我国古代直诉制度的反思——兼与英国衡平法的比较

Reflections on Chinese Ancient Direct Legal Action:Comparison with British Rule of Equity

我国古代的直诉制度是法律规定的一项特别诉讼制度,即为了保证司法公正,最大限度地防止冤假错案的发生,如遇案情重大和冤狱莫伸者,可超出一般诉讼管辖和诉讼程序的范围,打破审级的限制,直接向皇帝或钦差大人或者国家最高行政机关(司法机关)申诉的一种司法制度。近年来,我国学者研究我国古代包括直诉制度在内的传统司法制度,认为我国古代司法也有"衡平"的传统,并把这种传统称之为"衡平司法";其实我国古代直诉制度与英国的衡平法在产生和发挥效用的过程中,确有一些暗合之处,但也有着根本的不同。

Direct legal action in ancient China was a special litigation regulated by law in order to ensure judicial fairness and avoid having the unjust,false or wrong cases to the maximum extend.If there were significant cases and people who found no place to redress an injustice,they could exceed the scope of general litigation jurisdiction and the scope of the litigation proceedings,and broke the limitation of trial level by directly appealing to the emperor or imperial envoy or the highest executive body（judicial body）.In recent years,scholars in the study of ancient China＇s traditional justice system,with direct legal action included,think that the judicial system of ancient China also has the ＂equity＂ tradition,which is called the ＂equity justice＂.In fact,there are similarities between ancient China＇s direct legal action and British rule of equity in the process of generation and functions.On the one hand,they have some agreements,but have fundamental differences on the other hand.