契约法和成文法.Common Law and Statute Law

enforcement 强制执行； claim 请求； action 诉讼行为； writ 法院令状； classical Roman law 古罗马法
Delegated Legislation

Although, because of the supremacy of Parliament, no-one can challenge the authority of an Act of Parliament in the courts, it is possible to question the validity of delegated legislation and other decisions taken by bodies under powers granted to them by an Act of Parliament.

Common Law – The Doctrine of Precedence



One of the drawbacks of case law is that, despite the doctrine of precedence, the outcome of cases, remains, to some extent, uncertain. If it can be shown that the particulars of a case are different from any that precede it, then there is, effectively no law to be applied. The court may be guided by the principles applied in previous judgments in similar cases, but is not bound by them.

The common law is historically the common general law —— with supremacy over local law —— which was decreed by the itinerant judges o f the English royal court. 普通法在历史上是 普通综合法，由英国皇家法院的巡回法官颁 布的普通综合法地位高于地方法。
Common Law and Statute Law
Common Law and Statute Law


Common law - - rules of behaviour accepted(公认的)by society on the basis of established（已制定的） custom and practices, （风俗习惯）as evidenced【证 据】 by decisions in the courts【法院】. Statute law - legislation【立法】 contained in precise written statements of requirements emanating from
Common Law – The Doctrine of Precedence
The effect of this doctrine is to ensure consistent application of the law throughout all the courts in the land. This allows the law to be continually revised and reinterpreted “in the light of current values and experiences.” 【法的不断完善，例子，遵循先例。】
Case law
形成于英国，包括加拿大，澳 大利亚，新西兰，爱尔兰，印 度、巴基斯坦，马来西亚和新 加坡，香港地区也采用英美法
Statutory law
法国和德国为代表，还有 瑞士、意大利、奥地利、 比利时、卢森堡、荷兰、 西班牙、葡萄牙、日本等
大陆法系/罗马法系


Most fields of private law still consist primarily of case law and the extensive a nd steadily growing statutory contin ues to be subject to binding interpretation through case law. 私法的大多数领域主要包括判例法，以及 广泛的不断增加的成文法，这些成文法继 续通过判例法受制于有约束力的法律解释。


No one document, no handful of docume nts, can properly be said to reveal the ch aracter of a people or of their government. 没有哪一个或者少数几个文件可以准确地 揭示一国人民或政府的特征。


The whole of its history belongs in the p eriod since the invention of the printing press. 美国历史是印刷发明以后的历史。
The whole of its history is recorded

for events such as those that are lost in the l egendary past of Italy or France or England are part of the printed record of the United States
It is old



It is the oldest of the "new" nations — the first one to be made out of an Old World colony. 第一个从旧大陆殖民地脱胎而出的国家 the oldest written constitution the oldest continuous federal system the oldest practice of self-government


The reports of the United States Supre me Court fill 350 volumes The reports of some States are almos t equally voluminous.
联邦最高法院 判例汇编
州法院判例汇编


The reader who wants to trace the hist ory of law in America is confronted with over 5,000 stout volumes of legal ca ses. 想要探索美国法律历史的人面对的是 5000多巨册的法律案例。
Delegated Legislation



Not all aspects of statute law are contained in the actual Acts of Parliament. It is often the case that an Act sets out the general principles and empowers the government or some other official body to issue further requirements which provide the detail. Legislation formed in this way is known as Delegated Legislation and is set out in STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.
Part Two

The American legal system, like the En glish, is methodologically mainly a cas e
Common law legal system 普通法系 Civil law legal system


When hundreds and thousands of documen ts strike a consistent note， over more than a hundred years, we have a right to say that is the keynote. 当一百多年来成百上千的文件敲击出始终如 一的音调时，我们可以说这就是基调。

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

And the American record
Comprehensive 复杂 Immense 繁多



Record of the colonial era 殖民时代的记载 Record of the Nation since 1776 国家从1776年开始的记载 Record of the present fifty States 当前50个州的记载 The intricate network of relationships between States and Nation 各州与联邦之间错综复杂关系的记载
parliament【国会立法】.
Common Law – The Doctrine of Precedence【优先主义】


The DOCTRINE OF PRECEDENCE requires that an inferior court always follows the decisions of a higher court. Thus, once a judgment has been made in a particular case, that decision will apply in any future cases which match the particulars of the first. 下级法院与上 级法院{法的适用，遵循先例，推翻先例，避开先 例} Cases which set precedence are invariably determined by the highest courts in the legal system, (primarily the COURT OF APPEAL OR THE HOUSE OF LORDS).

The United States is at once

a very new nation

a very old nation
既年轻又古老的国家
It is a new nation
Compared with many other countries 与其他国家相比


it is constantly being renewed by the addit ion of new elements of population and of new States 不断有新的人口成分和新州的加入
Statute Law


This is written law, produced through the parliamentary process, and contained essentially in Acts of Parliament. This form of law supersedes all other forms of law since Parliament is supreme in the land.