跳转到主要内容

重重阻力下 华裔“大妈”安省法庭发声

Despite husband’s opposition, Chinese Canadian woman make her voice heard in court
来源: 大中报 南茜(Nancy Jin)
 
在这个高度现代化的社会里,靠力气吃饭的日子已一去不复返。虽说男人仍主导着世界,但妇女们却不甘示弱,向众人宣称她们也是“强者”。在包括法律平台在内的社会大舞台中,女性也日益获得展现其本领的机会,其才智和技能也日益得到社会的认可。

Women are trying to make their voices heard in a male dominated world. At a time when the economy no longer needs on muscular strength, women have increasingly found their niche and taken challenging roles in society – and in court. 

在安省违规法庭的两起预审案件让那些“大男子主义”者不得不对女性刮目相看。安省违规法庭对市政违规案件进行审理,并对认罪和经过庭审后被确定的违规者进行处罚和征收罚款。 那天正值三八妇女节,是妇女们伸直腰杆,与男人们势比高低的日子。

Two pre-trial hearings in a provincial offence court made the International Women’s Day more memorable.  The Provincial Court system hears cases of municipal code offenses and issues penalties and fines for violations – after a guilty plea or a court trial. 



一名怀有身孕近30岁的华裔女子把老公甩在听证席上,走到治安法官面前对其家庭所面对的数项违规指控进行辩护。她通过翻译向法庭声明她认为这些指控对其不公,并表示她将不对任何一项指控认罪,而是要与检控方在庭审中较量,对簿公堂。

A young, pregnant Chinese woman in her late 20s stood in front of a Justice of Peace defending multiple charges her family was facing, leaving her male partner on the bench in the courtroom. Believing that the violation charges were laid unfairly against her and her family, she told the court calmly through an interpreter that she wanted to take the case to the next level – she was willing to proceed with a trial without pleading guilty. 

显然,庭审这一仗对她,即无法律背景又无英语能力的移民弱女子来说将非同小可。但勇气是重压下的雍雅和风度。虽然放弃认罪机会并在庭审中败北将意味着更严厉的处罚和更高额的罚款,但她独战司法的决心已定,誓与不平奋斗到底。

Apparently, fighting her case through a trial would be an uphill battle for her, a young immigrant woman with no legal background and a huge language barrier. But courage is grace under pressure. While losing a trial after rejecting a plea bargain will bring harsher punishment and higher fines, she was determined to fight it.

但并非所有那些遭到各类违规指控者都会自然选择放弃认罪的机会。一对其公司遭到违规指控的移民中年夫妇就是否向法庭认罪一决定意见相左。该对夫妇案件复杂,其检控官的事实披露文件就高有数百页之多,而罚款额也会高达数十万元。虽然老公铁了心地要与法庭争个高低,老婆却要低调处理,服罪认输以期获得法庭宽大,少交罚款。但她欲代表公司向法庭认罪的心愿却遭到老公的强烈反对。在厉声呵斥声中,他要她闭嘴。

But a trial may not be the natural choice for everyone. A middle-aged Chinese immigrant couple whose company facing offence charges argued fiercely over how to proceed with the case –which carried a disclosure document in hundreds of pages and may lead to fines for over tens of thousands of dollars. While the husband wanted to fight the charges, the wife chose to plead guilty. But her aspiration to stand in court as a defendant evoked stiff resistance from her husband, who was yelling at her to shut up.

老婆却怕那位自高自大的老公情绪失控,把事情搞得更糟。她相信只有向法庭认罪才能让公司免除更多的法律纠纷并少受罚款。她向监控官表达了其法律观点和意愿后,获得了取代老公作为公司法律代表的资格,并获准在法庭上代表公司讲话。

Believing a guilty plea was the only right option to save the company from more legal troubles and much higher fines, the wife decided not to let her husband’ emotion and personal ego to get the better of him.  By expressing her views and intentions to the prosecutor, she was given the opportunity to replace her husband as the company’s legal representative and allowed to speak in court.



这位头发花白,满脸皱纹的华社大妈说:“我也不想惹事生非,可我也不能眼睁睁地看着公司由于错误决定而蒙受更大经济损失。”

“I didn’t mean to create a scene here,” said the woman with grey-hair and winkled face.  “but I cannot watch the company suffer more financial losses to irrational decisions.”

她对公司所面临的种种财务困境及其老公被忧郁症所困扰的遭遇之描述让法庭鸦雀无声。

The court was in complete silence as she was giving a vivid account of the financial crisis the company was facing, as well as depression that her husband was battling with over the years.



她说道:“虽然这些违规行为是无法开脱的,但的确有一些难以避免的客观原因造成这些违规并使我们无法及时按市政要求更改及修正。我们对此认罪并愿意接受罚款。”

“While there were no excuses for these violations, there were indeed, unfortunate circumstances that had led to these violations and prevented us from addressing them in a timely fashion… We feel sincerely sorry by pleading guilty and are willing to accept the fines,” she said.

她发自肺腑的认罪词赢得了法庭的同情。考虑到其公司的财务困境和她老公的忧郁症,法庭本着人道原则准许其公司罚款延期支付。

Her heartfelt guilty plea seemed to have find empathy in the court. Considering the company’s financial situation and husband’s mental health conditions, the court allowed the fine to be paid with an extended time period, reflecting the compassion value in the Canadian court system. 



且她的认罪决定让公司少交了数千元的罚款。

And by pleading guilty, she has saved several thousands of dollars for the company.

这位大妈事后说:” 华裔文化中的男人总是要他们说了算,让女人做主就丢了面子……但这并不等于说他们事事都能考虑周全,个个决定明智,特别是在他们情绪激动及失去理智的情况下。“

“In Chinese cultures, men always try to be dominate, and allowing a woman to take charge would make them lose face,” she said after the hearing. “But that doesn’t mean they will take every right move and fight every battle successfully, especially when they become emotional and lose their cool.” 

 

与本文相关文章

网友评论

网友评论仅供其表达个人看法,并不表明大中资讯网立场。评论不可涉及非法、粗俗、猥亵、歧视,或令人反感的内容,本网站有权删除相关内容。

请先 点击登录注册 后发表评论
You must be logged in to join the discussion

©2013 - 2024 chinesenewsgroup.com Chinese News Group Ltd. 大中资讯网. All rights reserved. 
Distribution, transmission or republication of any material from chinesenewsgroup.com is strictly prohibited without the prior written permission of Chinese News Group Ltd.