普通法及其特征浅析

The Common Law and Its Features

从法律制度的历史发展角度来看,世界上曾有过众多的类型,代表着不同的传统和文化。有的随着社会的发展消失了,有的不仅源远流长的发展到现代,并且向其发源地之外的其他地方扩展。以英国、美国法律为代表的普通法法系就是这样。本文旨在阐释普通法的概念及其历史沿革,并对其主要特征与大陆法系进行比较和分析,以进一步加深对两大法系的理解和把握。

From the perspective of the development of legal history, we find there used to be lots of types of legal systems representing different traditions and cultures. Some vanished with the progress of the society, while others have not only evolved and still exist in modern times, but also have extended to other places from where they were born, for instance, the common law which takes the British and American legal systems as representatives. This article aims to explain the concept and the evolution of the common law system and compare it with the civil law system in terms of some major features in order to help readers further understand the two law systems.