斯堪的纳维亚诸国因其开明的社会政策而受到全世界的广泛敬仰。
The Scandinavian countries are much admired all over the world for their enlightened social policies.
瑞典已逐步形成了一套保护个人公民免受专横或无能的公务员侵害的优良制度。
Sweden has evolved an excellent system for protecting the individual citizen from high-handed or incompetent public officers.
这套制度运作得如此出色，以至于其他国家也相继采纳了它。
The system has worked so well, that it has been adopted in other countries too.
瑞典人是最早认识到这一点的：公务员、警察、卫生督察或税务官等公职人员可能会犯错误，或者出于"自认为在为公众服务"的信念而行事过于激进。
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.
早在1809年，瑞典议会就引入了一套保护个人利益的方案。
As long ago as 1809, the Swedish Parliament introduced a scheme to safeguard the interest of the individual.
一个代表所有政党的议会委员会任命一名具有相应资质的人，负责调查公民对国家的私人申诉。
A parliamentary committee representing all political parties appoints a person who is suitably qualified to investigate private grievances against the State.
这个职位的正式名称是"Justiteombudsman"，但瑞典人通常称他为"J.O."或"监察专员"。
The official title of the person is 'Justiteombudsman', but the Swedes commonly refer to him as the 'J.O.' or 'Ombudsman'.
监察专员不受政治压力的约束。
The Ombudsman is not subject to political pressure.
他调查来自社会各阶层的大大小小的申诉。
He investigates complaints large and small that come to him from all levels of society.
由于申诉必须以书面形式提出，监察专员每年平均收到1200封信件。
As complaints must be made in writing, the Ombudsman receives an average of 1,200 letters a year.
他有八名律师助理协助工作，而且他亲自逐一仔细审阅每一封信件。
He has eight lawyer assistants to help him and he examines every single letter in detail.
监察专员的工作毫无秘密可言，因为他的往来信件对公众公开查阅。
There is nothing secretive about the Ombudsman's work, for his correspondence is open to public inspection.
如果公民的申诉有正当理由，监察专员将代表他采取行动。
If a citizen's complaint is justified the Ombudsman will act on his behalf.
他所采取的行动根据申诉的性质而有所不同。
The action he takes varies according to the nature of the complaint.
他可能会对某位官员进行温和的训诫，甚至可以建议议会修改某项法律。
He may gently reprimand an official or even suggest to parliament that a law be altered.
下面这个案例是监察专员工作的一个典型例子。
The following case is a typical example of the Ombudsman's work.
一名住在瑞典某村庄的外国人写信给监察专员，投诉自己曾遭到警察的虐待，原因仅仅是因为他是外国人。
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.
监察专员立即写信给当地警察局长，要求其提供案件记录。
The Ombudsman immediately wrote to the Chief of Police in the district asking him to send a record of the case.
记录中没有任何内容能够证明这位外国人的申诉有正当理由，警察局长也强烈否认了这一指控。
There was nothing in the record to show that the foreigner's complaint was justified and the Chief of Police strongly denied the accusation.
监察专员当时无法采取行动，但当他收到来自同一村庄另一名外国人的类似申诉时，他立即派遣了一名律师前去调查此事。
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.
律师查明，一名警察确实在多个场合粗暴地对待过外国人。
The lawyer ascertained that a policeman had indeed dealt roughly with foreigners on several occasions.
这名警察对外国人存有偏见这一事实，无法被记录进官方档案。
The fact that the policeman was prejudiced against foreigners could not be recorded in the official files.
监察专员只能通过派遣他的一名代表去核查事实才能查明这一真相。
It was only possible for the Ombudsman to find this out by sending one of his representatives to check the facts.
该警察受到了严厉训诫，并被告知：如果再有针对他的投诉，他将被起诉。
The policeman in question was severely reprimanded and was informed that if any further complaints were lodged against him, he would be prosecuted.
监察专员的迅速行动立刻终结了一种令人不快的做法，而这种做法原本可能就这样被忽视而无人察觉。
The Ombudsman's prompt action at once put an end to an unpleasant practice which might have gone unnoticed.