法律英语-何家弘bfah.docx

Evaluation Warning: The document was created with Spire.Doc for .NET.Lesson One: Legal System 法律制度Background背景自从哥伦布(Christopher Columbus)于1492年航行至美洲之后，大批欧洲人便开始拥向这片"新大陆"。不过，人们通常把第一批英国定居者(the first English settlers)于1607年到达弗吉尼亚(Virginia)的詹姆斯顿(Jamestown)视为美国法律制度历史的起点。美国法制史可以大体上分为两个时期，即英属殖民地时期(the Period of the English Colonies)和美利坚合众国时期(the Period of the United States)。虽然美国的法律制度是在英国法律传统的基础上形成和发展起来的，但是在近四百年的历史进程中，美国的法律制度也形成了一些不同于英国法律制度的特点，如公诉制度(public prosecution)等。美国属于普通法法系(Commmon LLaw Leegal SSystemm)国家，其其法律制度有有两个基本特特点：其一是是以分散制(decenntraliizatioon)为原则则；其二是以以判例法(ccase llaw)为主主体。美国除除联邦政府外外，还有州政政府、县政府府、市政府、镇镇政府等等，而而且这些政府府都是相互独独立的，各自自在其管辖范范围内享有一一定的立法权权和执法权。因因此，有人说说美国是"一一个有许多政政府的国家""(a coountryy of mmany ggovernnmentss)；而美国国的法律体系系则是一个""零散的无系系统"(frragmenntal nnosysstem)。诚诚然，美国现现在也有很多多成文法(wwritteen laww)或制定法法(stattutoryy law)，但是其法法律制度仍是是以判例法为为主体的。换换言之，"遵遵从前例"(staree deciisis)仍仍然是美国司司法活动中最最重要的原则则之一。以上上两点对于理理解美国的法法律制度具有有重要意义。Text课文Part OnneThe Uniited SStatess is aat oncce a vvery nnew naation and aa veryy old natioon. Itt is aa new natioon commparedd withh manyy otheer couuntriees, annd it is neew, tooo, inn the sensee thatt it iis connstanttly beeing rreneweed by the aadditiion off new elemeents oof poppulatiion annd of new SStatess. Butt in oother sensees it is olld. Itt is tthe olldest of thhe "neew" naationss-thee firsst onee to bbe madde outt of aan Oldd Worlld collony. It haas thee oldeest wrrittenn consstituttion, the ooldestt conttinuouus fedderal systeem, annd thee oldeest prracticce of selfgoverrnmentt of aany naation.One of the mmost iintereestingg feattures of Ammericaas yoouth iis thaat thee wholle of its hhistorry bellongs in thhe perriod ssince the iinventtion oof thee prinnting presss. Thee wholle of its hhistorry is, therreforee, reccordedd: inddeed, it iss safee to ssay thhat noo otheer majjor naation has sso commpreheensivee a reecord of itts hisstory as haas thee Unitted Sttates, for eventts succh as thosee thatt are lost in thhe leggendarry passt of Italyy or Frrance or Ennglandd are part of thhe priinted recorrd of the UUnitedd Stattes. AAnd thhe Ameericann recoord iss not only comprrehenssive; it iss immeense. It emmbracees nott onlyy the recorrd of the ccoloniial erra andd of tthe Naation sincee 17766, butt of tthe prresentt fiftty Staates aas welll, annd thee intrricatee netwwork oof rellationnshipss betwween SStatess and Natioon. Thhus, tto takke a vvery eelemenntary exampple, tthe reeportss of tthe Unnited Statees Suppreme Courtt filll somee 350 volummes, aand thhe repports of soome Sttates are aalmostt equaally vvolumiinous: the readeer whoo wantts to tracee the histoory off law in Ammericaa is cconfroonted with over 5,0000 stouut vollumes of leegal ccases.No one documment, no haandfull of ddocumeents, can pproperrly bee saidd to rreveall the charaacter of a peoplle or of thheir ggovernnment. But when hundrreds aand thhousannds off docuumentss striike a consiistentt notee, oveer morre thaan a hhundreed yeaars, wwe havve a rright to saay thaat is the kkeynotte. Whhen huundredds andd thouusandss of ddocumeents aaddresss theemselvves inn the same ways, to tthe saame ovverarcching probllems, we haave a rightt to rread ffrom tthem ccertaiin connclusiions wwhich we caan calll nattionall charracterristiccs.Part TwwoThe Ameericann legaal sysstem, like the EEnglissh, iss methhodoloogicallly maainly a casse laww systtem. MMost ffieldss of pprivatte laww stilll connsist primaarily of caase laaw andd the extennsive and ssteadiily grrowingg stattutoryy law contiinues to bee subjject tto binnding interrpretaation throuugh caase laaw. Knnowleddge off the case law mmethodd as wwell aas of the ttechniique oof worrking with case law tthereffore iis of centrral immportaance ffor ann undeerstannding of Ammericaan laww and legall methhodoloogy.The Commmon LLaw iss histtoricaally tthe coommon generral laaw - with supreemacy over locall law-whicch wass decrreed bby thee itinnerantt judgges off the Engliish rooyal ccourt. The enforrcemennt of a claaim prresuppposed the eexisteence oof a sspeciaal forrm of actioon, a writ, withh the resullt thaat thee origginal commoon laww reprresentted a systeem of "actiions" simillar too thatt of cclassiical RRoman law. If a writ existted (iin 12227) a claimm coulld be enforrced; theree was no reecoursse forr a cllaim wwithouut a wwrit, the cclaim did nnot exxist. This systeem beccame iinflexxible when the ""Proviisionss of OOxfordd" (12258) pprohibbited the ccreatiion off new writss, exccept ffor thhe fleexibillity wwhich the ""writ upon the ccase" allowwed annd whiich laater lled too the devellopmennt of contrract aand toort laaw.The narrrow llimitss of tthe foorms oof acttion aand thhe limmited recouurse tthey pprovidded leed to the ddeveloopmentt of eequityy law and eequityy casee law. "Equuity", in iits geenerall meanning oof doiing "eequityy", deecidinng ex aequoo et bbono, was ffirst grantted byy the King, and laterr by hhis Chhancelllor aas "keeeper of thhe Kinng's cconsciience"", to afforrd rellief iin harrdshipp casees. Inn the fifteeenth centuury, hhoweveer, eqquity law aand eqquity case law ddevelooped iinto aan inddependdent llegal systeem andd judiiciaryy (Couurt off Channcery) whicch commpetedd withh the ordinnary ccommonn law courtts. Itts rulles annd maxxims bbecamee fixeed andd, to a deggree, infleexiblee as iin anyy legaal sysstem. Speciial chharactteristtics oof equuity llaw inncludee: rellief iin thee formm of sspeciffic peerformmance (in ccontraast too the commoon laww awarrd of compeensatoory daamagess), thhe injjunctiion (aa tempporaryy or ffinal orderr to ddo or not tto do a speecificc act), thee deveelopmeent off socalled 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 foor thee purcchase of reeal prropertty willl be grantted beecausee commmon laaw dammages are ddeemedd to bbe inaadequaate siince tthey ccannott comppensatte thee buyeer in view of thhe uniiqueneess atttribuuted tto reaal proopertyy.As the commoon laww, equuity llaw beecame part of Ammericaan laww eithher thhroughh judiicial accepptancee or tthrouggh exppress statuutory proviision. Todaay, booth leegal ssystemms havve beeen merrged iin manny Ameericann juriisdicttions (begiinningg withh New York in 18848), with the rresultt thatt therre is only one fform oof civvil suuit inn thesse jurrisdicctionss as wwell aas in federral prracticce. Onnly feew Staates ccontinnue too mainntain a sepparatee channcery courtt. Nevvertheeless, the referrence to thhe hisstoriccal deeveloppment is immportaant beecausee, on the oone haand, iit expplainss the origiin andd signnificaance oof manny conntempoorary legall conccepts (for instaance tthe diivisioon of titlee in tthe laaw of propeerty) and, on thhe othher haand, iit is stilll releevant for tthe deecisioon of such questtions whethher, ffor innstancce, thhere iis a rright to a triall by jjury (only in thhe casse of commoon laww suitts, inn otheer casses onnly beefore the jjudge). In addittion, the ddifferrentiaation will deterrmine whethher thhe "orrdinarry" coommon law rrelieff of ddamagees appplies or whhetherr the "extrraordiinary"" equiity reemedy of sppecifiic perrformaance iis avaailablle."Case llaw"deescribbes thhe enttire bbody oof juddgemaade laaw andd todaay inccludess commmon laaw andd equiity prrecedeents. In immpreciise annd connfusinng usaage thhe terrms "ccommonn law"" and "casee law"" are oftenn usedd synoonymouusly, with the tterm ""commoon laww" in this usagee connnotingg judggemadde laww in ggeneraal as contrrastedd withh stattutoryy law. "Casse laww" alwways cconnottes juudgemmade llaw, wwhile "commmon laaw" inn conttrast-depeendingg on tthe meeaningg inteended-desccribess eithher thhe juddge maade laaw in commoon laww subjject mmatterrs or, moree exteensiveely, aall juudge mmade llaw.Lesson Two：LLegal Profeessionn 法律职业业Backgroound背景景美国的法律职业业由律师、法法官、检察官官和法学教师师组成。不过过，这几种人人又都可以称称为"律师""(lawyyer)，而而且他们都可可以是律师协协会(Barr)成员。由由此可见，美美国法律职业业内部的"职职业划分"并并不象中国及及世界上大多多数国家那样样严格和确定定。诚然，这这里有语言习习惯问题，但但它也在一定定程度上反映映了美国各种种法律工作者者之间人员变变换的频繁性性，而且这种种变换总以律律师为中心。美美国的法官一一般都从律师师中产生，而而且他们在担担任法官期间间仍可保留律律师资格，只只是不能从事事律师业务而而已。美国的的检察官与律律师之间几乎乎没有任何职职业差别。实实际上，美国国的检察官就就被称为律师师(attoorney)。检察官与与律师(我们们中国人所熟熟悉之含义上上的律师)之之间的区别仅仅在于前者受受雇于政府，后后者受雇于私私人或自己开开业；前者在在刑事案件中中负责公诉，后后者在刑事案案件中负责辩辩护。此外，美美国的法学教教师一般都是是当地的律师师。美国律师之多，在在世界上堪称称第一。据11984年的的统计，美国国共有649万名律师师，其与人口口的比例为11364。美美国律师多的的主要原因是是法律在其社社会生活中起起着非常重要要的作用。除除各种法律纠纠纷外，人们们从生到死、从从结婚到离婚婚、从生活到到工作，往往往都需要律师师的帮助。有有些人几乎事事事都要请教教律师。诚然然，这说明美美国人具有很很强的法律意意识，但也说说明美国的许许多法律规定定过于复杂。一一般来说，美美国人认为到到法院去解决决社会生活中中的法律纠纷纷是天经地义义的，但这并并不等于说美美国人喜欢打打官司。例如如，美国有一一个流传颇广广的谐音字谜谜："有一种种套服无人喜喜欢，是什么么?"(Thhere iis a kkind oof suiits thhat noobody likess. Whaat is it?)回回答是："打打官司。"(lawsuuits.)其实，美国国人事事找律律师也往往出出于无可奈何何。因此，美美国的律师才才得到了各种种各样、褒贬贬不一的外号号，如："租租用之枪"(hiredd gunss)；"讼棍棍"(shyysterss)；"职业业投刀手"(profeessionnal knnife tthroweers)；""限用之友""(limiited ppurposse friiends); "社会会工程师"(sociaal enggineerrs)；"社社会正义之斗斗士"(chhampioons foor soccial jjusticce)等。Text课文Part Onne： Thhe BarrThe reggulatiion off the legall proffessioon is primaarily the cconcerrn of the sstatess, eacch of whichh has its oown reequireementss for admisssion to prracticce. Moost reequiree threee yeaars off colllege aand a law ddegreee. Eacch staate addminissters its oown wrrittenn examminatiion too appllicantts forr its bar. Almosst alll stattes, hhoweveer, maake usse of the MMultisstate Bar EExam, a dayylong multiplechoice test, to which the state adds a daylong 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 succeeed inn passsing tthese examiinatioons eaach yeear annd, affter aan inqquiry into theirr charracterr, aree admiitted to thhe barr in ttheir respeectivee stattes. NNo appprentiiceshiip is requiired eeitherr befoore orr afteer admmissioon. Thhe rulles foor admmissioon to practtice bbeforee the federral coourts vary with the ccourt, but generrally thosee entiitled to prracticce beffore tthe hiighestt courrt of a staate maay be admittted bbeforee the federral coourts upon complliancee withh minoor forrmalitties.A lawyeer's ppractiice iss usuaally cconfinned too a siingle commuunity for, althoough aa lawyyer maay traavel tto reppresennt cliients, one is onnly peermittted too pracctice in a statee wherre onee has been admittted. It iss custtomaryy to rretainn locaal couunsel for mmatterrs in otherr juriisdicttions. Howeever, one wwho mooves tto anoother statee can usuallly bee admiitted withoout exxaminaation if onne hass praccticedd in aa statte wheere onne hass beenn admiitted for ssome ttime, oftenn fivee yearrs.A lawyeer mayy not only practtice llaw, bbut iss permmittedd to eengagee in aany acctivitty thaat is open to otther ccitizeens. IIt is not uuncommmon foor thee praccticinng lawwyer tto serrve onn boarrds off direectorss of ccorporrate cclientts, too engaage inn busiiness, and to paarticiipate activvely iin pubblic aaffairrs. A lawyeer remmains a memmber oof thee bar even afterr becooming a juddge, aan empployeee of tthe goovernmment oor of a priivate businness cconcerrn, orr a laaw teaacher, and may rreturnn to pprivatte praacticee fromm thesse othher acctivitties. A rellativeely smmall nnumberr of llawyerrs givve up practtice ffor reesponssible execuutive posittions in coommercce andd induustry. The mobillity aas welll as the ssense of puublic respoonsibiility in thhe proofessiion iss eviddencedd by tthe caareer of Haarlan Fiskee Stonne whoo was, at vvariouus timmes, aa succcessfuul Neww Yorkk lawyyer, aa proffessorr and dean of thhe Collumbiaa Schoool off Law, Attoorney Generral off the Uniteed Staates, and CChief Justiice off the Uniteed Staates.There iis no formaal divvisionn amonng lawwyers accorrding to fuunctioon. Thhe disstincttion bbetweeen barrristeers annd sollicitoors foound iin Enggland did nnot taake rooot inn the Uniteed Staates, and tthere is noo brannch off the profeessionn thatt has a speecial or exxclusiive riight tto apppear iin couurt, nnor iss therre a bbranchh thatt speccializzes inn the prepaaratioon of legall insttrumennts. TThe Ammericaan lawwyerss domaain inncludees advvocacyy, couunsellling, and ddraftiing. FFurtheermoree, witthin tthe spphere broaddly deefinedd as tthe "ppractiice off law"" the domaiin is excluusive and iis nott openn to ootherss. In the ffield of addvocaccy, thhe rulles arre faiirly cclear: any indivviduall may repreesent himseelf orr hersself iin couurt buut, wiith thhe excceptioon of a feww infeerior courtts, onnly a lawyeer mayy reprresentt anotther iin couurt. NNonlawwyers are, howevver, aauthorrized to reepreseent otthers in foormal proceeedinggs of a juddiciall natuure beefore some adminnistraative agenccies. The llines of deemarcaation are lless cclear in thhe areeas off counnselliing annd draaftingg of llegal instrrumentts, ass for exampple beetweenn the practtice oof laww and that of acccountting iin thee fielld of federral inncome taxattion. Howevver, tthe sttrict approoach oof mosst Ameericann courrts iss indiicatedd by aa deciision of Neew Yorrks hhighesst couurt thhat a lawyeer admmittedd to ppractiice inn a fooreignn counntry bbut noot in New YYork iis proohibitted frrom giiving legall adviice too clieents iin Neww Yorkk, eveen thoough tthe addvice is liimitedd to tthe laaw of the fforeiggn couuntry wheree the lawyeer is admittted. A forreign lawyeer mayy, howwever, be aadmittted too the bar oof onee of tthe sttates and mmay, eeven wwithouut beiing addmitteed, addvise an Ammericaan lawwyer aas a cconsulltant on fooreignn law.Part Twwo： Laawyerss in PPrivatte PraacticeeAmong tthese fifteeen laawyerss in ppractiice, nnine, a cleear maajoritty, arre sinngle ppractiitioneers. TThe reemainiing siix praacticee in llaw fiirms, whichh are generrally organnized as paartnerrshipss. Fouur or five of thhese ssix arre parrtnerss and the ootherss are assocciatess, a tterm aapplieed to salarried llawyerrs empployedd by aa firmm or aanotheer lawwyer. This trendd towaard grroup ppractiice iss of rrelatiively recennt oriigin. Throuughoutt mostt of tthe niineteeenth ccenturry laww pracctice was ggeneraal ratther tthan sspeciaalizedd, itss chieef inggredieent waas advvocacyy rathher thhan coouns