中国古代的民事诉讼习惯

Civil Litigation Customs in Ancient China

中国早期的民事审判,采取灵活的程序和开放的形式。春秋战国后,以成文法典为主,多种法律形式并存,法典中刑事法律制度详尽,民事法律制度粗疏,民事诉讼制度更是寥寥无几。民事实体法主要表现为礼仪、风俗,民事程序法仍然保留了诉讼习惯形式。民事诉讼习惯不仅反映制度生成的具体环境和条件,而且通过实证的视角,展现了制度运行的细节及其作用、功能和价值。民事诉讼习惯是包括官府和当事人在内的所有诉讼主体必须遵循的规范,随着时间和地域的差异,表现出了多样性和灵活性,服务于国家和地方政府的社会治理目标。

The civil litigation in ancient China employed flexible procedure and open forms. While in the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods, many forms of law co - existed. In the codes that periods, criminal laws were mi- nute, and civil laws simple, what＇ s more, civil procedural laws were not many at all. Substantive civil laws were embodied by etiquette and customs, and civil procedure laws still kept the form of litigation customs. The civil litigation customs not only reflected the detail environment and conditions of the generation of the institutions, but also displayed the operating details of concerning institutions and their functions and value, and they served the social governance objective of the state and local government through the variation of time and nlaces.