变迁的罗马习惯法:从罗马城邦到罗马帝国

The Evolving Roman Customary Law:from Roman City-state to Roman Empire

拉丁文中有七个术语表示习惯法,其中Mos和Consuetudo用得最多。前者多用来表示城邦时期的罗马习惯法,具有道德性,后者用来表示帝国时期的罗马习惯法,具有缓解一国之内法律统一的要求与地方特性冲突的功能,与道德无关。两种习惯法皆兼具私法性和公法性。由于习惯法是不成文的,适用要先经过查证程序。习惯法分为依据法律的、补缺法律的和违反法律的三种类型,要经过审查程序剔除违反法律的习惯法。罗马人的习惯法运用经验证明,幅员辽阔与习惯法的法源地位确立存在着关联。我国幅员辽阔,故《民法通则》第151条设立民族自治地方的人民代表大会可以制定变动性规则的规定,缓和一统性要求与地方特殊性的矛盾。《民法典》放弃了这一条文,但于其第10条承认了《民法通则》未承认的习惯的第二法源地位,可以认为该第10条具有保留《民法通则》第151条的功能的意图。

There are seven terms in Latin denoting customary law,of which Mos and Consuetudo are most frequently used.The former is mostly used to express the Roman customary law in the city-state period,which includes morality,and the latter is used to express the Roman customary law in the imperial period,which has the function of alleviating the conflict between the requirements of legal unification within a country and local characteristics,and has nothing to do with morality.Both types of customary laws combines elements of private and public law.Since customary law is unwritten,its application must first go through verification procedures.Customary law is divided into three types:based on the law,filling gaps in the law,and violating the law,and the customary law that violates the law must be eliminated through the review process.The Romans’experience in the application of customary law proves that the vastness of territory is positively related to the establishment of the source of customary law.China has a vast territory,so article 151 of the"General Principles of Civil Law"which stipulates that the People’s Congresses of National Autonomous Areas can accommondate rules according to local conditions can alleviate the contradiction between the requirements of unification and the particularity of the locality.The"Civil Code"abandoned this provision,but in its article 10,it recognized the status of the second source of law for custom which is not recognized by the"General Principles of Civil Law".It can be considered that article 10 has the purpose of retaining the function of article 151 of the"General Principles of Civil Law".