法律英语课件1

Lesson

one

Legal

system

2/6/20231法律英语相关阅读背景知识★

关于美国历史与世界上许多文明古国相比，美国是一个年轻的国家。1776年---两百多年然而就连续的政治法律制度而言，美国是一个古老的国家，因为其成文宪法和联邦制度的“年龄”在世界上是首屈一指。2/6/20232法律英语★

关于美国社会美国是一个移民社会，而且是颇具“反叛性”的移民社会。社会的价值观具有强烈的个人价值观和自我保护意识，这些都主导着美国法律制度的发展方向和轨迹。★

关于美国文化多种文化的融合是美国社会的重要特征，也是美国法律制度的重要特征。主流文化与非主流文化传统的影响发生作用，于是形成了一种特殊的法律制度。它与欧洲—特别是英国的法律文化有着千丝万缕的联系，但是又不完全等同于欧洲乃至英国的法律制度。这就是“美国法律”。2/6/20233法律英语★

关于美国法律美国属于普通法系国家。虽然制定法或成文法在当代美国的法律制度中占有重要地位，但是判例法或不成文法仍然是美国法律的基石。联邦法与州法并存；制订法与判例法并存。★

关于普通法所谓“普通法”，就是“普遍通用”的法律，或“共同适用”的法律。普通法不同于那些仅适用某个地区的习惯法，也不同于那些源于罗马法的教会法。从某种意义上讲，普通法是由国家意志统一了的地方习惯法。然而，普通法不是由国王制定的，也不是一夜之间就令行天下的，它是通过王室法官的巡回审判活动逐渐形成的。2/6/20234法律英语巡回法官在审判时遵循他们在王室法院中熟悉的那些法律规则。当然，他们在各地巡回审判过程中也会吸收地方习惯法中的一些合理因素。在他们的努力下，英国各地的习惯法也开始趋于统一。在一定意义上讲，习惯法是普通法之母，而普通法是统一了的习惯法。2/6/20235法律英语★

关于衡平法普通法在发展过程中遇到了所有法律制度所面临的共同问题，即如何协调法律的稳定性与灵活性的问题。1258《牛津条例》禁止法院就新的诉讼种类发布令状，这就使得一些人很正当的诉讼请求也会因为没有令状前例而得不到法院的救济。为了弥补普通法的这一缺陷，一种新的不拘泥于令状制度的法律形式出现了，这就是衡平法。其主要法律原则是：“公平且善良”。作为普通法的补充救济手段，衡平法主要适用于合同纠纷。2/6/20236法律英语BackgroundTwoperiodsoflegalhistory:ThePeriodoftheEnglishColoniesThePeriodoftheUnitedStatesOnMay14,1607,theVirginiaCompanyexplorerslandedonJamestownIslandtoestablishtheVirginiaEnglishcolonyTheRevolutionaryWarinAmerica(1775-1783)2/6/20237法律英语2/6/20238法律英语MapofUSA2/6/20239法律英语CharacteristicsCommonlawlegalsystem普通法系DecentralizationCaselawStaredecisis

遵从前例2/6/202310法律英语Text——Part

OneThe

United

States

is

atoncea

very

new

nationa

very

old

nation既年轻又古老的国家2/6/202311法律英语it

is

constantly

being

renewed

by

the

addition

of

new

elements

of

population

and

of

new

States不断有新的人口成分和新州的加入It

is

a

new

nationComparedwithmanyothercountries

与其他国家相比2/6/202312法律英语

It

isthe

oldest

of

the

"new"

nations

—the

first

one

to

be

made

out

ofan

Old

World

colony.

第一个从旧大陆殖民地脱胎而出的国家the

oldest

written

constitutionthe

oldest

continuous

federal

systemthe

oldest

practice

of

self-governmentIt

is

old2/6/202313法律英语TheDeclarationofIndependenceisatoncethenation'smostcherishedsymboloflibertyandJefferson’smostenduingmonument.Itintroducedafundamentalchangeintheviewofgovernment.ThomasJeffersondeclaredthatgovernmentswerecreatedtoservethepeople,andcouldonlyactwithconsentofthepeople.

2/6/202314法律英语The

whole

of

its

history

belongs

in

the

period

since

the

invention

of

the

printing

press.美国历史是印刷发明以后的历史。2/6/202315法律英语for

events

such

as

those

that

are

lost

in

the

legendary

past

of

Italy

or

France

or

England

are

part

of

the

printed

record

of

the

United

States

那些在意大利、法国或英国过去的传说中湮没的那些事件，是美国有文字记载历史的一部分。The

whole

of

its

history

is

recorded2/6/202316法律英语And

the

American

record

Comprehensive

全面Immense

繁多2/6/202317法律英语Record

of

the

colonial

era

殖民时代的记载Recordof

the

Nation

since

1776国家从1776年开始的记载Recordof

the

present

fifty

States

当前50个州的记载The

intricate

network

ofrelationships

between

States

andNation

各州与联邦之间错综复杂关系的记载2/6/202318法律英语The

reports

of

the

United

States

Supreme

Court

fill

350

volumesThe

reports

of

some

States

are

almost

equally

voluminous.联邦最高法院判例汇编州法院判例汇编2/6/202319法律英语The

reader

who

wants

to

trace

the

history

of

law

in

America

is

confronted

with

over

5,000

stout

volumes

of

legal

cases.想要探索美国法律历史的人面对的是5000多巨册的法律案例。2/6/202320法律英语No

one

document,

no

handful

of

documents,

can

properly

be

said

to

reveal

the

character

of

apeople

or

of

their

government.

没有哪一个或者少数几个文件可以准确地揭示一国人民或政府的特征。2/6/202321法律英语When

hundreds

and

thousands

of

documents

strike

a

consistent

noteover

more

than

a

hundred

years,

we

have

a

right

to

say

that

is

the

keynote.当一百多年来成百上千的文件敲击出始终如一的音调时，我们可以说这就是基调。2/6/202322法律英语Representativesofthe4legalsystemsRomano-Germanic/civil/continentallegalsystem:France,Germany,Austria,Belgium,Switzerland,Italy,Spain,Portugal,Thailand,Turkey,Indonesia,Holland(theNetherlands)2.Common-law/Anglo-Americanlegalsystem:England,Ireland,USA,NewZealand,Pakistan,Singapore,Malaysia,Australia,Canada(excludingQuebec),Burma,IndiaSocialistlegalsystem:China,Russia,Cuba,NorthKorea,Vietnam4.Islamiclegalsystem:MiddleEastcountries2/6/202323法律英语Sourcesoflawineachsystem1.Romano-Germanic/civil/continentallegalsystem—majorsource:mon-law/Anglo-Americanlegalsystem—majorsource:judge-madelaw/caselaw3.socialistlegalsystem—majorsource:legislation4.Islamiclegalsystem—majorsources:Koran,Sunna,judicialconsensus,analogicalreasoning—subsidiarysources:custom,judge’spreference,requirementsofpublicinterest2/6/202324法律英语Civillawlegalsystem大陆法系/罗马法系Commonlawlegalsystem普通法系Statutorylaw法国和德国为代表，还有瑞士、意大利、奥地利、比利时、卢森堡、荷兰、西班牙、葡萄牙、日本等Caselaw形成于英国，包括加拿大，澳大利亚，新西兰，爱尔兰，印度、巴基斯坦，马来西亚和新加坡，香港地区也采用英美法2/6/202325法律英语ThedistinctionoftwolegalsystemsThebasicdistinctionbetweenthetwosystemsliesinthesourcesoflawuponwhichtheyrely.Thecommon-lawsystemusespriordecidedcasesasaveryhighsourcesofauthority.Thedoctrineofstaredecisis(letthedecisionstand)inoneofitsformistheessenceofthecommon-lawsystem.thedoctrinestatesthatthecourtsshouldadheretothelawthatsetforthinpriorcasesdecidedbythehighestcourtofthegovernjurisdictionaslongastheprinciplederivedfromthosecasesislogicallyessentialtotheirdecision,isreasonable,andisappropriatetocontemporarycircumstances.Differentcourtsapplythisgeneralpolicywithvaryingdegreesofstrictness.Englishcourts,forinstance,areinclinedtobemorerigorousthanAmericancourtsinitsapplication.2/6/202326法律英语Thecivillaw,ontheotherhand,isorientedtowardacodeoflaws,whenacontroversaryispresentedtoacourtoralawyer,theimmediateproblemistofindtheappropriatecodeprovisioncoveringthesituationandthentoapplyittotheproblemathand.Thecourtslooktothewritingsofscholarstoaidthemininterpretingcodeprovisions.Casesarenotignored,buttheydonothaveanyapproachingbindingauthorityonjudges.2/6/202327法律英语大陆法与普通法的根本区别在于其所依靠的法的渊源.普通法系以先前的判例为其很高的权力渊源,以其诸形式之一出现的STAREDECISIS即让判决继续有效学说,是普通法系的精粹,该说主张,法院应遵守在本法域最高一级法院判决的先例中所定下来的法律---但取自先例原则以在逻辑上为判决各案件所必须且其合理合情并适宜于当代情况者为限，不同的法院适用这一总政策的严格程度不同，例如，在其适用上，英国法院比美国法院严格。2/6/202328法律英语在另一方面大陆法系则以法典为中心。法院或律师遇到一项争端，其迫在眉捷的问题，是去查出与案情相关的适当法典条文，然后把条文适用于手头的问题。法院请教学者的著作，以便在解释法典条文时从那些著作中得到帮助。案例不是完全被忽视，但对法官却没有任何接近于拘束力的权威性。2/6/202329法律英语The

American

legal

system,

like

the

English,

is

methodologically

mainly

a

caselaw

system.

判例法Part

Two

2/6/202330法律英语

Most

fields

of

private

law

still

consist

primarily

of

case

law

and

the

extensive

and

steadily

growing

statutory

continues

to

be

subject

to

binding

interpretation

through

case

law.

私法的大多数领域主要包括判例法，以及广泛的不断增加的成文法，这些成文法继续通过判例法受制于有约束力的法律解释。2/6/202331法律英语Knowledge

Technique

central

importancefor

an

understanding

of

American

lawand

legal

methodology2/6/202332法律英语普通法衡平法普通法专指英国在11世纪后由法官通过判决形式逐渐形成的适用于全英格兰的一种判例法。而衡平法是指英国在14世纪后对普通法的修正和补充而出现的一种判例法。

2/6/202333法律英语The

common

law

is

historically

the

common

general

law

——

with

supremacy

over

local

law

——which

was

decreed

by

the

itinerant

judges

of

the

English

royal

court.

普通法在历史上是普通综合法，由英国皇家法院的巡回法官颁布的普通综合法地位高于地方法。2/6/202334法律英语

enforcement强制执行；

claim请求；

action诉讼行为；

writ法院令状；

classicalRomanlaw古罗马法2/6/202335法律英语Theenforcementofaclaimpresupposedtheexistenceofaspecialformofaction,awrit,withtheresultthattheoriginalcommonlawrepresentedasystemof‘action’similartothatofclassicalRomanlaw.某项诉讼请求的强制执行是以法院令状这种特殊诉讼形式的存在为前提的，而这就使最初的普通法表现为由类似于古罗马法的“诉讼行为”所构成的体系。2/6/202336法律英语

If

a

writ

existed

(in

1227)

a

claim

could

be

enforced;

有法院令状，诉讼请求就要强制执行；there

was

no

recourse

for

a

claim

without

a

writ,

the

claim

did

notexist.

没有法院令状为前提的诉讼请求，就没有追索权，因而该诉讼请求也就不存在。2/6/202337法律英语(1)asthedocumentgivingtheplaintiffaccesstothecourtsinexchangeforthepaymentofafee;(2)asamethodofdesignatingwhichcourtwoulddecidethecase;(3)asatoolfordirectingthesheriff(

thechieflaw-enforcementofficerinacounty:popularlyelected,exceptinRhodeIsland)tosummonthedefendantforthecourtappearance.Writ:alegaldocumentissuedbyacourtorjudicialofficer

2/6/202338法律英语

This

system

became

inflexible

when

the

"Provisions

of

Oxford"

(1258)

prohibited

the

creation

of

new

writs,

except

for

the

flexibility

which

the

"writ

upon

the

case"

allowed

and

which

later

led

to

the

development

of

contract

and

tort

law.这一制度在（1258年）“牛津条例”禁止新令状产生以后变得固定下来；除非“本案令状”允许了灵活性的例外，后者后来发展成合同与侵权法。2/6/202339法律英语The

narrow

limits

of

the

forms

of

action

and

the

limited

recourse

they

provided

led

to

the

development

of

equity

law

and

equity

case

law.诉讼形式的限制及其提供的有限追索权导致了衡平法和衡平判例法的产生。2/6/202340法律英语衡平法

由英国衡平法法院的大法官在处理专门的申诉案件时，为避免过分重视令状和程序方面的技术性问题，而集中考虑案情的理据得失，最终发展出有别于普通法的法律规范，就是衡平法。2/6/202341法律英语“Equity”——doing

equity公平——行为公平deciding

ex

aequo

et

bono决定公平且善良（拉丁语）was

first

granted

by

the

King,

and

later

by

his

Chancellor

as

"keeper

of

the

King's

conscience",

toaffordreliefinhardshipcases.首先由国王，以后由作为“国王良知守护人”的大法官作出，以便对难以解决的案例提供救济。2/6/202342法律英语In

the

fifteenth

century,

however,

equity

law

and

equity

case

law

developed

into

an

independent

legal

system

and

judiciary

(Court

of

chancery)which

competed

with

the

ordinary

common

law

courts.

15世纪，衡平法和衡平判例法发展成独立的法律制度和司法制度（大法官法庭），大法官法庭与普通法法庭并列存在。2/6/202343法律英语Its

rules

and

maxims

became

fixed

and,

to

a

degree,

inflexible

as

inany

legal

system.

衡平法的规则和原则逐渐确定，与任何法律制度一样，具有一定程度的固定性。equity

law2/6/202344法律英语relief

in

the

form

of

specific

performance

特殊履行的救济方式the

injunction禁令（临时或最终的采取或不采取某种行为的命令）the

development

of

so

calledmaxims

of

equity

law形成所谓的衡平法座右铭

Special

characteristics

of

equity

law：theperformanceofalegalcontractasspecifiedbyitsterms2/6/202345法律英语However,

equitable

relief

regularly

will

lie

only

when

the

common

law

relief

isinadequate.

不过，只有当普通法救济不充分时，才适用衡平救济。2/6/202346法律英语For

instance,

specific

performance

for

the

purchase

of

real

propertywill

be

granted

because

common

law

damages

are

deemed

to

be

inadequate

since

they

cannot

compensate

the

buyerin

view

of

the

uniqueness

attributed

toreal

property.

例如，对购买不动产提供特殊履行的救济，因为普通法的赔偿被认为不充分，由于不动产具有特殊性，普通法的赔偿无法补偿买方。2/6/202347法律英语假如房屋的卖方于成交后出尔反尔了，那么买方按普通法原则之规定得提出损害赔偿之诉。但买方如要求强制卖方出售（即要求履行），则买方则援引的是衡平法上的原则了。Supposethatavendorofhousebacksoutonthedeal.Thevendeemaysuefordamagesundercommon-lawprinciples,butifhewantsacourttoforcethesellertosell(specificperformance)heusesprinciplesdevelopedinequity.2/6/202348法律英语As

the

common

law,

equity

law

became

part

of

American

laweither

through

judicial

acceptance司法接受

or

through

express

statutory

provision明确的成文法条款2/6/202349法律英语

Today,

both

legal

systems

have

been

merged

in

many

American

jurisdictions

普通法

衡平法there

is

only

one

form

of

civil

suit

in

these

jurisdictions

as

well

asin

federal

practice.

在美国司法管辖区和联邦实践中只有一套民事诉讼形式2/6/202350法律英语Only

few

States

continue

to

maintain

a

separate

chancery

court.

独立大法官法庭2/6/202351法律英语Referencetothehistoricaldevelopmentisimportant

参考历史发展非常重要Itexplainstheoriginandsignificanceofmanycontemporarylegalconceptsthe

equity衡平法2/6/202352法律英语

it

is

still

relevant

for

the

decision

of

such

questionsReferencetothehistoricaldevelopmentisimportant

参考历史发展非常重要

a

right

to

a

trial

by

jury

陪审团的审判权2/6/202353法律英语“ordinary”

common

law

relief

of

damages

普通法规定的赔偿金救济“extraordinary”

equity

remedy

of

specific

performance

衡平法规定的特定履行救济2/6/202354法律英语共同法与衡平法的差异，在于共同法官在适用其首创的程序和规则时所采取的严厉程度。共同法如此严厉，其结果就是需要对下列场予以救济：案件之衡平公正要求救助，而共同法的技术性规定地成了拦路虎，大法官主持的衡平法院。数百年来大法官得出的一套原则，后来就被称之为衡平法了，救助这一概念是灵活的很大程度上有赖于大法官对每一个案件适用良知原则。随着时间的推移，衡平法原则本身发生僵化而失去了灵活性。英国国会1873年通过法院法融两者为一炉，使共同法原则与衡平法原则在英国各级法院中同等适用。2/6/202355法律英语Thecommonlawexhibitedamarkdifferencebetweenlawandequity,inconsequenceofthestrictnesswithwhichthecommonlawjudgeappliedtherulesandprocedurestheyhadevolved.Thestrictnessofcommonlawresultedintheneedforredressinthosesituationswheretheequitiesofthecasecriedoutforreliefbutthetechnicalitiesofthecommonlawstoodintheway.TheEnglishlitigantturnedwasthecourtofchancerypresidedoverbythelordchancellor.(大法官全称lordhighchancellorofgreatBritain)2/6/202356法律英语theprinciplesresultingfromthedecisionsofchancellorsoverthecenturiescametobeknownasequity.Atfirsttheconceptofequitablerelifwasflexible,anddependtoalargeextentonthechancellor’sapplicationofprinciplesofconsciencetoeachindividualcasebeforethem.Intime,equitableprinciplesthemselvesbecamehardenedandlostitsflexibility.BytheJudicatureActof1873,parliamentfusedthetwostreamsofEnglishjustice,makingthecommonlawandequityequallyapplicableinallEnglishcourts.2/6/202357法律英语在美国某些州（如联邦和纽约州）已经废除普通和衡平法院的区别。从而在同一种法院执行两种法了，少数几个州（如新泽西州）现仍保留全然有别的衡平法院和普通法院。另一些州（如宾西法尼亚州）则由法官轮流以普通法法官和衡平法官和身份坐堂。这一区别虽已不合时宜，但甚至衡平法院同普通法院已合而为一之场合，两者之原则仍不得混为一谈。其理由是：美国的各部宪法都只在按普通法原则办理的民事案件中才保证陪审。2/6/202358法律英语SomeUSjurisdictionssuchasfederalandNewYork,hasabolishedthedistinctionbetweencourtsoflawandequityandadministertwotypesinthesamecourt,afew,suchasNewJersey,retainentirelyseparatecourtsofequityandlaw.Others,suchasPennsylvania,haveajudgesitalternatelyasacommonlawjudgeandequityjudge.2/6/202359法律英语Thedistinctionisanachronistic,butevenwherelawandequitycourtshavebeenmergedtheprinciplesmustbekeptseparate.Thereasonforthatallourconstitutionsguaranteejurytrialincivilcasesundercommonlawprinciples.2/6/202360法律英语"Case

law"

describes

the

entire

body

of

judge

made

law

and

today

includes

common

law

and

equity

precedents.

“判例法”指所有的法官定法，目前既包括普通法，也包括衡平法先例。2/6/202361法律英语

In

imprecise

and

confusing

usage

the

terms

"common

law"

and

"case

law"

are

often

used

synonymously,

with

the

term

“common

law”

in

thisusage

connoting

judge-made

law

in

general

as

contrasted

with

statutory

law.

普通法与判例法混用，被用作同义词，是指“法官定法”。是与成文法相对的概念。2/6/202362法律英语“Case

law”

always

connotesjudge

made

law.判例法总是指法官定法"common

law"

：either

the

judge

made

law

in

common

law

subject

matters

or,

more

extensively,

all

judge-made

law.普通法既包括普通法意义上的法官定法，又包括更广义的所有的法官定法2/6/202363法律英语Theadvantageofthecaselawisthepowerofflexibilityandgrowth.Newdecisionsareconstantlybeingaddedasnewcasescomebeforethecourts.Inthiswaythelawtendstokeeppacewiththetimesandcanadaptitselftochangingcircumstances.Thedrawbacksofcaselawinsomecasesmerelytheconverseaspectsoftheadvantages.Forexample,jeremybenthamcriticisedtheprincipleofthelawfollowingtheeventdog’slawsystem,‘itis,’hesays,’thejudgesthatmakethecommonlaw,doyouknowhowtheymakeit?justasamanmakeslawsforhisdog,whenyourdogdoessomethingyouwanttobreakhimof,youwaittillhedoesitandthenbeathim,thisisthewayyoumakelawsforyourdog,thisisthewaythejudgemakeslawsforyou.2/6/202364法律英语案例法的优点，灵活性和成长的能力，随着一件件新的案件告到法院，一个个新的判决也就补充起来。这样法律就能跟上时代的步伐并适应不断变化的客观情况。案例法的害处，就是上述优点的反面。例如边沁曾对事后立法原则加以指责并称判例制度为狗法，他说：“是法官们在制度共同法，你知道他们是怎么样制定的吗？就同一个人替他的那条狗立法一样，狗做了人不让做的事情，人们事先袖手旁观，然后在事发后揍他。这是人替狗立法的方法，也是法官替你我立法的方式。2/6/202365法律英语Afurthercriticismisthatthebindingforceofprecedentlimitsjudicialdiscretion.Ithasbeensaidthatjudgesareengagedinforgingfettersfortheirownfeet.Thiscanbeillustratedbythedoctrineofcommonemployment.WhichwaslaiddownbythehouseoflordsinPriestleyv.Fowler(1837).Thisdoctrinesaidthatifaemployeewasinjuredbyafellowemployeewhilstbothwereactingwithinthescopeoftheiremployment,theiremployerwasnotliablevicariouslyforthenegligence.Theruleoperatedinamostunjustfashionduringtheperiodofgreatindustrialdevelopment,butitcontinuedtobindjudgesforoveracenturyuntilitwasfinallyabolishedbytheLawReform(PersonalInjuries)Act,1948.Allthejudgescoulddointhemeantimewastolimititsscope.2/6/202366法律英语案例法受的另一个指责，则是先例的的拘束力限制了审判上的裁量，有人还说，法官们是在替自己铸造脚镣。这一点可以用共同受雇说来加以说明，此说是由上议院在普里斯特告福尔一案中所规定的（1837），它说，如果两人在受雇范围内行事时，其中一人被同事伤害了，那么他俩的雇主对这一疏忽不代为负责。在工业大发展时期运用这一规则，是极不公道的。但是这条规则在（1948年人身伤害法律改良法）予以废除前，却拘束了法官百多年之久。这其间，法官能做的，只是限制这一规则的运用。2/6/202367法律英语重点词汇United

States

Supreme

CourtCommonlawlegalsystemCivillawlegalsystemCaselawStatutorylawclassical

Roman

law2/6/202368法律英语private

lawbindinginterpretationitinerant

judges

English

royal

courtEnforcement，claim，action，writwrit

upon

the

case2/6/202369法律英语equity

lawequitycase

lawex

aequo

et

bonospecific

performance

injunctionequitable

reliefcommon

law

reliefcommon

law

damages2/6/202370法律英语civil

suitJurisdictions

titletrial

by

juryjudge-made

law

2/6/202371法律英语Terms:

judicialprecedent司法先例anearlierjudicialdecisionwhichinfluencesorbindscourtsinlatersimilarcasesstaredecisis遵循先例的原则Similarcasesshouldbedecidedinthesamewayunlessthereisgoodreasonforacourttodootherwise.jurisdiction司法管辖权、司法管辖区thepowerofacourttohearanddecideacase;anareawhereacourthassuchpower2/6/202372法律英语

trialcourt/courtofthefirstinstance一审法院 thecourtwherethecaseisfirstheardcaseof(the)firstimpression无先例可循的