“常识”与传统中国州县司法——从一个疑难案件(新会田坦案)展开的思考

Common Sense and Local Judicatory in Traditional China:Thinking from a Complicated Case

自晚清变法修律以来,学界多批评传统州县司法的主要弊端是行政兼理司法和与此相关的非专业化司法,现在发现了大量反映传统司法实际运作的司法档案材料,此种观点有了反思的必要和可能。事实上,从传统中国州县司法的实际运作来看,其重点是查清案情和进行判决,起决定作用的是“常识”而非“专业知识”,而且“常识”才是传统地方司法所真正需要的。这种“常识”包括了“律学常识”、官员“伦理常识”和“地方性常识”等部分,从而具有浓厚的主观性、地方性和个人化特征,使得传统地方司法更依赖于官员个体。从司法独立和专业司法的眼光来审视传统是一种时代错位,它忽略了制度与社会需要之间的对应关系,既不利于学术研究,同时也回避了建立现代司法体系的真正阻力所在。

The primary disadvantage of local judicatory in traditional China is judicature pertaining to administration and unsophisticated judicatory. This is a popular point in academia from Late Qing Dynasty. Considering many judicial archives have been found, it is the time to reconsider that point. In fact it is common sense not professional knowledge that was necessary in local judicatory in traditional China. The common sense includes legal common sense, ethical common sense and local knowledge. So local judicatory in traditional China depended on individual officials. Appraising local judicatory in traditional China is inaccurate in view of judiciary independency and professional judicatory. This angle of view avoids facing the resistance to the establishment of a modem judiciary system in China today.