Chapter One:Anglo-American Law and You 1
Section One:A Political and Moral Perspective—I Am the Law 1
Section Two:Anglo-American Law Defined 3
A．Common law（共同法或习惯法、普通法）Countries 5
B．The Subjects of Common law 6
Section Three:Study of Anglo-American Law—Why,What,and How 6
A．What is or Counts as Foreign Law—Definition and Clarification 7
B．Why for the Study of Anglo-American Law 8
C．Reasons for Study—A Summary 10
D．Implications of Globalization of Law:International Trade,Commerce,and Private Law—Unification and Uniform Application 11
E．Similarity of Private Law Worldwide 13
Section Four:Factors and Considerations Affecting Choice of Foreign Law 15
A．Foreign law chosen on the basis of shared history and tradition 15
B．Foreign law chosen on the basis of superior human value conditions 15
C．Foreign law chosen on the basis of special relationship 15
D．Foreign law chosen on the basis of superior legal structure and framework 16
E．Foreign law chosen on the basis of the rationality of the substantive content of its laws 16
Section Five:Methodology and Approach of Foreign Law Study 17
A．How Should Anglo-American Law Be Studied 18
Section Six:Importance of Knowledge of Legal Research and Legal Materials 21
Section Seven:Need for the Study of Foreign Law in Vernacular 22
Section Eight:The"What"(the Subject Matter)of Study 22
A．Hot Topics and In-demand Subject or Issue:Reactive Research 22
B．Topics or Issues for Scholarly and Theoretical Research 24
C．Study the Common Law as a Unique Legal System 24
D．Study the Philosophical Ideas Informing Anglo-American Law 25
Section Nine:Sources,Texts,and Materials of the Study of Anglo-American Law 27
Section Ten:Conditions and Factors Determinative of the Need and Viability of Legal Transplant 27
Chapter Two:Sources of Law in General 30
Section One:Codes（法典）and Statutes（制定法） 30
Section Two:Regulations（规章，条例），Decrees（判决，裁定），and Administrative Directives（行政命令、行政规章） 31
Section Three:Binding Nature or Significance of Administrative Directives 32
Section Four:Judicial Decisions 32
Section Five:Non-state or Unofficial Sources of Law 33
A．Reason as a Source 33
B．Fundamental Importance of Doctrine or Legal Writing:Scholarly Law 34
C．Interdisciplinary Research and Works as Sources 35
D．Intelligence,Idea,Proposal,and Recommendation as Source 35
Section Six:Legal Pluralism and Legal Centralism—Written Law（成文法）vis-a-vis Unwritten Law（不成文法），Express vis-a-vis Implicit Law,Law in Book vis-a-vis Law in Action 37
A．Pre-(state)Law（国家成立前的法律） 37
B．Relative Insignificance of Judicial Law(Settlement of Disputes) 38
C．Implicit Law,Unwritten or Autonomous Ordering 38
Section Seven:Custom 45
Section Eight:Sources of American Law Worthy of Special Mention 48
A．Statute Law 48
B．Constitution as a Source 50
C．Treaties（条约）and International Agreements 50
D．Administrative Law（行政法） 51
E．Compilations and Consolidations of Laws 52
F．Court Rules 52
G．Uniform State Law 52
H．Secondary Authority 53
I．Restatement of Law:Nature and Status 54
J．View of Formalism（形式主义）versus Realism（现实主义）as to What Counts as Law 55
K．Authoritative and Effective Decision as a Source 55
L．Integration of All Sources of Law-Generating Actions and Decisions 57
Section Nine:Reason as a Source(of Law) 58
Chapter Three:The Common Law 61
Section One:Historical Development of the Common Law 61
A．First,The Anglo-Saxon Period（盎格鲁—撒克逊时代）（Preceding the Norman Conquest,1066） 62
B．Second,Formation of the Common Law(1066-1485)：From Writs（令状）to Actions on the Case 62
C．Third Period:Growth of Equity（衡平法）（1485-1832） 64
D．Fourth Period:The Modern Period 67
Section Two:Special Characteristics of English Law of English Law 69
A．Distinct Characteristics of English Common Law 69
B．Courts Decide Fate of Statutes through Interpretation 73
C．Courts Apply Principles Derived from Statutes 73
Section Three:Certain Characteristics of the Common Law Authority 73
Section Four:Sources of the British Common Law 75
Section Five:Importance of Legal Structure,Defining Categories and Concepts 75
Section Six:English Judicial Organization 76
Section Seven:Judicial Authority in England 78
Section Eight:Form and Content of English Judgments 79
Chapter Four:Legal System and Foundation of Law of the United States 81
Section One:General Remark 81
Section Two:Reasons for Choice of Focus 82
Section Three:Spirit and Fundamental Characteristics of American Law and Society 83
A．Liberty,Rights,and Government by Consent 84
B．Individualism,Competing Values,and Personal Choice 84
C．Distrust of Government:Separation and Limitation of Powers,Checks and Balances（政府机关彼此之间的相互制衡），Political Accountability,and the Bill of Rights 84
D．Pragmatism in Law（法律的实用主义） 86
E．Government under the Rule of Law 87
F．Tolerance 88
G．Optimism 89
H．Unity out of Diversity（差异带来的统一或联合） 90
I．Diversity as Divisiveness（差异引起的分歧）：Disquieting Factors and Troubling Voices（不安定因素和声音） 91
J．American Greed 91
K．Corporate Bonuses,Compensations and Other Perks and Imprudence 92
L．A Nation of Excessive and Cheap Credit and Voracious Debtors 93
Section Four:Basic Constitutional and Political Structure 93
Section Five:Division and Limits of Legal Authority of the United States 95
A．Originality of American Law 96
B．Place of Statute in American Law:the Abnormal or Excessive Attitude toward Statute 96
Section Six:Allocation of Legal Authority between Federal and State Governments 97
A．Inherent Legal Authority of the States 97
B．Jurisdiction of Federal Law versus Jurisdiction of State Law 97
C．Supremacy Clause 99
D．Preemption Controversies（优先适用争议） 99
E．Derivative Principle of Preemption Clause（优先适用条款的派生原则） 100
F．Continued Importance of State and Local Law 100
Section Seven:Judicial Organization 100
A．Organization of Courts 100
B．Administrative Agencies and Tribunals（行政机关和行政法庭） 101
C．State Courts（州法院） 102
D．Jury 102
Section Eight:Allocation of Judicial Authority 103
A．General Allocation 103
B．Two Primary Bases of Federal Jurisdiction 103
C．Structure Parallel Systems of Adjudication:Judicial Dualism（司法二元主义） 104
D．Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act（外国主权豁免法），28 U.S.C,Para.1330 104
E．Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court 105
Section Nine:Reception of the Common Law in the United States 106
A．Ignorance and Slight of the Common Law 107
B．Influence of the Codification Movement 107
C．Triumph of the Common Law 108
Section Ten:Is There a United States Common Law or a Distinct Common Law for Each State Individually 109
A．Different Social and Economic Conditions Produced Diverse Common Law 109
B．The Common Law Develops Along the Same Line and Way as Legislation:Federal and State 110
C．Complicating Factors 110
Section Eleven:The Cohesion and Unity of American Law 112
Section Twelve:Unifying State Common Laws—Role of State and not Federal Courts 116
Section Thirteen:Codification of American Common Law 117
Section Fourteen:A Systematic Statement of the Common Law 118
Section Fifteen:Protection from the Burdens of Multi-State Legal Authority 118
A．Tradition of Uniform Laws 118
B．Constitutional Limit on the Reach of State Court Jurisdiction and Choice of Law 120
C．Negative Commerce Clause 121
Chapter Five:Case Law:Form,Nature and Function of Judicial Decisions 123
Section One:Form and Content of Judicial Decisions 123
Section Two:The Judicial Function 124
Section Three:Meaning and Scope of the Rule of Precedent in British Law 125
Section Four:Doctrine of Stare Decisis and its Justification 126
Section Five:The Doctrine of Stare Decisis and Ratio Decidendi or Holding of a Case 126
Section Six:Transforming Facts into Binding Legal Rules 127
Section Seven:In Search of an Ideal Holding or Ratio Decidendi of a Case 128
Section Eight:Rule of Precedent and Statute Law 129
Section Nine:Obiter Dictum:Definition and Clarification 130
Section Ten:Ratio,Obiter,and Principle:Distinction or Confluence(Conflation) 130
Section Eleven:Doctrine of Stare Decisis in United States Law 132
Section Twelve:The Overriding Importance of the Opinions of the Appellate Courts 133
Section Thirteen:Factors Likely to Figure in Distinguishing Decisions 133
Section Fourteen:Opposing Treatments of Precedents 134
Section Fifteen:To Distinguish or to Overrule（推翻先例） 135
Section Sixteen:Multi-legged Holding 136
Section Seventeen:The Retroactive Effect（追溯力）of Application of Judicial Decisions 136
Section Eighteen:Contradiction and Tension between Predictability and Hard Cases（疑难案件） 140
Section Nineteen:More Characterizations of the Common Law 141
Section Twenty:Is the Common Law a Living Law 143
Section Twenty-one:The Common Law—Vitality,Staying Power,and Continuing Relevance 144
Section Twenty-two:Common Law in the Welfare State of the Twentieth Century—the Age of Statutes 146
Chapter Six:United States Law in Action（诉讼中的）：the Operative and Interactive Dynamics 148
Section One:The Defining Character and Spirit of Anglo-American Law 149
Section Two:The Contrast between Law in Action and Law in Book 149
Section Three:Sites,Sources,and Manifestations of Law and Legal System in Action:State and Non-state 154
Section Four:The Life of Law in Common Law America:Selective Accounts of the Interactive Dynamics of Elite Power Decisions 159
A．Check and Balance:The Overriding Principle of Interactivity（互动性原则） 160
B．Exemplary Interactive Relationships Between the President,the Congress,the Court and the States 160
C．Life and Fate of Legislation 165
D．Judicial Attitude toward Legislation:The Legal Standing or Status of Legislation in the Legal System 167
E．Place of Statute in American Law 168
F．Transforming Statutes into Common Law:The Life of Statute Takes on the Form of the Common Law 169
G．Nature and Content of the United States Code 170
H．Constitutional Activism of the Judiciary 170
I．Measures Taken to Counter Anti-democratic（反民主的）or Unpopular Judicial Review 175
J．Life and Fate of a Common Law Rule or a Common Law Case 177
K．Role of Lawyers in Shaping Judicial Law 179
L．Transforming Judicial Law by Legislative Decision or Executive Action 180
M．Judges and Judge-made Law versus Legislatures and Legislation 181
N．Scholarly Rendering and Exposition of Legislation 183
O．Formation of Leading Cases（援引的判例）：the Role and Contribution of Jurists 184
P．Scholars and Scholar's Law versus Judges and Judicial Law 184
Q．Inherent Self-contradiction and Internal Creative Destruction of Legislative,Executive and Judicial Authority 187
R．Some Anecdotal Observations of the United States Legal System in Action 188
R．The Democratic Process of United States Law in Action 190
S．Conclusion—Some Tentative Ideas on What Count as Law in General and Anglo-American Law in Particular 192
Section Five:Some Critical Observations on the Law of the United States in Action:Phenomenon of Idealization of Law（法律的理想化），Juridification Saturation（法律的饱和）of Society and Hypertrophying of Law and Legal Reason 193
Section Six:Modes and Levels of Dispute Resolution 195
Section Seven:Critique of the Efficiently Processed Dispute Theory and its Notorious Conclusions 197
Section Eight:In Search of an Emerging Law 201
Chapter Seven:Good Legal System,Good Laws,and Good Decision-makers Lawyers 212
Section One:Legal System and System of Law Distinguished 212
Section Two:Good Legal System Produces Good Laws 214
A．The Formal and Procedural Requirements for a Good Legal System 215
B．Legal Proceduralism 216
Section Three:Good Law Informs Good Legal System 218
A．Substantive Moral Requirements for a Good Legal System 218
B．Democratic Foundation and Spirit of Law and Legal System 221
C．Democratizing Law-making(Authoritative and Effective Decision)Process 224
D．Open and Transparent Decision-making 227
E．Right to Know and Freedom of Access to Information 231
F．Elite Powers and Democracy 233
G．Equality before the Law:Equal Protection of the Law 234
H．Timely Access to the Court 238
I．Non-retroactive Application of Legislation 241
Section Four:The Virtue of Legal Simplicity 242
A．General 242
B．Some Defining Elements of Legal Simplicity 249
Section Five:The Falsity of Legal Complexity 249
Section Six:Private Ordering versus State Law 256
Section Seven:Transnational Components of the National Legal System 260
Section Eight:Human Elements of a Good Legal System and Good Law 264
A．Rule of Law versus Rule of Man 264
B．Good Lawyer,Good Legal System and Good Laws 271
C．American Law Schools and Legal Education 276
D．The Conditions and Requirements of A Good Judge 286
E．Condition and Requirements of A Good Politician 299
F．Condition and Requirements of A Good Legal Scholar（法学学者）or Jurist 318
G．Conditions and Requirements of a Good Citizen 321
H．Conditions and Requirements of a Good Corporate Citizen 329
Chapter Eight:Legal Reason and Executing Decision 340
Law and Legal Reason 343
A．Nature of Legal Reason 344
B．Content or Material Bases of Legal Reason 346
C．Distinctive Nature and Superior Status of Reason 349
D．Reason and Discretionary Decision 353
E．Allure and Rick of Legal Reason 354
F．Evaluation and Balancing of Reason 357
G．Authoritative and Effective Decisions and Justifying Reason 359
H．Truth and Myth of Judicial Reason 360
I．Moral,Epistemological Pluralism,and Incommensurability 365
J．Limits of Legal Reason and Limits of Knowledge 368
K．Reason Runs out 369
L．Subjective versus Objective Reason 372
M．Reason,Faith,and Other Belief Systems 373
N．Belief in Disguise of Reason 376
O．Legal Reason is a Noble Scam:The Self-Referential Nature of Law and Legal Reason 378
P．Beyond Reason,beyond Law;without Reason,without Law 381
Q．Law,Reason and Deep,Divisive Social Issues 384
R．Critique of Cynicism,Defeatism and Self-denial of Law and Reason—"As If Jurisprudence" 386
S．Doubters'Law and Legal Reason 387
T．Truth in Law and Reason 388
U．Emotion Figures Large in Political and Moral Decision-Making Process 393
V．Defending and Redeeming Reason 394
W．Re-imagine and Re-conceptualize Law and Reason 397