法律英语教学的困境与出路

我国的涉外法律事务日益增多,大量的涉外案件对中国律师的法律英语水平提出了越来越高的要求。当前我国的法律英语教学存在种种弊端,我们应该明确教学目标,组织力量精编教材,改革陈旧的教学方法,提高法律英语教学的效果,以期对现实的呼唤作出理性的回应。     

论确立“法律英语”学科地位的必要性

作者认为高等法律院校法律英语教学与研究现状不尽如人意,建议从“大一”开始选修法律英语课,普遍加强高年级法律英语教学,对硕士生、博士生的专业课程以英语讲授等。     

法律英语听说教学初探

随着我国加入世贸组织和全球经济一体化,对涉外法律人才的需求不断增大、对人才素质的要求越来越高,对我国高校的法律英语教学也提出了新的挑战。单纯地能读会写早已不能满足我们对新时代法律英语复合型应用型人才的要求。针对此现象,对法律英语听说教学中存在的主要问题进行归纳和总结,并提出自己的意见以及改革方案,以期对今后我国法律英语听说教学的改革创新有一定的启发。     

论应用型法律英语教学内容之改革

现有的法律英语教材未区分学术型和应用型人才培养而采用统一的教学内容.由于这些内容或者以诉讼荚语为主或者以英美法内容为主,不适合应用型法律英语教学内容的要求,与应用型人才培养的目标不相符合,因此,有进行教学内容改革之必要.我国的应用型法律英语的教学内容应以外贸法律英语为主,以英美法系法律内容介绍和诉讼程序法律英语为辅.改革进路有远期进路和近期进路.     

法律英语课堂教学方法研究

法律英语在我国高等院校,尤其是法学专业开设已有较长历史,但课堂仍沿袭传统的教学方法。为了促进法律英语课堂教学方法的革新,应将外语教学方法与法律教学方法相结合,"用法律学习外语"和"用外语学习法律"两个方面结合起来。具体而言,即是将英语教学的ESA模式与法学教学的多媒体教学方法、案例教学方法及模拟法庭教学方法相结合,以美国刑事诉讼法为例设计了一套完整的法律英语课堂教学方法。     

从法律英语证书考试看法律英语的教与学

我国加入WTO以来，法律市场逐步对外开放，涉外法律事务与日俱增．懂英语、通法律的“精英明法”型复合人才非常紧俏。然而，我国的现实是能够从事涉外法律事务的人才少之又少．远远不能满足市场的需求。其根本原因在于目前国内的法律英语教学体系不甚完善，师资力量薄弱，教学内容没有统一的标准，没有一个科学的考核方式衡量法律英语的学习程度。2008年中国政法大学和北京外国语大学共同研究，     

法律英语课程设置和教学模式研究

世界经济一体化导致国际型法律人才的需求不断增大。法律英语教学作为一条必由之路,目前在教学目的、教材编写、师资配备、课程设置以及教学模式等方面仍存在许多问题和困难。应根据法律英语课程的特点,构建以"学科本位"为基础、以"能力本位"为导向的法律英语课程设置。法律英语教学应该根据不同模块的特点适用多种教学模式。     

新书

《法律英语:美国法律制度》(第四版)本书为法律英语教学领域的领先之作。作者结合中国学生的特点和需要,精心编选,准确注译,将英美国家法律制度、法律教育、司法系统以及宪法、刑法、民法、商法等各部门法律的精髓和要义,以22课篇幅悉数展现,附有配套音频.     

新书

《法律英语:美国法律制度》(第四版)编者:何家弘定价:45元出版时间:2008年7月本书为法律英语教学领域的领先之作。作者结合中国学生的特点和需要,精心编选,准确注译,将英美国家法律制度、法律教育、司法系统以及宪法、刑法、民法、商法等各部门法律的精髓和要义,以22课篇幅悉数展现,附有配套音频。     

我国需要制定统一的法律解释法

我国当前关于法律解释“立法”并不少,然而它们分别是由不同的国家机关在各自的立场上制定的,呈现出混乱的特点,并带来了我国法律解释体制的混乱。为了重新配置我国的法律解释权,建立统一的法律解释体制,规范和保障法律解释权的正当运行,我国需要制定一部统一的法律解释法。一些国家和地区制定的法律解释法对我国有一定的借鉴意义,我国也有少数学者在呼吁制定法律解释法,我们可以在此基础上进一步探讨我国的法律解释法。     

论英国土地保有关系对债作为财产所有权客体的影响

英国法上,财产所有权的客体不是有体物而是财产利益。英国法财产所有权客体的形成有其特定的历史原因,土地保有关系的产生是英国法财产权客体定位为财产利益的根本原因,土地保有关系模式下的这种立法思想深深影响了英国所有权客体理论。在英国法上,任何具有独占排他的财产利益均可以成为所有权的客体,因合同等原因而产生的债属于债权人的财产利益,因此英国法将其作为所有权的客体。英国法明确区分因合同产生的债的所有权以及合同权利本身,英国法的债权的二分理论值得我国学界研究。     

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CHINESE LAW OF CONSTRUCTIVE DELIVERY FROM AN ENGLISH COMMON LAW PERSPECTIVE

All three forms of constructive delivery, namely, traditio brevi manu, traditio longa manu, and constitutum possessorium exist in both Chinese law and English law with notable differences in each form. As regards traditio brevi manu, the current unique requirement of the transferee’s prior possession being “legal” under Chinese law cannot be found in or deduced from its English counterpart. As regards traditio longa manu, the major difference between the two jurisdictions is that the third-party possessor’s attornment is necessary condition for a valid traditio longa manu in English law whereas it is not in Chinese law. As regards constitutum possessorium, while English law accepts a wider scope of scenarios than Chinese law, passing of property in English law by way of constitutum possessorium is only effective between the parties themselves but not viz a viz third parties whereas it is effective in both respects in Chinese law. Compared to a mess in English law regarding the issue of symbolic delivery, the simple, clear and negative attitude towards symbolic delivery in Chinese law is to be applauded, and is to be regarded as a Chinese voice that should be insisted on and be brought into the upcoming Book of Property of the Chinese Civil Code.     

欧洲一体化对英国国际私法的影响

随着 1973年英国步入欧洲共同体 ,英国国际私法不应再被孤立地看待 ,它与欧洲联盟统一国际私法及欧洲联盟成员国中的大陆法系国家的国际私法紧密地联系在一起。它们相互影响、相互渗透、相互作用、相互促进。作为欧洲联盟 15个成员国中仅有的两个普通法法系国家之一 ,而且是普通法发源地的英国 ,其国际私法受到了欧洲一体化空前的、巨大的影响。这种影响主要体现在 :推动了英国国际私法制定法的新发展 ;开拓了英国国际私法的新法源 ;创立了英国冲突法案件的新类型 ;提供了英国解决冲突案件的新方法     

Thomas Craig,Sir Martin Wright,and Sir William Blackstone: The English Discovery of Feudalism

F.W. Maitland claimed that Sir Martin Wright propagated among English lawyers the view that English law had a feudal origin and was part of a European family of law and that Wright's opinions were popularized by Blackstone. This article demonstrates that Wright's opinions on feudal law, its history, and its impact on English law owed a considerable amount to the Scottish author Thomas Craig, who, through Wright, Blackstone, and others, as well as independently, had a significant impact on English lawyers’ understanding of their legal history and in overturning theories of the ‘immemorial’ nature of the common law. The infusion of Craig's European learning on feudalism into discussion of English law helped English legal history to develop.     

Grunwick and trade union recognition

This article considers the approach of law schools to the assessment of students' use of English. The QAA subject benchmark statement for law requires students to demonstrate the ability to use English proficiently but over recent years there has been anecdotal evidence that some students who lack this ability have obtained law degrees. To obtain further information on how law schools try to ensure compliance with the relevant benchmark, a short questionnaire was sent to a randomly selected sample of 20 English law schools. This article presents the results of that research, considers some of its possible implications and concludes that the assessment methods that many law schools are currently employing do not ensure compliance with the relevant benchmark.     

Public‐Private Arbitration and the Public Interest under English Law

Together with the increase in the number of public‐private contracts, recent years have seen a marked proliferation in public‐private arbitrations. This article explores the public interest implications which may arise in such arbitrations and examines how public‐private arbitration is treated under English law. We argue that, due to the lack of a developed administrative law sphere in England and the historical development of arbitration as an exclusively private mode of dispute resolution, the current legal framework of arbitration in England has developed around the private law paradigm of a commercial dispute involving private actors. This private law paradigm results in a conceptual and legal void in respect of how public interest is accounted for, and protected, in arbitrations involving public bodies under English law. Therefore, we suggest that English arbitration law needs to be amended to adequately protect the private interest in public‐private arbitration.     

The Structures of Monetary Nominalism in the Pre-Modern Common Law

This article considers the legal structures of the pre-modern common law which ensured that money generally passed at nominal rates in payment transactions. The English sovereign changed the monetary standard many times during the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries so that the purchasing power of the English currency changed markedly at identifiable stages. These changes seem to have left very little trace in the contemporaneous law reports. The article considers why changes in the monetary standard rarely presented a legal issue for common law judges. It argues that English law had a well-defined set of legal structures which ensured that money passed at nominal rates despite a change in the monetary standard. Given the way that payment clauses in common forms of transaction were formulated and actions in debt were pleaded, it would be difficult for a party to raise the change in the monetary standard as an issue for argument in a common law court.     

The Human Rights Act 1998 and the individual's right to treatment

The right to demand treatment--even when life-saving--is not recognised by English common law. The courts have consistently stated that they do not have the jurisdiction to order a doctor to perform a particular treatment. This article considers whether the impending Human Rights Act 1998 can be interpreted so as to allow this right. While a general right to treatment is discussed the argument focuses on life-saving treatment. As an illustration, the David Glass case will be analysed and the impact of the Human Rights Act will be examined by considering how the judgment might have differed had the Act been in force.     

Criminal Liability of Directors of a Private Limited Company Seated in Germany

During the last decade, a great number of German businesses formed private limited companies by shares in England and transferred the company’s real seat to Germany in order to avoid the minimum capital rules for the German limited liability company. The discrepancy between the place of registration and the real seat leads to questions about the criminal liability of company directors under English and German law. This article shows that English courts have jurisdiction over certain offences regardless of the place the director acted. In particular, he may be convicted for failing to comply with statutory duties under the Companies Act 2006 as well as false accounting or false statements under Theft Act 1968 ss. 17, 19. With respect to German law, the company law reform of 2008 explicitly imposed the duty to file for insolvency on directors of foreign corporations. Also, the criminal offence for failing to file for insolvency in § 15a (4) of the Insolvency Code is compatible with the freedom of establishment under European law. If the director causes a financial loss to the company by breaching his director’s duties, he may be convicted for breach of trust under § 266 of the Criminal Code regardless of the fact that the relevant duties are regulated by English law. The German Federal Supreme Court recently held that recourse to English company law in order to establish a criminal breach of trust does not violate the principle of legal certainty in Article 103 (2) of the Basic Law. Furthermore, German bankruptcy offences may apply if the director violates the authoritative English accounting standards.