.”

　　在他担任英国司法机构最高长官期间，他的职责包括防止政府以国家安全的名义让法律服从于政府。而依法行政正是他的专长。一个以他命名的研究中心将于下月成立，专门研究依法行政。无论别人对于依法行政的定义如何随意，他有自己的核心原则：本国的所有个人及机构，无论是公有还是私有，都应该受到法律的束缚，同时享有法律所赋予的权利。法律是公众制定的，也将公开地在法庭得到执行。

　　This meant not only that citizens should be spared the midnight knock on the door, the show trial and the gas chamber⁹, but also that the nine foreign men held at Belmarsh prison in London, kept there indefinitely by the Home Office on suspicion of terrorism and with no prospect¹⁰ of a trial, had been detained illegally. This ruling, in 2004, stunned¹¹ the government.

　　这不仅意味着法律应该保护公民不在半夜受到骚扰，避免公审及免于毒室的迫害，还意味着被关在伦敦贝尔马什监狱的九名外国人也应受到法律的保护。他们由于被怀疑参与恐怖主义行动而被英国内政部非法逮捕并无限期关押。2004年他的这一裁决让政府大为震惊。

　　In 2005 came another Bingham bombshell: evidence obtained by torture, no matter what the pretext¹², was unreliable, offensive and inadmissible in court. It was clear to him too that the invasion of Iraq, based on no hard evidence of Saddam's evil intent and unauthorised by the Security Council acting¹³ collectively, was a serious breach¹⁴ of international law; but his opinion was neither sought, nor volunteered, at the time.

　　2005年宾翰又一次让人大跌眼镜：他宣布凡是通过严刑逼供得到的证词，无论是什么内容，在法庭上都是不可靠的、无礼的、不可接受的。他也很清楚知道，英国进军伊拉克没有关于萨达姆的恶意的确凿证据，也没有得到要求统一行动的安理会的批准，明显违反了国际法。但是当时他的这一看法没有等到认可也没有公诸于世。

　　After the Belmarsh ruling, the Guardian¹⁵ cried that he was “a radical…leading a new English revolution”. Lord Bingham didn't dislike that; it raised one of his wry¹⁶ smiles; but nor did he think it “at all apt”. He was politically neutral, as judges had to be. He did not consider himself at odds¹⁷ with the Blair government; it had achieved one of the things he had fought hardest for, the incorporation¹⁸ into English law in the 1998 Human Rights Act of the European Convention on Human Rights. But his very passion for those rights brought him bounding to their defence at any sign of erosion: rumours¹⁹ of torture, arrests of hecklers, carelessness for habeas corpus. Vigilance was vital.

　　贝尔马什案以后，《卫报》高呼他为领导英国新一代革命的激进主义者。对此宾翰没有表示反感，他只是苦笑。但是他也不觉得那样说是完全合适的。在政治上他是中立的，因为法官不得不这样。他认为他和布莱尔政府不是对立的，因为布莱尔政府实现了他尽力争取的目标之一，即在1998年将欧洲大会人权法案中关于人权的规定吸纳入英国法律之中。但正是他对这些权利的热衷使他在防范任何法律漏洞的迹象时表现得很活跃。这些迹象包括关于酷刑的谣言，逮捕质问者，人身保护权的疏忽。而机警是至关重要的。

　　It was necessary, too, to keep judges independent. He mused²⁰ on how constrained²¹ they were: unable to initiate²² or annul²³ anything, and subject to the sovereignty of Parliament. But he did pretty well, considering. At the head of public inquiries²⁴, he delivered stinging verdicts against oil companies and compliant²⁵ civil servants for contravening²⁶ sanctions on Rhodesia, and against the “deficient” Bank of England for failing to foresee the collapse²⁷ of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International. Only once did he disappoint liberals, when in 2008 the law lords ruled that the Serious Fraud Office was right, in view of Saudi threats, to ditch its inquiry²⁸ into BAE Systems' arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

　　保持法官的独立性也是必要的，他寻思着法官到底受到了多大的束缚：无法建立或废除任何法令，服从于议会主权。但是对于他的条件来说，他已经做得很好了。当他领导公众问询处时，严厉制裁了违反有关津巴布韦法令的石油公司及附炎趋势的公务员，英格兰银行也因未能预见国际商业信贷银行的解体而受到法律制裁。他唯一一次让自由派失望的在2008年，当时上议院高级法官裁定，英国重大诈骗办公室由于沙特阿拉伯的威胁而终止调查英国航天公司向沙特阿拉伯出售武器这一事件是正确的。

　　At the Bar he was a fine judge, dexterous²⁹ in argument and scrupulously³⁰ fair in his rulings. He became a QC at 38, and was made Lord Chief Justice, exceptionally, when his background was in commercial rather than criminal law. All through his career he was curious about, and open to, other legal systems. He relished³¹ the internationalising of the law, hoped for an “enjoyable courtship” with European civil codes, and was pleased to work in an age when England was less and less a legal island.

　　在法庭上，他是一个好法官，能言善辩，裁决极其公正。他38岁时成为高级律师，并被破格提升为最高法院首席法官，当时他的专业背景是商业法而不是犯罪法。在他的职业生涯中，他对其他的法律体系很感兴趣，也坦诚地接受。他热衷于法律的国际化，希望和欧洲民法典缔结“美好姻缘”。他很乐意工作在一个英格兰的司法体系日益颓败的时代。

　　But he kept a judge's liking³² for precedent³³. The new way of appointing judges, through the Judicial Appointments Commission, raised for him the risk of political lines of questioning in the American style. (“They are not going to ask them if they are fond of cats”.) He thought the old system, whereby the Lord Chancellor³⁴ tapped you on the shoulder and invited you to apply, had worked pretty well.

　　但是他保持着一个法官惯有的喜好。他觉得通过法官任命委员会任命法官的新方式存在风险，即政客们会质疑这是在沿袭美国人的风格（即不管你喜不喜欢都强塞给你）。他认为以前的任命方式，即大法官拍拍你的肩膀邀请你申请法官这一职位，一直成效显著。

　　He also disliked fixed³⁵ sentences, insisting that judges should be able to exercise flexibility³⁶ and discretion—especially in murder cases, where he campaigned against the mandatory³⁷ life term. On the other hand, talking of American influences, England's new Supreme³⁸ Court delighted him, because it removed the law lords from the possible taint³⁹ of politics at Westminster. He should have led them into the new court in 2009, but had left just a little too soon for his cottage in Wales.

　　他也很反感墨守成规，他认为法官应该灵活而谨慎地断案，特别是谋杀案。他曾经为谋杀罪的强制性终身监禁判罚进行过抗争。在另一方面，当谈及美国法律体系对英国的影响时，英国新一代的最高法院让他很满意，因为它让法官们避免受到议会的政客们可能的影响。他本应该在2009年将这些美国的经验引进到新法庭的，但当时他急着回到他威尔士的雅舍，就早离开了那么一点点。

　　For all his high positions, his face was never familiar. He preferred to work behind the scenes. “Cornhill” referred to his Welsh hamlet, not the eminence⁴⁰ in the City of London. You would not have noticed him as he strolled round the literary festival at Hay-on-Wye every year, or even in the Strand⁴¹. But on the ancient field-walls, his stones remain.

　　他位高权重，所以人们对他都是只闻其声未见其人。而他也更喜欢低调地幕后工作。“康希尔”指的是他所处的一个威尔士的小村庄，不是伦敦的名流。在每年的海伊文学节期间，他在海伊闲逛都没人认出他，甚至在伦敦中心的滨海街也是这样。但是在那面古老的“外墙”上，他所放的“石头”将被铭记。

1 obituary   

n.讣告，死亡公告；adj.死亡的

参考例句：

• The obituary records the whole life of the deceased.讣文记述了这位死者的生平。
• Five days after the letter came,he found Andersen s obituary in the morning paper.收到那封信五天后，他在早报上发现了安德森的讣告。

2 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

5 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

6 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

7 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

8 apex   

n.顶点，最高点

参考例句：

• He reached the apex of power in the early 1930s.他在三十年代初达到了权力的顶峰。
• His election to the presidency was the apex of his career.当选总统是他一生事业的顶峰。

9 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

10 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

11 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

12 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

13 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

14 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

15 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

16 wry   

adj.讽刺的；扭曲的

参考例句：

• He made a wry face and attempted to wash the taste away with coffee.他做了个鬼脸，打算用咖啡把那怪味地冲下去。
• Bethune released Tung's horse and made a wry mouth.白求恩放开了董的马，噘了噘嘴。

17 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

18 incorporation   

n.设立，合并，法人组织

参考例句：

• The incorporation of air bubbles in the glass spoiled it.玻璃含有气泡，使它质量降低。
• The company will be retooled after the incorporation.合并之后的公司要进行重组。

19 rumours   

n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传

参考例句：

• The rumours were completely baseless. 那些谣传毫无根据。
• Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。

20 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

21 constrained   

adj.束缚的,节制的

参考例句：

• The evidence was so compelling that he felt constrained to accept it. 证据是那样的令人折服，他觉得不得不接受。
• I feel constrained to write and ask for your forgiveness. 我不得不写信请你原谅。

22 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

23 annul   

v.宣告…无效，取消，废止

参考例句：

• They have the power to alter or annul inappropriate decisions of their own standing committees.他们有权改变或者撤销本级人民代表大会常务委员会不适当的决定。
• The courts later found grounds to annul the results,after the king urged them to sort out the "mess".在国王敦促法庭收拾烂摊子后，法庭随后宣布废除选举结果。

24 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

25 compliant   

adj.服从的，顺从的

参考例句：

• I don't respect people who are too compliant.我看不起那种唯命是从，唯唯诺诺的人。
• For years I had tried to be a compliant and dutiful wife.几年来，我努力做一名顺从和尽职尽职的妻子。

26 contravening   

v.取消，违反( contravene的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The company was found guilty of contravening safety regulations. 那家公司被判违反了安全条例。
• You are contravening the regulations. 你违反了规定。 来自辞典例句

27 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

28 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

29 dexterous   

adj.灵敏的；灵巧的

参考例句：

• As people grow older they generally become less dexterous.随着年龄的增长，人通常会变得不再那么手巧。
• The manager was dexterous in handling his staff.那位经理善于运用他属下的职员。

30 scrupulously   

adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地

参考例句：

• She toed scrupulously into the room. 她小心翼翼地踮着脚走进房间。 来自辞典例句
• To others he would be scrupulously fair. 对待别人，他力求公正。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

31 relished   

v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望

参考例句：

• The chaplain relished the privacy and isolation of his verdant surroundings. 牧师十分欣赏他那苍翠的环境所具有的幽雅恬静，与世隔绝的气氛。 来自辞典例句
• Dalleson relished the first portion of the work before him. 达尔生对眼前这工作的前半部分满有兴趣。 来自辞典例句

32 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

33 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

34 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

35 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

36 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

37 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

38 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

39 taint   

n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染

参考例句：

• Everything possible should be done to free them from the economic taint.应尽可能把他们从经济的腐蚀中解脱出来。
• Moral taint has spread among young people.道德的败坏在年轻人之间蔓延。

40 eminence   

n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家

参考例句：

• He is a statesman of great eminence.他是个声名显赫的政治家。
• Many of the pilots were to achieve eminence in the aeronautical world.这些飞行员中很多人将会在航空界声名显赫。

41 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。