A decision by China's highest court to publicize a handful of judgments through a national online database has ignited a debate about the possibility of greater judicial transparency in the country.

中国最高法院决定通过一个全国性在线数据库发布一些判决书，这引发了外界对中国是否有可能提高司法透明度的争论。

Verdicts in a number of high-profile cases are now available on the official website of China's Supreme People's Court, including the case of former Communist Party official Li Xingong, who was sentenced to death in April after being found guilty of rape and child molestation (in Chinese).

目前，一些备受关注的案件的判决书可以在中国最高人民法院的官方网站上进行查询，包括前中共官员李新功案。李新功因强奸猥亵儿童于今年4月被判处死刑。

Chinese courts have occasionally posted decisions online, but this marks the first time the country's highest court has moved to do so in a systematic way. While only a couple dozen cases are currently available in the new database, the Supreme People's Court has said it plans to publish all decisions except those relating to national secrets, trade secrets and personal privacy.

中国的法院偶尔会在网上发布判决书，但这次是中国最高法院首次系统性地发布判决书。尽管这个新的数据库目前只有十几桩案件的判决书可供查询，但最高人民法院说，除涉及国家机密、商业秘密和个人隐私的案件外，计划发布全部案件的判决书。

Legal scholars are divided over the significance of the database in a country where courts are dominated by the ruling party, and where legal decisions are often cloaked in secrecy.

对于在中国这个法院由执政党主导、法律判决常常不公开的国家，这样一个数据库能够产生多大的意义，法律专家们看法不一。

'This would be a significant development in the direction of progress towards judicial transparency and rule of law,' said University of Hong Kong law professor Albert Chen, one of a number of experts who praised the move as a step in the right direction.

香港大学(University of Hong Kong)法学教授陈弘毅(Albert Chen)说，这将是朝着司法透明和法治方向取得的一项重要进展。他是将中国最高法院的这一举措赞为朝着正确方向迈出一步的专家之一。

Yet Fu Hualing, a leading scholar on Chinese constitutional issues, pointed out that many of the most controversial cases in China produce no verdicts because courts strongly encourage parties to settle their differences through mediation.

不过，中国宪法问题主要专家傅华伶指出，中国很多争议最大的案件并没有形成判决书，因为法院强烈鼓励当事方通过调解达成和解。

The notion of publishing Supreme People's Court verdicts online was first mentioned in the court's Third Five-Year Reform Outline in 2009, where the court announced a list of goals including 'ensure public trust in the courts,' 'enhance the reasoning of judgment documents' and 'increase transparency.'

在网上发布最高人民法院判决书的想法最早是在2009年最高法院出台的《第三个五年改革纲要》中提到的。最高法院当时宣布了目标清单，包括确保让公众信任法院，增强裁判文书的说理性，提高司法的透明度。

The publication of verdicts is partly intended to improve the quality court decisions by exposing them to public scrutiny, but Mr. Fu, who also teaches law at the University of Hong Kong, said he was skeptical the new database will offer any tangible improvements to the judicial process.

网上发布判决书在一定程度上是意在通过公示判决书供公众监察进而提高法院判决的质量，但傅华伶说，他怀疑新的数据库是否能够给司法程序带来任何切实的改善。傅华伶在香港大学教授法律。

The problem, he said, rests with the nature of China's legal system, which does not rely on judicial precedent (as in the U.S.) but instead makes decisions based on statutory laws without much explanation.

他说，问题在于中国法律制度的性质。中国的法律制度（与美国不同），不依赖司法先例，而是根据成文法做出判决，没有太多的解释。

On top of that, Mr. Fu said, judges often deliver their verdicts to parties who do not have lawyers, which means they must write simple judgments in language that is easily understood. 'It's abstract reasoning without the support of case law,' he said. Decisions, in effect, 'don't say much, just the facts, the law and the conclusion,' which makes it very difficult for appeal.

此外，傅华伶说，法官常常向没有律师的当事方发出判决书，这就意味着他们必须用容易理解的语言撰写简单的判决书。他说，这是没有判例法支持的抽象推理。实际上，判决书中没有什么内容，只是案件事实、法律依据和结论，这样很难提出上诉。

While state news reports have touted the move as a signal of increased transparency, Stephan Ortmann, a research fellow at City University of Hong Kong, was also skeptical that publicizing decisions will restore faith in the system.

尽管国有新闻报道称赞此举显示了透明度的提高，但香港城市大学(City University of Hong Kong)研究员奥特曼(Stephan Ortmann)也怀疑网上发布判决书是否能够使公众恢复对中国法律制度的信任。

'As long as there is no external force or any media monitoring the court (or the rest of the government), it is likely that many will continue to distrust the court's full transparency,'he said.

他说，只要没有外部力量或任何媒体监督法院（或其他政府部门），很多人就可能仍不相信法院是完全透明的。

China's legislature, the National People's Congress, elects the president of the Supreme People's Court, as well as its judicial committee, presiding judges of other courts and judicial officers.

中国最高人民法院院长、审判委员会、其他法院审判长和司法官员由中国的立法机构全国人大选举产生。

The court is responsible for trying China's most influential cases, hearing appeals from others courts, supervising courts at every level and offering judicial explanations for how laws should be implemented nationally.

最高法院负责审理中国最有影响的案件，受理针对其他法院所做判决的上诉，监管各级法院，就法律如何在全国范围内具体实施做出司法解释。

'The concern about lack of trust is about the larger image of judiciary, and that's corruption,' said Mr. Fu. 'What they're doing is tackling an issue on the margins.'

傅华伶说，公众对中国司法体系缺乏信任的更大原因是腐败，他们这样做是避重就轻。