1、LEGALSYSTEMINTHEUNITEDSTATESOnedayinContractLawclass,theprofessoraskedoneofhisbetterstudents,Nowifyouweretogivesomeoneanorange,howwouldyougoaboutitThestudentreplied,Heresanorange.Theprofessorwaslivid.No!No!Thinklikealawyer!Thestudentthenrecited,Oka
2、y,Idtellhim,Iherebygiveandconveytoyouallandsingular,myestateandinterests,rights,claim,title,claimandadvantagesofandin,saidorange,togetherwithallitsrind,juice,pulp,andseeds,andallrightsandadvantageswithfullpowertobite,cut,freezeandotherwiseeat,the
3、same,orgivethesameawaywithandwithoutthepulp,juice,rindandseeds,anythinghereinbeforeorhereinafterorinanydeed,ordeeds,instrumentsofwhatevernatureorkindwhatsoevertothecontraryinanywisenotwithstanding.PartOneFeaturesandCharacteristicsPartTwoCommonLawandEq
4、uityLawEverylawhasnoatomofstrength,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Twoperiodsoflegalhistory:1.OnMay14,1607,theVirginiaCompanyexplorerslandedonJamestownIslandtoestablishtheVirgin
5、iaEnglishcolonyThePeriodoftheEnglishColoniesTheRevolutionaryWarinAmerica(1775-1783)2.ThePeriodoftheUnitedStatesCommonlawlegalsystem（普通法系）1.Decentralization2.Caselaw3.StaredecisisTheUnitedStatesisatoncelaverynewnationlaveryoldnationComparedwithmanyothercountri
6、esitisconstantlybeingrenewedbytheadditionofnewelementsofpopulationandofnewStatesItistheoldestofthenewnationslthefirstonetobemadeoutofanOldWorldcolony.ltheoldestwrittenconstitutiontheoldestcontinuousfederalsystemtheoldestpracticeofself-governmentThewh
7、oleofitshistorybelongsintheperiodsincetheinventionoftheprintingpress.foreventssuchasthosethatarelostinthelegendarypastofItalyorFranceorEnglandarepartoftheprintedrecordoftheUnitedStatesAndtheAmericanrecordlComprehensivelImmenseRecordofthecolonialera
8、RecordoftheNationsince1776RecordofthepresentfiftyStatesTheintricatenetworkofrelationshipsbetweenStatesandNationThereportsoftheUnitedStatesSupremeCourtfill350volumesThereportsofsomeStatesarealmostequallyvoluminousThereaderwhowantstotracethehistoryofla
9、winAmericaisconfrontedwithover5,000stoutvolumesoflegalcases.Noonedocument,nohandfulofdocuments,canproperlybesaidtorevealthecharacterofapeopleoroftheirgovernment.Whenhundredsandthousandsofdocumentsstrikeaconsistentnote，overmorethanahundredyears,wehav
10、earighttosaythatisthekeynote.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CommonlawlegalsystemStatutorylaw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CivillawlegalsystemMostfieldso
11、fprivatelawstillconsistprimarilyofcaselawandtheextensiveandsteadilygrowingstatutorycontinuestobesubjecttobindinginterpretationthroughcaselaw.Knowledge&TechniquecentralimportanceforanunderstandingofAmericanlawandlegalmethodologyThecommonlawishistorically
12、thecommongenerallawwithsupremacyoverlocallawwhichwasdecreedbytheitinerantjudgesoftheEnglishroyalcourt.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,withther
13、esultthattheoriginalcommonlawrepresentedasystemofactionsimilartothatofclassicalRomanlaw.Ifawritexisted(in1227)aclaimcouldbeenforced;therewasnorecourseforaclaimwithoutawrit,theclaimdidnotexist.ThissystembecameinflexiblewhentheProvisionsofOxford(125
14、8)prohibitedthecreationofnewwrits,exceptfortheflexibilitywhichthewrituponthecaseallowedandwhichlaterledtothedevelopmentofcontractandtortlaw.Thenarrowlimitsoftheformsofactionandthelimitedrecoursetheyprovidedledtothedevelopmentofequitylawandequityca
15、selaw.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”doingequitydecidingexaequoetbonowasfirstgrantedbytheKing,andlaterbyhisChancelloraskeeperoftheKingsconscience,toaffordreliefinhardshipcases.Inthefifteenthcentury,however,
16、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,inflexib
17、leasinanylegalsystem.reliefintheformofspecificperformancetheinjunction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,specificperformancefo
18、rthepurchaseofrealpropertywillbegrantedbecausecommonlawdamagesaredeemedtobeinadequatesincetheycannotcompensatethebuyerinviewoftheuniquenessattributedtorealproperty.Asthecommonlaw,equitylawbecamepartofAmericanlaweitherthroughjudicialacceptance司法接受orthr
19、oughexpressstatutoryprovision明确的成文法条款Today,bothlegalsystemshavebeenmergedinmanyAmericanjurisdictionsthereisonlyoneformofcivilsuitinthesejurisdictionsaswellasinfederalpractice.美国纽约州立法机构于1848年通过了由戴维菲尔德起草的菲尔德民事程序法典，稍后更成立了一个“法典化委员会”来“将纽约州的全部法律简化为成文的、系统化的法典”。OnlyfewStatescontinuetomaintainaseparatechancerycourt.独立大法官法庭Itexplainstheoriginandsignificanceofmanycontemporarylegalconceptsthedivisionoftitleinthelaw