法律翻译知识Lesson 2 Legal Systems: Common Law and Civil Law
I.课文及译文
每个独立的国家都有其法律体系。法律体系因各国的社会传统和国家结构形式不同而有所不同。然而，大多数法律体系或者可被归入普通法系，或者可被归人大陆法系。美国、加拿大、英国和其他英语国家属于普通法系。其他大多数国家属于大陆法体系。还有很多国家兼有二者的特色。大陆法司法管辖区和普通法系之间存在的主要差异在于，前者将其法律法典化，而对于后者，“法官造法”未得到汇编整合。
Every independent country has its own legal system.The system vary according to each country’s social traditions and form ofgovernment. But most systems can be classed as either a common-law system or acivil-law system. The United States, Canada, Great Britain,and otherEnglish-speaking countries have a common-law system. Most other countries havea civil-law system. Many countries combine features of both systems. A generaldistinction can be made between civil law jurisdictions,which codify theirlaws,and common law systems,where judge made law is not consolidated.
1.普通法系
英国、美国以及其他过去是英国殖民统治的国家是普通法系国家。普通法系区别与大陆法系，后者在欧洲以及其他过去是法国和西班牙殖民的国家中占统治地位。美国(路易斯安那州除外)各州均采用普通法系，路易斯安纳州的情况特殊，它形成一个由法国民法与英国刑法共同构成的混合体系。在加拿大，除魁北克采用法国式大陆法系外，余下地区均采用普通法系。
1，Common-lawSystem
The common-law system prevails in England, the UnitedStates, and other countries colonized by England. It is distinct from thecivil-law system,which predominates in Europe and in areas colonized by Franceand Spain. The common-law system is used in all states of the United Statesexcept Louisiana, where French Civil Law combined with English Criminal Law toform a hybrid system. The common-law system is also used in Canada,except inthe province of Quebec,where the French civil-law system prevails.
盎格鲁-美利坚普通法主要产生于三个英国王室法院：财政诉讼法院、王座法院和普通诉讼法院。上述法院最终取得了原先归地方法院或领地法院(如男爵法院、海事法院、行会和王室猎场法院，它们的司法管辖权仅限于特定的地区或特定的事项）管辖之纠纷的司法管辖权。 衡平法院最初设立的初衷是为了向那些不能获得普通法救济的诉讼当事人提供救济，后来也并人了普通法法院体系。绝大多数法律争议的管辖权现已合并至数个法院管辖，这成为现代英美法院体系的基本框架。
Anglo-American common law evolved chiefly from threeEnglish Crown courts of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries: the Exchequer,the King’s Bench, and the Common Pleas. These courts eventually assumedjurisdiction over disputes previously decided by local or manorial courts,suchas baronial admiral’s(maritime), guild, and forest courts,whose jurisdictionwas limited to specific geographic or subject matter areas. Equalitycourts,which were instituted to provide relief to litigants in cases wherecommon-law relief was unavailable, also merged with common-law courts. Thisconsolidation of jurisdiction over most legal disputes into several courts wasthe framework for the modern Anglo-American judicial system.
普通法法院是基于先前的司法裁决，而不是依据立法判案的。对于普通法法官而言，引导他们适用法律的是历任法官曾经对事实争议作出的裁决，而不是抽象的法典或者文本。普通法法官从收录历史争议裁决的判例汇编中为他们的裁决寻找依据。依据遵循先例原则，
如果案件的事实基本一致，则普通法法官必须作出与已决案件（或先例)保持一致的裁决。法院的一则判决对于同一法院或同一法域的下级法院在（今后)审理类似案件时构成“有约束力的先例”。该判决对于本法域内的上级法院或其他法域内的法院并无约束力，但可被视为“有说服力的先例”。
Common-law courts base their decisions on priorjudicial pronouncements rather than on legislative enactments. Common-lawjudges rely on their predecessor’s decisions of actual controversies, ratherthan on abstract codes or texts, to guide them in applying the law. Common-lawjudges find the grounds for their decisions in law reports, which containdecisions of past controversies. Under the doctrine of stare decisis,common-law judges are obliged to adhere to previously decided cases, orprecedents, where the facts are substantially the same. A court’s decision isbinding authority for similar cases decided by the same court or by lowercourts within the same jurisdiction. The decision is not binding on courts ofhigher rank within that jurisdiction or courts in other jurisdictions, but itmay be considered as persuasive authority.
在普通法系下，争议的解决靠对抗双方辩论与证据的交锋来实现。当事双方将其案件焦点展示给一个中立的事实裁定人(法官或者陪审团）。法官或者陪审团负责评估证据，对案件事实适用适当的法律，并作出有利于其中一方的判决。判决作出后，任何一方当事人均上诉至更高一级的法院。普通法系的上诉法院(在审理上诉案件时)仅审查原审法院判决中“对适用法律的裁决”，不审查“对争议事实的裁决”。
Under a common-law system, disputes are settledthrough an adversarial exchange fo arguments and evidence. Both parties presenttheir cases before a neutral fact finder, either a judge or a jury. The judgeor jury evaluates the evidence, applies the appropriate law to the facts, andrenders a judgment in favor of one of the parties. Following the decision,either party may appeal the decision to a higher court. Appellate courts in acommon-law system may review only findings of law, not determinations of fact.
在20世纪，普通法国家的立法机关在制定法律中所起的作用在不断地提升。例如，美国国会对美国合同法和财产法作出了很大程度的修订。修订针对的主要是诸如劳资关系、工人工资和工作时间、健康、安全和环境保护之类的事项。然而，普通法国家始终保持着英国法律体系的基本特色，即法官造法的权力。此外，这些国家的宪法亦始终保持着保护人民权利和自由的普通法传统。
The lawmaking role of legislatures in common lawcountries has increased greatly during the 1900’s. For example, the UnitedStates Congress has made major changes in American contract and property law.The changes have dealt, for example, with such matters as labor-managementrelations, worker’s wages and hours, health,safety, and environmentalprotection. Nevertheless ,common-law countries have kept the basic feature ofthe English legal system, which is the power of judges to make laws. Inaddition, constitutional law in these countries continues the common-lawtradition of defending the people’s rights and liberties.
