司法方法在裁判中的运用——法条至上、原则裁判与后果权衡

The Application of Judicial Methods in Adjudication:Supremacy of Legal Rules,Principle-based Judgements and Assessment of Consequences

法条至上、原则裁判和后果权衡为法官处理不同类型的案件提供了有效的分析工具和裁判方法。法条至上强调法官必须遵守法条的字面含义。法条至上既是现代司法运行的通例,也是法治社会对法官最基本的要求,不按照法条及其字面含义判决仅仅是特例或者例外。但是,当法条缺乏、按照法条的字面含义无法裁判甚至会导致不公正、荒谬的裁判,或者法条冲突无法抉择时,需要求助于内含相关价值判断的法律原则、道德原则和政治原则。在缺乏法条、与上述三种原则没有关系或者关系不密切、法条冲突、原则冲突、利益冲突、违背常识等疑难案件中,需要权衡后果进行裁判。三种司法方法既可以单独使用,也可以综合运用,综合能够增强其裁判的说服力,但无损于司法方法的独立性。不同的司法方法构成了裁判的基础。

Together with principle-based judgements and assessment of consequences,the supremacy of legal rules provides effective analytical tools and methods of adjudication that enable judges to deal with different types of cases.'Supremacy of legal rules'means that judges must abide by the meaning of the letter of the law.As the general rule governing the operation of modern justice,this is the fundamental requirement imposed on judges in a society with rule of law.A judgment that deviates from legal rules or the letter of the law is simply a special case or an exception.However,when legal rules are unavailable,or compliance with the literal meaning of a legal rule mean that no judgment or only an unfair or absurd judgment is possible,or the conflict between different rules leads to impossible choices,courts need to invoke legal,moral or political principles that contain value judgments.In tricky cases that are not covered by legal rules and are not related or only remotely related to the three types of principle mentioned above,where there is a conflict between legal rules,principles or interests,or where common sense is violated,possible consequences must be weighed before any judgment is made.The three types of judicial method can be used separately or together,but applying them together can make the ruling more persuasive without damaging the independence of judicial method.Differences in judicial method constitute the basis of judgments.