又中又英——mea culpa
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
2021-01-28 04:16 HKT
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Last week, I heard two interesting expressions seldom used in Hong Kong. The first was “mea culpa” which I heard while watching a movie on Netflix. The other was “cab-rank rule”, which Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah used. The expression “mea culpa” is more common than “cab-rank rule”, which is mostly used by the legal profession. The expression “mea culpa” is a Latin phrase that means “through my own fault”. People nowadays mostly use it as an English noun to admit guilt or fault. For example, if a newspaper article turns out to be incorrect, the newspaper can issue a mea culpa to admit it was wrong.
Last week, a senior official at the Centre for Health Protection, Raymond Ho Lei-ming, used racist reasons to explain why so many South Asians in the over-crowded Jordan area became infected with the coronavirus. He has not yet issued a mea culpa. Cheng Yeuk-wah used the expression “cab-rank rule” after David Perry, a reputable British barrister, changed his mind about coming to Hong Kong to be the government prosecutor for a controversial court case. Perry had agreed to be the prosecutor against nine well-known democracy activists for allegedly taking part in an unauthorized protest. But British politicians, including Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, heavily criticized him for helping the Hong Kong government jail those fighting for democracy.
Cheng Yeuk-wah criticized British politicians for pressuring Perry not to take the case. She said under the British and Hong Kong legal systems barristers must follow the cab-rank rule. This rule means the first barrister who is asked to take up a case must do so regardless of the nature of the case or the people involved. The expression comes from London taxi stands where it is the rule for the first taxi in line to take a passenger regardless of who the passenger is or where the passenger wants to go. Taxis are also called cabs. But politicians who pressured Perry not to take the case argued the cab-rank rule doesn’t apply to overseas court cases.
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上星期，我听到两个有趣的习语，是香港较少用到的。第一个是“mea culpa”，是我在Netflix观赏一出电影时听到的；另一个是“cab-rank rule”，是律政司司长郑若骅所说的。习语“mea culpa”比“cab-rank rule”常用，后者多在法律专业领域中使用。习语“mea culpa”是个拉丁词𢑥，意思是「由于我的过错」。今时今日，人们通常把它看作一个英文名词，用以承认罪过或过失。譬如，若报章有一篇报道刊出后被发现有失实之处，该报章便会刊登一个道歉声明（mea culpa），去承认文章出了错。
上星期，衞生防护中心一名高级官员何理明，用了一些带种族主义的原因，去解释为何极度挤逼的佐敦区会有那么多南亚裔人士感染新冠肺炎。他仍未为此正式致歉（mea culpa）。而郑若骅则是在英国御用大律师大卫‧佩里改变主意，不再来港为一宗具争议的案件担任主控官后，用到了“cab-rank rule”这个习语。佩里本来答允，在九位知名民运人士涉嫌参与未经批准集结的案件中担任主控官，但英国的政客，包括外相蓝韬文都强烈批评他协助香港政府囚禁那些争取民主的人士。
郑若骅批评英国政客在向佩里施压，迫使他不能接这宗案件。她说，在英国及香港的司法制度下，律师必须遵守 the cab-rank rule。这个「的士站原则」，是指第一位接到案件的执业大律师，不论案件的性质或当中所牵涉的人物，亦不得拒聘。这个习语源自伦敦的士站有个规定，排在的士站首位之的士不得拒载，不论那位乘客是谁或对方想去哪里。的士也叫做 cabs。然而，那些向佩里施压不得接这案件的政客反驳说，这个不可拒聘原则（cab-rank rule）并不适用于海外法庭的案件。中译：七刻
[email protected]
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
Last week, a senior official at the Centre for Health Protection, Raymond Ho Lei-ming, used racist reasons to explain why so many South Asians in the over-crowded Jordan area became infected with the coronavirus. He has not yet issued a mea culpa. Cheng Yeuk-wah used the expression “cab-rank rule” after David Perry, a reputable British barrister, changed his mind about coming to Hong Kong to be the government prosecutor for a controversial court case. Perry had agreed to be the prosecutor against nine well-known democracy activists for allegedly taking part in an unauthorized protest. But British politicians, including Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, heavily criticized him for helping the Hong Kong government jail those fighting for democracy.
Cheng Yeuk-wah criticized British politicians for pressuring Perry not to take the case. She said under the British and Hong Kong legal systems barristers must follow the cab-rank rule. This rule means the first barrister who is asked to take up a case must do so regardless of the nature of the case or the people involved. The expression comes from London taxi stands where it is the rule for the first taxi in line to take a passenger regardless of who the passenger is or where the passenger wants to go. Taxis are also called cabs. But politicians who pressured Perry not to take the case argued the cab-rank rule doesn’t apply to overseas court cases.
*****
上星期，我听到两个有趣的习语，是香港较少用到的。第一个是“mea culpa”，是我在Netflix观赏一出电影时听到的；另一个是“cab-rank rule”，是律政司司长郑若骅所说的。习语“mea culpa”比“cab-rank rule”常用，后者多在法律专业领域中使用。习语“mea culpa”是个拉丁词𢑥，意思是「由于我的过错」。今时今日，人们通常把它看作一个英文名词，用以承认罪过或过失。譬如，若报章有一篇报道刊出后被发现有失实之处，该报章便会刊登一个道歉声明（mea culpa），去承认文章出了错。
上星期，衞生防护中心一名高级官员何理明，用了一些带种族主义的原因，去解释为何极度挤逼的佐敦区会有那么多南亚裔人士感染新冠肺炎。他仍未为此正式致歉（mea culpa）。而郑若骅则是在英国御用大律师大卫‧佩里改变主意，不再来港为一宗具争议的案件担任主控官后，用到了“cab-rank rule”这个习语。佩里本来答允，在九位知名民运人士涉嫌参与未经批准集结的案件中担任主控官，但英国的政客，包括外相蓝韬文都强烈批评他协助香港政府囚禁那些争取民主的人士。
郑若骅批评英国政客在向佩里施压，迫使他不能接这宗案件。她说，在英国及香港的司法制度下，律师必须遵守 the cab-rank rule。这个「的士站原则」，是指第一位接到案件的执业大律师，不论案件的性质或当中所牵涉的人物，亦不得拒聘。这个习语源自伦敦的士站有个规定，排在的士站首位之的士不得拒载，不论那位乘客是谁或对方想去哪里。的士也叫做 cabs。然而，那些向佩里施压不得接这案件的政客反驳说，这个不可拒聘原则（cab-rank rule）并不适用于海外法庭的案件。中译：七刻
[email protected]
Michael Chugani 褚简宁
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