法律程序为何重要?

Why Legal Procedure Matters?

以往在说明法律程序重要性时,往往诉诸公平的观念,主张在正义分歧的环境下,公平的程序是分歧各方唯一能普遍认可的解决方案。然而,这种观点错失了人们追问法律程序重要性的问题焦点。人们之所以对程序的重要性有此一问,恰恰是因为看到程序所确定的结果可能和正义客观的要求相冲突这一点。因此,对程序重要性的说明,是要说明为何明知正义要求的前提下,依然有理由尊重程序给出的次好结果。以回应性原则为核心的复合结构的法治观为上述问题提供了回答。这种观念主张法治的核心在于确保官员作决定所依照的原则,对民众具有理性上的可回应性,而相应的程序则是必要的条件。既然特定的法律程序是实现法治的必要条件,法治也就为尊重程序的结果提供了独立的理由。

The traditional view about the value of legal procedure is based on the conception of fairness. It claims that the fair procedure is the only way to make a decision when we have different conceptions of justice. However,this view does not get the point when people question the value of legal procedure. We ask this question just because the outcome of the legal procedure may be inconsistent with the true request from justice. The theory about the value of legal procedure should tell us how we can get the reason to obey the outcome of the legal procedure even we know that that outcome is inconsistent with justice. The conception of the rule of law basing on the principle of responsiveness provides an answer to that question. According to this conception, the legal officers should follow a principle when they make a decision, and this principle should have responsiveness to the public. The legal procedure is one of the necessary conditions to make the principle have that property. So the idea of the rule of law provides the independent reason to make the legal procedure matter.