第一,源于司法裁决而非制定法或者宪法的法律集合(The body of law derived from judicial decisions, rather than from statutes or constitutions.)。(4)在这个层面上,common law是和statute law(制定法),written law(成文法)相对的,该术语的意思与case law(判例法)类似。
第二,基于英格兰法律体系之上的法律集合,与大陆法相异;common law还指一般意义上的盎格鲁美利坚的法律概念系统及适用这些概念的法律技术(The body of law based on the English legal system, as distinct from a civillaw system; the general AngloAmerican system of legal concepts, together with the techniques of applying them.)。(5)在这个层面上,common law是和civil law(大陆法),Roman law(罗马法)相对的,该术语的意思与AngloAmerican law(英美法)类似。
第三,适用于一国的共同法(General law common to the country as a whole.)。(6)在这个层面上,common law是与仅在某地适用的special law(特定法律)相对的,该术语是指general law,起源于拉丁语jus commune。
第四,普通法法院(而非衡平法法院)创制的法律集合(The body of law deriving from law courts as opposed to those sitting in equity.)。(7)在这个层面上,common law是与equity law(衡平法)相对的。在英格兰普通法是英格兰法律的三个历史渊源之一,其他两个渊源是制定法和衡平法。这是所谓的“普通法”是指起源习惯法(custom),以及由国王的法庭所创设和执行的一套法律体系,区别于衡平法院或者大法官法院(Court of Chancery)所创设的法律。在翻译涉及英国法的材料是,经常能碰到一对术语:law and equity。当law和equity并列出现的时候,一般需要将其翻译为:普通法和衡平法,而不是“法律和衡平法”。
Consideration是英美法中的一个极有特色的术语,也是英美合同法中的一个核心概念。香港立法语文中多称其为“代价”,国内法学界一般将其翻译为“对价”或者“约因”,也有学者主张将consideration翻译为“损益交易”或者“合法价值交易”(9)。在法律界,一般不会有人将consideration翻译为“考虑、思考”等。在翻译实践中,“对价”的使用更为广泛,甚至我国法律已经开始使用这一术语,比如《中华人民共和国票据法》第10条第2款规定:票据的取得,必须给付对价,即应当给付票据双方当事人认可的相对应的代价(The receipt of negotiable instruments must be balanced by a consideration, i.e.a corresponding payment agreed on by both parties.)。
与common law术语类似,尽管consideration的译名已经被广泛接受,但不同的法律人对该术语所代表的法律内涵的理解可能并不一致。《布莱克法律辞典》(Black's Law Dictionary)对该术语给出了两种解释:第一,允诺人(promisor)经议价后接受的诸如受诺人(promisee)做出行动、不行使权利或相对允诺等事项。(10)第二,泛指“有效对价”(valuable consideration),即支持当事人之间议价交易的充分对价。(11)
根据《布莱克法律词典》的解释,lien是指“债权人对他人财产所拥有的一种法定权利或利益,直至其担保的债务或者义务被清偿为止”。(14)一般而言,债权人并不占有该财产。(15)在英美法上,lien存在着多种形式,比如,普通法上的lien(common law lien),制定法上的lien(statutory lien),司法裁决的lien(judicial lien)。从大陆法的视角进行分析,英美法上的lien既包含担保物权等实体性权利,也包括为保障判决得以执行的程序性权利,(16)其内涵大致等于我国法上的担保物权及诉讼保全等措施。(17)因此,就功能而言,英美法上lien的范围要远远大于我国法律概念中的“留置权”,是“留置权”的上位概念。而我国学界并不是将lien作为一个上位概念、一个抽象概念来理解,而是将它的某种表现形式(如“留置权”)理解成了lien本身。
诸如lien之类的术语,现有的翻译存在着误解和错误。这种错误从根本上讲是对英美法文化的了解不够深入和精细的结果,抑或是大陆法和英美法两种法律观念冲突的结果。法律术语的翻译除了要求语言功能的对等(即字对字翻译和按字面翻译)外,还应照顾到法律功能的对等。所谓法律功能的对等就是源语(Source Language)与译入语(Target Language)在法律上所起的作用和效果的对等。惟有如此才能使译入语精准地表达源语的真正意涵。(18)对于lien这样的抽象概念,在我国现有的法律体系中很难找到对应的术语,可以采用释义(paraphrase)的方法进行翻译,即,用目标语言把源语言的意图含义表达出来。比如,可以将lien翻译为:担保物权(包括诉讼保全等措施)。再如,可以把“yellow dog contract”翻译为:“黄狗合同”(不准雇员参加工会的合同)。(19)类似的例子还有:
其一,“government”和“administration”的涵义偏重不同。客观地讲,二者之间显然存有某种“剪不断,理还乱”的关联。但“government”和“administration”是两个不同的英语单词,前者的主要含义偏重于完整意义上的“政府”,而后者的主要含义却偏重于“行政当局”。“行政当局”是“政府中最为明显的一个组成部分,是行动中的政府(government in action),它代表政府中行政的、实施的、最显著的一边。(39)”
刘先生指出《英汉大词典》(43)中的例句“The Government has decided to pass the bill.”翻译为“政府已决定通过该法案”有误。他说:“这就让人不禁要问‘政府有权通过法案吗?’答案当然是否定的,因为不论是中国的政府还是美国或英国的政府都无权通过‘法案’。理由很简单,‘政府’不是‘国家立法机关’。”
这里还要说明的是,根据权威的工具书《布莱克法律词典》,“bill”的法律意思有二:其一,“a legislative proposal offered for debate before its enactment”,它可以翻译为“法律议案”,也就是指“一项在得到颁布前被提交至立法机关进行讨论的立法建议”。它可以有立法机构的人员提出;也可以由(狭义的)政府提出,也就是“government bill”(政府议案)。其二,“an enacted statute”,可以翻译为“法案”,指“已得到颁布的制定法”,例如“the GI Bill”(退伍军人权利法案)。因此,“the bill”并没有暗含一定须有“立法机关”制定的意思;换言之,政府是可以制定并通过“法案”的。
此外,在美国的法律语境下,首字母大写的“Government”还常常表示“联邦刑事案件中的起诉机关(48)”(the prosecuting authority in a federal criminal case)。在司法实践中,虽然在公诉书上写明的是“United States v.So-and-So”(“美国诉某某某案”),但是在法庭上或法院文书中,“起诉机关”常被称为“the Government”,例如:The Government argues that the search was reasonable.(起诉机关称该搜查属于合理搜查。)最后,government还有“政体”的意思,例如“monarchical government”是“君主制政体”,“parliamentary government”是“议会制政体”的意思。
在行政学和管理学界,“administration”一词的翻译曾在上世纪末在中国引起了不小的争论(50),一些学者坚持将“administration”译为“行政(学)”,比如“public administration”一直以来在我国都被翻译为“公共行政(学)”。但是本世纪初,我国刚刚启动的MPA,即“公共管理专业硕士学位”(Master of Public Administration),却将“Administration”译成了“管理”(由此转变成了一个“MPA”还是“MPM”的翻译问题之争。)这种翻译上的转变,以及对这种转变的解释,由于卷入了同期“公共行政学”与“公共管理学”的学科设置之争而变得相当复杂。
“administration”还有其他的含义,如在法律领域内,“遗产管理”的对等翻译是“administration of estates on death”、“破产接管”的对等翻译是“Administrative receivership”;在医药领域,“给药途径”的对等翻译是“Route of administration”;在高等学校,“教务处”的恰当翻译是“Academic administration”,表示“负责管理和监督各教学单位的组织机构”(a branch of an academic institution responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution)。
法律翻译工作者在翻译中可能会遇到如“某某市/县工商行政管理局”。编者认为不应译作“Commercial and Industrial Administration Bureau of City(Prefecture) /County x”,而应译为“x City(Prefecture) / County Administration of Industry and Commerce”。因为“Administration”一词本身便有“executive branch of a government”的意思,即“行政机关、局(署)等”。这方面的例子很多,例如,Food & Drug Administration,就是“食品与药品(管理)局”;再如,General Administration of Customs就是“海关总署”(55)。
precedes in accordance with judgment governs construing principle
Historically, the common law is made quite differently from the Continental code. The code (1) judgments; the common law follows them. The code articulates in chapters, sections, and paragraphs the rules (2) which judgments are given. The common law on the other hand is inarticulate until it is expressed in a (3). Where the code governs, it is the judge's duty to ascertain the law from the words which the code uses. Where the common law (4), the judge, in what is now the forgotten past, decided the case in accordance with morality and custom and later judges followed his decision. They did not do so by (5) the words of his judgment. They looked for the reason which had made him decide the case the way he did, the ratio decidendi as it came to be called. Thus it was the (6) of the case, not the words, which went into the common law. So historically the common law is much less fettering than a code.
2.请为下列术语选择合适的英文释义。
A. fact-finder
B. goodwill
C. King's Bench
D. damages
E. warranty
(1)One or more persons—such as jurors in a trial or administrativelaw judges in a hearing—who hear testimony and review evidence to rule on a factual issue.
(2)It is a business's reputation, patronage, and other intangible assets that are considered when appraising the business, esp. for purchase.
(3)The court is the highest court of ordinary justice in criminal cases within the realm, and paramount to the authority of justices of gaol delivery, and commissions of oyer and terminer.
(4)Theyare the sum of money which a person wronged is entitled to receive from the wrongdoer as compensation for the wrong.
(5)An express or implied promise that something in furtherance of the contract is guaranteed by one of the contracting parties; esp., a seller's promise that the thing being sold is as represented or promised.
(1)When a trademark has been infringed, the owner of the mark has a cause of action against the infringer.
(2)By the same 1166 statute, jurisdiction over the most important criminal cases, known as pleas of the Crown, was taken from the shire courts and given to the emerging royal courts.
(3)In a very few situations, juries do take part in sentencing decisions. For example, in capital punishment cases in some states, a judge cannot impose the death penalty in a jury trial unless the jury recommends death rather than life in prison.
(4)English common law developed from the rules and principles that judges traditionally followed in deciding court cases. Judges based their decisions on legal precedents—that is, on earlier court rulings in similar cases.
(5)In order to conceptualize this world, I introduce literature on legal pluralism, and I suggest that, following its insights, we need to realize that normative conflict among multiple, overlapping legal systems is unavoidable and might even sometimes be desirable, both as a source of alternative ideas and as a site for discourse among multiple community affiliations.
(10) Something(such as an act, a forbearance, or a return promise) bargained for and received by a promisor from a promisee; that which motivates a person to do something, esp. to engage in a legal act. See Bryan A.Garner: Black's Law Dictionary(8th Edition), Thomson Reuters, 2009, p.922.
(11) Loosely, valuable consideration; consideration that is adequate to support the bargained-for exchange between the parties. See Bryan A.Garner: Black's Law Dictionary(8th Edition), Thomson Reuters, 2009, p.925.
(12) 薛波主编:《元照英美法词典》,法律出版社2003年版,第847页。
(13) 戴维·M.沃克:《牛津法律大辞典》,李双元等译,法律出版社2003年版,第700页。
(14) A legal right or interest that a creditor has in another's property, lasting usu. until a debt or duty that it secures is satisfied. Bryan A.Garner: Black's Law Dictionary(8th Edition), Thomson Reuters, 2009, p.2699.
(19) An employment contract forbidding membership in a labor union. Bryan A.Garner: Black's Law Dictionary(8th Edition), Thomson Reuters, 2009, p.4985.
(20) A state statute establishing standards for offering and selling securities, the purpose being to protect citizens from investing in fraudulent schemes or unsuitable companies.
(21) A judicial standard for deciding whether to invalidate the whole contract or only the offending words.
(22) A jury consisting of jurors who are selected for their special qualities, such as advanced education or special training, sometimes used in a complex civil case(usu. By stipulation of the parties) and sometimes also for a grand jury(esp.one investigating governmental corruption).
(23) A payment given by a murderer's family to the next of kin of the murder victim.
(24) One or more legal principles that are old, fundamental, and well settled.
(25) A self-appointed tribunal or mock court in which the principles of law and justice are disregarded, perverted, or parodied.
(26) 1. A statute designed to protect a consumer who buys a substandard automobile, usu. by requiring the manufacturer or dealer either to replace the vehicle or to refund the full purchase price. 2. By extension, a statute designed to protect a consumer who buys any product of inferior quality.
(27) palm tree justice:穆斯林国家的的民事法官坐在棕榈树下,不以先例与典籍为依据的司法,指不考虑法律原则和法律规定而作出的裁判。
(28) LAWCONDO§1∶1, citing from Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary(2nd Ed 1987); American Heritage Dictionary(2nd Ed 1985).
(31) 凡是读过一些行政学著作的人都知道,持“政治与行政两分法”这种观点的主要代表人物是美国学者F.J.古德诺(Goodnow)。古德诺所著的《政治与行政》(Politics and Administration)一书,既是早期行政学的经典名著,也是政治与行政两分法观点的代表作。但准确地说,“政治与行政”二分理论是由德国政治学家布隆赤里最早提出,后经美国学者威尔逊(Woodrow Wilson)在《行政学研究》(The Study of Administration)中的引介和古德诺的系统论证后最终形成的。