法律英语-何家弘(18)

2.法院是依据什么情况权力和什么授权来制定他们的所争论的合同法的规则呢？

The types of authority we will consider fall generally into two categories: primary and secondary.

3.我们认为，有关合同法的效力渊源通常有2个：首要法律渊源和次要法律渊源。

Primary authority, commonly viewed by lawyers and judges as “the law”

itself, consists of prior judicial decisions (which collectively make up what we call the “common law”) and the like (expressions of the will of a duly constituted legislative body on a subject within its proper sphere of action).

4.律师和法官通常认为首要法源是法律本身，它包括判例法（也就是把案例判决集中起来，我们称之为普通法的法律）和制定法和条例，以及相类似的适用规则，诸如基于某份裁定而合理地根据某种目的阐述某个部门法的作用范围的规则。

Secondary authority might be very loosely defined as anything else which could appropriately influence a court; the examples we will consider, however, consist mainly of the two principal types of persuasive authority that have had marked influence on the common law of contract: commentary by legal scholars and the American Law Institute's Restatements of the law.

5.次要法源，也许像任何事情一样，很难准确地定义它对法院的影响，我们认为，次要法源包括两种具有劝诱性的法源，即法学家评论和美国法学会出版的《法律重述汇编》，他们对普通法中的合同法已经产生了深深地影响。

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With one important exception, the bulk of our contract law is common law—judge-made law, rules distilled from a composite of court decisions in prior cases.

1.作为一个重要的例外情况，合同法在很大程度上是由法官制定出来的普通法，这部法律的许多规则是法官们对先前的判决进行提炼和概括后而制定的。

Thus, one of your principal tasks this year will be to learn how to read, understand, and apply judicial decisions.

2.因此，今年你们的首要任务之一是学会如何读、理解和阐述适用法院的裁决。

You will find at first that they seem to be written in a foreign language; like any technical jargon, legal language is full of strange words (like assumpsit and quantum

meruit) as well as words that are familiar but appear to be used with an

unfamiliar or specialized meaning (like consideration and offer).

3.你一开始就会发现，这些法律像是以一种外语的形式写下来的，诸如技术术语。法律语言充满了奇怪的词

语，像“要求赔偿违法行为所造成的损失诉讼”和“无合同规定时，按照合理价格支付”，同时，它们具有不同的含义，且并不相似，比如对价、要约。 3 Our judicial system of decision-making is commonly said to be one of “stare decisis”—adherence to past decisions, or “precedents.”

1.我们现在做出判决的法律体系，通常说是一种“遵循先例原则”的体系，它是对先前的判决或决定的坚持。

A precedent is a prior decision with facts sufficiently similar to the case “subjudice” —under adjudication—that the court feels obliged to follow it and to render a similar decision.

2.先例是一种先前的决定，它有与将要做出判决案件相似的案件事实，法院认为必须迫使自己去遵守并提出与之相似的裁决。

A regime of law based primarily on precedent is commonly justified on two grounds.

3.以判例为主要依据的法律制度通常从两个方面证明其合理性。

First, it offers a high degree of predictability of decision, enabling

those who so desire to order their affairs in accordance with ascertainable rules of law.

4.第一，要求欲判决案件与先例在本质上具有高度一致性，法官据此去查明欲判决案件将适用的法律。

Second, it puts a rein on what might otherwise be the natural proclivity of judges to decide cases on the basis of prejudice, personal emotion, or other factors that we might regard as improper grounds for decision.

5.第二，要求对法官个人对某些案件的癖好、个人情感因素以及其他我们可以看作是对决的有个人倾向的因素上加以控制。

Such a system also will obviously have the characteristic—which may sometimes be a virtue, sometimes a defect—of being static and conservative, generally oriented toward preservation of the status quo.

6.这种情况下的法律体系具有明显的特征：有时侯是非常有效的，有时侯是失败的。这些源于法律体系的稳定与保守，通常有助于法律令状的持续稳定。

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There will be times, however, when a common law judge concludes that blind adherence to precedent would produce an unjust result in the case presented for decision.

1.然而，有时候一个判例法法官盲从一个先例判决会对在审案件造成不公平的结果。 There are a number of ways such a result may be avoided.

2.实际上，有很多方法可以避免这种情况的出现。 To begin with, a precedent is considered to be “binding” on a court only if it was decided by that same court or by an appellate court of higher rank in the same jurisdiction. 3.一个先例是否是失去效力，通常由作出它的法院或是这个法院的上级法院来认定。 Other precedents—from lower courts or from other jurisdictions —

are said to be merely “persuasive”.

4.而在其他情况下，对于下级法院或其他无管辖权的法院对此只能做劝诱性的结论。