法律英语-何家弘

Lesson One: Legal System 法律制度

英属殖民地时期(the Period of the English Colonies)和美利坚合众国时期(the Period of the United States)。公诉制度(public prosecution)

美国属于普通法系(Common Law Legal System)

分散制(decentralization)为原则；以判例法(case law)为主体。

"零散的无系统"(fragmental no system)。成文法(written law)或制定法(statutory law)，

遵从前例"(stare decisis

Part One

The United States is at once a very new nation and a very old nation. It is a new nation compared with many other countries, and it is new, too, in the sense that it is constantly being renewed by the addition of new elements of population and of new States. But in other senses it is old. It is the oldest of the "new" nations--the first one to be made out of an Old World colony. It has the oldest written constitution, the oldest continuous federal system, and the oldest practice of self government of any nation.

美国既是一个非常新的国家也是一个非常老的国家。与许多别的国家相比它是一个新的国家。同时，它还因新人口成分和新州的加入而持续更新，在此意义上，它也是新国家。但是在其它的意义上它是老国家。它是最老的“新”国家——第一个由旧大陆殖民地脱胎而出的国家。它拥有最古老的成文宪法、最古老的持续的联邦体制以及最古老的民族自治实践。

One of the most interesting features of America s youth is that the whole of its history belongs in the period since the invention of the printing press. The whole of its history is, therefore, recorded: indeed, it is safe to say that no other major nation has so comprehensive a record of its history as has the United States, 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. And the American record is not only comprehensive; it is immense. It embraces not only the record of the colonial era and of the Nation since 1776, but of the present fifty States as well, and the intricate network of relationships between States and Nation. Thus, to take a very elementary example, the reports of the United States Supreme Court fill some 350 volumes, and the reports of some States are almost equally voluminous: the reader who wants to trace the history of law in America is confronted with over 5,000 stout volumes of legal cases.

美国的年轻（性）有一个很有意思的特点就是它的历史肇始于印刷机发明之后。因此它的整个历史都得以记录下来：确实可以很有把握地说，任何其它国家都没有像美国这样全面的历史记录，因为像在意大利、法国或者英国过去的传说中湮没的那样的事件在美国都成了有文字记载的历史之一部分。而且其记录不仅全面，还非常浩繁。不仅包括这个国家自1776年以来的殖民时期的记录，还有当前五十个州以及各州和联邦（nation）之间错综复杂的关系网络的历史记录。因此，据一个非常简单的例子，美国最高法院判例汇编有大约350卷，而一些州的判例汇编也几乎有同样多的卷数：想研究美国法律史的读者要面对的是超过5000巨卷的司法案例。

No one document, no handful of documents, can properly be said to reveal the character of a people or of their government. But when hundreds and thousands of documents strike a consistent note, over more than a hundred years, we have a right to say that is the keynote. When hundreds and thousands of documents address themselves in the same ways, to the same overarching problems, we have a right to read from them certain conclusions which we can call national characteristics.

我们不能说一个文件或几个文件就能揭示出一国人民或其政府的特性。但如果横跨一百多年的千百万个文件敲出始终如一的音调，我们就有理由说这就是其主调。当千百万个文件都以同样的方式去解决同样的中心问题，我们就有理由从中得出可以被称为国民特定的确定结论。

Part Two

The American legal system, like the English, is methodologically mainly a case law system. Most fields of private law still consist primarily of case law and the extensive and steadily growing statutory law continues to be subject to binding interpretation through case law. Knowledge of the case law method as well as of the technique of working with case law therefore is of central importance for an understanding of American law and legal methodology.

同英国一样，美国法律制度从方法论上来说主要是一种判例法制度。许多私法领域仍然主要是由判例法构成，广泛而不断增长的制定法一直受制于有约束力的（解释制定法的）判例法。因此，判例法方法的知识以及使用判例法的技巧对于理解美国法律和法律方法是极其重要的。

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. The enforcement of a claim presupposed the existence of a special form of action, a writ, with the result that the original common law represented a system of "actions" similar to that of classical Roman law. If a writ existed (in 1227) a claim could be enforced; there was no recourse for a claim without a writ, the claim did not exist. 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.

从历史的角度来看，普通法就是由英国皇家法院的巡回法官的判决所得出的普通的一般法——优于地方法。采纳或执行某项诉讼请求是以存在法院令状这种特殊形式的诉为前提的，而这就使最初的普通法表现为由类似于古罗马法的“诉”所构成的体系。如果存在令状（于1227年），诉讼请求就可以被采纳或执行；没有法院令状（为前提）的诉讼请求就没有追索权，因而该诉讼请求也不存在。“牛津条例”（1285年）禁止创设除了“个案令状”之外的新令状，这种“个案令状”使该制度变得较为灵活了，而且导致了后来合同和侵权法的发展。

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. "Equity", in its general meaning of doing "equity", deciding ex aequo et bono, was first granted by the King, and later by his Chancellor as "keeper of the King's conscience", to afford relief in hardship cases. 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. Its rules and maxims became fixed and, to a degree, inflexible as in any legal system. Special characteristics of equity law include: relief in the form of specific performance (in contrast to the common law award of compensatory damages), the injunction (a temporary or final order to do or not to do a specific act), the development of so called maxims of equity law which permeated the entire legal system and in many cases explain the origin of modern legal

concepts. However, equitable relief regularly will lie only when the common law relief is inadequate. For instance, specific performance for the purchase of real property will be granted because common law damages are deemed to be inadequate since they cannot compensate the buyer in view of the uniqueness attributed to real property 对于诉的形式的严格限制及由此产生的对追索权的限制导致了衡平法和衡平判例法的发展。“衡平”的一般意义就是寻求“公平”，即公平且善良地裁决，它最初是由国王，后来由作为“国王良知守护人”的大法官颁行，以便在艰难的案件中提供救济。但是到了十四世纪，衡平法和衡平判例法发展成了一个独立的法律制度和与一般的普通法法院一争高下的司法系统（衡平法院）。其规则和格言变得非常固定而且在某种程度上不像在其它法律制度中一样灵活。衡平法的特点有：以特定履行（或实际履行）的方式提供救济（与普通法提供补偿性损害赔偿金的救济方式形成对照）；强制令（为或者不为某项具体行为的临时或者最终法令）；渗透了整个法律制度并且能在许多场合下揭示现代法律概念的起源的所谓的衡平法格言的发展。不过，一般都是只有在普通法救济不充分时，才会出现衡平法救济。比如，优于普通法损害赔偿金被认为是不充分的，这是因为考虑到不动产所具有的唯一性，这些赔偿金无法补偿不动产购买人（的损失），就可能判以特定履行购买不动产。

As the common law, equity law became part of American law either through judicial acceptance or through express statutory provision. Today, both legal systems have been merged in many American jurisdictions (beginning with New York in 1848), with the result that there is only one form of civil suit in these jurisdictions as well as

in federal practice. Only few States continue to maintain a separate chancery court. Nevertheless, the reference to the historical development is important because, on the one hand, it explains the origin and significance of many contemporary legal concepts (for instance the division of title in the law of property) and, on the other hand, it is still relevant for the decision of such questions whether, for instance, there is a right to a trial by jury (only in the case of common law suits, in other cases only before the judge). In addition, the differentiation will determine whether the "ordinary" common law relief of damages applies or whether the "extraordinary" equity remedy of specific performance is available.

与普通法一样，衡平法通过司法接纳或通过明确的制定法条款，成了美国法律的一部分。目前，这两个法律制度在许多美国司法管辖区中得以融合（始于1848年的纽约），因而，在这些司法管辖区以及联邦的实践中只存在一种形式的民事诉讼。只有为数很少的州还保留着单独的衡平法院。尽管如此，提及这一历史演变仍然是很重要的，因为它一方面解释了许多当代法律概念（如财产法中的所有权分割）的起源和意义，另一方面，它仍然与做出某些裁决有一定的关联，比如是否有权获得陪审团的审理（这仅发生与普通法的讼案中，在其它案件中仅由法官审理）。另外，这种区别将决定“通常的”普通法赔偿金救济是否适用或者是否可以使用“特别的”衡平法特定履行救济。

"Case law"describes the entire body of judge made law and today includes common law and equity precedents. In imprecise and confusing usage the terms "common law" and "case law" are often used synonymously, with the term "common law" in this usage connoting judge made law in general as contrasted with statutory law. "Case law" always connotes judge made law, while "common law" in

contrast--depending on the meaning intended--describes either the judge made law in common law subject matters or, ore extensively, all judge made law.

“判例法”代表了整个的法官造法体系，而且在现代还包括了普通法和衡平法先例。在不准确的和令人迷惑的用法中，“普通法”和“判例法”这两个术语通常被当作同义词来使用，在这里，“普通法”这个术语一般代表着法官制定的法，以示区别制定法。“判例法”总是代表着法官制定的法律，而“普通法”则相对来说，根据想表达的意思不同，要么代表普通法主题事项（即具体问题）上法官制定的法律，要么在更广范围内指所有法官制定的法律。

Lesson Two：Legal Profession 法律职业

Part One：The Bar

The regulation of the legal profession is primarily the concern of the states, each of which has its own requirements for admission to practice. Most require three years of college and a law degree. Each state administers its own written examination to applicants for its bar. Almost all states, however, make use of the Multistate Bar Exam, a day long multiple choice test, to which the state adds a day long essay examination emphasizing its own law. A substantial fraction of all applicants succeed on the first try, and many of those who fail pass on a later attempt. In all, over forty thousand persons succeed in passing these examinations each year and, after an inquiry into their character, are admitted to the bar in their respective states. No apprenticeship is required either before or after admission. The rules for admission to practice before the federal courts vary with the court, but generally those entitled to practice before the highest court of a state may be admitted before the federal courts upon compliance with minor formalities.

法律职业的规范主要是各州的事务，每一各州对于执业许可都有其自己的要求。大多数州都要求三年的学业和法律学位。各州自行管理本州申请律师资格的书面考试。不过，几乎所有的州都利用“多州律师资格考试”，这是一种长达一天的多项选择测试，在这项考试之外，各州还会再增加一次主要是关于其本州法律的时长一天的论文考试。大多数申请人都可以通过第一次考试，而且许多失败者都会在下一次考试中通过。每年有四万多人通过这些考试，在经过人品调查之后，他们便可获准在相应的州执业许可。在获得许可之前或之后都不要求实习。到各联邦法院执业的许可规则互不相同，但一般来讲，那些获准在州最高法院执业的律师在办理一些无关紧要的手续之后即可获准在联邦法院执业。

A lawyer's practice is usually confined to a single community for, although a lawyer may travel to represent clients, one is only permitted to practice in a state where one has been admitted. It is customary to retain local counsel for matters in other jurisdictions. However, one who moves to another state can usually be admitted without examination if one has practiced in a state where one has been admitted for some time, often five years.

律师执业范围通常仅限于一个地区，因为尽管律师可以代表当事人到其它地区办理事务，但是一个人只能在其获得许可的州内执业。人们习惯雇用本州的律师办理其它洲的事务。但是，只要一个人已经在其获得职业资格的州执业达一定时间（通常是五年），那么他移居到另外一个州时通常无需考试便可获得执业许可。

A lawyer may not only practice law, but is permitted to engage in any activity that is open to other citizens. It is not uncommon for the practicing lawyer to serve on boards of directors of corporate clients, to engage in business, and to participate actively in public affairs. A lawyer remains a member of the bar even after becoming a judge, an employee of the government or of a private business concern, or a law teacher, and may return to private practice from these other activities. A relatively small number of lawyers give up practice for responsible executive positions in commerce and industry. The mobility as well as the sense of public responsibility in the profession is evidenced by the career of Harlan Fiske Stone who was, at various

times, a successful New York lawyer, a professor and dean of the Columbia School of Law, Attorney General of the United States, and Chief Justice of the United States.

律师不仅可以从事法律事务，还允许从事任何其他公民能从事的事务。执业律师在企业客户的董事会中工作、从事商业或者积极参与公共事务都是很平常的事情。律师即使在成为法官、政府或者私人企业集团的雇员或者法律教师之后仍然是律师协会的会员，他们可以辞掉这些其它事务，回头开始私人执业。为了在工商业中担任重要的执行职务而放弃执业的律师人数相对较少。这一职业中的流动性和公共责任感的一个例证是哈兰·菲斯克的职业生涯，他曾多次成为一名纽约州律师、一名教授和哥伦比亚法学院院长、美国总检察长和美国最高法院首席大法官。

There is no formal division among lawyers according to function. The distinction between barristers and solicitors found in England did not take root in the United States, and there is no branch of the profession that has a special or exclusive right to appear in court, nor is there a branch that specializes in the preparation of legal instruments. The American lawyer s domain includes advocacy, counselling, and drafting. Furthermore, within the sphere broadly defined as the "practice of law" the domain is exclusive and is not open to others. In the field of advocacy, the rules are fairly clear: any individual may represent himself or herself in court but, with the exception of a few inferior courts, only a lawyer may represent another in court. Nonlawyers are, however, authorized to represent others in formal proceedings of a judicial nature before some administrative agencies. The lines of demarcation are less clear in the areas of counselling and drafting of legal instruments, as for example between the practice of law and that of accounting in the field of federal income taxation. However, the strict approach of most American courts is indicated by a decision of New York s highest court that a lawyer admitted to practice in a foreign country but not in New York is prohibited from giving legal advice to clients in New York, even though the advice is limited to the law of the foreign country where the lawyer is admitted. A foreign lawyer may, however, be admitted to the bar of one of the states and may, even without being admitted, advise an American lawyer as a consultant on foreign law

律师并不按照职责进行正式的划分。在英国对诉讼律师和非诉律师的区分并没有移植到美国，既不存在拥有特别或者专有出庭权的职业群体，也没有专门制作法律文书的职业群体。美国律师的业务范围包括出庭辩护、咨询和起草文书。另外，在被广泛地成为“法律执业”的范围之内，律师的业务范围是专有性的，不对其他人开放。在出庭辩护领域，这种规则非常清楚：任何个人都可以代表其自己出庭，但除了一些基层法院之外，只有律师可以代表他人出庭。不过，律师不得代表他人参与一些行政机关设立的具有司法性质的正式程序当中。在咨询和起草法律文书领域的界限并不是太清晰，比如在在联邦所得税领域的法律执业和会计执业之间就是如此。但是，纽约最高法院的一个裁决表明了大多数美国法院的严格标准，该裁决认为，一个获准在外国执业单位获准在纽约执业的律师不得在纽约对客户提供法律咨询，即使该意见仅限于该律师获准执业的该外国的法律。但是，一个外国律师可能获准在一个州执业，而且无需获得许可便可以以一个外国法律顾问的身份向美国律师提供法律咨询。

Part Two：Lawyers in Private Practice

Among these fifteen lawyers in practice, nine, a clear majority, are single practitioners. The remaining six practice in law firms, which are generally organized as partnerships. Four or five of these six are partners and the others are associates, a term applied to salaried lawyers employed by a firm or another lawyer. This trend toward group practice is of relatively recent origin. Throughout most of the nineteenth century law practice was general rather than specialized, its chief ingredient was advocacy rather than counselling and drafting, and the prototype of the American lawyer was the single practitioner. Marked specialization began in the latter part of that century in the large cities near the financial centers. With the growth of big business, big government, and big labor, the work of the lawyer accomodated itself to the needs of clients for expert counselling and drafting to prevent as well as to settle disputes. The best lawyers were attracted to this work and leadership of the bar gravitated to persons who rarely if ever appeared in court and who were sought after as advisors, planners, and negotiators. Today the lawyer regards it as sound practice to be continuously familiar with clients business problems and to participate at all steps in the shaping of their policies. Major business transactions are rarely undertaken without advice of counsel.

第二部分私人执业中的律师

每十五个执业律师中有九个（明显的多数）都是单独执业者。剩下六个在律师事务所执业，这些所一般是合伙制。这六个律师中有四到五个都是合伙人，其余的为非合伙律师（雇佣律师）。这种集体执业的趋势只是在近年来才开始出现。十九世纪的大多数时间内，律师执业都是非专业化的，其主要内容是辩护而不是咨询和起草法律文书，因此美国律师的最早形式是单独执业。明显的专业化出现于十九世纪后期金融中心附近的大城市里。随着出现大型的企业、庞大的政府和大规模的劳工，律师的工作本身要适应客户对解决争端以及专业咨询和起草法律文书等预防性法律事务的需要。出类拔萃的律师都被吸引到这一领域，而且律师职业领导的重心转向了那些很少出庭的从事顾问、做计划以及从事谈判的人。现在，律师认为不断熟悉客户的业务问题并参与其政策制定的各个步骤已经成了一种正常、合理的执业形式。

Part Three: House Counsel

Out of every twenty lawyers, two are employed by private business concerns, such as industrial corporations, insurance companies, and banks, usually as house or corporate counsel in the concern s legal department. The growth of corporations, the complexity of business, and the multitude of problems posed by government regulation make it desirable for such firms to have in their employ persons with legal training who, at the same time, are intimately familiar with the particular problems and conditions of the firm. In large corporations the legal department may number one hundred or more. The general counsel, who heads the office, is usually an officer of the company and may serve on important policy making committees and perhaps even on the board of directors. House counsel remain members of the bar and are entitled to appear in court, though an outside lawyer is often retained for litigation. However, it is the house counsel s skill as advisor rather than as advocate that is a valued asset. Constantly in touch with the employer s problems, house counsel is ideally situated to practice preventive law and may also be called upon to advise the company on its broader obligation to the public and the nation.

第三部分专职法律顾问

每二十个律师当中有两个受雇于私人企业，如工业公司、保险公司和银行。他们通常在企业的法律部门工作，作为专职或者企业法律顾问。公司规模的扩大、业务的复杂以及政府管制所产生的问题的多样化使得这类企业需要在企雇员中有受过法律培训的人员，这些人同时还非常熟悉企业的具体问题和情况。在一些大公司中，法律部的人数可能超过百人。该部门的主任，也叫总法律顾问，通常是公司的一名高级职员，可能供职于重要的决策委

员会，甚至是董事会成员。专职法律顾问也是律师协会的成员并有权出庭代理诉讼，尽管公司打官司通常还是回请外部律师担任诉讼代理人。但是，专职法律顾问的特长是咨询而不是诉讼代理，这是他的一种宝贵资产。由于不断接触雇主的各类问题，专职法律顾问的理想定位是预防性法律事务，它还可以根据要求向公司就其对公众和国家更为广泛的义务提供咨询。

Part Four：Lawyers in Government

A parallel development has taken place in government and two out of twenty lawyers are now employees of the federal, state, county, and municipal governments, exclusive of the judiciary. Many of those entering public service are recent law graduates who find government salaries sufficiently attractive at this stage of their careers and seek the training that such service may offer as a prelude to private practice. Limitations on top salaries, however, discourage some from continuing with the government. The majority serves by appointment in the legal departments of a variety of federal and state agencies and local entities. The United States Department of Justice alone employs more than two thousands, and the Law Department of the City of New York more than four hundreds. Others are engaged as public prosecutors. Federal prosecutors, the United States attorneys and their assistants, are appointed by the President and are subordinate to the Attorney General of the United States. State prosecutors, sometimes known as district attorneys, are commonly elected by each county and are not under the control of the state attorney general. As a rule, lawyers in government are directly engaged in legal work, since law training is infrequently sought as preparation for general government service. However, a small but important minority that constitutes an exception to this rule consists of those who have been appointed to high executive positions and those who have been elected to political office. Though the participation of lawyers in government has declined recently, for two centuries lawyers have made up roughly half of the Congress of the United States and of the state governors. These figures bear out the comment of Chief Justice Stone that, "No tradition of our profession is more cherished by lawyers than that of its leadership in public affairs."

第四部分政府律师

律师职业在政府中也出现了同样的发展，目前每二十个律师中有两个（不包括法官）受雇于联邦、州、县和市镇政府。进入公共服务领域的人许多是认为在其工作生涯的这一阶段政府工资有吸引力和寻求锻炼机会并将这种锻炼作为私人执业前奏的法学毕业生。他们大多数都是通过任命而供职于联邦和州的各级政府机关以及劳工组织中的法律部门。仅美国司法部一家就雇佣了两千多名律师，纽约市的法律部雇的人数超过四千。其他律师的角色是公诉人。联邦公诉人，即美国的检察官及其助理由总统任命，受美国总检察长领导。州公诉人，有时是地区检察官，通常由各县选举产生，并且不受州检察长的控制。作为一种规则，政府律师都是直接从事法律工作，因为法律培训很少作为一般的政府服务的准备工作。但是，那些被任命为高级行政职务和被选举担任政治官职的人是这一规则的一个少数但却很重要的例外。尽管近来律师参与政府工作在减少，但两个世纪以来律师已经构成了美国国会和各州州长的大约半数。这些数字证明了斯通大法官的话：“在我们的职业传统中，没有一个能像其担任公共事务领导的传统那样受到律师们的钟爱。”

Lesson Three: Legal Education 法律教育

必修课(Required Course)为主，包括合同法(Contract Law)、侵权法(Tort Law)、财产法(Property Law)、刑法(Criminal Law)、民事诉讼(Civil Procedure)和法律文书写作(Legal Writing)等；选修课(Elective Course)

批判性思维(critical thinking)

案例教学法(Case Method)和

问答式即苏格拉底式教学法(Socratic Method)。

In 1983, over 125,000 law students were studying in more than 170 ABA accredited law schools including public law schools supported in part by government funds; private law schools supported by contributions from individuals and foundation funds; and local or national schools offering full time or part time legal study programs. As virtually the only way to prepare for membership in the legal profession, law schools in the United States fulfill several functions including professional training and socialization of future lawyers and screening and gatekeeping for entrance to the profession. Since there is no central institution where all lawyers practice, the only institutional experience which lawyers have in common is law school.

1983年，在170多所经美国律师协会认可的法学院里就读的法学学生有125000多名。这些法学院包括由部分由政府资助的公立法学院、靠个人和基金会捐助维持的私立法学院、以及提供全日制或者业余法律学习课程的地方性和全国性学校。作为事实上的走向法律职业的唯一途径，美国的法学院履行着许多职能，包括开展职业培训、使未来的律师具备社交能力以及对准备进入法律职业的人进行筛选和把关等。由于没有一个供所有律师进行实习的中心机构，律师共同拥有的机构性经历只能是法学院。

The criticisms which range from "mild to caustic" of the way in which law schools have carried out these functions and of the functions themselves have been persistent, diverse and rooted in the historical and political development of the profession. These criticisms have focussed on the curriculum and the dominance of the case method; the distribution of power and prestige reflected in the hierarchy within and among the law schools; and the imbalance in terms of women and minorities in the student body and faculty in the law schools

那些关于法学院行使这些功能的方式以及这些功能本身的从温和到刻薄的批评是持续的、多样化的，而且根植于该职业的历史和政治发展之中。这些批评集中于课程和以案例教学法为主导方面、在法学院内部和法学院之间的等级制度上的权力和声望的分配方面以及在法学院的学生中和教师中的女性和少数民族成员的不平衡问题。Part One：Curriculum and the Case Method

The traditional first year program offered in virtually all American law schools includes contracts, torts, property, criminal law and civil procedure. Duncan Kennedy has described the traditional first year curriculum as basically teaching the ground rules for late 19th century laissez faire capitalism. The second year and third year course expound the moderate reformist New Deal program and the administrative structure of the modern regulatory state. The peripheral subjects, if they are offered, include legal philosophy, legal history, legal process, and clinical education, a "kind of playground or finishing school for learning the social art of self presentation as a lawyer".

第一部分课程与案例教学法

实际上在所有的美国法学院中都开设传统的一年级课程，包括合同、侵权、财产、刑法和民事程序等。Duncan Kennedy认为这些传统的一年级课程基本上是讲授19世纪晚期自由资本主义的基础性规则。二年级和三年级课程讲述的是温和改革主义的“新政”课程和现代法治（管制？）国家的行政结构。可能开设的边缘学科包括法哲学、法律史、法律程序以及诊所式教育，即“一种学习作为律师所应具备的自我表达社交艺术的操练场和精修学校”。

However, as new areas of the law continue to develop in response to contemporary issues and problems, some law schools have expanded curricula to include courses and clinical programs in environmental law, housing and urban development, women s rights, health in the workplace, welfare rights and consumer protection. There are also increasing efforts to teach law in interdisciplinary contexts, drawing on other disciplines such as history, psychology, sociology, medicine, and economics.

但是由于新的法律领域随着当代问题的出现而不断发展，一些法学院将课程予以扩展，包括环境法方面的课程和诊所式课程，住房和城市发展、女权、工作场所的健康、福利权以及消费者保护等。并且还越来越多地以交叉学科的背景讲授法律，向其他学科靠近，如历史、心理学、社会学、医学以及经济学等。

In teaching the traditional curriculum, law teachers in almost all the law schools use to some extent the case method or the Socratic method. Developed in the 1870 s by Christopher Columbus Langdell at the Harvard Law School, the case method looked to the common law as the source of legal priniciples and focussed on the teaching of an abstract conception of the law as a science. The legal principles elicited were to be taught divorced from the "grubby world of practice--and also from politics, history, economics, and social contexts". This narrow formalistic approach was justified on the ground that it taught students how to state, analyze, evaluate and compare concrete fact situations thus developing their powers and skills of analysis, reasoning, and expression.

在讲授传统课程时，几乎所有法学院的法学教师都在某种程度上使用案例教学法或者苏格拉底教学法。这种案例教学法是由克里斯托弗·哥伦布·兰德尔于1870年杂哈佛法学院创立的，它所关注的是作为法律原则渊源的普通法并重视将抽象的法律概念作为一种科学进行讲授。他以一种独立于“低层次的实践领域，并且也独立于政治学、历史学、经济学以及社会学背景的”方式讲授这种归纳出来的法律原则。这种狭隘的形式主义方法由于教给了学生如何说明、分析、评价和比较具体的实际情况并因此开发了他们分析、推理和表达的能力而被证明是非常有效的。

However, this process of learning "how to think like a lawyer" has been criticized as having an adverse impact both on the students and the quality of future lawyering. Students, law teachers, and others have pointed to the alienation, anxiety, hostility and aggression caused by use of the case method or Socratic method. The narrow and destructive interaction of this dialogue, or often "nondialogue", contributes to the impairment of the ability to care about other people, a professional unemotionalism and cynicism on the part of law students. And it is not only the law students who suffer from this narrowing of their professional selves. The work of a lawyer involves continuous contacts with clients, associates, other lawyers, judges, witnesses, others affected by the law, and involves the lawyer s own goals, attitudes, performance, and sense of satisfaction.

但是，这种学习“如何像律师一样思考”的课程却被批评者认为对学生及其未来从事律师工作的质量造成了负面影响。使用这种案例教学法或苏格拉底教学法导致学生、法学教师以及其他人走向异化、焦虑、敌对和攻击性的道路。这种师生对话或者通常的“老师一人独讲”教学法的狭隘的和破坏性的交互作用导致对法学学生爱护他人的能力的损害，即一种职业性的冷漠（情感缺失）和玩世不恭。而且这种狭隘的自我职业意识的受害者不仅仅是法学学生。律师的工作涉及到他们与客户、雇佣律师、其他律师、法官、证人以及其他涉案人员的一系列合同，也涉及到律师的自我目标、态度、成就以及满足感。

Part Two：Law School Hierarchy

Duncan Kennedy has described the law schools as "intensely political places", characterized by a "trade school mentality, the endless attention to trees at the expense of forests." The law schools function as the institution for "ideological training for willing service in the hierarchies of the corporate welfare state". In the ranking and evaluation of students, students learn to accept their place in a hierarchy which is presented as just and inevitable and "so prepare themselves for all the hierarchies to follow". In the law teachers modeling of hierarchical relationships with students, colleagues, secretaries and support staff, students learn a particular style of condescension towards perceived inferiors and deference towards perceived superiors. And under the subtle but intense pressure to conform to the "white, male, middle class tone" set by law faculties which are overwhelmingly white, male, and middle class, law students adapt, "partly out of fear, partly out of hope of gain, partly out of genuine admiration for their role models". In these ways, "legal education is one of the causes of legal hierarchy. Legal education supports it by analogy, provides it a general legitimating ideology by justifying the rules that underlie it, and provides it a particular ideology by mystifying legal reasoning. Legal education structures the pool of prospective lawyers so that their hierarchical organization seems inevitable, and trains them to look and think and act just like all the other lawyers in the system" .

第二部分法学院的等级

邓肯·肯尼迪曾将法学院描述为“具有强烈政治色彩的地方”，具有“中等专业学校的思想水平，且只见树木不见森林”的特征。法学院作为“在思想意识上培训学生自愿服务于这个共同福利国家的等级制度之中”的机构而发挥作用。在对学生进行排位和评价的过程中，学生们学会了接收他们在这种表现为正当而必然的等级制度中的地位，并“因此准备进入随后的所有各阶层当中”。通过法学教师与学生、同事、秘书以及后勤人员的等级关系的示范，学生们学会了俯就被认为地位低的人而遵从被认为地位高的人这一特定的风格。而且在以白人、男性和中产阶级为主导的法学院教师所设定的遵从“白人、男性和中产阶级”的微妙而强大的压力之下，学生们也调适了自己，“其原因部分是由于敬畏，部分由于获利的希望，部分是由于他们对其榜样的真心敬慕”。法学教育以这些方式“成为了法律等级的一个诱因。法学教育通过类推支持这种等级，通过将其背后的规则正当化的方式提出一个普遍的合法性思想意识，而且通过将法律推理神秘化的方式为其提供一种特定的意识观念。法律教育将未来的律师这一群体进行排列从而使他们的等级组织结构似乎是必然的，它还培训他们像这一系统中的所有其他律师完全一样地进行观察、思考和行动”。

In addition to the hierarchy within the law schools suggested by Kennedy, other analyses of the law schools functions and relationship to the profession suggest the existence of a hierarchy among the law schools. The top dozen or so elite law schools occupy a position of power and prestige which is partially reflected in the professional career paths of their graduates and in the "old boy networks" connecting the law schools and the rest of the legal profession. The models of the "law school as the

gateway to the American power elite became possible with the New Deal". Felix Frankfurter s placement network for the "best and the brightest" into influential public policy positions during the New Deal in the 1930 s was an early example of this kind of network. During his tenure at Harvard and later while on the Supreme Court, Frankfurter developed an "old boy network" which was intimately involved with the placement of many of the "elite" lawyers, all of whom were white and male, into public service. The typical Frankfurter recruit was "a graduate of Harvard Law School, politically liberal, usually ranked high in his class, and either an obvious product of upper class gentile culture or an obvious product of a radically different culture who was 'comfortable' in the upper class gentile world".

除了肯尼迪所指的法学院内部的等级之外，其他关于法学院功能及其与职业之间的关系的研究表明，法学院之间也存在着等级之分。前十几位的精英法学院有着较高的权威和地位，其毕业生的职业生涯以及连接着法学院和其他法律职业的“老同学关系网”也部分地反映出了这一点。“随着‘新政’的实施，作为进入美国权力精英门槛的法学院”模式成了可能。这一关系网的最早范例是费利柯斯·弗兰克福特在1930年代的新政期间为进入有影响的公共政策职位的那些“顶尖人物”所罗织的职业介绍网。弗兰克福特在其哈佛法学院以及随后在最高法院的任职期间，发起了一个“老同学关系网”，主要是招募大量进入公共服务领域的“精英”律师，他们大多都是白人和男性。典型的弗兰克福特新会员是“一名哈佛法学院的毕业生，自由主义政治观点，在其班级通常排名靠前，而且要么是一个明显的上等阶层异教文化的产物，要么是一个明显在上等阶层异教群体内能够‘如鱼得水’的完全不同的文化的产物”。

In the current hiring practices of the major law firms and in the competition for judicial clerkships, and in the appointments to law faculties, the graduates of the elite schools continue to have an advantage over graduates of other schools. In a recent study of Chicago lawyers, Zemans and Rosenblum found that lawyers who attended "high prestige law schools and graduated in the top 20 percent of their classes were much more likely to practice in large firms and specialize in high prestige fields of law". In terms of appointments to law faculties, 60% of the legal profession s teaching specialists are produced by fewer than 15% of the nation s accredited law schools. These law teacher producer schools are mostly national, located in urban locations, and include schools such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia, University of Michigan, Chicago, New York University, Northwestern University, and Georgetown. If it is true that the full time faculty of the law schools "have a virtual monopoly on who will and will not enter the (legal) profession" and "on the power to mold future generations", then the existence of a hierarchy among the law schools suggests that an elite group of schools is primarily responsible for staffing the law schools, which in turn produce lawyers for the hierarchies within the profession.

在当前的主要律师事务所雇佣实践中，在法院职员的竞聘中，以及在选定法学院教师时，精英法学院的毕业生一直比其他法学院的毕业生具有优势。在最近对芝加哥律师进行的一项调查中，Zemans和Rosenblum发现，从“地位较高的法学院并且其班级排名在前20位的”律师“更容易在大型律师事务所执业并且在社会地位较高的法律领域工作”。在选任法学教师方面，有60%的法律职业讲授专家来自于不及15%的全国经认可的法学院。这些生产法学教师的法学院大多是坐落于城市的全国性法学院，包括诸如哈佛大学、耶鲁大学、哥伦比亚大学、密歇根大学、芝加哥大学、纽约大学、西北大学和乔治敦大学等的法学院。如果法学院的全日制教师“实际上垄断着谁将进入和谁不能进入这一（法律）职业”并且垄断着“塑造未来数代人的权力”，那么在法学院之间存在等级之分就表明精英法学院群体对于向法学院提供教员负有主要责任，这些法学院转而为该职业内部的各个阶层继续培养律师。

Lesson Four：Judicial System 司法系统

Background背景

美国法院系统的突出特点是"双轨制"，即由联邦法院和州法院这两个相互独立且平行的体系组成。联邦法院行使美国宪法授与联邦政府的司法管辖权。在刑事领域中，联邦法院负责审理那些违犯联邦法律的刑事案件；在民事领域中，联邦法院负责审理以合众国为一方、涉及"联邦性质的问题"，以及发生在不同州的公民之间且有管辖权争议等种类的民事案件。州法院的司法管辖权较为广泛。按照美国宪法的规定，凡是法律未明确授与联邦法院的司法管辖权，均属于州法院。在实践中，绝大多数刑事案件和大多数民事案件都是由各州法院审判的。

联邦法院是一个统一的系统。它由联邦最高法院(the Supreme Court)、13个联邦上诉法院(Courts of Appeals)和94个联邦地区法院(District Courts)组成。此外还有索赔法院(the Court of Claims)、关税法院(the Customs Court)、关税及专利上诉法院(the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals)等联邦特别法院(Special Courts)。各州的法院系统并不完全相同，但一般也都包括三级法院：基层法院多称为审判法院(Trial Court)或巡回法院(Circuit Court)；中级法院多称为上诉法院(Appellate Court or Court of Appeals)；高级法院多称为最高法院(Supreme Court)，但在纽约等州，高级法院称为上诉法院。许多州也有一些专门法院，如遗嘱检验法院(Probate Court)、青少年法院(Juvenile Court)、家庭关系法院(Court of Domestic Relations)和小额索赔法院(Small Claims Court)等。此外，每个城市还有自己的法院，主要负责审理交通违法、青少年犯罪、家庭纠纷及其他与城市法令有关的案件。

美国的联邦法官都是由总统任命的；各州的法官多经选举产生，但也有些是由地方行政长官(如州长或市长)或地方立法机关(如州议会或市议会)任命的。一般来说，联邦和州最高法院的法官称为大法官(Justice)，上诉法院和审判法院的法官则称为法官(Judge)。此外，有此基层法院的审判人员还称为治安法官(Justice of the Peace)或司法官(Magistrate)。美国的法官虽没有职称级别之分，但人们有时也会看到"副"(Associate，或译"助理")法官的称谓。例如，美国联邦最高法院的9名大法官中，除首席大法官(Chief Justice)外，其他8人均可称为副(或助理)大法官(Associate Justice)；而一些州审判法院的巡回法官(Circuit Judge)之下也设有副(或助理)法官(Associate Judge)。在美国，一审案件一般由一名法官独立审判，上诉案件则由若干名法官组成合议庭(Collegiate Panel or Collegiate Bench)共同审判。

Part One：Courts

There are fifty two separate court systems in the United States. Each state, as well as the District of Columbia, has its own fully developed, independent system of courts and there is a separate federal court system. The federal courts are not superior to the state courts; they are an independent, coordinate system authorized by the United States Constitution, Art. Ⅲ,§2, to handle matters of particular federal interest. The presence of two parallel court systems often raises questions concerning the relationship of the state and federal systems, presenting important issues of federalism. The United States Supreme Court, composed of nine justices, sits as the final and controlling voice over all these systems.

第一部分法院

美国共有五十二个独立的法院系统。哥伦比亚特区以及每一个州都有其自己非常发达和独立的法院系统，另外还有一个独立的联邦法院系统。联邦法院并不高于州法院；它们是由美国宪法第3条第2款授权的一个处理特定联邦利益的独立的并列存在的系统。存在两套平行的法院系统经常会产生关于州和联邦系统的关系问题，这是联邦主义的重要问题。由九位大法官组成的美国最高法院位于所有这些系统之上，具有最终的和支配性的发言权。

Although a few states, such as Nebraska, have a two tiered system, most states, as well as the federal courts, are based on a three tiered model. That means that for any litigant there will be the opportunity to plead his case before a trial court and then, should he lose, there are two levels of appeal at which he ultimately may succeed. For example, in the federal system the trial court is the United States District Court, of which there is at least one in every state. Many larger states are divided into two, three

or even four judicial districts, depending on population, geography and caseload. There are ninety-four districts in the United States and each district court has one judge, or more commonly two or more. After an adverse judgment in the district court, a litigant may appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the district court is located. There are eleven numbered intermediate appellate courts in the federal system, each including anywhere from three to ten states and territories. Additionally, there is a Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, hearing appeals from the federal district court there, and one for the Federal Circuit, taking appeals from various specialized federal tribunals, such as the Claims Court. Each court of appeals has four or more judges who sit in panels of three to review district court decisions, as well as some decisions of administrative agencies. A losing litigant in the court of appeals may, in some cases, be able to obtain review by the United States Supreme Court. Cases in the state courts similarly may proceed through a trial court, a state appellate court, and then the state supreme court. If a federal constitutional question is involved the decision of the state supreme court may be reviewed by the United States Supreme Court. Since 1988, review by the Supreme Court in civil cases is discretionary; virtually all civil appeals as of right to the highest court have been abolished.

尽管不少州如内布拉斯加有一个两级体制，而联邦法院和大多数州都是三级模式。这意味着对于任何诉讼人，都有机会将其案件提交到审判法院，如果他败诉了，那么还有两个级别的上诉的权利，而他最终有可能在上诉中胜诉。比如，在联邦系统内，受理法院是美国地区法院，每个州都至少有一个审判法院。许多大的州根据人口、地理以及待处理案件数量等因素划分为两个、三个甚至四个司法管辖区。美国共有94个地区，而每一个地区法院有一个或者（通常）有两个以上法官。在地区法院受到不利的裁决之后，诉讼人可以上诉到该地区法院所在的巡回审判区的美国上诉法院。联邦系统内共有11个按数字排列的中级上诉法院，每一个都包括三到十个州或者其它属地。另外，哥伦比亚特区有一个上诉法院，审理来自当地联邦地区法院的上诉案件，以及一个为联邦巡回审判区而设立的上诉法院，接受来自各种特别的联邦法庭如求偿法院的上诉案件。每一个上诉法院都有四个以上的法官，他们其中三人组成合议庭对地区法院的裁决以及一些行政机关的裁决进行审查。在某些案件中，在上诉法院败诉的诉讼人可以获得美国最高法院的审理。各州法院的案件同样可以经过一个审判法院、一个上诉法院和一个州最高法院。如果涉及联邦宪法问题，州最高法院的裁决可能受到美国最高法院的审查。自从1988年以来，合众国最高法院可以自由裁量是否审查民事案件；而实际上所有的民事案件都作为（当事人的）权利而上诉到最高法院的做法已经被废除了。

Three tiered systems vary on the role which the highest court plays. The approaches taken reflect differing philosophies with regard to what the highest court should do. For example, in California only criminal cases in which capital punishment has been imposed are appealable as of right to the state supreme court. Similarly, in the federal courts, except in a few very limited circumstances, appeals to the United States Supreme Court are discretionary, by writ of certiorari. The Court decides for itself what are the most important questions that deserve its attention and will refuse to review decisions raising issues that it feels are not as crucial. In this way it supervises the administration of law by the lower courts on an ad hoc basis. At the other end of the spectrum, such as in New York, appeals to the state s highest court are as of right in a great many cases provided for by statute. The primary function of the highest court in New York appears to be to assure that cases are correctly decided. It is necessary to check carefully the statutes of the system in which you are appearing to determine the specific rules regarding review by those appellate courts.

三级体制在最高法院所扮演的角色上有所不同。（各州）所采用的不同做法反映了关于最高法院应当发挥什么作用的不同观念（哲理）。比如，在加利福尼亚，只有被判死刑的刑事案件才可以上诉到州最高法院。同样，在联邦法院中，除了在一些非常有限的情况下，向合众国最高法院上诉属于其根据调案调卷令进行自由裁量的事项。该法院自行决定哪些是最主要的问题而值得其关注，并且会拒绝审查它认为会产生不重要的问题的裁决。它以这种方式对下级法院的司法行为进行以个案为基础的监督。在这一问题的另一端，如在纽约，成文法规定大量的案件都存在向州最高法院的上诉权。纽约上诉法院的主要作用就是确保案件得以正确裁决。在您要确定这些上诉法院的特定规则的时候，有必要仔细察看该系统的相关立法。

Part Two：Judges

Fewer than one in twenty of those admitted to practice law is a federal, state, county, or municipal court judge. Except for some inferior courts, judges are generally required to be admitted to practice but do not practice while on the bench. There is so little uniformity that it is difficult to generalize further than to point out three salient characteristics that relate to the ranks from which judges are drawn, to the method of their selection, and to their tenure.

第二部分法官

那些获准法律执业的人当中只有不到二十分之一是联邦、州、县、或城镇法院的法官。除了一些较低级别的法院之外，一般都要求法官具备执业律师资格，但是他们在担任法官期间不得执业。由于一致性太少，因此除了指出关于选任法官的等级、遴选方法及其任期的三个明显特点之外，很难再作进一步的概括。

Judges are drawn from the practicing bar and less frequently from government service or the teaching profession. There is in the United States no career judiciary like that found in many other countries and there is no prescribed route for the young law graduate who aspires to be a judge, no apprenticeship that must be served, no service that must be entered. The outstanding young law graduates who act for a year or two as law clerks to the most distinguished judges of the federal and state courts have only the reward of the experience to take with them into practice and not the promise of a judicial career. While it is not uncommon for a vacancy on a higher court to be filled by a judge from a lower court, even this cannot be said to be the rule. The legal profession is not entirely unaware of the advantages of a career judiciary, but it is generally thought that they are outweighed by the experience and independence which American lawyers bring to the bench. Many of the outstanding judges of the country s highest courts have had no prior judicial experience. Criticism has centered instead on the prevalent method of selection of judges.

法官是从执业律师中选任出来的，很少从政府服务或者教育行业选任。在美国不像许多其他国家一样有职业法官，而且对于希望成为法官的年轻的法学院毕业生来说没有规定的途径要走，不必要进行学徒，也没有必须（先行）进入的行业。年轻的法学院优秀毕业生作为联邦或者州法院最为著名的法官的法律助手工作一、两年只能从他们身上获取经验作为回报，而不是从事法官职业的保证。不过一名低等级法院的法官获得高等级法院的职位的情况却是很常见的，尽管这还不能说是一种规则。法律职业并非完全无视职业法官的优势，但是人们通常认为美国律师带给法院的经验和独立性比这种优势更为重要。这个国家最高法院的许多优秀法官都没有先行的法官经历。批评意见集中在这种盛行的法官遴选方法上。

State court judges are usually elected, commonly by popular vote, but occassionally by the legislature. Popular election has been the subject of much

disapproval, including that of the American Bar Association, on the ground that the public lacks interest in and information on candidates for judicial office and that therefore the outcome is too often controlled by leaders of political parties. The situation has been somewhat improved since many local bar associations have undertaken to evaluate the qualifications of candidates and to support or oppose them on this basis.

州法院法官通常通过选举产生，而且一般都是由公众进行投票，但偶尔由立法机关投票。公众选举受到包括美国律师协会在内的很多人的反对，其理由是公众对法官职位的候选人缺乏兴趣而且所知甚少，因此其结果通常受到政党领袖的操纵。由于许多地方律师协会承诺对候选人的资格进行评估并据此决定支持与否，因此情况得到一定的改善。

Since 1937, the American Bar Association has advocated the substitution of a system under which the governor appoints judges from a list submitted by a special nominating board and the judge then periodically stands unopposed for reelection by popular vote on the basis of his or her record. Such a system is now in effect, for at least some judges, in a substantial minority of states. In a small group of states, judges are appointed by the governor subject to legislative confirmation.

自从1937年以来，美国律师协会提出了一个替代制度，根据该制度，地方长官从一个特别提名委员会提交的名册上指定法官，而法官要定期参加没有竞争对手的续任公众选举，选举的依据是其工作成绩。这一制度目前正在极少数州至少针对一些法官得以实施。在一小部分州里，在立法机关批准的前提下，法官由州长任命。

This is also the method of selection of federal judges, who are appointed by the President subject to confirmation by the Senate. Even under the appointive system the selection of judges is not immune from political influence and appointees are usually of the President s or governor s own party. But names of candidates for the federal judiciary are submitted to a committee of the American Bar Association and appointment is usually made only with its approval. The office of chief judge or chief justice is usually filled in the same manner as other judicial offices, although in some states it is filled from among the members of the court by rotation, by seniority of service, or by vote of the judges. The Chief Justice of the United States is appointed by the President, subject to Senate confirmation.

在参议院批准的前提下由总统任命联邦法官也是一种选任方法。即使在任命制度中，法官的选任也无法免除政治的影响，因而被任命者通常属于总统或州长的党派。但是联邦法官的候选人名单要提交给美国律师协会的一委员会，而且一般只有在经其同意的情况下才得以任命。大法官和首席大法官的职位的安置通常与其它法官职位相同，尽管在一些州是以轮流的方式从法院成员中按照（在本院）工作的资历或根据法官的投票予以选任。美国的首席大法官在参议院同意的前提下由总统任命。

The third characteristic is that judges commonly serve for a term of years rather than for life. For courts of general jurisdiction it is typically four, six, or eight years, and for appellate courts, six, eight, or ten years. Happily, even where selection is by popular election, it is customary to return to office for sitting judges whose service has been satisfactory. In a few state courts and in the federal courts the judges sit for life. Whether on the bench for a term of years or for life, a judge may be removed from office only for gross misconduct and only by formal proceedings. Instances of removal have been rare indeed and only a handful of federal judges have been removed by formal proceedings. The independence of the judiciary is also encouraged by the rule that a judge incurs no civil liability for judicial acts, even if guilty of fraud and corruption. The American Bar Association s Code of Judicial Conduct has been widely adopted as a standard to which judges are expected to adhere. Salaries for the higher judicial offices are usually good although less than the income of a successful private practitioner, the prestige of these offices is high, and the bench has been able to attract many of the country s ablest legal minds. The great names in American law are in large part the names of its great judges.

第三个特点是法官通常有任职期限而非终身制。普通的司法管辖区的法院一般为4、6或者8年，而上诉法院则为6、8、或10年。令人欣慰的是，即使在以公众选举方式选任法官的地方，那些工作令人满意的现任法官通常都能连任。在一些州法院和联邦法院，法官终身任职。无论任期制还是终身制，法官只有在出现重大的过错行为时才受到罢免而且要经过正式的程序。罢免的情况确实极其罕见，只有屈指可数的几个联邦法官经过正式的程序受到罢免。法官不因其民事司法行为而招致民事（赔偿）责任保证了司法的独立性，即使有欺诈和腐败行为也是如此。美国律师协会的《法官行为准则》作为法官应当遵守的一个标准受到广泛的接受。高级司法职位的工资虽然低于成功的私人执业律师的收入，但通常非常之高，这些职位的声望也很高，因而法官职位能够吸引全国最有能力的法律人才。美国法律界的大家大部分都出自著名的法官。

Lesson Five：Constitution 宪法

Background背景

英美法系国家中常见的法律分类(Classification of Laws)有三种：第一种是把法律分为普通法(Common Law)和衡平法(Equity)；第二种是把法律分为实体法(Substantive Law)和程序法(Procedural Law)；第三种是把实体法分为公法(Public Law)和私法(Private Law)。公法包括宪法、行政法、刑法、税法等；私法包括合同法、侵权法、财产法、公司法、家庭法等。在公法中，宪法占有最为重要的地位。虽然美国的每一个州都有自己的宪法，但是人们通常所说的宪法都指联邦宪法。

1777年，美国联邦议会通过了"联邦条例"(Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union)。这是美国最早的宪法性法律文件。1789年，美国立法机构大陆会议又通过了一部新的宪法性文件，即联邦宪法。这部宪法至今仍然是美国的最高法律。

美国联邦宪法最初只有7条、近8000字，后来又补充了一系列修正案(Amendments)。前10条修正案是作为一个整体--合称为"人权法案"(the Bill of Rights)--于1789年由国会通过，于1791年由11个州批准而生效的。目前，美国联邦宪法共有27条修正案。正因为美国联邦宪法内容简洁、富有灵活性，而且以修正案方式不断完善，所以它才成为世界上"寿命最长"的成文宪法。

Part One：The Constitution as Supreme Law

The U.S. Constitution, a relatively simple document, is the self designated "supreme law of the land". This clause is taken to mean that when state constitutions, or laws passed by state legislatures or the national Congress, are found to conflict with the federal Constitution, they have no force. Decisions handed down by the Supreme Court over the course of two centuries have confirmed and strengthened this doctrine of constitutional supremacy.

第一部分作为最高法律的宪法

美国宪法虽然是一部相对比较简单的文件，但它自我定名为“国家的最高法律”。制定这一条款意味着，如果各州宪法或者各州立法机关或美国国会通过的法律与联邦宪法相抵触，他们就是无效的。最高法院在两个多世纪的时间内所做出的各种裁决确认并强化了宪法至上原则。

Final authority is vested in the American people, who can change the fundamental law if they wish, by amending the Constitution, or--in theory, at least--drafting a new one. The people s authority is not exercised directly, however. The day to day

business of government is delegated by the people to public officials, both elected and appointed.

最后的权力归于美国人民，如果他们愿意，可以通过修正宪法或者起草一部新宪法（这至少从理论上来说是可行的）的方式来改变这部基本法。但是，人民并不直接行使这种权力，他们将日常的管理事务委托给经过选举或者委任的公共官员们。

The power of public officials is limited. Their public actions must conform to the Constitution and to the laws made in accord with the Constitution. Elected officials must stand for re election at periodic intervals, when their record is subject to intensive public scrutiny. Appointed officials serve at the pleasure of the person or authority who appointed them, and may be removed when their performance is unsatisfactory. The exception to this is the lifetime appointment by the President of Justices of the Supreme Court and other federal judges.

公共官员的权力是有限的。他们对公务行为必须符合宪法和根据宪法制定的法律。选举产生的官员必须定期接受改选，届时其业绩要受到彻底的公开审查。委任产生的官员要根据（有委任权的）人或者机关的意愿来做事，而且如果其表现不能令其满意，就会被免职。在这一问题上的例外情况是由总统对最高法院大法官和其他联邦法官的终身性委任。

Most commonly, the American people express their will through the ballot box. The Constitution, however, does make provision for the removal of a public official from office, in cases of extreme misconduct or malfeasance, by the process of impeachment. Article Ⅱ, Section 4 reads:

"The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

美国人民表达其意愿最常见的方式是选举投票。不过，宪法还是规定了在公共官员出现严重的不法行为或渎职行为时，通过弹劾程序予以免职的做法。第二条第4款规定：

“总统、副总统和合众国的所有文职官员，因叛国、贿赂或其他重罪和轻罪而受弹劾并被定罪时，应予免职。”

In such cases, the House of Representatives must vote a bill of impeachment. The public official is then tried in the Senate, with the Chief Justice of the United States presiding at the trial.

在这种情况下，众议院必须投票通过一个弹劾法案。然后由美国（最高法院）首席大法官主持在参议院对该公共官员进行审判。

Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States. In the past 200 years, only 13 U.S. officials have been impeached: nine judges, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of War, a Senator, and a President, Andrew Johnson. (In the case of another President, Richard Nixon, although the House Judiciary Committee recommended impeachment the President resigned before a House vote was taken.) Out of the thirteen cases, only four judges have been convicted and removed from office. State officials are similarly subject to impeachment by the legislatures of their respective states.

在美国，弹劾被认为是一种非常严厉的措施。在过去的二百年里，只有十三位美国官员受到弹劾，其中有九位法官，一位最高法院的助理法官，一位国防部长，一位众议员和一位总统，即安德鲁·约翰逊（关于另外一位总统理查德·尼克松，虽然众议院司法委员会建议对其进行弹劾，但在众议院投票之前他便辞去了总统职务。）在这十三个案例当中，只有四名法官被宣告有罪而免职。各州官员也同样可能受到其相应的州立法机关的弹劾。

In addition to setting forth general political ideas, the Constitution provides the blueprint for the governmental system. The three major articles describe the three branches of the national government--legislative, executive and judicial--each with specific duties and responsibilities. Subjects on which the legislative branch can make laws are set out in considerable detail, although over the years judicial decisions have expanded the scope of congressional activity. The powers and duties of the President, as head of the executive branch, are described. A system of federal courts is outlined, and its relationship to other branches of government is set forth.

除了提出一般性政治观念之外，宪法还规定了政府体制的蓝图。它用三个主要的条款规定了美国政府的三个部门：立法、行政和司法，它们各自拥有相应的职权，承担相应的责任。（联邦宪法中）相当详细地列出了立法部门可以制定法律的项目，尽管多年来的司法裁决已经扩展了国会（立法）活动的范围。总统作为行政部门的首脑，其权力和责任也（在宪法中）被规定下来。宪法还规定了联邦法院的体制及其与其他政府部门的关系。

Part Two：The Principles of Government第二部分政府的原则Although the Constitution has changed in many aspects since it was first adopted, its basic principles remain the same now as in 1789:

尽管这部宪法自从其最初通过至今已经在许多方面有所改变，它仍然保持着1789年的基本原则：

The three main branches of government are separate and distinct from one another. The powers given to each are delicately balanced by the powers of the other two. Each branch serves as a check on potential excesses of the others.

政府的三个主要部门相互分离和独立。赋予一个部门的权力会受到其他两个部门的权力的微妙制衡。每一个部门都作为对其他部门可能滥用职权的制约。

The Constitution, together with laws properly passed according to its provisions, and treaties entered into by the President and approved by the Senate, stands above all other laws, executive acts and regulations.

宪法与根据宪法条款通过的法律以及由总统签署并由参议院批准的条约的效力高于所有其他法律和行政法规。

All men are equal before the law and are equally entitled to its protection. All states are equal, and none can receive special treatment from the federal government.

所有的人在法律面前都是平等的并有权获得平等的法律保护。所有的州都是平等的，任何州都不能获得联邦政府的特别待遇。

Within the limits of the Constitution, each state must recognize and respect the laws of the others.

在宪法的范围内，各州必须承认和尊重其他州的法律。

State governments, like the federal government, must be republican in form, with final authority resting in the people.

各州政府在形式上必须与联邦政府一样采取共和体制，最终权力归于人民。

The people have the right to change their form of government by legal means defined in the Constitution itself.

人民有权利用宪法规定的合法手段改变其政府的体制。

Part Three:Provisions for Amendment第三部分修正案条款

The authors of the Constitution were keenly aware that changes would be needed from time to time if the Constitution were to endure and keep pace with the growth of

the nation. They were also conscious that the process of change should not be facile, permitting ill conceived and hastily passed amendments. By the same token, they wanted to assure that a minority could not block action desired by most of the people.

宪法的起草者非常清楚，如果宪法要能够持久并与国家的发展保持同步，有时就需要修改。他们还意识到修改宪法的程序不能太容易，从而可能产生构想拙劣的和草率通过的修正案。由于同样的原因，他们希望确保少数人不能够阻止大多数人所希望的（修宪）行为。

Their solution was to devise a dual process by which the Constitution could be changed. The Congress, by a two thirds vote in each house, may initiate an amendment. Or the legislatures of two thirds of the states may ask Congress to call a national convention to discuss and draft amendments. In either case, amendments must have the approval of three fourths of the states before they enter into force.

他们的解决办法是设计一种修改宪法的双轨程序。国会两院三分之二多数票可以提出修宪动议。而三分之二的州立法机关也可以要求国会召开修宪大会讨论和起草修正案。在这两种情况下，修正案都必须得到四分之三的州的批准才能生效。

Aside from the direct process of changing the Constitution itself, the effect of its provisions may be changed by judicial interpretation. Early in the history of the republic, in the landmark case of Marbury vs. Madison,the Supreme Court established the doctrine of judicial review, which is the power of the Court to interpret acts of Congress and decide their constitutionality. The doctrine also embraces the power of the Court to explain the meaning of various sections of the Constitution as they apply to changing legal, political, economic and social conditions. Over the years, a series of Court decisions, on issues ranging from governmental regulation of radio and television to the rights of the accused in criminal cases, has had the effect of altering the thrust of constitutional law, with no substantive change in the Constitution itself.

除了宪法本身的直接修改程序之外，宪法条款的效力也可以通过司法解释而被改变。在共和国历史的早期，在具有里程碑意义的马伯里诉麦迪逊案中，最高法院确立了司法审查（权）原则。这种司法审查权是法院对于国会的法案进行解释并确定其合宪性的权力。多年以来，法院在从政府对无线电和电视的管制到刑事案件中被告的权利等问题上的一系列裁决，都具有改变宪法指向的效果，但并未有宪法本身的实质性变化。

Congressional legislation, passed to implement provisions of the basic law, or to adapt it to changing conditions, also broadens and, in subtle ways, changes the meaning of the Constitution. Up to a point, the rules and regulations of the myriad agencies of the federal government may have a similar effect. The acid test in both cases is whether, in the opinion of the courts, such legislation and rules are in conformity with the intent and purposes of the Constitution itself.

国会关于实施这部基本法或者为了使其适应变化的情况而通过的立法也以某些微妙的方式改变着宪法的含义。大量的联邦政府行政机关的规则和规章也在某些方面具有类似的效果。按照法院的意见，在这两种情况下，严格的检验标准就是这种立法和规章是否符合宪法本身的意图和目的。

Lesson Six: Administrative Law 行政法

Background背景

美国的法学家认为，行政法是管理政府行政活动的部门法。它规定行政机关可以行使的权力，确定行使这些权利的原则，以及对受到行政行为侵害的人给予法律上的补救。行政法一般被认为是属于公法的范畴，但是在美国，公法和私法之间的区别不像在大陆法系国家中那么严格，因此，美国的行政法案件也由受理私法案件的普通法院审判。

行政法包括实体法和程序法(Procedural Law)的内容。美国行政法研究的主要对象是后者。就联邦一级而言，美国的行政程序法可以追溯至1789年的联邦宪法修正案，但是在实质意义上的行政程序法则始于1887年为处理铁路工业问题而成立的州际商业委员会。该委员会是美国联邦行政部门中最早的独立规制机构(Independent Regulatory Agency)。20世纪30年代，在罗斯福总统推行的"新政"(the New Deal) 时期，各种联邦行政机关如雨后春笋般建立，美国的行政程序法也得到长足的发展。

美国的行政法是由宪法、法律、判例、行政规章等组成的。其中，最为重要的是联邦宪法第五修正案中的正当程序(Due Process)条款和1946年的联邦行政程序法(Federal Administrative Procedure Act)。诚然，判例法的作用亦十分重要。

General statutory measures that purport to deal with "administrative law" define the scope of their application in terms of three concerns: the procedures employed by "agencies" in effecting "agency action"; judicial (and, to a lesser extent, political) review of those actions; and special procedures relating to the handling and release of information in the government s possession. Neither a court nor a legislature nor an elected chief executive can be an "agency" under these statutes, although the relationship of courts, legislatures and chief executives with agencies is very much a matter of administrative law concern. Otherwise the concept includes virtually every administrative unit exercising public authority. "Agency action" is also embracively defined. While the provisions of administrative procedure legislation generally deal with the relatively formal procedures of adjudication and rulemaking, as discussed below, federal "agency action" includes any grant, denial, or failure to act upon "the application or petition of, and beneficial to, a person"; under the most recent draft of model state administrative procedure legislation, "agency action" includes "an agency s performance of, or failure to perform, any ... duty, function, or activity, discretionary or otherwise." Again, the category is virtually as broad as the field of public administration; only traditional criminal law proceedings, traditional civil litigation, and political acts in the strict sense, those indisputably beyond the control of law, are excluded.

第一部分行政行为与行政法

旨在处理“行政法”问题的一般性立法措施将其适用范围划分为三个方面：“机关”在实施“行政行为”中所使用的各种程序；对这些行为进行的司法（以及程度较弱的政治）审查；以及与政府所拥有的信息的处理和公布有关的特别程序。根据这些立法，法院、立法机关以及经选举而成立的行政长官都可以成为一个“机关”，尽管法院、立法机关和行政长官与机构的关系主要是行政法所关注的一种问题。另外，这一概念实际上包括了行使公共权力的每一个行政单位。“行政行为”也被界定为一个包罗万象（的概念）。如下文所述，由于行政程序立法规范一般性地涉及（或“规制”）相对正式的裁决和规章制定程序，联邦“行政行为”包括基于“某（行政相对）人提出的而且是对其有利的申请或请求”而采取的批准、不批准或不作为。根据最近的州标准行政程序立法草案，“行政行为”包括“某行政机关履行或不履行其自由裁量的或非自由裁量的职责、职能或活动”的行为。而且其种类实际上与公共管理的范围一样宽泛，只有传统的刑事诉讼、传统的民事诉讼以及那些无可争辩地超出法律控制的即严格意义上的政治行为，不在此列。

It should not be surprising to find the domain of "administrative law" in the legal system so broadly defined. Scholars developed the concept toward the beginning of this century, as public administration grew. As unruly as the developments it sought to capture, it was a grab bag for all government actions affecting private persons that did not fit comfortably any of the existing structures of legal analysis--either those of the

criminal law or of the ordinary civil law as administered by courts. The scholarly view of administrative law has grown, with government, to embrace almost all subjects that can be connected with public administration. Although criminal trials are excluded, many assert that it embraces the exercise of discretion by police officers and prosecutors. Although it excludes an action initiated by the government in federal court to collect a simple debt, it would include that action if begun within an executive body and later brought before courts for enforcement or review. One might have said at the outset that it was sub constitutional in character, concerned with statutory and customary arrangements of government; yet as the preceding pages make plain, constitutional issues respecting governmental structure and conduct are now important concerns.

在法律制度中，“行政法”的范围如此之广是毫不奇怪的。在本世纪初公共管理职能增长的时候，学者们就提出了这一概念。由于与其所寻求获得的发展一样难以控制，他对所有那些影响到私人而且不能恰当地适用于任何现有法律分析结构（如法院所使用的刑法或普通民法分析结构）的政府行为来说是一个百宝箱。学者关于行政法的观点已经随着政府（的扩大而）发展，几乎囊括了所有能够与公共管理联系起来的方面。尽管不包括刑事审判，但许多人认为它包括警察和检察官对其自由裁量权的行使。它虽然不包括政府在联邦法院提起的收回简单债务的诉讼，但如果这种行为开始于行政机关内部后来提交到法庭要求执行或审查，就包括这种诉讼。人们一开始可能会说它的性质是亚宪法性的，即与政府立法和习惯性安排有关联，但前文已清楚地表明，目前它所关注的重要问题是与政府结构有关的宪法性问题。

In the American framework, a focus on procedural issues provides an analytic structure for generalizing about the central tasks of administrative law: assuring the control as well as the effectiveness of government. Such a focus is needed despite the recognition that generalizations are made problematic by the diversity of agencies and agency actions, and the close relationship between the substance of any particular agency s responsibility and the procedures it will employ. Talking from the perspective of "administrative law" about the work of the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission (or of the Forest Service, or of a state public utilities commission, or a local building inspector) focuses on its procedures, rather than its particular substantive responsibility for implementing a certain part of federal (or state or local) policy. One assumes, initially, that all agencies employ certain paradigmatic procedures to accomplish their ends and that these agencies have paradigmatic relationships with overseers such as courts who review the end product of these procedures. These paradigmatic procedures and relationships can and do vary to meet the needs of particular situations. Consequently, in dealing with a concrete situation, one must always seek to understand the responsibilities and procedures of the particular agency whose work is at issue. Nonetheless, analysis usefully begins at the paradigms, which are expressed in procedural forms that are not directly a function of the particular agency whose work is under examination.

在美国的（法律）框架中，对程序问题的重视为行政法的中心任务的概括提供了分析框架，既确保政府（行为）的有效性又对其进行抑制。尽管人们认识到，机关和行政行为的多样化，以及特定机关的实体性责任与其遵循（使用）的程序之间的密切关系，使得这种概括很困难，但对程序的重视却是必需的。从“行政法”的视角来讨论联邦证券交易委员会（或者森林服务局，或者某个州的公用设施委员会，或者某个地方性建筑检验员）所关注的就是其程序而不是其实施某一部分联邦（或州或地方）政策的具体的实体性责任。最初，人们假定所有的机关都使用一定标准（范式）程序来实现其目的，而且这些机关都与其监管机关具有标准关系，如审查其最终产品的法院。这些标准程序和关系可以而且确实在不断变化，从而满足具体情况的需要。因此，在处理具体情况时，人们必须不断地去了解涉案（其工作受到审查的）特定机关的责任和程序。尽管如此，一开始就进行标准分析还是很有用的，这种标准以程序的形式表现出来，而且并不直接是涉案特定机关的职能。

Part2

These paradigms are the focus of the following chapters. It would be wrong to anticipate them here in any detail. The remaining paragraphs of this chapter examine a variety of substantive responsibilities commonly given administrative agencies. For purposes of initial comprehension it may be useful to have the following sketchy models in mind:

这些标准主要是以下各章所关注的内容。在这里不宜过早进行详细讨论。本章下面几段考察了行政机关普遍应当承担的几种实体性责任。记住下列简要的模型有助于（对这些标准的）初步理解。

Formal adjudication: A proceeding strongly resembling a civil trial, conducted "on the record" before an administrative law judge or agency to determine a particular dispute. Formal adjudications are generally characterized by a strict separation of functions within an agency, so that staff responsible for investigation and presentation of the agency s position do not participate in the decision process. The results of formal adjudication are generally reviewed by courts with relatively close attention to the existence of factual and legal support for the outcome.

正式裁决——一种与民事审判极为相似的程序，由一名行政法法官或者一个机关进行“有记录的”审理，对具体纠纷进行裁决。正式裁决的一般特点是机构内部职能有严格的区分，因此，负责调查和陈述机关观点的职员不参与裁决程序。正式裁决的结果一般要由法院进行审查，法院比较关心的是其结果是否有事实上和法律上的依据。

Informal adjudication: Procedures for resolution of a particular dispute that do not require "on the record" hearing. If a hearing format is used, it may be quite informal. But "informal adjudication" is used to describe the taking of decisions by bureaucratic routine--for example, a decision to authorize the use of federal money for the construction of a particular road project. Judicial review is relatively permissive, recognizing considerable discretion in the person acting.

非正式裁决——不要求“有记录的”听证的争端解决程序。如果采用听证的方式，就可能很不正式。但是“非正式裁决”指的是在日常行政活动中做出的裁决，如授权使用联邦资金建设某个特定的道路项目的裁决。司法审查比较宽松，承认做出行政行为的个人具有相当的自由裁量权。

Formal rulemaking: A proceeding conducted "on the record" to determine a statute like norm for future application, for example what proportion of peanuts should be required in a substance to be labeled "peanut butter," or what is a reasonable rate to be charged for utility services. Formal rulemaking differs from formal adjudication in certain structural arrangements; those responsible for developing and presenting the agency s analysis at the hearing, for example, are not required to be separated from the decision process as they are in formal adjudications. The character of the hearing and of subsequent judicial review, however, strongly resembles formal adjudication.

正式规章制定——一种对未来适用的类似于法律的规范进行裁决的“有记录”进行的程序，如在标有“花生酱”的商品中要求花生所占的比例，或者公用服务收费多少是合理的等等。正式规章的制定与正式裁决在某些结构性安排方面是不同的，比如，负责在听证会上提出和陈述机关的分析的那些人不得像他们在正式裁决中一样脱离裁决程序。但是，听证和随后的司法审查的特点同正式裁决非常类似。

Informal rulemaking: The ordinary procedure for generating statute like norms for future application. Its public stages are initiated by a notice of the proposed action; the interested public then has an opportunity to file written comments on the proposal. Oral hearings are optional, although encouraged by some statutes, for example, many connected with environmental, health, and safety rules. On adopting a rule, the agency is under some obligation to explain its basis and purpose. Decision is taken bureaucratically, and judicial review is relatively permissive, although with increasing attention to the existence or not of factual support for rules of importance. A rule once validly adopted has the full force of statutory law on those subject to it.

非正式规章制定——制定未来适用的类似法律的规范的普通程序。其公众参与阶段开始于一个关于提议立法（行为）的通知，公众所后便有机会针对该提议提出书面意见。当然，一些立法如许多与环境、健康以及安全规则有关的立法也鼓励选择口头听证的方式。在通过一项规则时，机关有义务解释其依据和目的。裁决以官僚的方式做出，而且司法审查相对宽松，尽管一些重要的规则是否有事实和法律依据越来越受到重视。一项规则一旦有效通过就对受其影响的人具有完全的效力。

Interpretation: An informal procedure for generating and announcing agency interpretations of applicable norms. Interpretations may be generated internally or in response to a request; ordinarily no procedure is required (although procedures like those for informal rulemaking are often followed). The interpretations do not formally bind persons outside the agency, although they are likely to be regarded as persuasive by the courts. Decision is taken bureaucratically; judicial review may not be directly available and, when available, is generally deferential.

（规章的）解释——一种制定和公布机关对所适用的规范进行的解释的非正式的程序。这种解释可以由内部（主动）制定，也可以根据要求制定，一般没有程序要求（尽管通常遵循与非正式规章制定相类似的程序）。解释并不正式约束机关之外的人，但它们可能被法院视为具有说服力。裁决以官僚方式做出，司法审查并不直接进行，而且在进行时，一般也对其比较尊重。

Inspection: Direct physical view by a qualified government official, sometimes used as a substitute for adjudication procedures (as, for example, in grading agricultural commodities, or examining the skill of applicants for a driver s license) but also employed to determine the existence or not of conditions warranting formal administrative action.

检查——由有资格的政府官员亲自进行的直接核查，又是作为裁决程序的替代性程序（如在对农产品进行级别评定时或在对驾驶执照的申请人进行能力考核时），也用来确定是否存在需要采取正式行政行为的条件。

Lesson Seven: Criminal Law 刑法

Background背景

美国的刑法主要属于各州的司法管辖权范围。换言之，绝大多数犯罪都受各州刑事法律的管辖。联邦政府只是在涉及民权、税收、邮政、商业等问题上制定了一些刑事法律。此外，针对联邦官员和联邦财产的犯罪也受联邦法律管辖。虽然美国的刑法是在判例法的基础上发展起来的，但是目前美国各州都有自己的刑法典。1962年批准的《标准刑法典》(Model Penal Code)对联邦和各州的刑事法律都产生了重大的影响。

刑法中的主要问题有三个：犯罪(crime)、刑罚(punishment)和刑事责任(criminal liability)。在美国，各州法律中关于犯罪定义和种类的规定并不尽同。一般来说，犯罪可以分为重罪(felony)和轻罪(misdemeanour)两大类。而每一种犯罪又可以分为若干等级，以表明其相对的严重性。刑罚一般都由法官确定。虽然刑法典中没有量刑标准，但是联邦和各州多有指导法官判刑的量刑指南(Guidelines for Sentencing)。美国在1965年废除了死刑(capital punishment)，但是在1976年又开始恢复死刑。南部各州恢复死刑较早。纽约州直到1995年才恢复死刑。目前，美国大约四分之三的州的法律规定有死刑，而没有死刑的州主要集中在美国的东部和北部。从1976年至1992年11月5日，美国共有184人在20个州被执行死刑，而在狱中等待死刑的囚犯为2636人。美国的死刑上诉程序十分复杂，而且名目繁多，耗费时间，因此，死囚犯在狱中等待死刑的时间超过20年者屡见不鲜。刑事责任问题中最有代表性也最易产生争议的就是被告人是否有精神疾患(insanity)的问题。在杀人罪等重大刑事案件的审判中，被告方进行"精神不正常辩护"(insanity defense)的作法十分常见。1981年3月发生在华盛顿市的辛克雷企图谋杀里根总统案就是一个绝好的实例。

Homicide is the killing of one human being by another human being. Not all homicides are criminal, however. For instance, a person who kills another in self defense has committed no crime; it is justifiable homicide. The same is true of the police officer who kills a person to prevent the commission of a forcible felony, such as robbery or burglary, when the killing is a reasonably necessary preventive measure; or when the officer kills a dangerous felon in order to prevent his escape. Then, too, some killings are excusable homicides; for instance, where a person accidentally, and without gross negligence, causes the death of another individual.

杀人（homicide）就是一个人杀掉另一个人。但并非所有的杀人都是犯罪。比如一个人在自卫当中杀掉另外一个人就不是犯罪，而是正当的杀人。在警察为了制止暴力性重罪，如抢劫或入室盗窃，杀人是一种合理而必需的制止措施的时候，或者警察为了防止危险的重罪犯逃跑而将其杀死，都是正当的。而且某些杀人行为也是可以宽恕的，如一个人在意外而且没有重大疏忽的情况下导致他人的死亡。

A killing amounts to a criminal homicide when it is done without lawful justification or excuse. Depending upon certain circumstances it may be either murder or manslaughter.

杀人如果没有法定的正当性或原因就构成有罪杀人。它根据具体情况不同构成谋杀罪或过失杀人罪。

In the early days of our country, and prior thereto in England, the elements of the crimes of murder and manslaughter were prescribed by court decisions. These decisions came to be known as the "common law". Since then, in most jurisdictions murder and manslaughter have been redefined by the legislatures, either in the form of

a separate statute or as a provision of a criminal code.

1. Murder

在我国早些时候以及在那时以前的英格兰，谋杀和过失杀人犯罪的要件是由法院裁决规定的。这些裁决被认为是“普通法”。后来，大多数州的谋杀和非预谋杀人都由立法以单行法规形式或者作为刑法典的某个条文进行了重新定义。

According to the common law, murder was the killing of a human being with "malice", and the requirement of "malice" is still found in some present day statutes and codes. The California Penal Code, for instance, has retained it. That code provides, as did the common law, that

"... malice may be express or implied. It is express when there is manifested a deliberate intention to take away the life of a fellow creature. It is implied, when no

considerable provocation appears, or when the circumstances attending the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart."

根据普通法，谋杀是有“预谋”的杀人，而且在当今的一些立法和法典中也有这种“预谋”的要求。比如，《加利福尼亚刑法典》就保留了这一点。与普通法一样，该法典规定：

“……预谋可以是明示的也可以是默示的。在明显故意夺取他人生命的情况下，就是明示的。而在没有故意挑衅或者在该杀人行为的有关情况表明了一颗冷酷邪恶之心的情况下，就是暗示的。”

A clear illustration of express malice is a case where one person intentionally pushes another off the side of a mountain. An example of implied malice is where a person fires a rifle at a moving passenger train, just "to scare" the persons aboard or to display skill at firing a bullet between the cars without hitting anyone. The dangerousness of the conduct would be evidence of "malice" as regards any killing that may be reasonably attributed to such conduct. It would indicate, to a California court or jury, "an abandoned and malignant heart".

一个人故意将他人推下悬崖就是明显表明具有明示的预谋的一个例子。暗示的预谋的一个例子是一个人仅仅为了吓唬一列正在行进中的列车上的乘客或者为了展示它能够将子弹正好打过两节车厢之间而不会击中任何人而开枪的情况。至于那些可以合理地归入这种行为范畴的杀人，该行为的危险性就是“预谋”的证明。对于加利福尼亚法院或陪审团来说，它表明了“一颗冷酷邪恶之心”。

The penalty for murder is punishable by death in some states; in others by prison terms extending to "life" or a specified number of years.

谋杀罪在一些州当中可判处死刑，在另一些州仅判处终身监禁或若干年徒刑。

(a) Felony Murder

Another example of a satisfaction of the element of malice is a killing during the course of a felony such as robbery. Even though a robber s gun goes off accidentally, killing the robbery victim, or a bystander, or a police officer, his conduct of committing such a dangerous crime as robbery satisfies the requirement of malice so that the killing becomes punishable as murder. A similar line of reasoning has resulted in holding co felons guilty of murder where, in the course of an exchange of shots between robbers and the police, a police officer is accidentally killed by another officer.

（a）重罪中的谋杀

预谋要件得以满足的另一个例子是在诸如抢劫之类的重罪中杀人。即使抢劫者的枪走火致使抢劫受害人或旁观者或警察死亡，其实施诸如抢劫之类的危险犯罪的行为就满足了预谋的要求，因此这种杀人可按谋杀罪惩处。根据同样的推理，在抢劫者与警察的互相射击过程中，如果一名警察意外地被另一名警察射杀，那么就可以将其认定为谋杀罪的重罪共犯。

Malice may also be attributed to a robber whose partner in the crime intentionally kills someone during the commission of the crime or the attempted escape. Malice on the part of all participants is implied from the dangerousness of the robbery itself; moreover, each robber is considered to act as an agent for the others in accomplishing their objective, including the attempt to escape.

如果一名抢劫者的犯罪同伙在犯罪或者逃跑过程中故意杀人，也可以认定该抢劫者有预谋。参与者的预谋是由抢劫本身的危险性所暗示出来的。而且每一个抢劫者都可以被视为在实现他们的目的（包括逃跑）过程中代表其他人行事。

This whole issue of felony murder stems primarily from the prosecution s interest in seeking the death penalty for such killings. In some of the states which have abolished capital punishment (Wisconsin, for example), the legislatures, out of an understandable desire to punish robbers more severely whenever a killing results, have provided that the punishment for such offenses shall be fifteen years greater than that provided for non fatal robberies.

整个重罪中的谋杀问题主要起因于公诉人寻求将此类杀人行为判处死刑的意图。在一些废除死刑的州（如威斯康辛），其立法以一种将造成杀人后果的抢劫予以严惩的可以理解的愿望，规定此类犯罪要比无致命的抢劫多判15年徒刑。

(b) Degrees of Murder

Some states have specified varying penalties for murder, depending upon the circumstances of the killing. A "willful, deliberate and premeditated" killing, such as a poisoning or a killing during the commission of a dangerous felony, may be labeled first degree murder and punishable by death or long imprisonment. Other forms of murder may be of the second degree and punishable with a lesser penalty. According to the common law, however, there were no degrees of murder. Any unlawful killing was either murder or manslaughter.

（b）谋杀的等级

一些州根据杀人的实际情况对谋杀罪规定了不同的惩罚。“故意的、蓄意的、预谋的”杀人，如投毒或在危险性重犯中杀人可能被定为一级谋杀并判处死刑或长期监禁。其他类型的谋杀可能是二级谋杀并被判处较轻的刑罚。但是按照普通法，不存在谋杀的等级。任何非法的杀人行为要么是谋杀要么是非预谋杀人。

2. Manslaughter

Manslaughter was defined at common law as an unlawful killing of another without malice. It could be either voluntary or involuntary.

非预谋杀人在普通法中被定义为没有预谋地非法杀害他人的行为。它可以是故意或非故意。

Manslaughter, in contrast to murder, is usually punishable by a prison term which may range from one year to ten or fourteen years.

与谋杀相比，非预谋杀人通常被判处一年到十年或十五年的监禁。

(a) Voluntary Manslaughter

An intentional killing upon "great provocation" and "in the heat of passion" constitutes the crime of voluntary manslaughter. A classic example is the killing by a husband (or wife) who unexpectedly finds his or her spouse in an act of sexual intercourse with another person, or in a situation evidencing impending or immediately concluded adulterous conduct. A killing of the paramour or of the spouse, or both, in such a circumstance would fall within the category of manslaughter because (a) the provocation was great, and (b) the killer was in the "heat of passion".

（a）故意的非预谋杀人

在“激怒”或“激情”状态下故意杀人构成故意的非预谋杀人罪。其典型的例子是丈夫（或妻子）无意中发现配偶与他人正在发生性关系，或者在证明通奸行为即将或者马上就要进行的情况下实施的杀人行为。在这种情况下，杀死配偶的奸夫（妇）或者将二人都杀死就属于非预谋杀人的范畴，这是因为（1）杀人者受到激怒而且（2）“处于激情状态下”。

A killing of this type is treated less harshly than murder, out of consideration for the frailties of human nature. In other words, there is an understanding appreciation that the instinctive reaction of the husband (or wife) in such a situation is to kill or do other serious harm. Nevertheless, there is a feeling that such conduct should be discouraged by a criminal sanction, but one with a penalty considerably less than for the crime of murder.

考虑到人类本性的缺点，这类杀人受到的处罚轻于谋杀。换句话说，人们对于丈夫或妻子在这种状况下的本能反应要么是杀人要么实施其他的伤害行为是理解的（有一种理解性的评价）。尽管如此，人们还是感到这种行为应当通过刑事惩罚受到制止，但是应当是一种比谋杀罪轻得多的惩罚。

It is of interest to note that in such paramour killing cases the conviction rate is quite low, primarily because of the willingness of juries to accept occasionally the frequently concocted explanation that the killing was done in self defense; in other words, the paramour attacked the spouse, who killed his "attacker" only in order to keep from being killed himself. The result of acquittal in such cases is sometimes described in the press as an acquittal by reason of "the unwritten law".

值得注意的是在这种杀害奸夫（妇）的案件中判罪率很低，这主要是因为陪审团时不时地愿意接受（被告）通常所编造的关于杀人是在自卫中实施的这种解释，换句话说，是由于奸夫（妇）袭击这位配偶，因此他（她）只是为了防止自己被杀死而杀死了这位“袭击者”。在这类案件中的无罪判决有时被媒体称为根据“无字之法”作出的无罪判决。

A few states (Texas, New Mexico, and Utah) have tried to simplify the whole matter of paramour killings by legalizing such killings where the paramour is caught in the act. But in those states the privilege does not extend to the killing of the participating spouse!

有不少的州（得克萨斯、新墨西哥和犹他州）已经试着在起立法中通过将在奸夫（妇）被捉的情况下发生的此类杀人行为合法化而使整个的奸夫（妇）被杀问题简单化。但是在这些州当中，这种特权并没有延伸到杀死参与通奸的配偶！

In applying the test of whether an intentional killing was upon great provocation and in the heat of passion, the question is put to the jury, or to the judge in non jury cases, as to whether the accused reacted as a "reasonable man". Technically speaking, it is not the particular sensitivity or temper of the killer that is taken into consideration, but rather an effort is made to determine how a "reasonable man" might have acted under similar circumstances. An illustration of this is a famous English case where a sexually impotent man felt insulted by the remarks of a prostitute with whom he had tried in vain to have sexual intercourse, and he proceeded to kill her. He contended that his sensitivity over his condition should be taken into account in determining whether there was serious provocation for this reaction, but the court held that his conduct was to be judged by the standard of an ordinary, normal "reasonable man".

某一故意杀人行为是否在激怒或激情之下实施所适用的判断标准问题由陪审团或者在无陪审团的案件中的法官按照被告是否是一个“通情达理的人”来解决。从技术上来讲，并不考虑杀人者的具体的感受或情绪，而是要确定“一个通情达理的人”在类似情况下会作出怎样的行为。一个英国案例可以说明这一点。在该案中，一个阳痿的男人在试图与一名妓女发生性关系失败后感觉受到该妓女某些言辞的侮辱，因而杀死了她。他主张在认定他的这种反应是否存在激怒的情况时，应当将他在这种情况下的感受考虑进去。但是法庭认为他的行为要根据一般标准，即正常的“通情达理的人”的标准进行判断。

(b) Involuntary Manslaughter

Involuntary manslaughter may be described generally as an unintentional killing resulting from gross negligence, or as a result of dangerous unlawful conduct. For example, a person who throws a heavy object from the upper stories of a building into an alley used with some frequency by pedestrians may be guilty of manslaughter if a killing results. Likewise, a motorist may commit manslanghter if he kills a child at a school crossing while travelling at an excessive speed.

（b）非故意的非预谋杀人

非故意的非预谋杀人一般可以被定义为由于重大疏忽或者作为危险的非法行为的结果而非故意地致人死亡。比如，一个人从一栋大楼的高层向常有行人行走的小巷投掷重物，如果导致杀人的结果，就可能构成非故意的非预谋杀人罪。同样，汽车驾驶人如果在学校区的人行横道超速行驶而撞死学生也可能构成该项犯罪。

A number of states have created a related crime known as "reckless homicide" or "negligent homicide", for application to killings by motorists who were driving in a reckless or grossly negligent manner. This special kind of homicide legislation was enacted because of the difficulty encountered in convicting motorists for the more revoltingly labeled offense of manslaughter (i.e., the slaughter of a man), which also carried, traditionally, a minimum penalty of one year in the penitentiary. It was thought advisable to categorize such conduct with the less revolting label of reckless or negligent homicide and also to permit the imposition of lesser penalties than the one prescribed for manslaughter. Stated another way, it is better to obtain a reasonable number of convictions carrying relatively light penalties than to get very few convictions carrying heavy penalties. The permissible range of penalties in reckless homicide or negligent homicide statutes is generally a fine up to $1,000, or incarceration other than in a penitentiary for any period up to one year, or imprisonment in a penitentiary up to five years. (Where the traffic victim of such conduct does not die, another new statutory offense may be invoked--"reckless conduct".)

很多州已经创设了一个与此相关的罪名，叫做“疏忽大意杀人”或“过失杀人”，它们适用于汽车驾驶人以一种疏忽大意或者重大过失的方式致人死亡的行为。制定这种特使种类的杀人罪立法是因为在将汽车驾驶人定罪为非预谋杀人（即对人的屠杀——英文中“对人的屠杀”的复合词）罪这个越来越令人反感的罪名时所遇到的难题，而且这种罪行传统上还带有最低在矫正机构服刑一年的刑罚。因此将这种行为归入不太令人反感的疏忽大意或者过失杀人罪名当中并且允许判处比对非预谋杀人罪规定的更轻的刑罚被认为是比较可取的。换一种说法，即有适当数量的带有相对较轻的刑罚的定罪要强于虽有重罚但定罪很少的情况。在关于疏忽大意或过失杀人的法律中，允许的刑罚范围一般最高1000美元罚金，或者最高一年的监禁而不在矫正机构中服刑，或者在矫正机构中服刑最高五年的处罚。（在这类行为的交通受害人没有死亡的情况下，可援引另一新的法定罪名“疏忽大意行为”。）The flexibility of penalties in traffic death cases has the effect of encouraging pleas of guilty from offenders, and it results in convictions that might not be secured if a judge or jury had no choice other than a penitentiary sentence or an acquittal.

在交通（肇事致人）死亡案件中刑罚的灵活性产生一种鼓励罪犯认罪的效果，而且这导致了那些如果法官或陪审团除了选择矫正机构服刑或无罪之外别无选择便可能无法作出有罪判决。

3. Federal Homicide Law

There is no general federal homicide law. There can be none, in fact, since constitutional authority is lacking for Congress to legislate upon the subject, except with respect to killings within a federal territory, in federal buildings or upon other federal property, or killings of federal officials or officers.

第三部分联邦杀人罪法

不存在普遍的联邦杀人罪法。事实上，由于除了对在某一联邦领土内、在联邦大楼中或者其他的联邦财产上的杀人行为或者针对联邦官员的杀人行为之外，国会没有对此类问题进行立法的宪法性权利，因此也不可能有普遍的联邦杀人罪立法。

Example

X, without justification or excuse, shoots and kills Y in a Post Office. X has committed a federal offense of criminal homicide.

X在没有正当理由的情况下，在一家邮局射杀Y。X实施了联邦杀人罪。

Example

X, a bank robber fugitive about to be apprehended by an F. B. I. agent, shoots and kills the agent. X is guilty of a federal crime of murder.

X是一名正在由联邦调查局特工追捕的抢劫银行的逃犯，他开枪射杀了这名特工。X犯有联邦谋杀罪。

4. Modern Murder Manslaughter Legislation

In most states the crimes of murder and manslaughter are covered in state statutes closely patterned after the common law. A trend is now under way, however, to modernize the law. The 1961 Illinois Criminal Code is a good example. In defining murder, for instance, it avoids such language as "malice" and "abandoned and malignant heart", and uses more precise and meaningful terminology.

第四部分当代谋杀-非预谋杀人罪立法体系

在大多数州，谋杀罪和非预谋杀人罪都是由各州法律管辖，这些法律都基本上继承了普通法的形式。但是目前有一种正在进行的法律现代化趋势。1961年《伊利诺斯刑法典》就是一个很好的例子。比如，在对谋杀进行定义的时候，它避免了诸如“预谋”和“冷酷邪恶之心”之类的用于，而是用了更为准确和含义丰富的术语。

According to the Illinois Code, a person who kills another individual without lawful excuse commits murder (a) if he intended to kill him or do great bodily harm; or (b) if, without intending to kill, it clearly appears that he must have known that his conduct probably would cause death; or (c) if death resulted from the commission of a very serious crime like robbery, burglary or rape.

根据该刑法典，一个人在没有合法理由的情况下杀死另一个人，（1）如果他故意杀死他或者造成其重大身体伤害；或者（2）在没有杀人的故意的情况下，如果清楚表明他应当知道其行为可能会导致死亡；或者（3）如果死亡是由实施诸如抢劫、入室盗窃或者强奸之类的非常危险的犯罪所造成的，那么就构成谋杀罪。

5. Capital Punishment

For many years there has been much controversy as to whether capital punishment serves its intended purpose--a deterrent to murder. The issue is still unresolved among researchers on the subject. The capital punishment controversy has become rather academic, however, by reason of the rapid decline in executions in recent years. Although there were 199 executions in 1935, there was only one in the entire United States in 1966, two in 1967 and none in 1968. Yet in each of the latter three years over four hundred persons were under sentence of death.

第五部分死刑

多年来对于死刑是否能够实现其预期的制止谋杀目的一直存有许多争论。这一问题在研究人员之间仍然没有得到解决。但是，由于近年来死刑执行快速减少的原因，关于死刑的争论变得仅局限于学术方面。尽管在1935年有199人被执行死刑，但到了1966年在美国却只有1人被执行死刑，1967年2人，1968年没有。不过在接下来的3年当中每年都有400多人被宣判死刑。

In addition to an increasing unwillingness to execute murderers who have been sentenced to death, a legal concept was recently developed and enunciated by the Supreme Court of the United States regarding jury selection in capital cases that will make jury imposition of the death penalty much more difficult to obtain. The Court held that prospective jurors could not be rejected solely because of conscientious scruples against the death penalty. To do so, said the Court, constitutes a deprivation of due process, because the defendant would not then be accorded a trial by a "fair and impartial jury".

除了人们对已经被宣判死刑的谋杀犯越来越不愿意执行之外，最近美国最高法院最近提出并阐述了一个关于在死刑案件中陪审团选择的法律观念也使得陪审团对犯人判处死刑有了更大的难度。最高法院裁定，即任陪审员不得仅仅因为其反对死刑的良心顾虑而被要求退出陪审团。最高法院认为，如果这样做，就构成了对正当程序的剥夺，因为被告无法获得由“公正和公平的陪审团”的审判。

Exclusion because of such beliefs alone is permissible only when the prospective juror states that he would not consider setting them aside in the particular case for which he was called for jury service.

只有在即任陪审员声明他不会考虑在其参与陪审的特定案件中弃之不管的情况下，才允许仅仅由于这种观念而将其排除到陪审团之外。

法律英语第9课《合同法介绍》中英对照

Part One Contract and Contract Law

合同与合同法

1

Contract, as we will use that term, ordinarily connotes an agreement between two or more persons—not merely a shared belief, but a common understanding as to something which is to be done in the future by one or both of them.

1.当我们使用“合同”一词的时候，通常是说它是一份存在于两方或三方之间的契约。它不是一种简单的信任，而是通常理解为合同的一方或双方在将来的时候都要去做的某种事情。

Sometimes, the term contract is used also to refer to a document—the set of papers in which such an agreement is set forth.

2.有时候，“合同”也用来指一套包括四部分内容的文件。

For lawyers, contract usually is used to refer to agreement that has legal effect; i.e., it creates obligations for which some sort of legal enforcement will be available if performance is not forthcoming as promised.

3.对于律师而言，“合同”通常是指具有法律效力的协议，即设置了一种法律义务，当某行为没有按照预先约定的那样去履行时，可以依照合同去依法强制履行。

【对于律师而言，“合同”通常是指当某方没有按照预先约定履行义务时，当事人可以依照这个文件依法强制对方去履行的法律协议书。】这种翻译方式比较符合现代汉语的句式结构，但是在口译时比较费劲。

Thus, it will sometimes be necessary to distinguish among three elements in a transaction, each of which can be called a contract: (1) the agreement –in-fact between the parties, (2) the agreement-as- written (which may or may not correspond accurately to the agreement-in-fact), and

(3)the set of rights and duties created by (1) and (2).

4.因此，有时候，在一次交易中，区分三种不同的因素就变得非常必要，这些因素中的每个因素都可以叫做合同：（1）双方之间的事实合同（2）书面合同，它可能与事实合同不完全一致（3）基于前（1）（2）两项而对应产生的权利和义务。

注：此段的“合同”是基于我国《合同法》的分类而翻译的，《合同法》规定了“事实合同”“书面合同”，而非“事实协议”“书面协议”。

Without trying at this point to state a short but comprehensive definition of law (if that were possible), it is perhaps sufficient to suggest that we will be surveying the ways in which such agreements are made and enforced in our legal system-the role of lawyers and judges in creating contracts, in deciding disputes that may arise with respect to their performance, and in fashioning appropriate remedies for their breach.

5.在权利义务问题上，如果情况可以允许，我们可做到不用去努力阐明这种短少但包含法律意义的界定情况，那么它就强烈建议我们在早己设定好的合同和现行法律（定义）柜架下的去审视在（订立）创制合同中律师和法官的（角色）作用，他们会解决各方行为引发的争执以及对违约行为以恰当的形式进行补偿。

2

In the Anglo-American legal system, a great number of things-both tangible and intangible-are susceptible of “ownership.”

1.在英美法律体系中，有相当大部分的法律都明确或者间接的规定了所有权这个敏感的问题。

A bulldozer, a diamond ring, the Empire State Building, “Gone With the Wind”— all may be the “property” of one person or group of persons, which means that the state will protect the right of the “owner” to use, enjoy, and even consume that thing, to the exclusion of all other persons.

2.从一台推土机、一枚钻戒到帝国大厦、小说《飘》，都可能是一个人或者一些人的财产。这意味着国家将保护所有权人对其所有物的使用、享受甚至是毁灭的权利，同时排除他人对此行为的干涉。

The first-year property course traditionally focuses on the detailed rules that in Anglo-American law govern the ownership of “real property”(land and the buildings on it).

3. 按照惯例，第一年的财产课程会侧重于英美法律对财产保护的详细规定，诸如土地和地上物等不动产的所有权的细化性规定。

Later you will have the opportunity to explore bodies of law relating to ownership of other, less tangible, kinds of property such as copyrights, patents, shares of corporate stock, and negotiable instruments.

4.然后，你将会学习到基本是对版权、专利权，股权，可转让票据等无形财产的所有权的法律保护。

3

Any society that recognizes property rights must also address the question of how it should respond when someone violates those rights.

1.任何社会一旦承认财产的所有权，那么它就必须解决如何处置“侵犯财产权”的问题。

And property rights are not the only kind of individual rights that may need legal protection.

2.财产权不是由法律简单地保护的一种个体性权利。

Even societies that do not permit private ownership of wealth to the degree that ours does are likely to recognize the personal rights of individuals to be free from certain kinds of conduct such as the infliction of physical injury or other interferences with their individual freedom or dignity.

3.甚至，社会不允许财产所有权个人肆意同意他人创设某种随意侵害他人身体或其他有损他人个体自由或者尊严的行为的权利。

The courses in criminal law and torts deal with different aspects of this question: Criminal law focuses on those violations of personal and property rights that society deems serious enough to be deterred by threat of severe punishment for their commission (robbery, rape, and murder are obvious examples); tort law considers what remedy should be made available to the individuals so injured.

4.关于（财产权的保护）这个问题，刑法和民事侵权行为法有自己有不同的规定：刑法侧重于对个人和财产性权利不受妨害的保护，即社会认为这些犯罪行为的危险性已经严重到须以一系列刑罚惩处方可阻止的程度。比如抢劫、强奸、谋杀都是明显的例子。民事侵权法则认为对于个体的伤害应给予有效的赔偿。

Because of the nature of the conduct regulated, criminal law and tort law overlap to a great degree, but they are not congruent.

5.由行为在本质上的不同，因此，刑法和民事侵权法即使有很大部分是重合的，但二者并不完全相同。

Many acts are criminal but not tortuous, because they are offenses not against individuals but against the state—treason, for example, or tax evasion; others, such as slander, may be tortious but not criminal.

6.许多行为由于他们侵犯的不是个体而是国家，因此它们不是民事侵权行为而是刑事犯罪，比如，叛国罪、偷税罪；而诸如诽谤则是民事侵权行为而非犯罪行为。

4

Where does contract law fit into this picture?

1.在上述情况下，合同法是如何运用的呢？

We have noted already that our society recognizes and protects a variety of types of property and personal rights.

2.我们已经注意到我们的社会已经承认并保护一系列的人身性和财产性权利。

Ownership of property ordinarily includes the right to use and consume the thing owned, but in many cases it will be more to the advantage of the owner to transfer, or “convey,” the right of ownership to some other person in exchange for something else of value (money, perhaps, or the ownership of some other property).

3.最初的财产所有权，包括使用和消灭自有物的权利，但通过许多判例，它发展为所在权人有交易或转让的权利，对于交换中的许多人来说，这种所有权具有更高的价值，它可能是金钱，也可能是其他财产的所有权。

A piano is more valuable to one who can play it than to one who cannot, and two lots of adjoining real property may be much more when combined into one parcel than when held separately.

4.一架钢琴对于会演奏它的人来说，价值要远高于那些不会弹奏的人；两个相邻的不动产，可能比两个彼此独立的不动产捆绑销售更有价值。

Similarly, the ownership of factory machinery may be much more valuable when it is combined with a right to the work of skilled technicians and laborers, a dependable source of supply of raw materials, and licenses to use patented processes in the manufacturing of goods.

5.同样地，当一家机器工厂拥有一群可以工作的技师和工人，有独立可靠的原材料供应渠道和加工产品时所需的专利许可的时候，它的所有权的价值要更高。

Agreements for exchange are the means by which such resources are assembled and put to productive use.

6.为交换而订立的合同，意味着它可以集中并大量的被使用。

Some such agreements call for the immediate and simultaneous exchange of money for goods or services (your purchase of a morning paper, for instance, or of a hamburger or a haircut).

7.这种合同数量巨大，要求在购买货物或者服务的时候，即时支付合同规定的价钱，比如买早报、汉堡包或者去理发。

Where exchanges of any significant size are concerned, however, it is much more common for both the planning and the performance to be spread over a considerable period of time.

8.然而，进行那些重要的买卖合同的时候，合同通常会规定双方将在未来相当长的一段时间里要去履行的行为和计划。

The law of contracts is our society' legal mechanism for protecting the expectations that arise from the making of agreements for the future exchange of various types of performance, such as the conveyance of property (tangible and intangible), the performance of services, and the payment of money.

9.为了保护基于合同的约定而在未来的时候，任何一方都履行自己合同义务的可期待性，合同法己成为我们社会对此予以调整的法律途径。比如转让有形和无形的财产、提供服务行为、支付报酬。

5

Before proceeding to examine contract law in more detail, we should point out here that our description of the relationship between the various “substantive” bodies of law that you will be encountering this year is necessarily an over-simplified one.

1.在更加细致地检查合同法之前，这里我们应指出必须先要弄清楚今年你们能遇到的不同的实体法之间的关系，这种关系有时候被描述的过于简单化。

Legal problems do not always fit neatly into the pigeonholes that legal theorists have created; frequently they raise issues involving more than one body of law.

2.法律问题并不总是很巧合地按照法律体系调整的类别来发生，有一些法律问题通常须由几个部门法共同来解决。

For instance, you will learn in this course that some types of conduct that we call “fraud” can constitute both a breach of contract and a tort.

3.例如，在课程里将会学到有多种欺诈行为合同法和侵权行为法都会调整到。

Lease agreements between landlord and tenant have historically been governed by rules of property law, but recently courts have tended to analyze their legal effect more in the manner traditionally applied to contracts.

4.传统上，地主与佃户之间出租土地契约的法律效力由财产法规则调整，但近年来，法院更倾向于使用传统意义上的合同法来分析他们的法律效力。

The web of the law may not be quite as seamless as the old saying would have it, but students and teachers alike must beware of falling into the trap of believing that our various legal categories are ironclad and unchanging; they are not.

5.法谚有云：“法网致密，无有疏漏”，尽管这种情况从来不会出现。可是，研习法律的老师和学生都应该小心不要陷入一个错误思维的窠臼：我们不同类型的法律都是坚不可破且永恒不变的，实际上它们并不这样。

Part Two Authority of Contract Law

第二部分合同法的法律渊源

1

Having presented our general definition of contract law, we next face the question: where is this law to be found?

1.上面已经分析过合同法的概念了，那接下来，我们就要解决“如何寻找合同法”这个问题。

From what sources—what “authority”—do courts derive the rules of law they apply to decide contract disputes?

2.法院是依据什么情况权力和什么授权来制定他们的所争论的合同法的规则呢？

The types of authority we will consider fall generally into two categories: primary and secondary.

3.我们认为，有关合同法的效力渊源通常有2个：首要法律渊源和次要法律渊源。

Primary authority, commonly viewed by lawyers and judges as “the law”itself, consists of prior judicial decisions (which collectively make up what we call the “common law”) and the like (expressions of the will of a duly constituted legislative body on a subject within its proper sphere of action).

4.律师和法官通常认为首要法源是法律本身，它包括判例法（也就是把案例判决集中起来，我们称之为普通

法的法律）和制定法和条例，以及相类似的适用规则，诸如基于某份裁定而合理地根据某种目的阐述某个部门法

的作用范围的规则。

Secondary authority might be very loosely defined as anything else which could appropriately influence a court; the examples we will consider, however, consist mainly of the two principal types of persuasive authority that have had marked influence on the common law of contract: commentary by legal scholars and the American Law Institute's Restatements of the law.

5.次要法源，也许像任何事情一样，很难准确地定义它对法院的影响，我们认为，次要法源包括两种具有劝

诱性的法源，即法学家评论和美国法学会出版的《法律重述汇编》，他们对普通法中的合同法已经产生了深深地影响。

2

With one important exception, the bulk of our contract law is common law—judge-made law, rules distilled from a composite of court decisions in prior cases.

1.作为一个重要的例外情况，合同法在很大程度上是由法官制定出来的普通法，这部法律的许多规则是法官

们对先前的判决进行提炼和概括后而制定的。

Thus, one of your principal tasks this year will be to learn how to read, understand, and apply judicial decisions.

2.因此，今年你们的首要任务之一是学会如何读、理解和阐述适用法院的裁决。

You will find at first that they seem to be written in a foreign language; like any technical jargon,

legal language is full of strange words (like assumpsit and quantum meruit) as well as words that are familiar but appear to be used with an unfamiliar or specialized meaning (like consideration and offer).

3.你一开始就会发现，这些法律像是以一种外语的形式写下来的，诸如技术术语。法律语言充满了奇怪的词语，像“要求赔偿违法行为所造成的损失诉讼”和“无合同规定时，按照合理价格支付”，同时，它们具有不同的

含义，且并不相似，比如对价、要约。

3

Ou r judicial system of decision-making is commonly said to be one of “stare decisis”—adherence to past decisions, or “precedents.”

1.我们现在做出判决的法律体系，通常说是一种“遵循先例原则”的体系，它是对先前的判决或决定的坚持。

A precedent is a prior decision with facts sufficiently similar to the case “subjudice”—under adjudication—that the court feels obliged to follow it and to render a similar decision.

2.先例是一种先前的决定，它有与将要做出判决案件相似的案件事实，法院认为必须迫使自己去遵守并提出

与之相似的裁决。

A regime of law based primarily on precedent is commonly justified on two grounds.

3.以判例为主要依据的法律制度通常从两个方面证明其合理性。

First, it offers a high degree of predictability of decision, enabling those who so desire to order their affairs in accordance with ascertainable rules of law.

4.第一，要求欲判决案件与先例在本质上具有高度一致性，法官据此去查明欲判决案件将适用的法律。

Second, it puts a rein on what might otherwise be the natural proclivity of judges to decide cases on the basis of prejudice, personal emotion, or other factors that we might regard as improper grounds for decision.

5.第二，要求对法官个人对某些案件的癖好、个人情感因素以及其他我们可以看作是对决的有个人倾向的因

素上加以控制。

Such a system also will obviously have the characteristic—which may sometimes be a virtue, sometimes a defect—of being static and conservative, generally oriented toward preservation of the status quo.

6.这种情况下的法律体系具有明显的特征：有时侯是非常有效的，有时侯是失败的。这些源于法律体系的稳

定与保守，通常有助于法律令状的持续稳定。

4

There will be times, however, when a common law judge concludes that blind adherence to precedent would produce an unjust result in the case presented for decision.

1.然而，有时候一个判例法法官盲从一个先例判决会对在审案件造成不公平的结果。

There are a number of ways such a result may be avoided.

2.实际上，有很多方法可以避免这种情况的出现。

To begin with, a precedent is considered to be “binding” on a court only if it was decided by that same court or by an appellate court of higher rank in the same jurisdiction.

3.一个先例是否是失去效力，通常由作出它的法院或是这个法院的上级法院来认定。

Other precedents—from lower courts or from other jurisdictions —are said to be merely “persuasive”.

4.而在其他情况下，对于下级法院或其他无管辖权的法院对此只能做劝诱性的结论。

If a precedent of the latter type is in fact unpersuasive, the judge is free to disregard it.

5.在后一种情况下，这个先例实际上不具有“约束性”，法官就可以不考虑他而自由裁判。

If the precedent is not merely persuasive, but binding, it cannot simply be ignored.

6.如果先例不仅是建议性的，而且是无效的，它就不能被简单地忽略掉。

It may, however, be avoided.

7.而是可以被省略掉，排除在法官的考虑范畴之外。

If the facts of the present case do not include a fact that appears to have been necessary (“material”) to the earlier decision, the court may “distinguish” the precedent and render a different decision.

8.如果目前的预判案件与先例不具有本质上的一致性或必要性，法院会把这个案件与先例区别开来，做出不同的判决。

If the earlier precedent is indeed binding, but is difficult or impossible to distinguish, there is one other way to avoid its effect.

9.如果判例己处于事实上的无效，尽管这很难并且不太可能区分，仍有一个别外的一种方法使之无效。

If the court of decision is the one that created the precedent (or is

a higher court), it can simply “overrule” the earlier decision.

10.如果欲判决法院是做出判例的法院或是其上级法院，那就很简单地宣布这个先例无效。

(This does not retroactively change the outcome for the parties to that earlier case, but it does change the rule for the case under decision and subsequent similar cases.)

11.宣布判例无效并不对这个判例中诉讼双方的权利义务产生回溯性的改变，它只是改变了欲判决案件所适用的裁判规则。

Overruling is considered a relatively drastic action and is usually reserved for instances in which the court feels that the rule established by the earlier precedent is simply wrong, i.e., unjust in its general application because either it was ill conceived at the outset or it has been outmoded by later developments.

12.宣布无效被认为是一种严格的行为，法院通常在认为判例所建立的规则是非常错误地时候才适用。比如，“不公正”通常可以理解为“一开始被错误的表达”或者“因后来发展而过时废弃了”。

5

Historically, contract law developed in the Anglo-American system as common law, rather than by statute.

1.事实上，合同法发端于英裔美国人制定的普通法而非制定法。

Until this century, the most notable exception to this historical pattern was the “statute of frauds,” which was enacted first in England and subsequently in virtually every American state.

2.直到本世纪，这一法律传统最著名的例外就是“反欺诈行为法”的制定，它首先制定于英格兰，然后，在美国各州都适用。

This statute requires certain contracts to be evidenced by a signed writing in order to be enforceable in court.

3.这部法律规定：合同一经签订就具有法院强制执行力的效果。

As we shall see, the statute of frauds has itself become so overlaid by court decisions that is has more of the quality of common law than of

a modern statute.

4.就像我们看到的这部“反欺诈行为法”法典本身己经因法院的判决而失去了原有的制定法的特色，这意味着它具有比现代意义上的制定法具有更多的普通法的特色。

By and large, however, such revisions are rare; even today contract law remains essentially a common law system, except as it is being affected by a remarkable modern statute, the Uniform Commercial Code.

5.但总体而言，即使到了今天，除了受到现代著名的具有里程碑式的《美国统一商法典》的影响外，以这种方式修改合同法仍然是很少见的。

6

When a court decides a case governed by a statute, its reasoning differs from that used when common law principles are applied.

1.在决定适用某部法律来裁决某个案件的时候，法院会探寻各普通法法律原则的各自不同适用问题。

Any court, even the highest court of the jurisdiction, is bound to follow the provisions of a valid statute that apply to the dispute before it.

2.任何法院，即使是联邦最高法院，都会按照现行有效法律的规定范围去适用这部法律。

This duty stems from a fundamental political tenet of our society: the legislature has ultimate lawmaking power so long as it acts within the bounds of its constitutional authority.

3.这种适用义务源于当今社会的一个基本的政治信条，即在宪法授权的范围内制定法律，立法机关享有最终的立法权。

Thus, the legislature may if it wishes modify or eliminate any of the rules of common law.

4.因此，立法机关可以根据它的意图变更或废止任何普通法的条款。

Sometimes, of course, the language of a statute may be subject to differing interpretations; in such cases, courts ordinarily seek to ascertain the legislature’s purpose in enacting it, in order to adopt a construction that will best effectuate that purpose. Sometimes there is “legislative history”—legislative debates, committee reports, etc.—which sheds light on that purpose.

5.当然，有时候法律用语会有多种理解，这种情况下，法院为使法律发挥更好的效果，通常会探寻最符合立法机关立法时的意图。有时候，立法史资料包括立法资料，大会报告等等，都可以用来说明立法意图。

7

In 1923, the American Law Institute (ALI) was formed.

1.1923年，美国法学会成立。

The major project undertaken by this organization was the preparation and promulgation of what purported to be accurate and authoritative summaries of the rules of common law in various fields, including contracts, torts, property.

2.这个组织的最重要的科研项目是对诸如合同法、侵权法、财产法在内的各种领域的普通法规则的权威和真

实目的进行论证和确立。【原意是“准备”和“出版”】

The first such “restatement” to be issued—and perhaps the most successful in terms of acceptance and use by the bench and bar—was the Restatement of Contracts, officially adopted by the ALI in 1932.

3.这种《法律重述》于1932年由美国法学会正式出版，并最成功地被法官和律师届所引用。

(It had been gradually emerging in draft form over the several years preceding.)

4.但在1932年之前的几年里，它的雏形文本就己经面世了。

The Restatement resembled a statute in form, consisting of

“black-letter” statements of the “general rule” (or, where the cases appeared to conflict, the “better rule”).

5.《法律重述》像一部法律，“黑体字”代表基本原则，或者对某个最佳原则抵触的案例。

In addition, most sections were supported with at least some commentary and illustrations.

6.另外，大多数章节至少都有法学家评论和注释作为论据支持。

None of the ALI Restatements have the force of law, as does a statute or an individual court decision.

7. 对于任何一个法官或者法院而言，美国司法协会出版的任何一部《法律重述》都没有法律强制力。

Although they constitute only secondary authority, the Restatements have in fact proved to be remarkably persuasive; not infrequently, a court will justify its decision by simply citing and quoting (perhaps with approving discussion) the Restatement's rule on a given point.

8.尽管对各部门法的《法律重述》仅仅是本部门法的次要法源，但是事实上《法律重述》有着相当显著的说

服力，经常有法院为了论证某个问题的公正性，就直接引用和援引《法律重述》的原文或者是相关观点的适用规则。

8

Recognizing that contract law had undergone substantial development since 1932, the ALI in 1962 began to prepare a revised version of its Restatement.

1.自1932年《法律重述》出版以来，合同法体系己经发生了实质性的发展，美国司法协会从1962年开始准

备对《法律重述》进行修订。

Finally adopted in full in 1979, the Restatement (Second) of Contracts reflects some shifts in philosophy from the original Restatement.

2.最终，此修订于1979年完成。《法律重述（二版）》更换了许多《一版》中裁决所依据的哲学原则模式。

The first Restatement tended to emphasize generalization and predictability, at the expense of diversity and flexibility; the second attempts, with more extended supporting commentary and editorial notes, to acknowledge some of the complexity the first Restatement preferred to ignore and to suggest a freer rein for judicial discretion.

3.在损害多样性和不确定性问题上，《法律重述（一版）》往往强调规则的普遍适用性和可预测性。而《二版》则试图辅以评论和编者按，去证明《一版》中宁愿忽略对这些问题的复杂性的讨论，以及试图去建议对自由裁量权的必要限制。

9

Although they are no more than secondary authority, the Restatements of Contracts have clearly had a powerful effect in shaping judicial views of what the common law of contract ought to be.

1.尽管《法律重述》是次要法源，但《法律重述》中有关合同法的部分己经实实在在的影响到法官如何认识普通法中合同法的应有含义。

Perhaps no other secondary authority has had quite that impact on the law, but over the years a variety of published articles, books, and multivolume treatises has been devoted to analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing the immense body of contract cases that has accumulated in the reported decisions of American courts.

2.或许没有其他次要法源可以对法律产生如此的影响，但纵观这几年来出版的各种书籍、文章、条约汇编，他们己经开始对美国法院判例集中公布的浩繁的合同案例进行分析、评价，综合归纳。

Authors of these works have sought to clarify the law, to propose solutions for unresolved issues, and in some cases to argue strenuously and often effectively for legal change.

3.这些著作的作者们着意探究法律的本意，对未决案件提出判决建议，对某些案件中的问题展开热烈的讨论。

In the aggregate, such legal commentary has been extremely influential in shaping the course of the common law of contract.

4.综上，这种（类型的）法律评论己经对普通法中的合同法的形成进程产生了决定性的影响。