美国法律制度（二）

独秀文译青年

【中文标题】美国法律制度（二）

【正文】

1. Court System

There are 51separate court systems in the United  States of America. In addition to thefederal court system, each state has a separate system under its ownconstitution and laws. Each of the 50 states in the United States has within itsborders, both a state court system and a federal court system. Federal andstate courts exist virtually side-by-side in every state, and review both civiland criminal cases. There are large areas where the jurisdiction of federal andstate courts overlaps. The parties may, at their discretion, decide on the courtwhere they initiate a lawsuit. And there is a choice for thedisputes between them as to which of the two systems they should be in.

2、法院体系

美国有51个单独法院体系。除了联邦法院体系外，每个法院在自己的宪法和法律下还有自己的独立体系。美国的50个州里，每个州在其境内都有一个州法院体系和一个联邦法院体系。联邦法院和州法院事实上在每个州都是并行存在的，并且负责复查民事和形式案件。在很多领域，联邦法院和州法院的司法权是相互重叠的。当事人双方可能会依照自己的见解来选定他们要发起诉讼的法院。有两个体系供他们选择来处理他们之间的纷争。

2.1   Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts

Federal courtsare not courts of general jurisdiction but rather more limited jurisdiction asprescribed by the U.S. Congress. The United States Constitution established theSupreme Court and vests certain original and appellate jurisdiction in it. Thecourts in the federal court system includes Supreme Court, courts of appeals,district courts, courts of claims, courts of customs and patent appeals,customs courts, tax courts and court of military appeals. The Supreme Court isthe highest appellate review for either federal courts or state courts. It alsohas the original jurisdiction in those cases affecting ambassadors, ministersand consults and those cases to which a state is a party.

2.1 联邦法院的司法权

联邦法院不具有一般司法权，美国国会对其司法权进行了规定和限制。美国宪法建立了高级法院，并赋予其一些原来的司法管辖权和上诉司法管辖权。联邦法院体系里面的法院包括高级法院、上诉法院、地区法院、索赔法院、关税及专利上诉法院、海关法院、税务法院以及军事上诉法院。最高法院对联邦法院和州法院的案件有最高的上诉复审权。在影响到大使、部长以及领事的案件里，以及在一个州作为一方当事人的州里，最高法院拥有原来的司法管辖权。

2.2   Jurisdiction of the State Courts

Each state hasits own court system and each state court system has a trial court level andtwo levels of appellate review. With reference to the jurisdiction of a courtto hear a lawsuit, state courts are courts of general jurisdiction. Hence, aslong as the defendant is served notice of the pending lawsuit, a state courtmay exert personal jurisdiction (also referred to as “territorial jurisdiction”)over the defendant and hear any civil matter. A state court may exerciseterritorial jurisdiction in the following cases: (1) a defendant consents to besued in the state where the state court is located; (2) the defendant isphysically present in the forum state; or (3) such state has a statute whichauthorizes the exercise of territorial jurisdiction over persons or propertiesoutside the state’s borders. (4) the forum state is where the defendant is domiciled.In addition to the above state courts with general jurisdiction, state courtsare also courts with specialized trial jurisdiction, such as criminal courts,circuit courts, civil courts, juvenile courts and probate courts.

2.2 州法院的司法权

每个州都有自己的法院体系，每个州法院体系都有一层初审法院以及两个层次的上诉复审。州法院在审理起诉时会参考一个法院的司法权，具有一般司法权。因此，只要被告在悬而未决的案件里接到通知，州法院就会对被告实行个人司法权（也称“地区司法权”）并审理民事案件。州法院可能会在以下情况下施用地区司法权：（1）被告同意被在州法院所处的州里面起诉；（2）被告事实上在审理案件的法院出庭；或者（3）这样的州拥有这样一个法令，该法令授权对州边境外的个人或财产施行地区司法权；（4）审理案件的法院是被告被定居的所在。除了以上一般司法权外，州法院还具有专门的审判权，诸如刑事法院、巡回法院、民事法院、未成年人法院以及遗嘱检验法院。

2.3   Administrative Agencies

In addition tothe above court systems, some administrative agencies have been established outof the court system to monitor compliance with various federal statutoryschemes and are empowered to commence proceedings or actions for violations ofthose laws. For example, the United States Department of justice monitors andinvestigates compliance with the antitrust laws and is empowered to commencesuits on behalf of the United  States to remedy or Correct violation. TheFederal Trade Commission is the governmental agency that monitors compliancewith law relating to trade regulations and is empowered to take actions toensure compliance. The Securities and Exchange Commission monitors compliance witha broad range of laws governing all aspects of securities transactions.Besides, there are other federal administrative agencies with similarfunctions, such as Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Interstate CommerceCommission, and the Federal Communications Commission, etc.

2.3 行政代理机关

除了以上法院体系之外，一些行政代理机关已经在法院体系外建立起来，其目的在于监督对各类联邦法定体制的遵从，并有权对破坏这些法律的行为进行起诉。例如，美国司法部门监督并调整对反垄断法的遵守情况，并有权代表美国起诉，以修正或改正破坏行为。联邦贸易委员会是政府代理机构，监督着对与贸易法规有关的法律的遵守情况，并有权采取措施来保证对这些法律的遵守。股宗和交换委员会监督对规定着证券交易方方面面的一系列法律的遵守情况。此外，还存在具有类似功能的代理机关，如核管理委员会、州际商业委员会以及联邦交流委员会等。

2.4   Arbitration and Mediation

Arbitration isthe most traditional and well-known form used in the dispute resolution out ofcourt. Arbitration is characterized by flexibility and mutual acceptance ofmeans of conflict resolution. But recently, arbitration has been criticized asoverly formal, expensive and almost as time-consuming as traditionallitigation. Consequently, commercial parties often seek less formal and moreefficient means to settle their disputes, such as mediation.

2.4仲裁及调解

仲裁是在法院外用于解决纠纷的最传统及最出名的形式。仲裁具有灵活性的特点，并且是纠纷双方都能接受的用于解决矛盾的方法。但最近，仲裁被批为过于正式、过于昂贵、且几乎像传统形式那样耗时。这样一来，商业当事人经常寻求那些不那么正式且更有效的方式来解决他们的纷争，如调解。

Mediation is aprocess in which disputing parties are aided by a neutral third party toattempt to settle their dispute. Mediation, unlike arbitration, is notgenerally binding. The parties may, however, agree to enter into a settlementagreement. Mediation is voluntary and non-binding and its process is under thecontrol of the parties themselves. Settlement will be reached only if it isacceptable to all the parties. If mediation fails, the dispute usually go on toarbitration or litigation.

在调解的过程中，争议双方通过一个中立的第三方的协助来试图解决他们的纷争。与仲裁不同的是，调解一般不具约束力，其过程由双方自己所控制。解决方法只有在双方都接受的情况下才能达成，如果调解失败，就通过仲裁或诉讼来解决纷争。