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1、thereportsofsomeStatesarealmostequallyvoluminous:thereaderwhowantstotracethehistoryoflawinAmericaisconfrontedwithover5,000stoutvolumesoflegalcases.Noonedocument,nohandfulofdocuments,canproperlybesaidtorevealthecharacterofapeopleoroftheirgovernment.Butwhenhundredsandthousandsofdocumentsstrikeaconsist
2、entnote,overmorethanahundredyears,wehavearighttosaythatisthekeynote.Whenhundredsandthousandsofdocumentsaddressthemselvesinthesameways,tothesameoverarchingproblems,wehavearighttoreadfromthemcertainconclusionswhichwecancallnationalcharacteristics.PartTwoTheAmericanlegalsystem,liketheEnglish,ismethodol
3、ogicallymainlyacaselawsystem.Mostfieldsofprivatelawstillconsistprimarilyofcaselawandtheextensiveandsteadilygrowingstatutorylawcontinuestobesubjecttobindinginterpretationthroughcaselaw.Knowledgeofthecaselawmethodaswellasofthetechniqueofworkingwithcaselawthereforeisofcentralimportanceforanunderstandin
4、gofAmericanlawandlegalmethodology.TheCommonLawishistoricallythemongenerallaw-withsupremacyoverlocallaw-whichwasdecreedbytheitinerantjudgesoftheEnglishroyalcourt.Theenforcementofaclaimpresupposedtheexistenceofaspecialformofaction,awrit,withtheresultthattheoriginalmonlawrepresentedasystemofactionssimi
5、lartothatofclassicalRomanlaw.Ifawritexisted(in1227)aclaimcouldbeenforced;therewasnorecourseforaclaimwithoutawrit,theclaimdidnotexist.ThissystembecameinflexiblewhentheProvisionsofOxford(1258)prohibitedthecreationofnewwrits,exceptfortheflexibilitywhichthewrituponthecaseallowedandwhichlaterledtothedeve
6、lopmentofcontractandtortlaw.Thenarrowlimitsoftheformsofactionandthelimitedrecoursetheyprovidedledtothedevelopmentofequitylawandequitycaselaw.Equity,initsgeneralmeaningofdoingequity,decidingexaequoetbono,wasfirstgrantedbytheKing,andlaterbyhisChancelloraskeeperoftheKingsconscience,toaffordreliefinhard
7、shipcases.Inthefifteenthcentury,however,equitylawandequitycaselawdevelopedintoanindependentlegalsystemandjudiciary(CourtofChancery)whichpetedwiththeordinarymonlawcourts.Itsrulesandmaximsbecamefixedand,toadegree,inflexibleasinanylegalsystem.Specialcharacteristicsofequitylawinclude:reliefintheformofsp
8、ecificperformance(incontrasttothemonlawawardofpensatorydamages),theinjunction(atemporaryorfinalordertodoornottodoaspecificact),thedevelopmentofsocalledmaximsofequitylawwhichpermeatedtheentirelegalsystemandinmanycasesexplaintheoriginofmodernlegalconcepts.However,equitablereliefregularlywilllieonlywhe
9、nthemonlawreliefisinadequate.Forinstance,specificperformanceforthepurchaseofrealpropertywillbegrantedbecausemonlawdamagesaredeemedtobeinadequatesincetheycannotpensatethebuyerinviewoftheuniquenessattributedtorealproperty.Asthemonlaw,equitylawbecamepartofAmericanlaweitherthroughjudicialacceptanceorthr
10、oughexpressstatutoryprovision.Today,bothlegalsystemshavebeenmergedinmanyAmericanjurisdictions(beginningwithNewYorkin1848),withtheresultthatthereisonlyoneformofcivilsuitinthesejurisdictionsaswellasinfederalpractice.OnlyfewStatescontinuetomaintainaseparatechancerycourt.Nevertheless,thereferencetothehi
11、storicaldevelopmentisimportantbecause,ontheonehand,itexplainstheoriginandsignificanceofmanycontemporarylegalconcepts(forinstancethedivisionoftitleinthelawofproperty)and,ontheotherhand,itisstillrelevantforthedecisionofsuchquestionswhether,forinstance,thereisarighttoatrialbyjury(onlyinthecaseofmonlaws
12、uits,inothercasesonlybeforethejudge).Inaddition,thedifferentiationwilldeterminewhethertheordinarymonlawreliefofdamagesappliesorwhethertheextraordinaryequityremedyofspecificperformanceisavailable.Caselawdescribestheentirebodyofjudgemadelawandtodayincludesmonlawandequityprecedents.Inimpreciseandconfus
13、ingusagethetermsmonlawandcaselawareoftenusedsynonymously,withthetermmonlawinthisusageconnotingjudgemadelawingeneralascontrastedwithstatutorylaw.Caselawalwaysconnotesjudgemadelaw,whilemonlawincontrast-dependingonthemeaningintended-describeseitherthejudgemadelawinmonlawsubjectmattersor,moreextensively
14、,alljudgemadelaw.LessonTwo：LegalProfession法律职业Background背景美国的法律职业由律师、法官、检察官和法学教师组成。不过，这几种人又都可以称为律师(lawyer)，而且他们都可以是律师协会(Bar)成员。由此可见，美国法律职业内部的职业划分并不象中国及世界上大多数国家那样严格和确定。诚然，这里有语言习惯问题，但它也在一定程度上反映了美国各种法律工作者之间人员变换的频繁性，而且这种变换总以律师为中心。美国的法官一般都从律师中产生，而且他们在担任法官期间仍可保留律师资格，只是不能从事律师业务而已。美国的检察官与律师之间几乎没有任何职业差别。实际上，
15、美国的检察官就被称为律师(attorney)。检察官与律师(我们中国人所熟悉之含义上的律师)之间的区别仅在于前者受雇于政府，后者受雇于私人或自己开业；前者在刑事案件中负责公诉，后者在刑事案件中负责辩护。此外，美国的法学教师一般都是当地的律师。美国律师之多，在世界上堪称第一。据1984年的统计，美国共有649万名律师，其与人口的比例为1364。美国律师多的主要原因是法律在其社会生活中起着非常重要的作用。除各种法律纠纷外，人们从生到死、从结婚到离婚、从生活到工作，往往都需要律师的帮助。有些人几乎事事都要请教律师。诚然，这说明美国人具有很强的法律意识，但也说明美国的许多法律规定过于复杂。一般来说，美
16、国人认为到法院去解决社会生活中的法律纠纷是天经地义的，但这并不等于说美国人喜欢打官司。例如，美国有一个流传颇广的谐音字谜：有一种套服无人喜欢，是什么?(Thereisakindofsuitsthatnobodylikes.Whatisit?)回答是：打官司。(lawsuits.)其实，美国人事事找律师也往往出于无可奈何。因此，美国的律师才得到了各种各样、褒贬不一的外号，如：租用之枪(hiredguns)；讼棍(shysters)；职业投刀手(professionalknifethrowers)；限用之友(limitedpurposefriends);社会工程师(socialengineers)；社会正义之斗士(championsforsocialjustice)等。Text课文PartOne：TheBarTheregulationofthelegalprofessionisprimarilytheconcern
