VOA标准英语2009年-Britain's New Supreme Court Opens, Separat

By Jennifer Glasse
London
05 October 2009

A new high court has begun proceedings¹ in Britain, replacing the appeals court in the House of Lords. Its title, "The Supreme² Court," has led some British lawyers to be concerned that it might eventually take on powers like the American Supreme Court, which can strike down laws. Its proponents³ say the court is a healthy separation of the judiciary from the legislature.

 
President of the new British Supreme Court, Lord Phillips (2nd L), stands with fellow justices outside the court where they were sworn in, 01 Oct 2009
Eleven Supreme Court Justices were sworn in to the country's new highest court.

"I now invite your Lordship to take the oaths required of you by law."

The new court building is on London's Parliament Square, next to Westminster Abbey, and across from the Houses of Parliament where the Law Lords Court used to be.

Senior lawyer Hugh Tomlinson says the move is important.
  
"Many people were confused in the old days between the House of Lords as a court and the House of Lords as a legislative⁴ body and a new Supreme Court will get over that confusion. It will symbolically⁵ reinforce the independence of the judiciary, which I think is a very good thing," said Tomlinson.

The court is promising⁶ open access, televising proceedings for the first time in British history. Another improvement says Tomlinson.

"Televising proceedings is a very good idea ... for two reasons; first, it will enable people to see how seriously the cases are taken, how the argument is done, and secondly⁷, it will lead to both the lawyers and the judges perhaps expressing themselves in a clearer and more  publicly accessible way," said Tomlinson.

But not everyone thinks the invention of a Supreme Court for Britain is a wise decision. Lord Neuberger, a former law lord, warned the creation of the court was meddling⁸ with Britain's constitution and could have unforeseen consequences.

Lawyer Dan Tench says Neuberger is not the only one concerned.

"What people are particularly looking for is whether our highest court will now take a more aggressive approach against parliament and against the executive and be more intervening in decisions," Tench said.

That would be like the American Supreme Court, and Tench says the British version will not end up that way.

"I think that is very unlikely. The British judiciary in many ways is very set in its ways, and I think that the time honored customs of the British judiciary and its approach is unlikely to be Americanized," Tench said.

Its decisions will be widely watched, he says.

"The decisions from the highest court in the United Kingdom are extremely influential⁹ around the world. They obviously have some influence in the United States as the decisions of the United States Supreme Court have are influential over here," Tench said.

The court's first case involves human rights and terrorism. The case challenges the British government's right to create laws without a vote in Parliament. Six terrorism suspects have had their assets frozen, even though they have not been convicted of funding terrorism.

1 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

2 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。

3 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

4 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

5 symbolically   

ad.象征地，象征性地

参考例句：

• By wearing the ring on the third finger of the left hand, a married couple symbolically declares their eternal love for each other. 将婚戒戴在左手的第三只手指上，意味着夫妻双方象征性地宣告他们的爱情天长地久，他们定能白头偕老。
• Symbolically, he coughed to clear his throat. 周经理象征地咳一声无谓的嗽，清清嗓子。

6 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

7 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

8 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

9 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。