Chapter 1 Development of the Law…………………………………………………………………l
1 Various Periods of the Development of the Civil Law System／2 1．1 The Period of Customa ry Law／2 1．2 The Origin of Western Legal Education and Schools of Scholars’Law／14 1．3 Expansion of the Roman Law and the Civil Law／20 2 Legislative Law／24 2．1 Legislation and Codification／24 2．2 Unity and Diversity of the Civil law System／30 3 Structure of the Civi Law／34 3．1 PtJblic law ／ 34 3．2 Private Law／38 3．3 Legal Rules／42 4 Sources of Law／46 4．1 Legislation--Statute／46 4．2 Conditions Suitable to Law／50 4．3 Custom／54 4．4 Decided Cases／57 4．5 Legal Writing and Super-eminent Principles／60
Part 2 Common Law System
Chapter 2 English law………………………………………………………………………………65
5 Development of English Law／65 5．1 Anglo-Saxon Law and the Common Law／66 5．2 Development of the Common Law／79 5．3 Essential Features of English Law／89 5．4 Confrontation and Compromise between the Common law & Equity／91 5．5 Modern Period of English Law／95 6 Structure of English Law／97 6．1 Structural Features of English Law／97 6．2 Development of Equity／100 6．3 Trust／106 6．4 Adjective Law and Substantive Law／110 6．5 Judge-made Legal Rule／113 7 Sources of English Law／118 7．1 English Judicial Organizations／118 7．2 Rule of Precedent／124 7．3 Statutory Law／127 7．4 Custom／129 7．5 Legal Writing and Reason／131
Chapter 3 Law of the United States of America……………………………………………134
8 History of American Law／134 8．1 The Triumph of the Common Law in America／134 8．2 Similarities and Differences between American and British Common Laws／138 8．3 Structure of American Law／143 8．4 Common Law in America／147 8．5 Unity and Conflict of Laws／151 9 Sources of American Law／155 9．1 Judicial Organization／155 9．2 American Legal Professionals and Legal Education／163 9．3 Attitudes Towards the Rule of Stare Decisis／174 9．4 Constitutionality of Legislation／178 9．5 Interpretation of the Constitution／183 9．6 Regulating Power and Administrative Law／189 9．7 American Codes and Restatement of the Law／191
INDEX……………………………………………………………………………………………………195
精彩片段：
PREFACE
No two nations’legal systems in the west are identical，but some are sufficiently similar to allow US to think of them as belonging to a common family．Dividing the law systems of the west into different legal traditions can be done on the basis of a variety of criteria．Among those commonly used for this purpose are the historical origin and development of the system of laws，the hierarchy of the system of laws，the methods employed by legal practitioners，the characteristic legal concepts employed，the nature of the institutions involved，arid the division between the different branches of the laws．If we employ these criteria to examine the legal systems of the west we can find them fairing into two families：those based on the civil law and those based on the common law．
Civil law system，also called continental legal system or Romano-Germanic family．It can be found where the law is codified．Such codes set out basic laws governing every aspect of law from what constitutes criminal acts through to the rules governing contract and the transfer of property．The term itseff dates from its origin in the laws of ancient Rome．
The civil law system has a long history．It originated in continental Europe．It was formed by the efforts of the European universities which，from the 12th century and on the basis of the code of the Roman Emperor Justinian，evolved and developed a juridical science common to all and adapted to the conditions of the modem world．
As in other families，this system has many and varied laws among which there really does exist unity．This unity，however，does not exclude a certain amount of diversity．Therefore，we can recognize secondary groupings within the civil law．
The Roman legal system developed on the basis of Roman jus civile．Under the just civile the rule of law is conceived as a rule of conduct intimately linked to ideas of justice and morality．The law has evolved as an essentially private law，as a means of regulating the private relationships between individual citizens；other branches of the law developed later，but less perfectly，according to the principles of the“civil law”which today still remains the main branch of legal science．
The task of legal science is to determine and formulate the rules of law．Legal scholars are somewhat less interested in the actual administration and practical application of the law—these matters are the responsibility of the administration and legal practitioners．This characteristic can be seen clearly in this course。
Different from the civil law system，the common law system came into being in England largely as the result of the activity of the royal courts of justice after the Norman Conquest．Apart from English law，this system includes all the laws of English-speaking countries with several exceptions．Apart from the English-speaking countries them-selves，the influence of this system has been considerable in most，if not all，countries that have been or still are politically linked with England．These countries may certainly have retained in certain areas，their own traditions and concepts，but in all cases the English influence on the manner in which jurists think has nonetheless been great--principally because the judicial and administrative organization and the law of evidence and procedure，civil and criminal，have been established and set out along English lines．However，the common law system has been profoundly shaped by its history which varies in different countries，so some laws are very different from English law．
Although we do not here purport to be writing legal history．our discussion of the civil law system and common law system necessarily treats it as something that endures，even as particular elements of the legal systems rise，fall，and evolve．Changes and permanence in the two legal systems are some of the issues we discuss in this book．
The book is designed for students in law，philosophy who wish to gain the understanding of this field of study．It will be useful as well for scholars since it constitutes a convenient source of materials on the two major legal systems in the west．It is also designed for the general readers who wish to understand the nature of the field and become acquainted with the development of the two legal systems．
Finally，I gratefully acknowledge the splendid help of Mr．Liu Xian Zheng in providing valuable papers and my families for their invaluable support to me．I am also very grateful to the editor Mr．Ding Chun Hui and all those who advanced suggestions for the book．
