英国革命、司法审判与宪制转型:查理一世审判的宪制意义

British Revolution, Trial and Constitutional Transition: The Constitutional Meaning of the Trial of Charles Ⅰ

对于查理一世的审判是英国革命的重要事件之一,然而长期以来学界只将其作为历史叙事的一部分,而忽略了审判本身的宪政意义。英国内战解决了主权归属的问题之后,革命者通过常规司法审判的方式清算了查理一世的内战罪行,创制终结君主豁免的先例,明确了国王在宪政体系中的地位。更为重要的是,通过常规司法审判清算旧政权下的专制王权,其官僚制色彩能够避免革命的暴力与意识形态之争摧毁常规国家建构的进程,从而有助于绝对主义国家向宪政国家的转型。

The trial of CharlesⅠis the most important event in the British Revolution.For a long time,however,scholars have considered it as a part of the historical narrative while ignoring its constitutional significance.After the British Civil War redefined the ownership of the sovereign power,the revolutionaries settled the war crimes of CharlesⅠthrough conventional judicial trial.This created a significant precedent of ending sovereign immunity and clarified the position of the king in the constitution.More importantly,judging the old regime through conventional judicial trial can avoid revolutionary violence and ideological struggle which could destroy the building process of the conventional state.The conventional judicial trial is therefore conducive to the transition from the absolutist state to the constitutional state.