宪政民主视域下的美国民事陪审制度分析

Analysis on American Civil Jury System from the Perspective of Constitutional Democracy

近年来,美国的陪审团制度特别是民事陪审团制度常常遭受人们的攻击。有些人声称陪审团会过分同情受害者;民事陪审团会轻易认定责任;陪审团判决的赔偿数额过高;陪审团是低效的等等。本文不是要针对这些说法进行一一回应,而是主要思考民事陪审团在美国宪政民主中的作用。同时,总结了民事陪审团的三个功能:一是使司法权与民主相结合;二是制衡了公权力和私权力的行使,在司法程序中融入了社会规范;三是使判决的程序和结果正当化。

In recent years,American jury system,especially,civil jury system is under attack from people.Some people claim that the jury shows too much sympathy for victims,the civil jury identifies liability too readily,the amount of compensation determined by the jury is too high and the working efficiency is low.This essay does not make responses to those claims directly,but considers the role of the civil jury in American constitutional democracy.At the same time,it summarizes three functions the civil jury performs such as the combination of judicial power and democracy,the balance of exertion between public power and private rights and the involvement of social norm in judicial process,the legitimacy of due process and result.