高级法学英语1-3.doc

1、1 高校硕士研究生专业英语精品教材 高级法学英语 中南财经政法大学研究生部精品教材研究课题（20122014） 2 编写说明 高级法学英语旨在培养学习者借助已有的基础英语为工具学习法学知 识，在法学知识的学习过程中，习得专业语言。编写原则既遵循语言学习的内 在规律性，又充分体现法学知识的专业特点，重在提高法学硕士研究生的专业 英语思辨能力。 课文取材不再是一般法学知识的简要陈述，而是以问题研究为导向的深入 探讨。语料源于英美学者 2012 年以来发表的论文或出版的著作。 全书共十个单元。单元课文阅读量为 5000 英文单词。每单元由课文、生词、 注解、练习和法律英语汉译技巧组成。单元课文是由三

2、篇各 1500 字左右的文章 组成一个内容完整、主题突出的统一体，以有利于学习者贯通知识，进一步深 入分析探讨。课文内容包括普通法系与大陆法系的比较、合同与准合同、商人 法与商法、欧洲统一销售法、国际环境法、公平招聘法律问题、跨国离婚法律 问题、有子女的父母犯罪量刑问题、英格兰与苏格兰刑事拘留问题、美国法学 教育与改革等专题。法学英语翻译技巧包括基本翻译技巧-加注、增补、省略、 转换、切分、合并，以及句子翻译技巧-名词从句的翻译、状语从句的翻译、 定语从句的翻译和长句的翻译。单元练习包括阅读理解问题、词汇练习、短文 翻译和课文概要写作。 本教程设计阅读总量为 50000 英文单词，生词概率为

3、2%，适合大学英语 四级水平以上且有相当法学基础的学习者使用。 3 CONTENTS UNIT ONE CONTRACT LAW Section A Understanding of Contract Section B Mistake in Contract Section C Quasi-Contract Section D Translation Skill: Annotation UNIT TWO LITIGATING MARITAL PROPERTY AND SUPPORT RIGHTS FOR INTERNATIONAL DIVORCE Section A Jurisdiction

4、 and Procedure in International Divorce Litigation Section B Defining Property and support rights Section C Recognizing and Enforcing Marital Property and Support Orders Section D Translation Skill: Amplification UNIT THREE A FAMILY LAW PERSPECTIVE ON PARENTAL INCARCERATION Section A Family Law and

5、Child Development Section B Approaches to Consideration of Childrens Interests Section C Proposal for Consideration of Childrens Interests When Sentencing Parents Section D Translation Skill: Omission UNIT FOUR FAIRNESS AND INEQUALIT IN EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION LITIGATION Section A How People Asses

6、s Legal Fairness: Toward an Analysis of Situated Justice Section B Employment Civil Rights Section C Toward Understanding Situated Justice Section D Translation Skill: Shift of Perspective UNIT FIVE LAW MERCHANT Section A Foundations of the Law Merchant Section B The Law in Law Merchant Section C Tw

7、enty-first-century Law Merchant Section D Translation Skill: Division UNIT SIX COMMOM EUROPEAN SALES LAW Section A The Substantive Scope of the CESL Section B Possible Routes for Members to Reach the Agreement Section C Further Questions from the Proposal within the Framework Section D Translation S

8、kill: Combination UNIT SEVEN A NEW DAWN FOR SCOTTISH CRIMINAL PROCEDURE Section A Arrest, Custody and Police Powers Section B Access to Legal Assistance 4 Section C Requirement for Corroboration Section D Translation Skill: Translation of Noun Clause UNIT EIGHT INTERNATIONAL LAW OF ENVIROMENTAL IMPA

9、CT ASSESSMENT AND THE ESPOO CONVENTION Section A The Obligation to EIA Section B Content of an EIA Section C Challenging an EIA: Judicial Review Section D Translation Skill: Translation of Adverbial Clause UNIT NINE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE COMMON LAW: THE PUZZLE OF MIXED LEGAL FAMILIES Section A The h

10、istory of the common law Section B Mixed Jurisdictions and Mixed Legal Families Section C THE Economic Model Section D Translation Skill: Translation of Attributive Clause UNIT TEN AMERICAN LAW SCHOOL EDUCATION Section A History of Legal Education Section B Law School Rankings Section C Law School E

11、ducation Reform Section D Translation Skill: Translation of Long Clause Appendix Key to the Exercise 5 UNIT ONE CONTRACT LAW Section A Understanding of Contract 1 In the eyes of lawyers the word “contract” is used in common speech, simply to refer to a writing containing terms on which the parties h

12、ave agreed. “Contract” is often used in a more technical sense to mean a promise, or a set of promises, that the law will enforce or at least recognize in some way. British law defines contract as an agreement arising from offer and acceptance. One party makes an offer, and another party accepts tha

13、t offer. When this has happened (provided that other necessary factors, namely, consideration and intention to contract, are present) there is a contract. 2 In arguing the definition of contract some jurisprudents think neither promise nor agreement is completely satisfactory as a basis for the defi

14、nition. They claim that the definition of the American Restatement ignores the bargainthe exchange of equivalents which is the essence of a contract. No indication is made in the definition that the typical contract is a two-sided affair, something being promised or done on one side in return for so

15、mething being promised or done on the other side. Thus to say that a contract can simply be “a promise” is to overlook the fact that there is generally some act or promise given in return for the other promise before that promise becomes a contract. Even to say that a contract may consist of “a set

16、of promises” gives no indication that some of these promises are usually given in return for some others. But it would be wrong to assume that all contracts are genuine bargains in 6 which something is offered on one side for something else of equivalent value on the other. 3 Every promise is an agr

17、eement and every set of promises forming the consideration for each other is also an agreement. Agreement implies two or more persons who agree upon the same thing in the same sense. It may create legal obligation or it may not create legal obligation and in this sense not every agreement can become

18、 enforceable at law. 4 These scholars also argue that all the definitions in terms of promises or agreements presuppose that people only enter into contractual relations after they have made some agreement or promise. In fact, this is not always the case. People sometimes simply enter into transacti

19、ons or relations which are not really based on prior agreements or promises. One obvious example is that of the simultaneous exchange, or sale. A person who buys goods in a supermarket and pays cash for them is exchanging his money for the goods that he buys. 5 There is no doubt at all that this is

20、a legal contract, but it is artificial to regard it as a contract created by agreement or promise. To insist that there must be a prior agreement or a set of promises in such a case is to imply that there is a moment of timebefore the handing over of the goods and the moneyin which the parties are l

21、egally bound to perform their agreement or promises. But it seems very doubtful whether that is the case. Still it must be recognized that it might be very well argued that “in contemplation of law” there is an implied agreement before the actual exchange of goods for money. 6 Promises and agreement

22、s undoubtedly lie close to the center of the concept of contract, but there are at least two other ideas which also lie very close to that center. One is that a person who induces another to rely upon him and change his position, ought not to let that person down, and the other is that a person who

23、does a service to another or renders him some benefit, ought generally to be recompensed for his trouble. Contractual obligations are often imposed for one or other of these reasons on persons who have not really promised or agreed to bear them. In order to reconcile this result with traditional def

24、initions of contract, two devices are often employed. 7 One is to rely on the concept of an “implied agreement” or “implied promise”；the other is to argue that the liability being imposed is not “truly” contractual but is in fact a legal liability of a different kind，for instance， a liability in tor

25、t. 7 In practice, people can gather some idea of what the word “contract” means from the cases in Bolin Farms v. American Cotton Shippers Assn (1973). That year saw a spectacular rise in the price of cotton on the American market. The causes were said to include large shipments to China, high water

26、and flood conditions in the cotton belt, late plantings forced by heavy rains, and the devaluation of the dollar. In the early months of the year, before planting, a cotton farmer will make a “forward” sale contract for delivery to the buyer of all cotton to be raised and harvested on a specified tr

27、act at a fixed price per pound, without guarantee of quantity or quality. The farmer can then use this contract to finance the raising of his crop. 8 Early in 1973, cotton farmers made such contracts to sell at a price roughly equal to the price on the market at that time, some 30 cents a pound. By

28、the time the cotton had been raised and was ready for delivery, however, the market price had risen to about 80 cents a pound. Many refused to perform the “forward” contracts that they had made at the lower price, and scores of lawsuits resulted throughout the cotton belt. Not only were the farmers

29、universally unsuccessful, but the decisions evoked little attention. 9 What promises will the law enforce? What remedies were available to the disappointed cotton buyers on the farmers enforceable promises?The cases here expose three fundamental assumptions made by courts in enforcing promises. One

30、of these is that “law is concerned mainly with relief of promisees to redress breach and not with punishment of promisors to compel performance.” A second assumption is that the relief granted to the aggrieved promisee should generally protect the promisees expectation by attempting to put the promi

31、see in the position in which it would have been had the promise been performed. A third assumption is that the appropriate form of relief is substitutional, in the form of a judgment awarding money damages to be paid to the aggrieved promisee, rather than specific, in the form of a court order direc

32、ting the promisor to perform its promise. 8 10 After the above discussion we come to know the “Contract” may be defined as an agreement, a promise or a set of promises, which create legal liabilities rather than moral obligations, enforceable by the law between two or more persons to do or forebear

33、from doing some act or acts；their intentions being to create legal relations and not merely to exchange mutual promises, both having given something, or having promised to give something of value as consideration for any benefit derived from the agreement or the promise except a transaction agreemen

34、t by deed. Although transactions by deed are legally binding they are not true contracts at all. A transaction by deed derives its legally binding quality from the special way in which it is made rather than from the operation of the contract law. 11 The definition of contract in the Chinese contrac

35、t law stresses its functions, saying that a contract is the manifestation of intention to establish, change or terminate the civil relationship between two or more parties. Lawfully established contract shall be protected by law. According to this definition a contract is of three features： (1) Maki

36、ng a contract is a civil juristic act done by both sides. At least two parties shall enter, and express their genuine intention. Otherwise a contract cannot be established. (2) The purpose to make a contract is to bring out a certain civil juristic effect, including establishing, changing or termina

37、ting the civil relationship between the two parties. (3) Making a contract is a legal act rather than illegal act. Unlawfully established contracts are null or void. 12 In some continental countries, for example, in Germany, the BGB uses an abstract concept of Rechtegcsehaft, putting contract into a

38、 category of legal act which covers intention of the two parties and some other certain lawful conducts. This intention is viewed as an essential requirement to form a contract, therefore, the two parties can not establish a contract if they do not manifest it to each other. In the French Civil Code

39、 there is a more specific concept of Consensus than that of legal act. Consensus here means the genuine intention of the two parties. Without manifestation 9 of the intention a contract cannot be concluded.(1488words) New Words and Proper Terms offer n. 邀约，发价 acceptance n. 接受，承诺 devaluation n. 货币贬值

40、court order 法庭判令 consideration n. 对价，约因 forbearance n. 克制，抑制 constitute v. 构成 recompense vt. 赔偿；酬谢 Rechtsgeschaefte （德语） 法律行为，合法交易 consensus n. 合意 equivalent value 对等的价值 simultaneous exchange 同时发生的交易 contemplation of law 法律意图 forward contract 期货合同 Notes 1. law is concerned mainly with relief of prom

41、ises to redress breach and not with punishment of promisors to compel performance. 法律主要关注的是为了纠正允诺 人违约的行为而对受允诺人所给予的司法救济，而不是强制承诺人履约而实施 的处罚。 2. Contract 与 Agreement 的区别 合同的成立必须具备几个主要因素。它们（要约和承诺构成的）协议、约 因、设立法律关系的愿望和缔约能力四大部分组成。但“协议” 这一术语含义更 10 广，例如协议可能缺乏合同的必备条款（essential clauses/provisions） 。 上述解释说明，cont

42、ract(合同) 和 agreement(协议)的概念虽然接近，但 使用范围不同，不能互换使用。合同是协议的重要组成部分，所有合同一定是 协议，而协议不一定都是合同。可以说具备合同成立要求的具有强制执行力的 协议才是合同。 3. BGB 是 Burgerliches Geselzbuch德国民法典的简称。 德国民法典是德 意志帝国 1896 年 8 月 18 日公布并自 1900 年 1 月 1 日施行的一部民法典，它是 继 1804 年法国民法典 （拿破仑法典 ）之后，资本主义国家又一部重要的 民法典。这部法典公布至今已有一百余年，已经过多次修订，有时甚至是重大 的修订，包括条文的废止和增添

43、，但它的基本结构、基本内容和条文顺序的编 排都没有发生改变。至今它仍是德国民法最重要的基础和最重要的渊源。 4.Bolin Farms v. American Cotton Shippers Assn (1973). 柏林农场诉美国棉花运 输联盟案。Association 的缩写形式可为 assn., assn., Assn. Exercises I. Questions for discussion: 1. Can a promise or an agreement constitute a contract? 2. “Neither agreement nor promise is com

44、pletely satisfactory as a basis for the definition of contract.” Do you agree with it? 3. What elements does contract possess? 4. Explain “every contract is an agreement but every agreement is not a contract”. 5. What is the BGB? II. Choose the best answer for each of the following according to the

45、text: 1A legal contract may be defined as_. A. an agreement B. a promise C. a set of promises D. the consent 2. In the case of Bolin Farms v. American Cotton Shippers Assn (1973), the court decision of enforcement was based on _ fundamental assumptions A. one B. two C. three D. four 3. In the French

46、 Civil Code, the Consensus means the genuine intention of the 11 _parties. A. one B. two C. three D. four 4. A person who buys goods in a supermarket and pays cash for them is exchanging his money for the goods that he buys, which is taken as a legal_. A. contract B. agreement C. promise D. action 5

47、. The BGB is of_ legal system. A. common law B. continental law C. civil law D. case law III. Fill in the following blanks with the given words: Indivisible contract, divisible contract, competent party, consideration, delayed payment, express contract, formal contract, oral contract, written contra

48、ct, illegal contract, implied contract, legality of purpose, mutual agreement. 1. A person who is of legal age and normal mentality is_. 2. The rights and obligations of the parties to a contract should be_. 3. A contract that is created entirely through conversation of the parties involved is _. 4.

49、 The promises exchanged by parties to a contract is_. 5. A contract that is understood from the acts or conduct of the party is_. 6. A contract whose meaning is not determined by the conduct of the parties is_. 7. A written contract that bears a seal is_. 8. A _with several unrelated parts, and each of them can stand alone. 9. The _is that a contract cannot violate the