论法律的确定性与不确定性

崇尚法律的确定性,是西方法学界一个悠久的学术传统。20世纪以来,西方法学界关于这一问题的立场发生了根本转变,转而强调法律的不确定性。在法律运行的过程中,存在着多种不确定性因素,包括法律标准的不确定性、事实认定的不确定性、司法人员个性的不确定性和其他社会因素的不确定性等四个方面。无论是法律的确定性,还是法律的不确定性,都是相对的,而且,二者都蕴藏着一定的社会价值。

On the Certainty and Uncertainty of Law

To advocate the certainty of legal system is an ancient academic tradition of western law circles. Since the twentieth century, a dramatic change has occurred in the western law circles concerning this issue. Thus the emphasis on the certainty of law prevails. During the operation of legal system, there exist many uncertain factors. Those factors belong to four aspects: the uncertainty of legal standards, uncertainty of the verification of facts, uncertainty of the personality of judicial personnel and the uncertainty of other social factors. Whether it is the certainty of law or uncertainty of law, both of them are just relative. Furthermore, both of them embody social value to a certain degree.