伦敦一名法官即将审理前安德鲁王子针对警方搜查其住所行为提出的异议。此次搜查是警方调查安德鲁王子与已故性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦之间关联行动的一部分。定于周四举行的高等法院听证会还将审议相关警方部门提出的限制外界获取本案法庭文件的请求。听证会将先在非公开状态下进行，最终裁决则会在公开法庭上宣布。
A London judge is set to hear former Prince Andrew's challenge to police searches of his homes as part of an investigation into his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The High Court hearing on Thursday will also consider a request from the police department involved to limit access to court documents in the case. Proceedings will begin behind closed doors, with any decision to be announced in open court.
此案的判决结果或将决定日后若安德鲁·蒙巴顿-温莎面临刑事起诉时，调查人员可使用的证据范围。他的律师希望高等法院能撤销2月19日泰晤士河谷警方以涉嫌滥用职权为由将其逮捕后用于搜查其两处住所的搜查令。
The case could shape what evidence investigators may use if Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as he is now known, faces prosecution. His lawyers want the High Court to quash the warrants used to search two of his homes after Thames Valley Police officers arrested him on February 19 on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
伦敦霍华德·肯尼迪律师事务所的马克·斯蒂芬斯律师指出，若法庭裁定支持蒙巴顿-温莎的诉求，那么当局便无法在任何刑事诉讼中援引上述搜查所获的证据。斯蒂芬斯称周四的听证会只是这场法律博弈的开端。“这是安德鲁王子及其律师团队迈出的第一步——他们主张这些证据属于非法获取的‘污点证据’，因此不应被用于任何刑事审判。”他说道。
If the court rules in Mountbatten-Windsor's favour, it could stop authorities from relying on material found in those searches in any prosecution, attorney Mark Stephens said. Stephens, of the Howard Kennedy firm in London, described Thursday's hearing as a preliminary step in the wider legal battle. "It's the first step of Prince Andrew and his lawyers saying, Actually, this is tainted evidence. It was obtained inappropriately," Stephens said. "Therefore it should be excluded from any criminal trial."
去年，为防范安德鲁王子与爱泼斯坦的关联事件波及整个王室，查尔斯三世国王撤销了其“王子”头衔。现年66岁的蒙巴顿-温莎虽仍能从国王的私人基金中领取津贴，但白金汉宫已明确表示，该笔资金不可用于支付他挑战搜查令所需的法律费用。
King Charles III stripped Mountbatten-Windsor of his princely title last year as he sought to protect the rest of the royal family from the fallout of his younger brother's links to Epstein. While Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, still receives a stipend from the king's private funds, Buckingham Palace has said those funds cannot be used to pay for his bid to challenge the search warrants.
此次警方调查最初源于安德鲁王子担任英国贸易特使期间被指向爱泼斯坦泄露敏感信息的指控，不过警方后来表示调查范围可能还会扩大。警方对其进行了长达11小时的讯问后，以需进一步调查为由将其释放，目前他既未被起诉也未被洗清嫌疑。
The police investigation first centred on allegations that Mountbatten-Windsor shared sensitive information with Epstein while he was the UK's trade envoy, though police later said they could also look into other matters. Police questioned him for 11 hours before releasing him under investigation, meaning he was neither charged nor cleared.
这是近四个世纪以来，首位遭到逮捕的英国王室高级成员。泰晤士河谷警察局周一表示，调查仍在进行中，并证实警方正就搜查令事宜参与法律程序，但在案件尚未审结前不愿作进一步说明。对蒙巴顿-温莎的指控源于美国司法部公布的数百万页相关文件，这些文件记录了埃普斯坦从事性贩卖活动的情况及其与全球各地权贵阶层的联系。
It was the first time in nearly four centuries that a senior British royal had been arrested. Thames Valley Police said on Monday that the investigation was continuing and confirmed it was involved in legal proceedings over the search warrants, but declined further comment while the case is before the court. The allegations against Mountbatten-Windsor emerged after the US Justice Department released millions of pages of documents from its investigation into sex trafficking by Epstein and his links to a network of wealthy and powerful men around the world.
十多年来，他与埃普斯坦的关系一直令王室深感困扰。早在2011年，就有议员对两人的关系提出质疑，促使蒙巴顿-温莎辞去英国特别贸易特使一职；八年后，他在接受BBC采访时未能解释自己与埃普斯坦为何仍保持联系，这也导致他不再以王室成员身份履行公务。此次听证会将于周四举行，届时将讨论法庭文件的查阅权限问题，以及蒙巴顿-温莎试图撤销搜查令的请求，而警方的调查工作也将同步推进。
His ties to Epstein have troubled the royal family for more than a decade. Lawmakers had raised questions about the relationship as early as 2011, leading him to step down as the UK's special trade envoy, and eight years later he failed to explain his continuing ties to Epstein in a BBC interview, bringing his role as a working member of the royal family to an end. Thursday's hearing will now address access to court papers and Mountbatten-Windsor's attempt to overturn the warrants as the police investigation continues.