墨西哥启动刑法修改第一步

 

Mexico Takes First Step to Overhauling¹ Criminal Law

墨西哥启动刑法修改第一步

 

The Northern Mexican State of Nuevo Leon has taken the first step toward open court criminal trials by allowing lawyers to stand up and argue their case before a judge. For the past 75 years the criminal procedure required the trial judge to sift² through piles of papers filed by both sides and hand down a decision without ever hearing the defendant³.

 

Under the new procedure the first open court trial, involving a truck driver charged with reckless driving, lasted only nine days. Under the old procedure, lawyers say, it would have lasted months. The judge, at the end of the trial, found 19-year-old Alejandro Javier Santana guilty of manslaughter and sentenced him to three years in jail for a truck accident in which one person died and another was paralyzed.

 

A veteran criminal lawyer from Mexico City, Roberto Palazuelos, says the new procedure is much more efficient than the old bureaucratic⁴ system. He says it will also free overworked judges who often handed down judgments⁵ drafted by their clerks.

 

Roberto Palazuelos: In fact there are so many cases, that they give these projects [draft judgments] of final resolutions to persons who prepare them. And it is sad to say that in many cases also, that the judge will accept a resolution prepared as a project, as final. So the question is who is the judge then? The judge is the paralegal who prepared the project of the resolution, and this is terrible.

 

President Vicente Fox has submitted legislation to Mexican lawmakers to make the open-court trial a standard practice nationwide. Under his proposal, criminal cases would be heard and decided⁶ by a judge, rather than a jury.

 

Alonso Aguilar Zinser, who has defended such high profile clients such Raul Salinas the older brother of former President Carlos Salinas, says that the transformation⁷ of Mexico's trial practice would be a quick process, once the legislation has been adopted.

 

Aguilar Zinser: When the Federal Congress approves the modifications⁹ of the Federal Constitution, and the Federal Criminal laws, we are going to have in no more than two years, all the state's legislations [laws] modified according to this new system. I think it is very possible in this government with Mr. Fox, we are going to have the approval of this project of the modification⁸ of the system.

 

A member of the Criminal Law Commission, Ernesto Soriano, says most lawyers and legislators are opposed to criminal trials by juries, as in the United States, or a panel of judges, as in France. But, he says, most lawyers are in favor of the new system of arguing their cases in open court before a qualified¹⁰ judge.

 

Ernesto Soriano: It is very easy working with these federal judges, because federal judges in general, I told you, people are very qualified, so I am very calm about this matter.

 

Mr. Soriano says he is confident that revamping Mexico's criminal trial system can be accomplished¹¹ within the current administration of President Fox, whose term has one more year to run.

 

For VOA News, I am James Blears in Mexico City.

 

注释：

trial [5traiEl] n. 审判

procedure [prE5si:dVE] n. 程序

defendant [di5fendEnt] adj. 辩护的

charge with 控告

reckless [5reklis] adj. 不计后果的

manslaughter [5mAn7slC:tE] n. 误杀

sentence [5sentEns] vt. 判决

veteran [5vetErEn] adj. 经验丰富的

paralegal [7pArE5li:^El] adj. 辅助律师业务的

legislation [7ledVis5leiFEn] n. 立法

modification [7mCdifi5keiFEn] n. 修改

Federal Constitution 联邦宪法

revamp [5ri:5vAmp] v. 修补

1 overhauling   

n.大修；拆修；卸修；翻修v.彻底检查( overhaul的现在分词 )；大修；赶上；超越

参考例句：

• I had no chance of overhauling him. 我没有赶上他的可能。 来自辞典例句
• Some sites need little alterations but some need total overhauling. 有些网站需要做出细微修改，而有些网站就需要整体改版。 来自互联网

2 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。

3 defendant   

n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的

参考例句：

• The judge rejected a bribe from the defendant's family.法官拒收被告家属的贿赂。
• The defendant was borne down by the weight of evidence.有力的证据使被告认输了。

4 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

5 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

8 modification   

n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻

参考例句：

• The law,in its present form,is unjust;it needs modification.现行的法律是不公正的，它需要修改。
• The design requires considerable modification.这个设计需要作大的修改。

9 modifications   

n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变

参考例句：

• The engine was pulled apart for modifications and then reassembled. 发动机被拆开改型，然后再组装起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The original plan had undergone fairly extensive modifications. 原计划已经作了相当大的修改。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

11 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。