In the public interest
为了公众利益
What could not be reported in the official files?
什么不能在官方档案中报告？
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钦佩。
Sweden has evolved an excellent system for protecting the individual citizen from high-handed or incompetent public officers.
瑞典已经形成了一个优秀的制度，以保护个人公民免受高手或无能的公职人员。
The system has worked so well, that it has been adopted in other countries too.
这一制度运作良好，其他国家也采用了这一制度。
The Swedes were the first to recognize that public officials like civil servants,
瑞典人是第一个认识到像公务员这样的公职人员,
police officers, health inspectors or tax-collectors can make mistakes
警察，卫生检查员或税务员可能会犯错误
or act over-zealously in the belief that they are serving the public.
或者过分热心地相信他们是在为公众服务。
As long ago as 1809,
早在1809年,
the Swedish Parliament introduced a scheme to safeguard the interest of the individual.
瑞典议会提出了一项保障个人利益的计划。
A parliamentary committee representing all political parties appoints a person
代表所有政党的议会委员会任命一个人
who is suitably qualified to investigate private grievances against the State.
谁有资格调查私人对国家的不满。
The official title of the person is 'Justiteombudsman', but the Swedes commonly refer to him as the 'J.O.' or 'Ombudsman'.
该人的官方头衔是'Justiteombudsman'，但瑞典人通常将他称为'J.O.'或'监察员'。
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.
他调查来自社会各个层面的大大小小的投诉。
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，监察员每年平均收到1,200封信。
He has eight lawyer assistants to help him and he examines every single letter in detail.
他有八个律师助理来帮助他，他仔细检查每一封信。
There is nothing secretive about the Ombudsman's work,
监察员的工作没有任何秘密,
for his correspondence is open to public inspection.
因为他的信件是开放给公众检查。
If a citizen's complaint is justified the Ombudsman will act on his behalf.
如果公民的投诉是合理的，监察员将代表他行事。
The action he takes varies according to the nature of the complaint.
他采取的行动因投诉的性质而异。
He may gently reprimand an official or even suggest to parliament that a law be altered.
他可能会温和地谴责一名官员，甚至向议会建议修改法律。
The following case is a typical example of the Ombudsman's work.
以下个案是监察员工作的典型例子。
A foreigner living in a Swedish village wrote to the Ombudsman complaining that he had been ill-treated by the police,
一个住在瑞典村庄的外国人写信给监察员，抱怨他受到了警察的虐待,
simply because he was a foreigner.
只是因为他是个外国人。
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，要求他发送案件记录。
There was nothing in the record to show that the foreigner's complaint was justified
记录中没有任何内容表明外国人的投诉是合理的
and the Chief of Police strongly denied the accusation.
警察局长强烈否认了这一指控。
It was impossible for the Ombudsman to take action,
监察员不可能采取行动,
but when he received a similar complaint from another foreigner in the same village,
但是当他收到同一个村庄的另一个外国人的类似投诉时,
he immediately sent one of his lawyers to investigate the matter.
他立即派他的一名律师调查此事。
The lawyer ascertained that a policeman had indeed dealt roughly with foreigners on several occasions.
律师查明，一名警察确实曾多次粗暴对待外国人。
The fact that the policeman was prejudiced against foreigners could not be recorded in the official files.
警察对外国人有偏见的事实不能记录在官方档案中。
It was only possible for the Ombudsman to find this out by sending one of his representatives to check the facts.
监察员只有派他的一名代表核查事实，才能查明这一点。
The policeman in question was severely reprimanded
有问题的警察受到严厉谴责
and was informed that if any further complaints were lodged against him, he would be prosecuted.
并被告知，如果对他提出任何进一步的投诉，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可能被忽视的令人不快的做法。
