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LEGALENGLISHLEGALSYSTEMINTHEUNITEDSTATESJOKEOnedayinContractLawclass,theprofessoraskedoneofhisbetterstudents,Nowifyouweretogivesomeoneanorange,howwouldyougoaboutit?Thestudentreplied,Here'sanorange.Theprofessorwaslivid.No!No!Thinklikealawyer!Thestudentthenrecited,Okay,I'dtellhim,'Iherebygiveandconveytoyouallandsingular,myestateandinterests,rights,claim,title,claimandadvantagesofandin,saidorange,togetherwithallitsrind,juice,pulp,andseeds,andallrightsandadvantageswithfullpowertobite,cut,freezeandotherwiseeat,thesame,orgivethesameawaywithandwithoutthepulp,juice,rindandseeds,anythinghereinbeforeorhereinafterorinanydeed,ordeeds,instrumentsofwhatevernatureorkindwhatsoevertothecontraryinanywisenotwithstanding...LESSONONE:LEGALSYSTEM•PartOneFeaturesandCharacteristics•PartTwoCommonLawandEquityLawLESSONONE:LEGALSYSTEM•Everylawhasnoatomofstrength,asfarasnopublicopinionsupportsit.WendellPhillips,Americanleaderagainstslavery•若是没有公众舆论的支持，法律是丝毫没有力量的。美国废奴运动领袖菲力普斯BACKGROUND•Twoperiodsoflegalhistory:1.OnMay14,1607,theVirginiaCompanyexplorerslandedonJamestownIslandtoestablishtheVirginiaEnglishcolonyThePeriodoftheEnglishColoniesTheRevolutionaryWarinAmerica(1775-1783)2.ThePeriodoftheUnitedStatesCHARACTERISTICS•Commonlawlegalsystem（普通法系）1.Decentralization2.Caselaw3.StaredecisisTEXT——PARTONE•TheUnitedStatesisatonceaverynewnationaveryoldnationITISANEWNATION•Comparedwithmanyothercountries•itisconstantlybeingrenewedbytheadditionofnewelementsofpopulationandofnewStatesITISOLD•Itistheoldestofthenewnations—thefirstonetobemadeoutofanOldWorldcolony.theoldestwrittenconstitutiontheoldestcontinuousfederalsystemtheoldestpracticeofself-government•Thewholeofitshistorybelongsintheperiodsincetheinventionoftheprintingpress.THEWHOLEOFITSHISTORYISRECORDED•foreventssuchasthosethatarelostinthelegendarypastofItalyorFranceorEnglandarepartoftheprintedrecordoftheUnitedStates•AndtheAmericanrecordComprehensiveImmense•Recordofthecolonialera•RecordoftheNationsince1776•RecordofthepresentfiftyStates•TheintricatenetworkofrelationshipsbetweenStatesandNation•ThereportsoftheUnitedStatesSupremeCourtfill350volumes•ThereportsofsomeStatesarealmostequallyvoluminous•ThereaderwhowantstotracethehistoryoflawinAmericaisconfrontedwithover5,000stoutvolumesoflegalcases.•Noonedocument,nohandfulofdocuments,canproperlybesaidtorevealthecharacterofapeopleoroftheirgovernment.•Whenhundredsandthousandsofdocumentsstrikeaconsistentnote，overmorethanahundredyears,wehavearighttosaythatisthekeynote.PARTTWO•TheAmericanlegalsystem,liketheEnglish,ismethodologicallymainlyacaselawsystem.•Caselaw•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Commonlawlegalsystem•Statutorylaw•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Civillawlegalsystem•Mostfieldsofprivatelawstillconsistprimarilyofcaselawandtheextensiveandsteadilygrowingstatutorycontinuestobesubjecttobindinginterpretationthroughcaselaw.Knowledge&TechniquecentralimportanceforanunderstandingofAmericanlawandlegalmethodology•Thecommonlawishistoricallythecommongenerallaw——withsupremacyoverlocallaw——whichwasdecreedbytheitinerantjudgesoftheEnglishroyalcourt.•enforcement强制执行；•claim请求；•action诉讼行为；•writ法院令状；•classicalRomanlaw古罗马法•Theenforcementofaclaimpresupposedtheexistenceofaspecialformofaction,awrit,withtheresultthattheoriginalcommonlawrepresentedasystemof‘action’similartothatofclassicalRomanlaw.•Ifawritexisted(in1227)aclaimcouldbeenforced;•therewasnorecourseforaclaimwithoutawrit,theclaimdidnotexist.•ThissystembecameinflexiblewhentheProvisionsofOxford(1258)prohibitedthecreationofnewwrits,exceptfortheflexibilitywhichthewrituponthecaseallowedandwhichlaterledtothedevelopmentofcontractandtortlaw.•Thenarrowlimitsoftheformsofactionandthelimitedrecoursetheyprovidedledtothedevelopmentofequitylawandequitycaselaw.衡平法•由英国衡平法法院的大法官在处理专门的申诉案件时，为避免过分重视令状和程序方面的技术性问题，而集中考虑案情的理据得失，最终发展出有别于普通法的法律规范，就是衡平法。•“Equity”——doingequity•decidingexaequoetbono•wasfirstgrantedbytheKing,andlaterbyhisChancelloraskeeperoftheKing'sconscience,toaffordreliefinhardshipcases.•Inthefifteenthcentury,however,equitylawandequitycaselawdevelopedintoanindependentlegalsystemandjudiciary(Courtofchancery)whichcompetedwiththeordinarycommonlawcourts.•普通法专指英国在11世纪后由法官通过判决形式逐渐形成的适用于全英格兰的一种判例法普通法•衡平法是指英国在14世纪后对普通法的修正和补充而出现的一种判例法衡平法•Itsrulesandmaximsbecamefixedand,toadegree,inflexibleasinanylegalsystem.SPECIALCHARACTERISTICSOFEQUITYLAW•reliefintheformofspecificperformance•theinjunction•禁令（临时或最终的采取或不采取某种行为的命令）•thedevelopmentofsocalledmaximsofequitylaw•形成所谓的衡平法座右铭•However,equitablereliefregularlywilllieonlywhenthecommonlawreliefisinadequate.•Forinstance,specificperformanceforthepurchaseofrealpropertywillbegrantedbecausecommonlawdamagesaredeemedtobeinadequatesincetheycannotcompensatethebuyerinviewoftheuniquenessattributedtorealproperty.•Asthecommonlaw,equitylawbecamepartofAmericanlaweitherthroughjudicialacceptance•司法接受•orthroughexpressstatutoryprovision•明确的成文法条款•Today,bothlegalsystemshavebeenmergedinmanyAmericanjurisdictions•thereisonlyoneformofcivilsuitinthesejurisdictionsaswellasinfederalpractice.•美国纽约州立法