The Scandinavian countries are much admired all over the world for their enlightened social policies. Sweden has evolved an excellent system for protecting the individual citizen from high-handed or incompetent public officers. The system has worked so well, that it has been adopted in other countries too.
    斯堪的纳维亚半岛的国家实行开明的社会政策，受到全世界的推崇。瑞典已逐渐形成了一套完善的系统，可以保护每个公民不受专横的和不称职的官员的起亚。这种制度非常棒，也已被其他国家采纳了。
    PS: enlightened social policies, 开明的社会政策
    PS++: high-handed, 专横的

    The Swedes were the first to recognize that public official 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. As long ago as 1809, the Swedish Parliament introduced a scheme to safeguard the interest of the individual.
    瑞典人首先意识到政府工作人员如文职人员、警察、卫生稽查员或者税务人员等等也会犯错误或者自以为在为公众服务而做过了头。早在1809年，瑞典议会就推出了一个保护个人利益的制度。
    PS: in the belief that, 自以为…

    A parliamentary committee representing all political parties appoints a person who is suitably qualified to investigate private grievances against the State. The official title of the person is ‘Justiteombudsman’, but the Swedes commonly refer to him as the ‘J.O.’ or ‘Ombudsman’. The Ombudsman is not subject to political pressure.
    议会内有一个代表各政党利益的委员会，由它委派一名称职的人选专门调查个人对国家的意见。此人官衔为“司法特派员”，但是瑞典人通常叫他“J.O.”或者“特派员”。司法特派员不受任何政治势力的约束。
    PS: be subject to, 受制于…

    He investigates complaints large and small that come to him from all levels of society. As complaints must be made in writing, the Ombudsman receives an average of 1,200 letters a year. He has eight lawyer assistants to help him and examines every single letter in detail.
    他会调查全社会各阶级民众的各种大小抱怨。由于这些抱怨必须用书面形式提出，特派员每年会收到平均1200封信。他有8位律师来帮助他，仔细检查每封来信。

    There is nothing secretive about the Ombudsman’s work, for his correspondence is open to public inspection. If a citizen’s complaint is justified, the Ombudsman will act on his behalf. The action he takes varies according to the nature of the complaint. He may gently reprimand an official or even suggest to parliament that a law be altered. The following case is a typical example of the Ombudsman’s work.
    特派员的工作没有什么秘密可言，他的信件是公开的，供公众监督。如果一位市民的抱怨是真实的，特派员会为他伸张正义。特派员会根据不同意见的性质而采取不同的行动。他可以善意地批评某位官员，或者给国会提建议，修改某条法律。接下来的事情关于特派员工作的一个典型例子。
    PS: public inspection, 公众监督

    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. The Ombudsman immediately wrote to the Chief of Police in the district asking him to send a record of the case.
    一个住在瑞典乡下的歪果仁给特派员写信，抱怨道他被警察虐待，只是因为他是歪果仁。特派员马上给当地警长写信，要求他发一封案件记录来。
    PS: ill-treated, 虐待

    There was nothing in the record to show that the foreigner’s complaint was justified and the Chief of Police strongly denied the accusation. 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.
    记录中并无关于关于歪果仁的言论是真实信息的说法，所以警长强烈地拒绝了这项指控。这使得特派员没办法采取行动，但当他收到同村庄另一个歪果仁的来信时，他立马派出一位律师去调查。

    The lawyer ascertained that a policeman had indeed dealt roughly with foreigners on several occasions. The fact that the policeman was prejudiced against foreigners could not be recorded in the official files. It was only possible for the Ombudsman to find this out by sending one of his representatives to check the facts.
    这位律师查出某位警察确实多次粗鲁地对待歪果仁。这位警察对歪果仁有偏见的事实并不能被记录在官方文档里，特派员唯一能做的事，就是通过派出代表去核实真相。

    The policeman in question was severely reprimanded and was informed that if any further complaints were lodged against him, he would be prosecuted. The Ombudsman’s prompt action at once put an end to an unpleasant practice which might have gone unnoticed.
    这位有问题的警察被狠狠地斥责了，并且被告知，如果再有人投诉他，他将被起诉。特派员合理的行动立刻将一件不愉快的事情在人们察觉之前就消灭在了襁褓中！
    PS: in question, 有问题、涉事