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You're in a room you don't want to be in .
你在一个你不想进去的房间里。
Something bad has happened .
突然房间里发生了一些不好的事情。
There's a stranger in a suit with your future in their hands, A judge .
有一个穿着西装的陌生人，手里掌握着你的未来，他是一个法官。
Four years ago, that judge was me .
四年前，那个法官就是我。
The people looking up at me then had no choice but to trust me .
那时候仰望着我的人们别无选择，只能选择相信我。
But what had I done to deserve it?
但是，我做了什么来配得上这一职位呢？
Australia's judicial system operates under a shroud of mystique which fends off tough questions like this .
澳大利亚的司法系统在神秘感的笼罩下运作，抵御了像这样的棘手问题。
But you will have the right to ask how people like me prepare for the job of judging .
但你有权问像我这样的人是如何准备做审判工作的。
And you may not feel comfortable with the answers .
你可能对这些答案感到不舒服。
The system needs to change .
这种系统需要改变。
To set the scene, first, let's think about public confidence .
首先，让我们考虑一下公众的信心问题。
Judges in Australia are not elected .
澳大利亚的法官不是选举产生的。
Yet, the power they wield is immense .
然而，他们所拥有的权力是巨大的。
Ultimately, we trust the system because we believe that judges generally get it right .
归根结底，我们相信这个系统，因为我们相信法官一般都会做对的事。
If we lose that belief, we risk unbalancing the whole constitution .
如果我们失去这种信念，我们就有可能使整个宪法失去平衡。
But we live in a time when blind faith in elites is eroding fast .
但是，我们生活在一个对精英的盲目信任正在迅速侵蚀的时代。
Judges are increasingly vulnerable to the "why" question .
法官们越来越容易受到 “为什么”问题的影响。
Why do you deserve the power we have given you?
为什么你值得我们赋予你这样的权力？
And so they should be .
为什么他们也应该如此。
Second, it's fundamental that judges have to be seen as independent, doing their jobs without fear or favor .
第二，最根本的是，法官必须被看作是独立的，没有恐惧或偏袒地做他们的工作。
To avoid any pressure from the government of the day, judges have high salaries, which can never be cut, and they can't be fired for what they say or do .
为了避免来自当时政府的任何压力，法官的工资很高，我们永远不能削减他们的工资，而且他们不会因为自己的言行而被解雇。
Unless they're obviously corrupt or mad .
除非他们有明显腐败或疯狂。
In exchange, judges agree to be ultrarestrained, both in and out of court .
但是，法官同意在法庭上和法庭外都要受到极大的限制。
A kind of veil comes down when a judge is appointed .
当一个法官被任命时，他就要面临一种境况。
It's a lonely way to live, and it feeds into this sense that judges are somehow different from the rest of us .
这是一种孤独的生活方式，它助长了这种感觉，即法官在某种程度上与我们其他人不同。
Finally, I can tell you that all judges are in theory appointed on merit .
最后，我可以告诉你，所有的法官在理论上都是择优任命的。
That sounds good. And in theory it is.
这听起来不错。理论上也是如此。
Judges are chosen in a confidential process which relies heavily on advice from senior judges .
法官是在一个保密的过程中选出来的，这个过程在很大程度上依赖于资深法官的建议。
The people chosen are all experienced lawyers, traditionally top courtroom lawyers or barristers, who spend their days appearing in front of judges .
被选中的人都是经验丰富的律师，传统上是顶级的法庭律师或大律师，他们整天在法官面前出庭。
They're all personally shoulder-tapped for the job, and the results are in general, pretty impressive .
他们都是亲自肩负起这项工作的，而结果一般来说是相当令人印象深刻的。
But what do we really mean when we talk about merit?
但是，当我们谈论功绩时，我们真正的意思是什么？
For one thing, barristers are historically maler, paler and staler than other lawyers, which is really saying something .
首先，从历史上看，大律师比其他律师更糟糕、更苍白、更呆板，这真的很有意义。
It's been argued that the people who get chosen as judges are above all, the ones who remind existing judges of themselves .
有人认为，被选为法官的人首先是那些让现有法官想起自己的人。
Diversity on the bench is an issue that's become impossible to ignore .
法官的多样性是一个无法忽视的问题。
And judges are essentially picked based on how well they argue cases in front of judges .
而法官基本上是根据他们在法官面前辩论案件的能力来挑选的。
But that doesn't really make sense .
但这其实是没有意义的。
Let's compare a courtroom and an operating theater .
让我们来比较一下法庭和手术室。
Barristers and judges both play essential roles in court, just like anesthetists and surgeons in an operation .
大律师和法官在法庭上都发挥着重要作用，就像手术中的麻醉师和外科医生一样。
But you don't hand an anesthetist a scalpel just because he's been putting people to sleep for the surgeon for 10 years .
但你不会因为麻醉师为外科医生做了10年的手术就把手术刀交给他。
The underlying skill set may be the same in law as in medicine, but the jobs are fundamentally different .
法律和医学的基本技能可能是一样的，但工作却有本质的不同。
The strange truth about judging in countries like Australia is that even though judges are such an important part of government, we've basically privatized the system of making them .
在澳大利亚这样的国家，关于审判的一个奇怪的事实是，尽管法官是政府的一个重要组成部分，但我们基本上已经把制造法官的系统私有化了。
That work is done, if it's done at all, within the private legal profession .
这项工作是在私人法律行业内完成的。
And here's the thing .
问题就在于此。
There is no judge school for wannabe judges .
我们没有为想当法官的人设立的法官学校。
Judicial appointment is seen as a badge of honor, not as a professional milestone that a lawyer builds up to the way that a doctor works towards specialization .
司法任命被看作是一种荣誉的徽章，而不是一个专业的里程碑，就像一个律师和一个医生努力实现专业化那样。
Judges are just lawyers until the day they take the judicial oath .
法官只是律师，直到他们进行司法宣誓的那一天。
And from that day it is sink or swim, except they can't be fired for incompetence .
从那一天起，除了不能因为不称职而被解雇之外，他们就是沉沦或划水。
How do you think it would feel to know your life was on the line in a judge's first ever case?
如果你知道你的生命在法官的第一个案件中处于危险之中，你认为会有什么感觉？
And how do you think that judge would feel?
你认为那个法官会有什么感觉呢？
The transition to the bench can be a baptism by fire .
向法官的过渡可能是一场火的洗礼。
I had never run a criminal trial as a lawyer, and there I was in a magistrate's court in the Seychelles, being asked to hand down 12-year prison sentences in my first month on the job .
我作为律师从未进行过刑事审判，而我在塞舌尔的一个治安法庭上，在工作的第一个月就被要求作出12年的监禁判决。
It was terrifying .
那是很可怕的。
Is it any easier to make that transition as a top courtroom lawyer?
作为一名顶级法庭律师，这种转变是否更容易？
Well, in some ways, definitely .
嗯，在某些方面，当然。
Barristers do know a lot of law and the years of watching judges in action do give them a head start on how the process works .
大律师确实知道很多法律知识，而且多年来观察法官的行动确实让他们对程序的运作有了初步认识。
But as society changes, our expectations of judges are changing, too .
但随着社会的变化，我们对法官的期望也在变化。
Judges are increasingly called on for a whole range of extra nonlegal skills .
法官们越来越多地被要求具备一系列额外的非法律技能。
They have to be managers and leaders, politically and culturally savvy, able to handle relentless scrutiny and social isolation .
他们必须是管理者和领导者，在政治和文化上有头脑，能够处理无情的审查和社会隔离。
We don't necessarily expect or even value those skills in a barrister .
我们不一定期望或甚至重视大律师的这些技能。
And when we aim for a more diverse judiciary, the problem actually gets worse .
当我们的目标是建立一个更加多元化的司法机构时，问题实际上会变得更糟。
If we want less male, less pale judges, we're not likely to find them all in barristers chambers .
如果我们想要更少的男性，更少的苍白的法官，我们不可能在大律师事务所里找到他们所有人。
And people who haven't spent their working lives in court can't possibly be expected to just know how judging works, no matter how excellent they may be in other ways .
而那些没有在法庭上工作过的人，无论他们在其他方面多么出色，都不可能被期望只知道审判是如何进行的。
So what you end up with is a situation where no new judge is actually likely to have every piece of the merit puzzle .
因此，你最终会发现，没有一个新的法官实际上可能拥有功绩拼图的每一块。
But the number and shape of those missing pieces varies hugely from judge to judge .
但是这些缺失的碎片的数量和形状在不同的法官之间有很大的不同。
How is this OK? Why does our system assume that anyone comes ready-made for such a demanding job?
这怎么可能呢？为什么我们的系统认为任何人都是现成的，可以胜任如此苛刻的工作？
It turns out there are some pretty strong cultural reasons why .
事实证明，这其中有一些很强的文化原因。
People who study judiciaries, that's me now, are traditionally reluctant to talk about behind-the-scenes issues, like making judges, for fear of being seen as interfering with judicial independence .
研究司法的人，也就是现在我做的事情，传统上不愿意谈论幕后的问题，比如评判，因为担心被认为是干涉司法独立。
I think this has gone too far .
我认为这样的想法太过度了。
Independence depends on public confidence .
独立性取决于公众的信心。
And we can no longer be expected to trust what can't be explained and justified .
我们不能再指望相信无法解释和证明的东西。
But the legal elite have an obvious interest in maintaining the status quo .
但是，法律精英们在维持现状方面有着明显的利益。
As a lawyer, it feels uncomfortable to criticize a process that my barrister friends say is a natural progression, even a kind of right .
作为一名律师，批评一个我的大律师朋友说是自然发展的过程，甚至是一种权利的过程，感觉很不舒服。
And getting any lawyer to talk openly about learning how to judge is hard .
而让任何律师公开谈论学习如何判断是很难的。
People like me learn quickly that admitting to judicial ambitions is out of order .
像我这样的人很快就知道，承认自己的司法野心是不符合规定的。
You can aim to be a barrister, which puts you in the running, but you can't be seen as angling for an appointment .
你可以以成为大律师为目标，这使你有机会，但你不能被看作是在争取一个任命。
The contrast with a profession like medicine couldn't be more stark .
与医学这样的职业形成鲜明对比是再好不过的了。
The incentives in law are all backwards .
法律界的激励机制完全是倒退的。
I came to realize that it was only in confronting these culture barriers that I would have any hope of breaking through from the why to the how .
我逐渐意识到，只有在面对这些文化障碍时，我才有希望实现从 “为什么 ”到 “如何 ”的突破。
So how do we talk about making judges?
那么，我们该如何谈及法官的培养呢？
It starts with government taking more responsibility for its own processes .
首先，政府要对自己的程序承担更多的责任。
And not just in explaining why it picks one person over another, although that would help .
而不仅仅是解释为什么选择一个人而不是另一个人，尽管那会有帮助。
At the top of my list is ongoing education for judges .
在我的清单中，最重要的是对法官的持续教育。
Judges in Australia do actually go to judge school now, kind of, but only behind closed doors once they're already on the job .
澳大利亚的法官现在确实去了法官学校，有点像在工作中闭门造车。
It's labeled as CPD: Continuing professional development, which is totally routine and compulsory for lawyers and other modern professionals .
这被标记为CPD：持续的专业发展，这对律师和其他现代专业人士来说是完全常规和强制性的。
But because no one is supposed to tell a judge what to do or how to think, in case that undermines their independence, it's all voluntary .
但是，因为没有人应该告诉法官应该做什么或如何思考，以防止破坏他们的独立性，这一切都是自愿的。
In principle, a judge like me could just say no .
原则上，像我这样的法官可以说不。
And that CPD label neatly avoids the elephant in the room, the fact that every modern lawyer needs at least some help learning how to be a good judge in the first place .
而且，持续发展的标签巧妙地避开了房间里固有的事物，每个现代律师至少需要一些帮助来学习如何成为一个好法官。
There's actually some amazing work starting to happen in judicial education, but it is nowhere near enough .
实际上，在司法教育方面已经开始有一些进步，但这还远远不够。
And in any case, it's those pre-appointment years that matter the most .
在任何情况下，最重要的是任命前的那几年。
Government has taken no responsibility at all here .
但是政府在这一点上没有承担任何责任。
And to get past that stigma on wannabe judges, the profession itself has to change .
为了摆脱对想成为法官的人的污名，这个行业本身必须改变。
Whether it happens formally or informally, we need to be thinking about a judicial career path and actively creating judicial merit .
不管是正式的还是非正式的，我们都需要考虑司法职业道路，积极创造司法价值。
We need to support young lawyers like me, particularly the diverse ones, to do things that will make them great judges, not just great lawyers, especially when those things are not likely to get them promoted as lawyers .
我们需要支持像我这样的年轻律师，特别是那些多元化的律师，去做那些能让他们成为伟大法官的事情，而不仅仅是伟大的律师，尤其是当这些事情不可能让他们作为律师得到晋升的时候。
In hindsight, I wish I'd had way more experience in things like community justice, technology and management .
事后看来，我希望我在社区司法、技术和管理等方面有更多经验。
And I so wish I could have gone to judge school .
我希望我可以读法官学校。
Better prepared lawyers would mean better inputs for those people who choose and manage judges and ultimately better evidence that those judges deserve your trust .
准备充分的律师意味着为那些选择和管理法官的人提供更好的投入，最终更好地证明这些法官值得你的信任。
And that's what it all comes back to .
这就是所有问题的根源所在。
Any of us, any day, could find our future in the hands of a judge .
我们中的任何一个人，任何一天，都可能发现我们的未来掌握在法官的手中。
In that moment, we need to be able to look each other in the eye and know we can trust the system .
在那一刻，我们需要能够看着对方的眼睛，知道我们可以信任这个系统。
Thank you .
谢谢大家的聆听。
