VOA慢速英语2019 机器人法官：中国互联网法院的兴起

China says millions of legal cases are now being decided¹ by "internet courts" that do not require citizens to appear in court.

中国声称现在有数百万起法律案件正由互联网法院审理，这些案件无需公民出庭。

The "smart court" includes non-human judges powered by artificial intelligence, or AI.

该“智慧法院”包括了由人工智能驱动的虚拟法官。

People seeking legal action can register their case on the internet. They can then take part in a digital court hearing.

上诉人可以在互联网上立案。然后他们可以参加数字法庭的审理。

The system gives users the chance to communicate and receive court decisions by text or through major messaging services.

该系统让用户得以通过短信或主要通讯工具沟通或接收法院判决。

China's first internet court was established in the eastern city of Hangzhou in 2017. Hangzhou is a center for major Chinese technology companies. Last week, the country's Supreme³ People's Court released a report on the court's activities.

中国首家互联网法院于2017年在东部城市杭州成立。杭州是中国很多主要科技公司的中心。上周，中国最高人民法院发布了一份有关法院活动的报告。

Users completed more than 3.1 million legal activities through the court system from March to October of this year, China's official Xinhua news agency reported. More than 1 million citizens were registered with the system, along with about 73,000 lawyers, the report said.

据中国官方新华社报道，今年3月到10月，用户通过这一法院体系完成了超过310万次法律活动。该报告称，有超过100万公民以及约7.3万名律师在该系统注册。

Judicial⁴ officials recently invited reporters to the Hangzhou Internet Court to see how it operates. In one demonstration⁵, citizens used video messaging to communicate with virtual, AI-powered judges, the French press agency AFP reported.

司法官员最近邀请记者前往杭州互联网法院了解其运作。据法新社报道，在一次演示中，公民使用视频消息同人工智能驱动的虚拟法官进行了交流。

"Does the defendant⁶ have any objection to the nature of the judicial blockchain evidence submitted by the plaintiff?" a virtual judge asked during a pre-trial meeting. The non-human judge was represented in the system by an image of a man wearing a black robe. "No objection," the human plaintiff answered.

一位虚拟法官在预审中问道：“被告是否对原告提交的司法区块链证据的性质有异议？”该虚拟法官在系统中是一个穿着黑色法袍的男子形象。人类原告回复称：“没有异议。”

A Hangzhou court official told China's state-run CGTN television the internet court system operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

杭州法院一位官员对中国国营的中国国际电视台表示，互联网法院每周7天，每天24小时不间断提供服务。

It is designed to ease the workload⁷ of humans and improve the speed and effectiveness of the legal process. Court officials say that even though virtual judges are used, human judges observe the process and can make major rulings.

它旨在减轻人类的工作量，并提高法律程序的速度和有效性。法院官员表示，即使采用了虚拟法官，还是会有人类法官监督这一过程，并可以作出重大裁决。

The internet court in Hangzhou only deals with cases involving legal disputes over digital matters. These include internet trade issues, copyright cases and disputes over online product sales.

杭州互联网法院仅处理涉及数字事物法律纠纷的案件。其中包括互联网贸易问题、版权案件以及网络购物争议。

Digital court cases in China have seen a sharp increase in recent years, as the number of mobile payments and internet-based businesses has grown. The growth is tied to China's huge number of internet users -- about 850 million.

近年来，随着移动支付和基于互联网业务量的增长，中国数字法院的案件急剧增长。这种增长跟中国庞大的互联网用户有关，该国大约有8.5亿互联网用户。

Blockchain is one of the digital technologies used in the court system. Blockchain is the name for an official list of transactions carried out between users belonging to the same group of computers. The technology permits transaction records to be checked and stored safely.

区块链是该法院系统采用的数字技术之一。区块链是同一组计算机用户之间进行的正式交易列表的名称。这种技术允许对交易记录进行检查和安全储存。

Ni Defeng is vice² president of the Hangzhou Internet Court. He told reporters the use of blockchain was particularly useful in helping⁸ to reduce paperwork and create clearer records of the legal process. Ni noted⁹ that he thinks the system's ability to provide quick results helps give citizens more quality justice. "Because justice delayed is justice denied," he said.

倪德峰是杭州互联网法院副院长。他对记者表示，使用区块链在帮助减少文书工作和建立更清晰庭审记录方面尤为有用。倪德峰指出，他认为该系统可以快速提供审判结果，这有助于让公民享有更高质量的正义。他说：“因为迟到的正义就不算正义了。”

After establishing the court in Hangzhou, China launched similar operations in the cities of Beijing and Guangzhou. Courts nationwide are also experimenting with several digital tools, said Zhou Qiang, chief justice and president of the Supreme People's Court. He told reporters last week that as of October, more than 90 percent of Chinese courts were using some form of online tools to help deal with cases.

在杭州互联网法院成立之后，中国在北京和广州等城市开展了类似行动。中国最高人民法院首席大法官兼院长周强表示，全国法院也都在试验几种数字工具。他上周对记者表示，截至10月，中国超过90%的法院都在使用某种形式的网络工具帮助审理案件。

1 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。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

4 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

5 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

6 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。

7 workload   

n.作业量，工作量

参考例句：

• An assistant one day a week would ease my workload.每周有一天配一个助手就会减轻我的工作负担。
• He's always grousing about the workload.他总是抱怨工作量大。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。