美国“犯罪”观念对英国普通法的传承与超越

The Succession and Development of American Conception of Crime to English Common Law

犯罪观念不仅是刑法学科的问题,也是国家历史的一个组成部分。英美法系以判例法为主,重视经验和实用,因此两国至今未能颁布一部成文且统一的刑法典而对“犯罪”作出一致表述。美国作为英国的前殖民附属地,自然继承了普通法上的“犯罪”观念,这在犯罪的分类、构成要件和影响因素等方面均有所体现。而美国自独立战争胜利后制定的联邦宪法,助力其在刑法领域的改革与发展。从历史的角度来分析社会现象之一的犯罪,有助于我们把握美国各历史阶段下犯罪与宗教、道德、政权、经济之间的互动关系,探究美国独立后区别于英国普通法下犯罪观念的成果。

Crime is not only an important issue in the discipline of criminal law,but also an integral part of national history.The United Kingdom and the United States of America under the common law system are based on case law,emphasizing experience and practicality,and therefore the two countries have not yet been able to promulgate a written and unified criminal code to make a consistent expression of crime.The United States,as a former colonial dependency of the United Kingdom,naturally inherited the conception of crime from the common law,which is reflected in the classification of crimes,constituent elements and influencing factors.Since the victory of the war of independence of the United States,in order to obtain real freedom and the formulation of the Federal Constitution,to help its reform and development in the field of criminal law and crime.Analyzing crime,one of the social phenomena,from a historical perspective helps us to grasp the interaction between crime and religion,morality,regime,and economy under various stages of American history,and to explore the brand-new achievements of crime under the common law that differentiated the United States from the British common law after independence.