美国法律制度（三）

独秀文译青年

【中文标题】美国法律制度（三）

【正文】

1.Legal Procedure

The Americanlegal system operates under what is known as adversary system.Under the system, the proceeding is presided over by a theoretically unbiasedand essentially passive judge, who is responsible for guiding the proceedingaccording to certain procedural rules and for making decisions on questions oflaws that arise.

3. 法定程序

美国法律体系是在辩论式诉讼制度下运行的。在该体系下，诉讼程序由一个理论上无偏见而实际上处于被动地位的法官来主持，由其负责根据某些程序法规来指导诉讼程序，负责在出现的法律问题上做出裁决。

3.1   Complaint and Answer

A civil actionis normally initiated by filling with the court a complaint where one partyknown as plaintiff set out the basis for the court’s jurisdiction over thematter and the essential claims the plaintiff has against the defendant. Thedefendant needs not respond until he/she receives a summons (usuallyaccompanied by a copy of the complaint) issued by the court. Filling of acomplaint and serving of a summons commences the proceeding. While properlyserved with the summons the defendant must file an answer the complaint withinthe stated time. In the answer the defendant shall seek to prove that theplaintiff is mistaken as to what happened factually and/or as to the defendant’slegal liability. The answer would include admissions or denials of the factualallegations of the complaint.

3.1 控告和答辩

向法庭正式提交控告书标志着民事诉讼的开始，在控告书里，作为原告的一方当事人阐明法院对该案件具有审判权的依据以及原告针对被告所做出的基本请求。被告在接到法院发来的传票（通常附有控告书副本）前可不必做出回应。控告书的提交以及传票的送达标志着诉讼程序的开始。在收到正当传票后，被告应在规定时间里提交答辩状。在答辩状里，被告应设法证明原告所陈述的事实以及（或者）在指控被告的法律义务上是错误的。答辩包括对控诉所做出的招供或者否认。

3.2 Discovery

Before theactual trial begins, parties usually engage in discovery, a process forobtaining the facts concerning the dispute which is the subject of the lawsuit.The discovery involves deposition (questioning in person of witnesses who haveknowledge of the subject matter of the dispute), interrogatory (writtenquestion prepared by the attorney of one side and sent to the attorney of otherside for answer), and production and inspection of documents in the possessionof the other (including records, transcripts and other forms of evidentiarymatters). Courts usually do not participate in the discovery process. TheFederal Rules of Civil Procedure, as well as the rules of procedure establishedfor the court system in each state specify the procedures by which discoverymay be conducted. The facts thus discovered in cases brought in either state orfederal court can be used to prepare a pre-trial motion to dispose of the case(called a motion for summary judgment), in which one or more parties argue thata decision can be rendered before trial since there are no disputed question offacts, to prepare for an actual trial on the merits, or to assist the partiesin evaluating the merits or weakness of their cases for settlement purpose.

3.2 证据开示

    在真正的审判开始前，当事人通常要进行证据开示，以获取与诉讼主体——纠纷有关的事实。证据开示包括书面证词（亲自询问对纠纷有所了解的证人）、质询书（由一方当事人准备书面问题，并发给另一方当事人索取对这些问题的答案），以及出示和检查另一方当事人持有的文件（包括录音、官方记录和其他形式的证明）。法院通常不参与到证据开示这个步骤中。《联邦民事诉讼规则》和各州法院制定的诉讼规则都明确说明了证据开示的程序规则。在审理州法院或联邦法院的案件中，通过以上方法所获取的事实可以用来准备一次审前动议来处理案件（成为简易判决动议）；在该案件里，如果一方或更多方当事人认为事实没有争议了，那么就可以提交协议，为真正的审判做准备，或者帮助当事人对其所处情况的利弊进行评估，以便解决问题。

3.3   Pretrial Conference

In federalcourts and in some state courts, there is a pretrial conference before thetrial begins. At the conference, which usually takes place from two to fourmonths before the trial begins, the parties shall each submit written documentssummarizing their contentions of fact and law and listing the names of thepersons whom they will use at the trial as witness as well as a list of alldocumentary or other evidence which they plan to use at the trial.

  3.3审前预备会议

在联邦法院以及一些州法院里，在审判开始前会有一次审前预备会议，该会议通常在审判开始前的两到四个月内举行。在会议上，当事人应当分别提交书面文件，书面文件总结了事实和法律的论点，并列出了他们用来在审判上作为证人的姓名，以及他们计划用于审判上的文件证据或其他证据的清单。

Pretrialconference, used extensively in the federal district courts, frequently resultsin the settlement of the case without trial. If it does not, the court fixes aspecific date for the case trial, following the pretrial conference. Theobjective of the pretrial conference is to shorten the actual trial timewithout infringing upon the rights of either party.

审前预备会议广泛应用于联邦地区法院中，常常让案件不经审判便能得到解决。如果案件没有在审前预备会议时得到解决，那么法院将在审前预备会议后为案件的审判确定一个日期。审前预备会议的目标旨在在不侵犯任何一方当事人的权利的前提下缩短真正的审判时间。

3.4   Trial

Most civil casesbrought in American courts, federal or state, do not go to trial. The vastmajority of cases are settled out of court or may be disposed of by a pretrialmotion. For those cases which do proceed to a trial on the merits, they mayeither be conducted before a jury of 6-12 individuals, or before a singlejudge.

  3.4审判

美国联邦法院或州法院的大多数民事案件都是不经过审判的。绝大多数案件都是在法院之外或是通过审前动议来解决的。那些真的要依法定程序来审判的案件，可以通过由6到12个人组成的陪审团来解决，也可以由一个法官单独解决。

3.5   Appeal

A final order isformed when the issues of a particular case is finally determined. Appeals maybe taken from final orders of either state trial courts or federal districtcourts. In some instances, appeals may be taken from non-final or interlocutoryorder.

  3.5上诉

  当一个案件的争议问题得到最终裁决时，最终的法院决议就形成了。州初审法院和联邦地区法院的最终决议均可以被上诉。在一些情况下，也可以就非最终裁决或中间裁决提起上诉。