【TED演讲稿】如何参与你自己的法律辩护

TED演讲者：Lam Ho / 林昊

演讲标题：How to participate in your own legal defense / 如何参与你自己的法律辩护

内容概要：Lawyers are advocates for their clients -- and, in court, they're usually the ones who do the talking. Should that always be the case? In an effort to shift this power dynamic, TED Fellow and legal aid activist Lam Ho shares how lawyers can create space for people to tell their own stories in the courtroom, making them active participants in the legal process and producing surprisingly positive results.

律师为其客户辩护，且，在法庭上，他们通常是负责说话的人。应该永远这么做吗？TED学会会员及法律援助活动家林昊（音译）努力想要转变这种权力动态，他在这场演说中会分享律师如何能创造空间，让客户能在法庭上诉说他们自己的故事，让他们主动参与诉讼程序，并产生出乎意料的正面结果。

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【1】I'm a lawyer based in Chicago, and two months ago I represented a Vietnamese immigrant woman in her divorce.

我在芝加哥当律师, 两个月前,我代表了一位越南移民女子 处理她的离婚。

【2】As she was testifying about how her husband brutally raped her, the judge repeatedly told her to stop speaking.

当她作证她的先生 如何残酷地强暴她时, 法官重复要求她停止发言。

【3】She should only speak when I asked her a question.

她应该只能在我问她 问题时才能发言。

【4】Can you imagine having to publicly share one of the most painful, traumatic moments in your life and being told over and over again to basically shut up?

各位能否想像,必须要公开分享 你人生中最创伤性的时刻之一, 却不断被告知, 基本上就是要你闭嘴？

【5】It felt so wrong, but also so familiar for me.

这感觉实在太不对了,

【6】My mother, she had no say in her divorce.

我的母亲, 她在她的离婚中没有发言权。

【7】She didn't have a lawyer, so she signed papers giving away everything because she thought she would otherwise be deported back to Vietnam.

她没有律师, 所以她签署文件, 因为她以为,若不这么做 她就会被驱逐回越南。

【8】I thought by becoming a lawyer, I could help people like my mother.

我以为若我成为律师, 我就能协助像我母亲这样的人。

【9】But then I realized I was actually part of the problem.

但我接着发现,我其实 就是问题的一部分。

【10】As lawyers, we take over speaking for our clients.

身为律师,

【11】And courtroom procedures, rules of evidence means that we have all the power in what happens in their cases.

而法庭程序 , 证据规则,意味着我们全权掌控 他们的案子会如何发展。

【12】We take terrible situations from people's lives and we translate it into legal language.

我们把客户人生中十分糟糕的情况 翻译成法律语言。

【13】But, in doing so, we rewrite our clients as caricatures.

但,这么做, 我们是把我们的客户 改写为讽刺漫画,

【14】The most helpless, most victimized versions of themselves.

成了他们自己最无助、 最受害的版本。

【15】This is the American legal system.

这就是美国的法律体系。

【16】And that's why, eight years ago, I founded Beyond Legal Aid in the belief that it doesn't have to be this way, and lawyers can actually change it, working within, making it so that clients can speak for themselves.

那就是为什么,八年前, 我成立了「超越法律援助」, 因为我相信不必要如此, 律师其实可以改变 这个现象,从内做起, 让客户可以为自己发言。

【17】How does this work?

这怎么运作？

【18】First, instead of working nine to five in offices downtown, we travel, go to our clients where they live.

第一,不再在闹区的办公室 从九点工作到五点, 我们改成自己前往客户生活的地方。

【19】And during evenings, nights and weekends when they are available.

时间是傍晚、 晚上,和周末,他们有空的时候。

【20】And they can be active participants in the legal process.

他们可以主动参与诉讼程序。

【21】Next, let me share a little secret.

接着,让我分享一个小秘密。

【22】Well, at least for the non-lawyers.

至少对不是律师的人来说是秘密。

【23】Attorneys like to be in charge.

律师喜欢主导。

【24】We go to law school, we hang up fancy law degrees, and we wear fancy suits - obviously much fancier than what I'm wearing - because we want to be in control.

我们去读法学院, 把很炫的法律学位证书挂起来, 显然比我现在穿的还要更炫 因为我们想要掌控。

【25】But it's our clients whose lives are being judged and impacted by what I do.

但,被审的是我们的客户的人生, 我的所做所为会影响他们。

【26】They need to be full partners in charge of their own cases.

他们必须成为正式合作伙伴,

【27】We can give advice, empower them to navigate the legal system.

我们可以给建议, 让他们有能力 在法律体系中找到方向。

【28】But ultimately, we need to follow their lead and defer to their decisions.

但,最终, 我们需要遵从他们的领导,

【29】Let me give you an example.

让我举个例子。

【30】One of our clients, let's call him Atticus, he was facing deportation in a case where the law was completely against us.

我们有位客户,咱们称他为艾提克斯, 他面临会被驱逐的处境,在他的案子中,法律完全 不站在我们这一边。

【31】Atticus had been in ICE detention for several months because the immigration judge denied him bond.

艾提克斯被移民及海关 执法局拘留了数个月, 因为移民法官不让他用保释金保释。

【32】So he and OCAD, the Organized Communities Against Deportation, the community group we were working with on his case, wanted to try for bond a second time.

所以,他和 OCAD （反驱逐组织社区）, 我们在他的案子中 找的社区团体伙伴, 想要二度尝试争取保释。

【33】I and the other lawyers were like, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

我和其他律师的反应是: 「不,不,不,不,不,不。

【34】You can't do that.

你不能那样做。

【35】The law is bad, the judge has already said no once, and we don't want to piss him off by questioning his decision."

法律很不好,法官已经拒绝过一次, 我们不想惹恼他,

【36】But they wanted to proceed, so we deferred to their decision.

但他们想要继续做下去,所以我们听从了他们的决定。

【37】However, instead of my sharing his situation on his behalf, we convinced the judge to hear a live conversation between Atticus and his US citizen son, let's call him Jem.

然而,不是由我来代表他分享他的情况, 我们说服法官,听一段现场对谈, 艾提克斯和他的美国公民 儿子所做的对谈, 咱们称他为詹姆。

【38】Jem spoke about how he wanted to commit suicide because he couldn't live without his father anymore.

詹姆说到他有多想自杀, 因为没有他的父亲他就活不下去了。

【39】Atticus broke down, sobbing in despair because he felt responsible for what was happening with his son and yet couldn't be there for him.

艾提克斯崩溃了, 绝望地啜泣, 因为他觉得他要为 他儿子的处境负责, 却无法陪在他儿子身边。

【40】The judge was forced to hear directly how Atticus and Jem loved each other and how much they needed each other.

法官被迫直接聆听 艾提克斯和詹姆有多爱彼此,

【41】He heard it unadulterated, in full, without any questions, without any interruptions by any lawyers.

他完整地听完了全部,没有任何问题, 没有任何律师打断。

【42】Unfortunately, he denied bond a second time.

不幸的是,他再次驳回了保释。

【43】But - and of course there's a "but," right, otherwise, I wouldn't be telling you this story.

但是 当然还有「但是」, 不然 我就不用说这个故事了。

【44】The judge then cancelled Atticus's deportation.

法官接着取消了艾提克斯的驱逐令。

【45】I cannot tell you how utterly, absolutely shocking that legal victory was.

我无法告诉各位,这场法律胜仗 是多大的震撼。

【46】I was like, "Oh my God, I can't believe this happened."

我的反应是:「天, 我不敢相信这真的发生了。」

【47】And ...

且……

【48】I'm going to say something now, which lawyers don't say very often but probably should say a lot more often.

我接下来要说的,是律师不常说的, 但应该要更常说。

【49】I was wrong.

我错了。

【50】My client and his community, they knew better.

我的客户和他的社区,他们更懂。

【51】If we had not followed their lead and tried for bond a second time, the judge would have never heard Atticus tell his own story and be so moved by what was going on that he defied the law to allow Atticus to stay in the country with his son.

如果我们没有遵循他们的领导, 法官就永远不会听到 艾提克斯诉说他自己的故事, 被发生的状况给深深打动, 让他违抗法律, 允许艾提克斯待在美国陪他的儿子。

【52】Atticus being able to tell his own story, created a decision that was impossible, at least what we thought as attorneys.

艾提克斯因为能够诉说 他自己的故事, 因而创造出了不可能的决定, 至少是我们律师认为不可能的。

【53】Atticus sharing and talking his own case created justice where the law was wrong.

艾提克斯分享和谈论他自己的案子 在法律犯错的地方,创造了正义。

【54】And that's why the legal system has to change, so that people like Atticus can share their own stories, have agency over their own cases.

这就是为什么法律体系需要改变, 让像艾提克斯这样的人 能够分享他们自己的故事, 能代理自己的案子。

【55】In the meantime, we as lawyers need to make it happen in our work, in our cases right now.

同时,我们律师必须要在我们的工作、 我们的案件中实现它, 现在就开始。

【56】Thank you.

谢谢。