苏格兰法律的由来与发展

苏格兰法律的由来与发展

世界上有两种 Legal System ， 一种是 Continental 或者称作 Civilian ， 这个

System 是基于 Roman Law ，普及在欧洲国家。 此外一种 System 是 Anglo-

American System，这个 System 基于英国的 Common Law，这种法律 System 的

运作框架正和这个 Legal System 的名字一样；普及在英格兰，美国以及以前的

大英帝国殖民地，例如加拿大和澳洲。

苏格兰的 Legal System 是基于上述两种 Legal System 的一个 混合 Legal

System。

It is said to have more empathy with the civilian systems of law in many respects.

However, there is no doubt that the strongest influence for several centuries has been

the law of England. Nevertheless, the Scots system retains significant elements of

difference which have been protected by the Act of Union 1707 and jealously guarded

by the courts since that time.

从 1603 年到 1707 年，苏格兰和英格兰有着自己分明的两个不同的最高统治

者，共同分享最高统治阶级的权利。两个国家都拥有他们自己的国会，幷且，

各个独立的国会也撰有不同的法律。 在 1707 年，英格兰和苏格兰国会允许在

签订条约下合二为一；苏格兰国会与英格兰国会相互承认交换生效法律文书，

旧有的两个国会被废除，新成立的国会落座在 英格兰 伦敦 成为 Great Britain 的

一个全新的国会。 Although this meant that there was now only one Law-making

body between the two countries, it did not mean that Scots Law was abolished, since

the Treaty, and then the Acts of Union, preserved the status of Scots Law and the

Legal System.

So, what was the important about this Legal System that was preserved by the Treaty?

As noted above, it was a mixed system of law, derived from various historical

influences. One of the main influences was of cause that of English Law, particularly

before 1296, when Norman noblemen and clergy settled in Lowland Scotland

bringing their feudal system of land tenure and justice.

Another great influence at this time was the Church of Rome and its canon law. It is

thought that canon law introduced elements of established. The idea of the king as '

fountain of justice ' helped to establish a more uniform system of law; cases were

commenced by the issue of a writ or ' brieve ' in the king's name. This brieve would

require an official to carry out an action or investigation.

从 1296 至 1603 ， 苏格兰 与 英格兰 不断的爆发战争，苏格兰与法国结为盟

国， thus encouraging influence from the Continent. Regular meetings of Parliament

were held with the burgesses from the burghs participating in the Parliament; the

levying of taxation was made with their agreement. At first, however, the Parliament's

main role was a court of first instance and for appeals. It was not until the reign of

James I (1406-37) that Parliament became primarily a legislature.

在 15 世纪 和 16 世纪， 相当数量的法令的条令生效，影响了接下来的之后的数

个世纪。

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From the Union of the Crown in 1603 up until 1800, there was a great interest in

Roman law and many young Scotsmen studies in France and Holland, bringing back

with them the principles of Roman law and using them when they became

practitioners and judges in Scotland. Roman law became a major factor in forming

Scots law-particularly in the law of obligations and moveable property. In 1617, the

general Register of Sasines was set up to record transactions relating to land, helping

to ensure that buyer of land in Scotland receive secure title to that land.

From 1655, there was much movement in the legal system with the publication of

'institutional writings'. These became important sources of law.

The High Court of Justiciary was established in 1672, consisting of five judges from

the Court of Session and the Justice-General and Justice-Clerk. The judges were

known as Commissioners of Justiciary (Now Lords Commissioners of Justiciary) and

they dealt with criminal cases in Edinburgh.

The Union of the Parliaments of Scotland and England on May 1, 1707 dissolved the

two Parliaments and created a new Parliament of Great Britain. Article XIX of the

Union Treaty specified that the Scots Law and the Scottish Courts should continue.

Although the Treaty stated that no causes in Scotland should be heard in the Courts of

Chancery, Queen's Bench, Common Pleas, ' or any other court in Westminster Hall',

this was held not to include the House of Lords and the practice of sending civil

appeals to the House of Lords began within a short time of the Union coming into

effects (Greenshields v Magistrates of Edinburgh 1710-1711 rob. 12.).

From 1800, the Napoleonic Wars prevented the travel of Scots students to the

Continent and accordingly, English law now became the major influence on Scots law.

Two Factors contributed to this

1. the House of Lords now heard all Scottish civil appeals; and

2. the Westminster Parliament passed all laws

Both of these institutions were based on English models and were people by mainly

English-trained lawyers and judges. Concepts of English law were used to decide

Scots law, thus changing the Scots principles and causing confusion. Growing

concern with the decisions made by the House of Lords during the eighteenth and

early nineteenth centuries led to the passages of the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876,

ensuring that at least one of the judges in the House of Lords was Scottish-trained.

In the field of government of Scotland, the office of Secretary for Scotland was

created in 1885 to administer matters such as law and order and education in Scotland

and this office became a Cabinet post in 1892. From 1979, the Secretary of State for

Scotland belonged to party which did not have majority of Scotland seats in the UK

Parliament, creating a 'democratic deficit' in Scotland; thus it could be said that the

Government, as represented by the Secretary of State, did not represent the majority

of the electors, e.g. the replacement of household rates with the community charge or

'poll tax'. There was an impression that the needs of Scotland were not being given

due consideration by a government which drew its support from other parts of the UK.

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The 'democratic deficit' led in 1988 to the publication of A Claim of Right for

Scotland by the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly. This declaration stated that

Scotland had a right to decide her own constitution and called for a convention to be

set up to devise a scheme for a Parliament or Assembly. The next year the

Constitutional Convention was set up, drawing support from a wide range of people

and groups. In 1995 the Convention published its final report 'Scotland's Parliament.

Scotland's Right' and this formed the basis of the Labour government's proposals in

1997. After a referendum in September 1997 affirmed the support of the Scottish

electorate for devolution, the UK Parliament passed the Scotland Act in 1998 and a

new system of government came into being in Scotland in May 1999.

英格兰和威尔士

在英格兰和威尔士，构建法律体系的责任由司法部和内政部份担。

苏格兰

苏格兰执政院司法部负责执掌苏格兰法律体系。

北爱尔兰

英国司法部和北爱尔兰事务部负责执掌北爱尔兰的法律体系。你可以在北爱尔

兰刑事司法体系网站上到实用的信息。

法院

原则上，除了联合王国内不同国家在工作方式上有些不同之外，英国所有的法

院都审理和判决相似类型的违法行为。

联合王国内每一个国家都有自己的法院服务局，绝大多数案件都要在这里处理。

苏格兰司法协会(Scottish Justices Association)管理着苏格兰的地方法院，无非

这些地方法院最终都处于苏格兰法院服务局(Scottish Courts Service )的权限范

围之内。

来自英格兰、威尔士和北爱尔兰法院的刑事和民事判决的最终上诉由英国上议

院的司法部门受理。而在苏格兰，惟独民事案件可以上诉到英国上议院。

2022 年，上议院的司法职能将由新成立的、英国范围内的最高法院替代。届

时，最高法院会接受英国绝大多数刑事和民事案件的最终上诉。

民法

民法关注的是个人或者团体之间发生的纠纷，覆盖了很广的范围，包括：

出租人和承租人纠纷

破产

小额诉讼

消费者纠纷

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人身伤害诉讼

离婚案

种族、性别、残疾歧视案件

债务问题

遗嘱

诽谤

英格兰和威尔士都有一个民事司法委员会(Civil Justice Council )，负责监督和

协调民法司法体系的现代化。而在苏格兰，则是由苏格兰执政院民法和司法部

(Civil Law and Civil Justice Department)负责。

刑法

在英国刑法针对的是那些被指控有刑事犯罪的个人，其所覆盖的犯罪范围如

下：

暴力

待

刑事破坏

偷盗、抢劫、入室行窃

谋杀

过失杀人

严重人身伤害

共谋欺诈

联合王国内的每一个国家都有自己的检察院，由检察院决定是否受理案件。访问 英国皇家检察署( Crown Prosecution Service)网站，获得关于英格兰和威尔士 检察系统的信息；访问皇家办公室和地方检察官苏格兰服务处( Crown

Office and Procurator Fiscal Service for Scotland)，获得关于苏格兰检察系统的信息； 访问北爱尔兰检察院网站，获得关于北爱尔兰检察系统的信息。

联合王国内的各个国家还都有自己的刑事司法系统，来协调警察、检察院和法

院的工作，在英格兰和威尔士是“刑事司法局”( Criminal Justice System)，

苏格兰则是“苏格兰执政院刑事司法部”( Scottish Executive Criminal Justice

Department)，北爱尔兰是“北爱尔兰刑事司法局”( Criminal Justice System

Northern Ireland)。

法官和律师

法官

在英国，由法官、地方法官、书记员和郡级法官来主持法院和法庭的工作，审

理各个案件提供的证据。可以通过多种形式做出判决，如法官们做出各自的判

决，就如在英格兰高等法院那样；或者是法官们集体做出判决，就如地方法院

或者郡级法院那样。

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严格来说，在一个案件之中，每一个人扮演着什么角呢？刑事法官、地方法

官、郡级法官都可以做出判决，并能在确定一个人确实有罪之后将之送进监

狱。但是，在民事或者家庭案件中，他们的作用往往是要设法解决当事人之间的 艰难，可能会判予一方得到赔偿，或者做出具有法律约束力的命令，如限制 令。

在法官和地方法官的日常工作中也会浮现一些有趣的事情，可以登录英格兰和

威尔士的司法部网站查看。

了解英格兰、威尔士、苏格兰和北爱尔兰如何推荐和任命法官及候选法官。

在联合王国每一个国家法院服务局的网站上，你可能会到哪个法院由哪些法 官、地方法官、郡级法官负责的信息。

律师和初级律师

在英国，律师也被称作代理律师或者辩护律师，他们浮现在法庭上，或者为原告 辩护或者为被告辩护。在律师协会( Bar Council)的网站上，有关于英格兰和 威尔士代理律师的信息。而在法律协会( Law Society)的网站上，则是关于初 级律师的信息。

代理律师在苏格兰也被称为辩护律师，在苏格兰辩护律师协会( Faculty of

Advocates)网站上，有更多关于他们的内容。

北爱尔兰沿用的是和英格兰、威尔士相同的体系。登录北爱尔兰大律师公会网

站(General Council of the Bar of Northern Ireland)，了解关于代理律师的情

况。北爱尔兰法律协会(Law Society of Northern Ireland)网站上有关于初级律

师的信息。

代理律师和辩护律师可以浮现在所有的法庭上，而初级律师只能在低级法庭出

庭，他们在低级法庭拥有“出庭辩护权”( rights of audience)。无非，他们有

讼务律师的资格，可以浮现在皇家和高级法院。在高等法院辩护律师初级律师

协会(Solicitors' Association of Higher Court Advocates )的网站上，有英格兰和

威尔士在此方面的规定。在讼务律师协会(Society of Solicitor Advocates )网站

上，有关于苏格兰讼务律师的内容。

警察

在英国，警察是按照地域来组织的，每一个地区都有自己的警力。

在英格兰、威尔士和苏格兰，每支警力都要受当地警察机构的管理，这个机构

通常由当地议员、地方官员和独立成员组成。内政部网站的“警察”部份，有

关于英格兰和威尔士警察系统的更多内容。在苏格兰政府网站的“警察”部

分，有关于苏格兰警察系统的更多内容。

在北爱尔兰，所有的警力都处于一个警察部门的管理之下。

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在处理对警察的投诉时，联合王国内各国都有自己的一套程序。独立警察投诉

公署(Independent Police Complaints Commission)网站上，有关于英格兰和威

尔 士 如 何 处 理 的 更 多 内 容 ； 苏 格 兰 警 察 投 诉 公 署 ( Police Complaints

Commissioner for Scotland)网站则提供苏格兰在此方面的做法；北爱尔兰警察

投诉专员公署(Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland )网站上是关于北爱尔兰

此方面的内容。

监狱

苏格兰和北爱尔兰都有自己的监狱部门，来管理各自的监狱。苏格兰监狱署

( Scottish Prison Service )网站 和北 爱尔兰 监狱署 ( Northern Ireland Prison

Service)网站有更多内容。

英格兰和威尔士的绝大多数监狱都处于英国皇家监狱管理署( HM Prison

Service)的管理中，惟独 7 所监狱是由私人出资和管理的。

联合王国内的各个国家都有犯人投诉处理程序：英格兰和威尔士由监狱及缓刑

申诉专员署负责；苏格兰由苏格兰监狱投诉委员会(Scottish Prisons Complaints

Commission)负责；北爱尔兰由北爱尔兰监狱投诉专员公署( Northern Ireland

Prisoner Ombudsman)负责。

欧洲法、国际法和人权法

欧洲法

欧共体法在英国也合用，由欧共体条约、欧共体立法及欧洲法院做出的各项判

决组成。

国际公法

国际公法主要是集中处理不同国家之间的关系。最近，国际公法取得了重大进

展，联合国因为设立了国际刑事法庭而在这一发展中发挥了重要作用。 2002

年，国际刑事法庭成立，这是一个以个人为审判对象的常设性法庭，这些人所

犯的罪行有种族屠杀、反人类罪、战争罪、侵略罪。

人权法

英国 1998 年通过的《人权法案》将《欧洲公约》也纳入进来。《欧洲公约》由

欧洲人权法院(European Court ofHuman Rights)执行。

英国所有的公共权力机构，包括法院，都要遵守这些法律，无非当它们与《国

会法案》(Act of Parliament)冲突的时候，国会可以否决之。

a. The superior legislative body is the Westminster (or UK) Parliament

b. Unlike the previous Scottish Parliament which was abolished by the Act of

Union in 1707, the new Scottish Parliament is not a completely independent

body. The Scottish Parliament is quite clearly an inferior body in comparison

to the Westminster Parliament. It is the Westminster Parliament from which

the Scottish Parliament derives its authority to pass laws for Scotland. Any

legislation of the Scottish Parliament is considered to be secondary legislation

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not primary legislation. It should also be recalled that a simple Act of

Westminster Parliament is all that it would take to abolish Scotland’s

Parliament. Westminster has already abolished a local assembly or parliament

ie the Stormont Parliament or Assembly which made laws for Northern

Ireland until its abolition in the 1970s.

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