[時事討論] 李國能﹕白皮書惹憂慮應澄清

本帖最後由 felicity2010 於 2014-8-15 12:40 PM 編輯
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李國能﹕白皮書惹憂慮應澄清5.39.217.767 g* F# T9 i5 ?- H& Y

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1.特首就2017年行政長官選舉辦法已提交報告，香港社會正殷切期待全國人民代表大會常務委員會就此將會如何作出決定。有決定後，政制改革進程將步入新階段。正如許多香港市民一樣，我對當前社會愈趨兩極化感到憂慮。在未來數月，我盼望社會大眾可以在《基本法》的框架內作出理性的討論，一切活動依法進行。最重要的是，我希望參與討論的政界各方人士都能以明智和務實的態度尋求妥協，妥協的藝術畢竟是政治的本質，也是社會最佳利益之所在。
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2.作為前首席大法官，我不適合參與政界中人這場極富挑戰性的討論，我只想和大家一起思索今天香港法治與司法獨立的景况。
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3.包含司法獨立的法治是香港社會在一國兩制下的基石，這是舉世公認的，它是香港這一制內至關重要的核心價值。

4.香港的法治涵蓋三大基要原則。首先，在法治之下每個人，包括統治者和被統治者，都遵守同一套的法律，這和人治的概念有明顯的區別。tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb" u8 H$ r/ C% R" G4 M/ {
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5.其次，不論是市民與市民之間的糾紛，或市民與政府之間的糾紛，都由獨立的司法機關公平和不偏不倚地裁決。司法獨立是法治中不可或缺的元素，它有兩方面的涵義，一是作為一個機構司法機關獨立於行政及立法之外，二是每位法官審案都是獨立的，無論是一位法官單獨斷案或數位法官合議斷案。tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb. ?# `# S2 X$ k* B% q
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6.其三，法治包括對人權給予有效保障。一如聯合國《國際人權宣言》的序言指出，人權必須受「法治」（rule of law）保障，這就把「法律之治」（rule of law）與「以法治人」（rule by law）區分開來。公仔箱論壇/ l! z& ^, s8 D' T

7.國務院新聞辦公室今年6月發表《「一國兩制」在香港特別行政區的實踐》白皮書，在香港引起對司法獨立廣泛的關注，這些關注是有其理據的。

8.白皮書的英文版把法官列於''those who administrate Hong Kong''（i.e. administer）當中（立法機關成員也包括在內）。在香港，於權力分立的基礎上，行政、立法和司法機關在廣義上可被視為政府的三大分支或三大組成部分，但立法和司法機關並不是行政機關的一部分，白皮書的中文版以「治港」一詞來形容，看來它的意思應是指這個廣義說法。

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白皮書用''administrate''字眼不適當
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9.不過，白皮書的英文版用了''administrate''這個字，這是很不幸的，也是不適當的，這個字在香港的一般理解是指行政當局，例如提及董建華政府、曾蔭權政府或梁振英政府時，英文都會採用 ''The Tung Chee Wah, the Donald Tsang or the CY Leung administration''。很明顯，司法機關不屬於行政當局（立法機關也不是）。這一方面最好能夠予以澄清，以消除任何因為採用''administrate''一字而引起的憂慮。

無公認愛國定義法官只對法律忠誠

10.可是，更加令人關注的，是白皮書內對法官應該愛國的要求。何謂愛國，並無舉世公認的定義。不同的人對愛國可能有不同的見解，同一個人可以被某些人視為愛國，被另一些人視為不愛國。1 p0 J9 |( X: Q  F

11.由於白皮書是中央政府的一份官方文件，香港社會上廣泛認為其內容中論及的愛國要求，帶有親中央政府及親特區政府的意味，意指支持政府、與政府合作，及保護政府的利益。5.39.217.76# z7 [9 g0 X# T9 r. v& }

12.可是，在司法獨立的原則下，法官不應該親任何人或事，或反任何人或事，他們應該公平和不偏不倚。法官沒有任何主人，無論是政治上或其他方面，他們只對法律本身忠誠，他們對社會的服務在於能夠根據法律，公平及不偏不倚地判決糾紛。《基本法》規定，挑選法官是按他們的司法及專業才能來決定（第92條），法官獨立地行使審判權，不受任何干預（第85條）。
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13.對法官而言，他們入職時要作出司法誓言的法律規定，已是足夠和合適的安排。按照這誓言，法官宣誓擁護《基本法》（《基本法》第1條就說明香港特別行政區是中華人民共和國不可分離的部分），效忠中華人民共和國香港特別行政區，「盡忠職守，奉公守法，公正廉潔，以無懼、無偏、無私、無欺之精神，維護法制，主持正義，為香港特別行政區服務」。法官履行職務時都全心全意遵照這誓言行事。TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。8 h8 }# g; x! y5 b- s1 {
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14.雖然內地官員對香港司法獨立可能有不同於香港社會的見解，但我相信他們都明白和理解香港的看法。

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恆久警惕乃自由代價TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。% o- a  D$ i" x
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15.我感覺到有些人對法治的前景較為負面，我不認同這種悲觀的看法。在白皮書發表後，香港社會各界都反映他們保持警惕，包括法律界，尤其大律師界別，這都是令人鼓舞和欣慰的，正如西諺所言﹕「恆久警惕乃自由的代價」。在這個充滿政治爭議的時刻，維持法治與司法獨立作為香港不可動搖的基石，委實格外重要。
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16.我們不應忘記，儘管1997年前社會上有過很悲觀的預測，但法治與司法獨立在1997年後仍然長足發展，這是有目共睹的。只要每個人都繼續保持警惕，我們就毋須灰心。
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17.香港特別行政區在2047年後的安排，到了2030年代初期，就要通過持久和透徹的討論加以解決，未來10年是邁向這段關鍵討論期的重要時刻。在充滿創意的一國兩制概念下，不能避免有內在張力和灰色地帶。自1997年以來，我們一直能夠有效地處理這些內在張力和灰色地帶，現在不該懷疑自己的能力。我始終相信，只要時常警惕，法治與司法獨立在未來的歲月仍會繼續蓬勃發展。公仔箱論壇2 z1 O# E  p- O( Y+ s

作者是香港特區首任首席法官（1997-2010）
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註：標題及小題為編輯所擬，原題為The RULE OF LAW法治
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felicity2010

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發表於 2014-8-18 01:42 AM | 只看該作者

本帖最後由 felicity2010 於 2014-8-18 01:46 AM 編輯 ) c) ]" v# R0 D1 H1 R" A2 F; M
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The Economist: Rule of law
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Judges are often impotent in China’s courtrooms. That might be changing2 @. o, Y5 \% i4 ?7 ]& X
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IN JULY Zhou Qiang, the president of China’s Supreme People’s Court, visited Yan’an, the spiritual home of the Communist Party in rural Shaanxi province, to lead local court officials there in an old communist ritual: self-criticism. “I have grown accustomed to having the final say and often have preconceived ideas when making decisions,” one local judge told the meeting. “I try to avoid taking a stand in major cases,” said a judicial colleague. “I don’t want to get into trouble.”
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In China’s judiciary such shortcomings are the norm. But change may be coming. On July 29th it was announced that the party’s Central Committee, comprising more than 370leaders, will gather in October to discuss ways of strengthening the rule of law, a novelty for such a gathering. President Xi Jinping, who is waging a sweeping campaign against corruption, says he wants the courts to help him “lock power in a cage”. Officials have begun to recognise that this will mean changing the kind of habits that prevail in Yan’an and throughout the judicial system.4 [3 s+ }$ _2 f

Long before Mr Xi, leaders had often talked about the importance of the rule of law. But they showed little enthusiasm for reforms that would take judicial authority away from party officials and give it to judges. The court system in China is often just a rubber-stamp for decisions made in secret by party committees in cahoots with police and prosecutors. The party still cannot abide the idea of letting a freely elected legislature write the laws, nor even of relinquishing its control over the appointment of judges. But it is talking up the idea of making the judiciary serve as the constitution says it should: “independently ... and not subject to interference”.; E6 X9 }/ d! k8 N4 `

In June state media revealed that six provincial-level jurisdictions would become testing grounds for reforms.Full details have not been announced, but they appear aimed at allowing judges to decide more for themselves, at least in cases that are not politically sensitive.

There is a lot of room for improvement. Judges are generally beholden to local interests. They are hired and promoted at the will of their jurisdiction’s party secretary (or people who report to him), and they usually spend their entire careers at the same court in which they started. They have less power in their localities than do the police or prosecutors, or even politically connected local businessmen. A judge is often one of the least powerful figures in his own courtroom.

“It’s not a career that gets much respect,”says Ms Sun, a former judge in Shanghai who quit her job this year (and who asked to be identified only by her surname). The port city is one of the reform test-beds. “Courts are not independent so as a result they don’t have credibility, and people don’t believe in the law.” She says people often assume judges are corrupt.

Career prospects are unappealing for the young and well-educated like Ms Sun, who got her law degree from Peking University. The overall quality of judges has risen dramatically in recent decades, but there are still plenty of older, senior judges with next to no formal legal training. Seeing no opportunity for advancement after eight years,Ms Sun left for a law firm and a big multiple of her judge’s salary of about120,000 yuan ($19,000) a year. She says many other young judges are leaving.公仔箱論壇, o6 Z- }( M I) p' N

It is unclear how much the mooted changes will alleviate these concerns. Those Shanghai courts that are participating in the pilot reforms (not all are) are expected to raise judges’ pay. They are also expected greatly to reduce the number of judges, though younger ones fear they are more likely to be culled than their less qualified but better connected seniors.
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The most important reforms will affect the bureaucracies that control how judges are hired and promoted.Responsibility will be taken away from the cities and counties where judges try their cases, or from the districts in the case of provincial-level mega cities like Shanghai. It will be shifted upwards to provincial-level authorities—in theory making it more difficult for local officials to persuade or order judges to see things their way on illegal land seizures, polluting factories and soon.

Central leaders have a keen interest in stamping out such behaviour because it tarnishes the party’s image. But many local officials, some of whom make a lot of money from land-grabs and dirty factories, will resist change. With the help of the police they will probably find other means to make life difficult for unco-operative judges. And provincial authorities are still likely to interfere in some cases handled by lower-level courts, sometimes in order to help out county-level officials.$ r" \1 Y9 O' j& s

An oft-stated goal of the reforms is that “judges should decide the cases they hear, and they should hear the cases they decide.” But Mr Xi is also making it clear that the party remains the ultimate arbiter. He is trying to boost loyalty to the party among judges and other court officials by requiring they attend ideological“study sessions”. Most judges and prosecutors are party members.: K% o! ~9 L7 y; q

The party is also clamping down further on defence lawyers who take on politically sensitive cases. The feistiest are often harassed by police or even jailed for speaking out about injustices. In June it emerged that the party-run All China Lawyers Association had drafted guidelines discouraging both legal activism and public criticism of court decisions. The rule of law seems to mean running the courts more efficiently but still in the service of the party.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。, l/ ^4 M9 E+ c% ?
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