第一章 普通法系法律语言学源流
第一节 学科研究范畴
遥想数百年前,苏格兰逻辑实证主义哲学家大卫·休谟(David Hume,1711-1776)就曾断言:“法与法律制度是一种纯粹的语言形式,法的世界肇始于语言,法律是通过语词订立和公布的。”
尽管如此,法律语言学仍属新兴的国际性边缘学科,是法学界和语言学界共同聚焦的交叉学科热点。1993年在德国波恩成立的国际法律语言学家学会(International Association of Forensic Linguistics,简称IAFL)及其每两年举行一次的学术性会议为法律语言学的蓬勃发展构建起跨文化交流的国际化平台。法学界和语言学界对法律语言的探讨,从研究视角来说,有历史学、逻辑学、修辞学、心理学等;从研究重心来说,有立法语篇、法庭语篇等。时至今日,甚至出现了“法学的语言学转向”潮流。“法律与语言融合性交叉使法律语言学不再是法律事实的语言解释,而成为语言在法律问题中的直接实践。”(李振宇,2006:184)
一 法律语言学的英文名称及其研究范畴
法律语言学究竟如何命名?这个问题在英美国家未获得应有的重视,只能感谢致力于对比分析的欧洲学术界就此进行了追本溯源式的探求。
概括来说,大陆国家尤其法国和德国惯常使用术语“linguistique juridique”(法语)、“Rechtslinguistik”(德语),译入英文即“legal linguistics”或“jurilinguistics”;英美学者则倾向“law and language”或“forensic linguistics”——前者通行虽久,却难抵后来者居上之势(Mattila,2006:8)。
无论如何,法律语言学的研究范畴更为繁复,很多学者试图沿袭各自不同的路径给予独特诠释,大致可将其分作三支:语言学视角、司法学视角与社会学视角。
二 语言学视角
加利福尼亚州立大学(California State University)语言学荣誉教授杰拉德·R.麦克梅纳明(Gerald R.McMenamin)是这方面当之无愧的领军人物。他在应用语言学(applied linguistics)的框架下研究法律语言学(forensic linguistics),并将之定义为“应用于法律目的及语境的语言学研究”(the scientific study of language as applied to forensic purposes and contexts)(McMenamin,2002:84)。
该研究路径偏重应用语言学的理论和方法,按照语言结构与功能划分法律语言学涵盖的领域[1](同上,87—97):
(1)听觉语音学(Auditory Phonetics)
(2)声学语音学(Acoustic Phonetics)
(3)语义学(Semantics:Interpretation of Expressed Meaning)
(4)话语分析与语用学(Discourse and Pragmatics:Interpretation of Inferred Meaning)
(5)文体学与作者归属(Stylistics and Questioned Authorship)
(6)法律语言(Language of the Law)
(7)法庭语言(Language of the Courtroom)
(8)口译与笔译(Interpretation and Translation)
麦克梅纳明教授的贡献还在于将自己所接触的法律语言学领域最具代表性的文献分门别类地归入相应的研究主题,为后学晚进理解此学科的来龙去脉提供了极大便利。
三 司法学视角
约翰·奥尔森(John Olsson)也许是这方面走得最远的。他经营着全球知名的法律语言学咨询公司(forensic linguistics consultancy),丰富的实务经验使得多国大学争聘其为兼职教授(adjunct professor)或客座教授(visiting professor)[2]。
顺理成章的是,奥尔森的著作虽然也将法律语言学视作“语言学的应用分支(an application of linguistics)”,却着眼司法实践中亟须应用语言学的领域,开列法律语言学研究的子项目如表1—1所示:
表1—1 法律语言学分支学科(Disciplines of Forensic Linguistics)(Olsson,2004:4-5)
续表
尽管其书名为《法律语言学》(Forensic Linguistics),但副标题“语言、犯罪与法律导论”(An Introduction to Language,Crime,and the Law)明确指出作者关注的焦点是刑事司法领域。实际上,他常以专家证人(expert witness)的身份参与司法程序,因此主要探讨“作为证据的语言”(language as evidence)而无暇旁顾:
In this book we will be discussing most of the above areas of forensic linguistics,except for language rights,courtroom discourse,and legal interpreting and translation.This is not because I view these areas as less interesting or important,but rather because they require a different approach from those areas that I will be dealing with.(Ibid.3)
四 社会学视角
从社会学视角研究法律和语言(law and language)的流派起步亦不算晚,较为著名的包括华盛顿大学(University of Washington)英语教授盖尔·斯塔高尔(Gail Stygall)。她归纳了法律语言学的三个主要研究方向——作为对象的法律语言(language-as-object)、作为过程的法律语言(language-as-process)和作为工具的法律语言(language-as-instrument):
In the first category,language-as-object,falls work focused on describing the phenomena of legal language or on applying a single element of theoretical linguistics,such as speech acts,to the occurrence of legal language.Language-as-process studies sketch issues of comprehension and differential understanding.Studies analyzing how jurors or mock jurors understand jury instructions,for example,might fall into this category,as would studies examining how language affects perception of attorneys or witnesses or as would studies examining criminal defendants' understanding of pleas in their cases.Finally,a category that I would propose as currently emerging,language-as-instrument,examines how legal language can function instrumentally,as an instrument of the law's own power,or an element of the maintenance of or resistance to institutional power.(Stygall,1994:7)
斯塔高尔的“三分法”在我国法律语言学界影响颇大,廖美珍教授(2004)、刘蔚铭教授(2009)等都曾有所论述。可正如其本人所言,上述路径之间相互重叠的领域颇多,特别是语言作为过程和工具的研究都发生在司法程序中,关系尤为密切,两者合而为一的著述亦层出不穷。另外,她强调社会学理论与话语分析法的结合,目光所至自然未及“作为证据的语言”研究。
有鉴于此,近年来阿斯顿大学(Aston University)法律语言学研究中心修正了“三分法”,将之变更为法律语言(language of the law)、司法程序中的语言(language in the judicial process)和语言学证据(linguistic evidence):
Forensic linguistics can be fairly characterised as taking linguistic knowledge,methods and insight,and applying these to the forensic context of law,investigation,trial,punishment and rehabilitation.It is not a homogenous discipline in its interest,methods or approach,but rather both involves a wide spectrum of practitioners and researchers applyingthemselves to different areas of the field.There are perhaps three main areas of application for linguists working in forensic contexts;understanding language of the written law,understanding language use in forensic and judicial processes and the provision of linguistic evidence.[3]
五 小结
综上所述,语言学和司法学视角下划分的研究方向不仅繁芜庞杂,也过分强调各自领域的特征,而未充分考虑法律语言学本身的固有属性。相比之下,社会学理论关照下的“三分法”更能超越狭隘的学科界限。
当然,阿斯顿“三分法”亦非横空出世。早在20世纪90年代,芝加哥洛约拉大学(Loyola University)法学院教授皮特·M.梯尔斯马[4](Peter M.Tiersma)就曾撰文《法律中的语言学问题》(“Linguistic Issues in the Law”),将法律与语言学的交叉领域一分为二,即语言学家“作为法律程序的观察者”(observers of the legal process)和“以专家证人的角色作为法律程序的参与者”(participants in the legal process in the role of expert witness)(Stygall,1994:21)。
时至今日,很多颇具影响力的法律语言学著作仍以此标准编写。譬如,阿斯顿大学法律语言学荣誉教授马尔科姆·库萨德[5](Malcolm Coulthard)和利兹大学(University of Leeds)英语与语言学讲师埃里森·约翰逊(Alison Johnson)合著的《法律语言学导论:证据中的语言》(An Introduction to Forensic Linguistics :Language in Evidence,2007),便由“法律程序的语言”(The language of the legal process)和“作为证据的语言”(Language as evidence)两部分组成。数年后,他们又领衔编纂了《劳特利奇法律语言学手册》(The Routledge Handbook of Forensic Linguistics,2010),“法律及法律程序的语言”(The language of law and the legal process)和“法律程序中作为专家证人的语言学家”(The linguist as ex-pert in legal processes)的划分标准亦相仿佛[6]。然而毋庸置疑的是,“法律语言”分支的地位正冉冉上升,终将与“司法程序中的语言”、“作为证据的语言”不分轩轾、并驾齐驱。
这使我们回想起美国西北大学(Northwestern University)语言学家朱迪思·N.利维(Judith N.Levi),其视野更为宽阔,理论也更高屋建瓴。他主编了划时代的经典论文集《司法程序中的语言》(Language in the Judicial Process,1990)并亲自撰写提纲挈领的开篇第一章“司法程序中的语言研究”(The Study of Language in the Judicial Process),根据自己的理解与展望描述法律语言学(law and language)研究主题的分层结构[7],包括“法律环境中的口语研究”(spoken language in legal settings)、“作为法律主题的语言研究”(language as a subject of the law)和“法律及其书面语研究”(law and its written language)。
表1—2 利维的法律语言学研究纲要(Levi's Law and Language:Outline for Research)(Levi,1990:14)
间或有学者从书面语和口语研究的宽泛主题中抽取社会正义(social justice)、教学(teaching and learning)、翻译(translation and interpreting)等焦点问题单列,似乎亦无不可。
As the title of this collection implies,Forensic Linguistics,in its now widely accepted broader definition,has many aspects.Major areas of study include:the written language of the law,particularly the language of legislation;spoken legal discourse,particularly the language of court proceedings and police questioning;the social justice issues that emerge from the written and spoken language of the law;the provision of linguistic evidence,which can be divided into evidence on identity/authorship,and evidence on communication;the teaching and learning of spoken and written legal language;and legal translation and interpreting.(Gibbons&Turell,2008:1)
本书旨在考察法律翻译活动中的权力博弈问题,故而稍后将设专节探讨翻译研究的现状,但社会正义问题无法回避。接下来,笔者将从法律书面语言和法律程序语言两个维度回顾西方法律语言学发展现状。至于作为法律主题(包括证据)的语言研究,因其相关性较弱,而本书篇幅有限,请允许笔者暂且搁置。
第二节 法律书面语言
法律语言既是技术性机构语言(institutional language),也是普通人群了解法律的唯一途径。“不论喜欢与否,文字乃律师和法官的主要工具。它对于我们正如手术刀和胰岛素之于医生”[8](Zachariah,1941:381-382)。
因此,法律写作大师研究语言强调实践性,目光所及无非专业领域的技能培养。尤其在英语国家,阐述如何起草法律文书的著作汗牛充栋。仅就管窥所见,试举其中较为典型者如下:
(1)《法律语言》(The Language of the Law)(Mellinkoff,1963)
(2)《法律语言》(Legal Language)(Tiersma,1999)
(3)《法律写作》(Legal Drafting)(Haggard,2004)
(4)《法律英语:中英双语法律文书制作》(Legal English:Guidelines for Drafting Chinese-English Bilingual Legal Documents)(陶博,2004)
(5)《现代法律写作——为使用更清晰的语言提供指南》(Modern Legal Drafting :A Guide to Using Clearer Language)(Butt&Castle,2001)
(6)《使用平实英语进行法律写作:附带练习》(Legal Writing in Plain English :A Text with Exercises)(Garner,2001)
(7)《法律风格要素》(The Elements of Legal Style)(Garner,2002)
(8)《法律英语》(Legal English)(Haigh,2009)
(9)《法律文件起草之道》(Drafting)(都南&福斯特,2006)
(10)《法律文书写作之道》(Legal Writing)(科斯坦佐,2006)
(11)《法律文书写作:步骤·分析·组织》(Legal Writing :Process,Analysis,and Organization)(Edwards,2003)
(12)《法律推理与法律文书写作:结构·策略·风格》(Legal Reasoning and Legal Writing :Structure,Strategy,and Style)(Neumann,2003)
(13)《法律检索、分析与写作》(Legal Research,Analysis and Writing)(Putman,2010)
上述作品都出自英美国家声名卓著的法学家。譬如,加州大学洛杉矶分校(UCLA)法学院教授大卫·麦林科夫(David Mellinkoff),可谓系统描述法律语言的鼻祖,开启了运用平实英语撰写法律文书(legal writing in plain English)的运动;还有业界公认的法律文献专家布莱恩·A.加纳(Bryan A.Garner),亦即《布莱克法律辞典》(Black's Law Dictionary)主编,该辞典现已推出第九版,久享法律圣经的盛誉。
同样值得重视的是法哲学或法理学家如哈特、德沃金、摩尔、马默、帕特森、莱昂斯、鲍勃金、恩迪科特、比克斯等学术权威,他们跨越哲学、法学和语言学等诸多领域,试图洞悉语言在法律中的地位及其与法律解释的关系。
一 法律英语的定义
何谓法律英语?麦林科夫在半个多世纪前撰写的革命性专著《法律语言》(The Language of the Law)对此作过详尽论述,备受西方学者推崇:
The Language of the Law,as described in this book,is the customary language used by lawyers in those common law jurisdictions where English is the official language.It includes distinct words,meanings,phrases,and modes of expression.It also includes certain mannerisms of composition not exclusive with the profession but prevalent enough to have formed a fixed association.[9](Mellinkoff,1963:3)
作者选择中性术语“法律语言”(the language of the law)指称通常所说的“法律英语”,自然煞费苦心[10]。首先是考虑到“legal”多表示“合法性”(lawful),极易导致混淆。而“lingo”[11]、“jargon”[12]、“argot”[13]等虽作“行话”解,但所指或者怪异,或者难以理喻,或者隐秘;“legalese”[14]则近似汉语八股文[15]。这些词汇不仅概念界定过分狭隘,且贬抑色彩溢于言表。相比之下,“the language of the law”涵盖的领域更为宽泛。
In the first decade of the century Sir William Holdsworth wrote of “the language,or rather languages,of the law,”stressing a polyglot origin.Others have emphasized the relationship between language and the law.The language of the law is a convenient label for a speech pattern with a separate identity.Law language is sometimes used here as it shortener;law words for individual words in the language of the law.These expressions are preferred to legal parlance,legal English,and legal language,for the reason that legal is so frequently and properly used to mean lawful as to cause confusion at the outset.Legal lingo,legal jargon,and legalese are rejected on the additional grounds of being too sweepingly opprobrious and also too narrow.These objections apply equally to legalistic jargon and argot of the law.
Swift's acid phrase was“a peculiar Cant and Jargon of their own,that no other Mortal can understand.”Bentham had a bag of phrases,applied with uncomplimentary impartiality:law jargon,lawyers' cant,lawyers' language,flash language.Opposed to these is the language of jurisprudence,dignified but confining.The language of the law partakes of some of the essence of all of these diverse characterizations.(Ibid.3-4)
同时也请注意,麦氏定义中“普通法法域”(those common law jurisdictions)的曲折词缀为复数形态。毋庸置疑,“法律英语”涉及的并不只有英国,还包括美国、加拿大、澳大利亚、印度及其他以英文为母语的普通法系国家。这些日不落帝国曾经的殖民地(相当部分至今仍是英联邦成员)虽亦使用发端不列颠群岛的英语,但历经岁月洗礼,渐与各地区固有文明相互交融,折射在表达层面的细微差别难以斗量。
二 从历史演进角度谈法律英语的词汇特征
但正如芝加哥大学(University of Chicago)法学院客座教授普雷斯顿·M.陶博(Preston M.Torbert)所言,“这些细微的差异实际上起到的作用是突出了在所有这些英语为母语的国家中所使用的法律语言的共同特征(并且在实际上,这些国家在使用各自的法律语言的过程中还存在着一些相互之间的法律语言的借鉴和移植)”(2004:3)。
陶博教授凭借自己长期从事国际法律事务的优势,在培训英汉双语律师的系列讲座中,将麦林科夫业已体系化的法律英语典型特征(characteristics of the language of the law)继续扩充为十项[16](Mellinkoff,1963:11;陶博,2004:3):
(1)经常使用常用词汇不常用的含义(Frequent use of common words with uncommon meanings)
(2)经常使用曾经常用但现在已很少使用的古代英语和中世纪英语的词汇(Frequent use of Old English and Middle English words once in common use,but now rare)
(3)经常使用拉丁语单词和短语(Frequent use of Latin words and phrases)
(4)使用一般词汇表中不会有的古法语及法律法语中的词汇(Use of Old French and Anglo-Norman words which have not been taken into the general vocabulary)
(5)专门术语的使用(Use of terms of art)
(6)“行话”的使用(Use of argot)
(7)经常使用官样文章用语(Frequent use of formal words)
(8)刻意使用具有可变通含义的词汇和短语(Deliberate use of words and expressions with flexible meanings)
(9)力求表述准确(Attempts at extreme precision of expression)
(10)冗长性、保守性和精确性(Lengthiness,conservatism and accuracy)
威斯康星大学(University of Wisconsin)法学院副教授劳伦斯·M.弗兰德曼(Lawrence M.Friedman)曾撰文评论这些特征可约略划分成两类:法律词汇(legal vocabulary)和法律风格(legal style)(1964:563)。实际上,正式性[17]、模糊性[18]、准确性[19]及“冗长性、保守性和精确性”等要素借用麦氏的话说,在某种程度上更接近“与职业表述相关的独特方式”(mannerisms associated with professional expression)(1963:11)。若将之暂时搁置,则不难发现其余各项针对的都是词汇层面的现象。
20世纪初,英国著名法制史学家威廉·霍兹沃思男爵(Sir William Holdsworth)就有“the language,or rather languages,of the law”之说(同上,3),由此可见法律英语的“多元化渊源”(polyglot origin)。
现代法律英语的发展史漫长曲折,历经盎格鲁(Angle)、撒克逊(Saxon)、朱特(Jute)、弗里斯兰(Frisian)诸日耳曼民族融合;皈依基督教(Christianization);维京海盗劫掠(Viking raid)等影响深远的事件(Tiersma,2012:19-24)。而诺曼征服(Norman conquest)遗留的烙印更是永不磨灭,最终使之成为多种语言的混合体,尤其大量借用法语和拉丁词汇(Haigh,2009:2):
...Following the Norman invasion of England in 1066,French became the official language of England,although most ordinary people still spoke English.For a period of nearly 300 years,French was the language of legal proceedings,with the result that many words in current legal use have their roots in this period...
During this period,Latin remained the language of formal records and statutes.However,since only the learned were fluent in Latin,it never became the language of legal pleading or debate.
外来语和中古英语词汇频现,凸显了法律语言的保守性。加之术语、行话充斥,且刻意使用普通词汇的特殊含义及多义词汇,难怪非专业人士常作“法律语言不是英语”的感叹:
But it is a commonplace that that which gives the language of the law its distinctive flavor issomething other than the King's or the commoner's English.Laymen are certain that law language is not English.Statutes make the distinction official.(Mellinkoff,1963:10)
尽管法律语言具有鲜明的保守性,但绝非一成不变。语言随社会文化的变迁而逐步演进,这是任何职业壁垒都无法抗拒的常态。有关这方面的探讨早已不限于现代达尔文主义(modern Darwinian theory)与人类集体道德(human group-level morality)等理论之争,渐次转向关注发展方式的实证研究。
当然,零星个案的新术语究竟如何融入普通法词汇,传播模型仍有待具体描述:
Although judges introduce individual terms in discrete cases and those terms enter the common law lexicon through a process of information diffu-sion that likely mirrors the spread of other memes,as both an empirical and theoretical matter,the model(s)by which these key phrases become dominant is still drastically underspecified.(Katz et al.,2011:1)
密歇根州立大学(Michigan State University)五位学者在第二十四届法律知识与信息系统国际大会(The 24thInternational Conference on Legal Knowledge and Information Systems)上宣读的论文《法律N-Grams?追溯法律语言“进化”的简易方式》(“Legal N-Grams?A Simple Approach to Track the‘Evolution’of Legal Language”,2011),利用Google Books Ngram Viewer软件[20]收集数据,基于模因论(memetics)重构现代法律语言的形成,其研究路径颇具启发性。
三 从逻辑修辞角度谈法律英语的行文风格
现代法律职业人士总将弗朗西斯·培根(Francis Bacon,1561-1626)的至理名言奉为圭臬——“历史使人贤明,诗文使人灵秀,数学使人周密,自然哲学使人深刻,伦理学使人庄重,逻辑学和修辞学使人能言善辩”[21]。
所谓修辞,亚里士多德将之定义成“可用于说服他人的手段”[22](Aristotle,2007:37);埃里克·林德曼(Erika Lindemann)将之视为“使用口语或者书面语与读者进行沟通的工具”(1982:53)。它解决的“不仅仅是文风的问题”,“同时也涉及语法与句法”(科斯坦佐,2006:15)。但无论“手段”或者“工具”,仅是达成目标的途径,绝非特定体裁所固有。因此,麦林科夫强调风格不同于其特征,只因源远流长,方被视为法律语言的组成部分:
The nine characteristics of the language of the law are of universal application,to the profession.Taken as a group,those characteristicsmark off the language of the law from ordinary speech and from other specialized speech.In addition,widely associated with the language of the law are mannerisms,to which lawyers can claim neither priority nor monopoly.The profession's association with these mannerisms is sufficiently ancient and sufficiently close to justify considering them a part of the language of the law.(Mellinkoff,1963:24)
陶博教授着眼实务操作,糅合加拿大立法泰斗埃尔默·德力格尔(Elmer Driedger)等权威专家丰富的起草经验,描绘出文书写作的风格蓝图(2004:50):
(1)确定性(Certainty)
(2)明确性(Clarity)
(3)复杂性(Complexity)
(4)全面性(Comprehensiveness)
(5)一致性(Consistency)
(6)精确性(Precision)
(7)简洁性(Simplicity)
(8)普通含义(Ordinary Meaning)
(9)模糊性(Vagueness)
(10)细节描述(Detail)
纵观诸要素,虽称得上包罗万象、细致入微,词汇、句法与语义各层面无所不及,然首当其冲的仍是“确定性”。因为“确定性与民主控制的原则密切相关”(同上,51),除“模糊性”以外其余各项,归根结底皆为确定法律文本的意义服务,故不能也不应牺牲“确定性”换取行文的“清晰”或者“简洁”。
然而后者恰是当代很多推崇平实文风的法律英语写作大师关注的焦点。譬如加纳教授理想中的法律文体应力求“简洁”(brevity)和“清晰”(clarity)(Garner,2005:350);鲁伯特·海埃(Robert Haigh)则将“清晰”(clarity)视作与“一致性”(consistency)及“法律效力”(effectiveness)相提并论的风格三要素(2009:47)。
这实际上就触及了法律语言研究中的两大论题:确定性幻象与平实化运动。
四 法律语言的确定性幻象
(一)黄金原则与维特根斯坦遵守规则论
透视法律语言的确定性幻象,不妨从英美国家解释及起草法律的两项黄金原则(Golden Rule of Interpretation and Drafting),即普通含义原则(the“ordinary sense”of words)和术语一致性原则(consistent terminology)破题。
所谓普通含义原则,即“词语应赋予其一般含义。普通英文词语究为何意,这是事实问题而非法律问题,应根据个案的全部情节来认定”[23];或者转引麦克米伦大法官(Lord Macmillan)的话说:
The grammatical and ordinary sense of the words is to be adhered to unless that would lead to some absurdity or some repugnance or inconsistency with the rest of the instrument,in which case the grammatical and ordinary sense of the words may be modified so as to avoid that absurdity and inconsistency,but not further.(Butt&Castle,2001:48)
所谓术语一致性原则,即“使用不同的词语指称不同的事物;使用相同的词语指称相同的事物”[24],亦可作更具体的陈述:
Never change your language unless you wish to change your meaning,and always change your language if you wish to change your meaning.(Ibid.49)
陶博将之纳入法律文书的风格要素旨在竭力消除语言的模糊性,但考量词汇语境意义的规则适用势必牵涉拉特格斯大学(Rutgers University)法学院荣誉教授丹尼斯·帕特森(Dennis Patterson)称为“解释性转向”(interpretative turn)的“当代解释传统”(the current interpretation orthodox)[25]。相关命题的起源可追溯至路德维希·维特根斯坦(Ludwig Wittgenstein,1889-1951)在《哲学研究》(Philosophical Investigations)第143—242节中对规则及其适用与解释之间关系的思考[26]。
有意思的是,无论法律不确定性(legal indeterminacy)观点的支持者抑或反对者,都希望借重维特根斯坦的遵守规则论(rule-following consid-erations)来提升自身观点的说服力[27]。请注意,他们之间旷日持久的抗辩正是理解法律和语言问题的基础,因为规则的适用问题即词汇的适用问题:
Understanding of this debate is basic to understanding of the problem of law and language,because the philosophical question about what connects a rule with its applications amounts to the question of what connects a word with its applications(as both Kripke and the non-skeptical Wittgensteinians recognize).(Endicott,2000:23)
随后,笔者将考察两位权威学者的经典著述,借此勾勒当前西方法学界对法律语言确定性问题的研究现状。这两位代表性人物分别是牛津大学(Oxford University)法学院院长梯莫西·A.恩迪科特(Timothy A.Endicott)教授和明尼苏达州立大学(Minnesota State University)法律与哲学弗雷德里克·W.托马斯(Frederick W.Thomas)教席教授布莱恩·H.比克斯(Brian H.Bix)。
在此之前,我们还有必要简单回顾新分析法学派开创者赫伯特· L.A.哈特(Herbert L.A.Hart)教授影响深远的开放结构理论(open texture theory)及倡导建构性法律解释的罗纳德·德沃金(Ronald Dworkin)教授与其针锋相对的正解论题(right answer thesis)。事实上,正是哈特首先正视了语言在法律中举足轻重的地位,而让德沃金殚精竭虑的却是如何剔除这语义学之刺(semantic sting)。
(二)哈特的开放结构理论与德沃金的正解论题
1.哈特的开放结构理论
1958年,哈特在《哈佛法学评论》(Harvard Law Review,Vol.71)上发表《实证主义及法律与道德的分离》(“Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals”)一文,提出著名的“禁止车辆进入公园”假想(“Vehicles in the Park”Hypothetical)。他认为自然语言中的普通词汇均包含由确定意义构成的“核心”(core)和由不确定意义构成的“边缘”(penumbra)[28]:
We may call the problems which arise outside the hard core of standard instances or settled meaning“problems of the penumbra”.(Hart,1958:607)
这令我们不由自主地联想起认知语言学中的典型理论(prototype theory),两者显然异曲同工。《法律的概念》(The Concept of Law,1961)以数个章节的冗长篇幅围绕“模糊性边缘”(a fringe of vagueness)诠释开放结构的理念[29],并进而述及司法裁量权(judicial discretion)的性质与立法者的意图(lawmakers' intention):
In a system where stare decisis is firmly acknowledged,this function of the courts is very like the exercise of delegated rule-making powers by an administrative body.In England this fact is often obscured by forms:for the courts often disclaim any such creative function and insist that the proper task of statutory interpretation and the use of precedent is,respectively,to search for the‘intention of the legislature’and the law that already exists.(Hart,1961:132)
(1)法庭行为的性质
既然法律文本中普通词汇的边缘意义存在开放性,这就需要法庭“根据个案的全部情节来认定”。问题是法庭确定词汇意义的自由裁量权究竟属于法律解释还是法官造法?
细察哈特的本意,似乎更倾向法官造法的观点。不过,当代很多学者却对其三段式推论颇有异议,譬如波士顿大学(Boston University)法律与哲学教授戴维·莱昂斯(David Lyons)。他认为“一般词汇的适用性取决于是否具备充分理由支持或反对其适用”[30],故应纳入法律解释的范畴:
This would explain why Hart neglects the topic of interpretation,although he comments on the assignment of meaning by courts.Attempts at interpretation are occasioned by the existence of non-negligible considerations on two sides of a legal question—reasonable grounds for more than one way of understanding and applying a law.If genuine interpretation of law is possible,it involves balancing conflicting legal considerations,and this does not fit Hart's syllogistic model.(Lyons,2000:6)
(2)立法者的意图
印第安纳州立大学(Indiana State University)法学院沃特·W.福斯克特(Walter W.Foskett)教席教授威廉·D.鲍勃金(William D.Popkin)概述法律与语言学的共通之处(1995),其中特别谈到作者意图(the author's intent)对确定语言含义的重要功能。仅制定法而言,所谓作者意图无疑就是立法者的意图。哈特将探求立法者的意图视为合理行使自由裁量权的目标,即要求法官在处理边缘情状(borderline case)时依据作者意图来解释语言中的开放结构。
2.德沃金的正解论题
直接挑战哈特所谓部分不确定性(partial indeterminacy)推导的是德沃金早期著作提出的正解论题(right answer thesis)——即“绝大多数案件都有唯一正确的答案”(there is a unique right answer for the vast majority of legal cases)(Bix,1993:78)。尽管他晚近出版的《法律帝国》(Legal Empire)重新阐述了整体建构性法律解释方法(constructive interpretation of law as integrity)[31],但仍固执地宣称:“我未曾说过解决疑难案件只有不同方式而无唯一正确方式。”[32](Dworkin,1986:412)
德沃金将模糊性视作“语义缺陷(semantic defect)”,并不无讥讽地嘲弄哈特式法学理论受制“语义学之刺(semantic sting)”的窘境[33]:
Law's Empire presents an interpretive theory of law as an alternative to theories that suffer from a‘semantic sting’—theories,that is,that ‘insist that lawyers all follow certain linguistic criteria for judging propositions of law’.Dworkin claims that legal theories like Hart's cannot explain theoretical disagreement in legal practice,because they suffer from this semantic sting:they think that lawyers share uncontroversial tests(‘criteria’)for the truth of propositions of law.(Endicott,2001:39)
他相信语言引起的任何问题都可通过创造性解释加以消除。或者说,“德沃金并不认为语言的有限性和复杂性构成其‘正解论题’的障碍”[34](Bix,1993:78)。
恩迪科特和比斯克两位教授都对德沃金的法律解释学及其规则适用的确定性观点持保留意见。事实上,法庭经常就不可通约的价值(incommensurable value)进行选择(同上,99),而他论证的基础却是非此即彼的司法裁判二价原则(juridical bivalence):
But the need for a decision cannot support an argument that the re-quirements of the law are determinate.A duty to decide is a reason to give a decision,but is not a reason to conclude that the law requires one decision.(Endicott,2000:167)
(三)法律语言的广义模糊性——无解的连锁推理悖论
近年来,语言学家对模糊性表述的兴趣尤为浓烈,并试图从不同视角界定其概念,可惜迄今尚无公论:
Vagueness,being an autological word,escapes a stable generally accepted definition.Most often it is defined through its antonymic relation to ambiguity,where vagueness suggests an unclear,underspecified reference while ambiguity is characterised by the presence of multiple reference.In a broader perspective vagueness can be understood as yet another type of modality,i.e.a(semi-)grammatical category which is able to modify the meaning of linguistic expressions.Vagueness has also been defined as an instance of“incomplete definition”,which incurs an incomplete,imprecise acquisition of the meaning of a predicate.From a philosophical perspective it is most often presented as either“an epistemic phenomenon”or a semantic problem where,having accepted that statements are either true or false,vagueness corresponds to“cases of unclarity”in which language users are unable to determine the value of vague expressions.A related view suggests that vagueness emerges where there are“borderline cases”,instances when people are unable to classify certain categories which are perceived as belonging to fuzzy sets.(Witczak-Plisiecka,2009:203)
上述引文出自语用学家伊沃娜·维特恰克—普利斯艾卡(Iwona Witczak-Plisiecka)于2009年发表的《浅析法律语境中语言的(不)确定性》(“A Note on the Linguistic(In)determinacy in the Legal Context”),笔者以为用于概括恩迪科特教授严密周致的模糊语言观真是恰如其分。
1.与极端不确定性的语言观划清界限
《法律中的模糊性》(Vagueness in Law,2000)是恩迪科特集大成的杰作。为廓清探讨问题的平台,他首先鞭辟入里地驳斥法律语言具有极端不确定性(radical indeterminacy)的激进理念。即便怀疑论者求助维特根斯坦,并试图弥补解释主义(interpretation)与解构主义(deconstruction)的理论空隙,但“无限语境”(boundless context)[35]的概念是恩迪科特绝对无法接受的:
Context dependence does not necessarily lead to‘subjective interpretation’,because context may give objective reasons for applying or not applying an expression to something...It does not matter if an indefinite range of different contexts could be imagined for a particular use of a word,as long as there are reasons for deciding what contextual factors are relevant to applying the expression.(Endicott,2000:20-21)
2.对边缘情状和容忍原则非哲学路径的解读
恩迪科特接受语言学家赫伯特·保罗·格赖斯(Herbert Paul Grice)对“模糊性”的宽泛定义[36],并认为其所谓“情状”(cases)即“边缘情状”(borderline cases),继而指出“如果某种表述的适用存在边缘情状,那么该表述就具有模糊性”[37](同上,31)。
连锁推理悖论(the sorites paradox)及容忍原则(the tolerance principle)是其概念的核心要素,并由此推广广义上的“模糊性”及至颇具争议的范畴[38],却又特别强调“模糊性”(vagueness)不同于“歧义”(ambiguity)(同上,33)。
或许正因为这样,他绝不认同哲学层面上否定容忍原则的认识论(the epistemic theory)或语义学理论(the semanticist theories):
The epistemic theory claims that,in every sorites series,there is a counter-instance to the tolerance principle.The semanticist theories claim that tolerance principle is false,or not altogether true,or that its truth is indeterminate,but they deny that there is generally any single counter-instance to the tolerance principle.I want to say that the tolerance principle can be true.Not that any tolerance claim is true,but that for the application of all ordinary vague expressions in most ordinary contexts,it is possible to come up with forms of the tolerance principle that are true.(Ibid.78)
3.模糊语言的不可消除性及其必要性
尤其值得关注的是,恩迪科特在对比“界限模型”(the boundary model)和“相似性模型”(the similarity model)的差异[39]后,明显倾向于将模糊性表述视作麦氏所谓“刻意使用具有可变通含义的词汇和短语”(deliberate use of words and expressions with flexible meanings)。
模糊性是法律适用不确定性的根源之一[40]。模糊的法律语言有可能使司法裁判逸出法律约束,但这并不必然构成法律规则的缺陷(同上,4—5)。或者说,它也可以“渐进的方式”认定问题,同时赋予司法机关或者行政机关相应的自由裁量权,使制定法更能适应纷繁复杂的社会生活:
Vagueness is an inescapable aspect of our language...vagueness is not always a hindrance to precise and effective communication...vagueness is sometimes an indispensable tool for the achievement of accuracy and precision in language,particularly in legal language.Vagueness in legal language has also given our law a much needed flexibility.At the same time,there are some jobs which our linguistic tools,partly even because of vagueness,cannot completely perform without the aid of other communication devices.The error to be avoided here,it has been submitted,is that of assuming that because general rules cannot do it alone the job cannot be done,or is not worth doing.That would be an error of the first magnitude.(Christie,1964:911)
(四)法律语言的相对确定性——语义、意图和目的
安德烈·马默(Andrei Marmor)在《解释与法律理论》(Interpretation and Legal Theory)中将其所讨论的“解释”界定为“把意义强加给某个对象的活动”(the imposition of meaning on an object)(2005:25),并从辨析意义的类型着手进行论证(同上,22):
Ⅰ 语义——依据规则或传统分配意义[41]
Ⅱ 意图——由说话者的意图分配意义[42]
Ⅲ 目的——为解释者的目的分配意义[43]
对此意图论题笔者不欲详尽展开,但这恰好为概览比克斯教授的法律语言观,提供了清晰的逻辑框架。实际上,比克斯撰写的专著《法律、语言与法律的确定性》(Law,Linguistics and Legal Determinacy,1993)及后续发表的两篇论文——《意义指称理论能否解决法律上的确定性问题?》(“Can Theories of Meaning and Reference Solve the Problem of Legal Determinacy?”,2003)和《法律理论中慎用维特根斯坦思想》(“Cautions and Caveats for the Application of Wittgenstein to Legal Theory”,2005)等相关研究成果的核心内容就在于通过解读维特根斯坦对遵守规则的思辨,揭示并批驳建构性解释理论(constructive interpretation)与形而上学实在论(metaphysical realism)的误区,强调语境特别是立法意图对意义的探求不可或缺。
1.建构性解释理论——目的导向
德沃金演绎的法律解释是近似艺术阐释的创造性解释(creative interpretation)而非会话性解释(conversational interpretation),或者说他强调解释目的(the interpreter's purpose)胜于作者意图(the author's intention)。约略言之,“建构性解释就是将目的强加在某个对象或习惯上,从而把该对象或习惯描述成其所属形式或体裁的最佳可能实例”:
I shall defend a different solution:that creative interpretation is not conversational but constructive.Interpretation of works of art and social practices,I shall argue,is indeed essentially concerned with purpose not cause.But the purposes in play are not(fundamentally)those of some au-thor but of the interpreter.Roughly,constructive interpretation is a matter of imposing purpose on an object or practice in order to make of it the best possible example of the form or genre to which it is taken to belong...For the history or shape of a practice or object constrains the available interpretations of it,though the character of that constraint needs careful accounting view,as we shall see.Creative interpretation,on the constructive view,is a matter of interaction between purpose and object.[44](Dworkin,1986:52)
作为回应,比克斯引述拉利·亚历山大(Larry Alexander)的话说立法者并非阿波罗神庙中传达神谕者:“在解释权威规则所包含的词语时,摒弃会话标准在道德上是不可取的,而道德上可取的是立法机关有能力通过制定权威规则来解决道德争议”[45](Alexander,1987:424)。
实际上,“词语的重要性在于包含立法者的意图”[46](Bix,1993:131)。否则,法律解释就有可能沦为理查德·罗蒂(Richard Rorty)所谓的实用主义(pragmatism)[47]而陷入极端不确定性的危险境地:
It is true,as Alexander conceded,that following the(relatively)concrete intentions of rule-makers may mean ignoring their most abstract intentions(for example,‘to make the morally best choice’),intentions which might approximate to the result of a Dworkinian constructive interpretation of the texts.However,at that abstract level of intention—and withthe variety of different readings it would inspire in different judges—the authorities(and the authoritative sources)would then fail in their function of making(largely )determinate and(largely )settled choices.(Ibid.131)
2.形而上学实在论——语义导向
以迈克尔·摩尔(Michael Moore)、大卫·布林克(David Brink)和尼科斯·斯塔弗洛普洛斯(Nicos Stavropoulos)为代表的唯实论者认为“语言或是发现正确结果的途径;或是导向错误结果的诱惑,而错误结果必须加以克服”[48](Bix,1993:1),故主张运用克里普克—普特南因果指称理论(Kripke-Putnam Causal Theory of Reference)阐释法律文本,借此最大限度实现意义的确定性:
Their semantic theories are tied to a particular approach to reference developed by Saul Kripke and Hilary Putnam(Kripke 1972;Putnam 1975).Kripke and Putnam criticize theories which equate the extension of a name or term with the beliefs of speakers;they argue instead for an approach that equates a term's reference with our best current theory of the person or category to which the term refers.In different terms,under this approach,meaning and reference are determined largely by the way the world is,not by what is in our heads(that is,reference or extension determines meaning;meaning does not determine reference or extension).(Bix,2003:282-283)
这种形而上学的分析法亦遭遇比克斯的严重质疑。在法律解释过程中,“语义学理论有时必须让位于其他因素的考虑”[49],尤其立法者的意图若被彻底排除,民主社会的权威亦将得不到体现(同上,286—287)。
那么“语义”(semantic meaning)与“立法意图”(legislative intention)究竟能否兼容?摩尔的观点是应当认定立法者“拥有与其他语言使用者即(形而上学)实在论者相同的语言意图”[50](1985:323),即“将说话者的意图归结为简单的语义功能”[51](Bix,1993:153)。可事实上,两者绝非总是并行不悖:
Legal systems frequently need to choose between semantic content and lawmaker's intentions(and,where relevant,among the various levels of lawmaker's intentions),and this choice may sometimes turn on political values or considerations of relative institutional competence.(Bix,2003:290)
3.语义、意图与目的关系
比克斯并不否定“应当根据具体法律规则、学术领域或一般法律的目的来‘引申……规定或限制’该规则”的观点[52](Bix,1993:121),但若认为“范式是任何可能的解释都必须与之相适应的具体事例”[53](Dworkin,1986:72),这样的论断无疑是走得太远了。
另外,研究法律语言的确定性应当借鉴语义学理论,但纯粹沿袭语义学路径的法律解释总难免差强人意(Bix,1993:293):
Theorists like Michael Moore,David Brink,and Nicos Stavropoulos are correct in suggesting that theorists of law who offer claims about inter-pretation and determinacy need to be more attentive to semantics...
...However,the role of authority(in the form of lawmaker choice)in law in general and democratic systems in particular requires that these realist prescriptions be seriously rethought,and their“solutions”to the problem of legal determinacy be rejected or at least significantly revised.
(五)关于法律语言确定性论题的小结
探讨法律语言的确定性,正是考虑到模糊表述的普遍存在及其必要性。哈特的开放结构理论立足语言有限精确(limited precision of language)的特征,并由此强调法律的确定性虽能增进,却无法完全消除其中隐含的模糊性。
可怀疑论者紧紧抓住与字面意思相悖却在法律上正确(counter-literal yet legally correct)的普通法先例,渲染法律起草过程中的局限性(drafting limits),主张合理的法律裁判即正确的法律信念(justified legal decisions as correct legal beliefs),从而将语言的不确定性推向极端,甚至宣称文本的“字面意思不可能决定法律上的正确含义”(literal meaning cannot be decisive of what's legally correct):
If the argument is sound,it follows that an enactment's literal meaning neither weighs in the determination of correct legal outcomes nor permits the application of a sequencing model,ie a non-monotonic logic,to its interpretation.(Flanagan,2010:255)
这与纯粹的语义分析或坚信存在鲜为人知的明确界限(sharp,unknown borderline)的哲学路径同样剑走偏锋。
毋庸置疑的是,学者们的讨论对法律翻译研究而言绝非全然无益。尽管语言很难避免由模糊表述导致的不确定性,但在某种程度上受制解释目的的译者至少应当在理解文本的过程中将立法意图等语境因素纳入视野。
Suppose it is granted that linguistic expressions are“open textured”or unavoidably somewhat vague.It does not follow that there are determinatefacts only where our current linguistic resources enable us straight-forwardly to express them.The same applies to the law.Even if we assume that legal formulations are unavoidably somewhat vague,we cannot infer from this alone that the law is indeterminate whenever legal formulations have indeterminate implications.For this ignores the possibility that law has further resources which help to determine how to decide cases when the language of the law is unclear.(Lyons,1993:99)
五 法律语言的平实化运动
“平实英语”(plain English)亦称“平实语言”(plain language)或“现代英语”(modern English)、“标准英语”(standard English)。
澳大利亚维多利亚省法律改革委员会(The Law Reform Commission of Victoria(Australia))在其1号会议文件《立法、法律权利与平实英语》(Legislation,Legal Rights and Plain English)中称“平实英语”是“成年人使用的完整英语”(a full,adult version of English),并非仅仅“简单化”(simplified)而已:
Plain English is language that is not artificially complicated,but is clear and effective for its intended audience.While it shuns the antiquated and inflated word and phrase,which can readily be either omitted altogether or replaced with a more useful substitute,it does not seek to rid documents of terms which express important distinctions.Nonethelss,plain language documents offer non-expert readers some assistance in coping with these technical terms.To a far larger extent,plain language is concerned with matters of sentence and paragraph structure,with organization and design,where so many of the hindrance to clear expression originate.(Melbourne,1986:3)
2006年2月,专门负责为苏格兰政府起草法律的议会顾问室(Office of the Scottish Parliamentary Counsel)制作了名为《平实语言与立法》(Plain Language and Legislation)的手册,该手册也认同“平实语言”就是“直接明确的语言”,能够“清晰、高效而无异议地向目标读者传递信息”[54](OSPC,2006:1)。
法律英语平实化运动(plain English movement)旨在“简化法律英语,使之不再成为法律专家或职业人士等少数群体的特权,同时让普通人也能理解时常看似难以逾越的法律文本”[55](Stanojevi,2011:65-66),因为“人们有权利通过浅显易懂的语言了解自身享有的利益和负有的义务”[56](OSPC,2006:1)。
麦林科夫教授是该运动的首倡者之一。他总结了传统法律文书写作方式存在的四大缺陷,即冗长(wordy)、模糊(unclear)、浮夸(pompous)和枯燥(dull),并由此提议使用“平实英语”(plain English),追求简洁(shorter)、准确(more precise)、可读性强(more intelligible)的文风,期待绕梁三日、余音不绝的效果(more durable)。
该运动发展至今声势日益浩大,在英国、美国、加拿大、澳大利亚等国家都已渐入人心。塞尔维亚法律语言学家斯坦诺捷维奇(Maja Stanojevi)在《语言学与文学》(Linguistics and Literature)上发表的《法律英语——不断变化的视角》(“Legal English—Changing Perspective”)将相关理论与实践研究的路径描述如下(2011:68):
Thus,initial research of legal language was carried out by Mellinkoff(1963),Crystal and Davy(1969)and Gustafsson(1975).They were concerned with common features of legal English,with the emphasis on style,syntax and terminology.This type of approach was followed by Hiltunen(1990).Subsequently Bhatia(1993)and Trosborg(1997)included discourse analysis and genre analysis of legal texts,focusing on lexico-grammatical and rhetorical features(Giannoni and Frade 2010:8).Plain English movement exponents(Garner 1986,2002;Rylance 1994;Tiersma 2000;Butt and Castle 2001;Haigh 2004;Schneidereit 2004;Williams 2004),not only depicted the linguistic features of Legal English,but also gave concrete proposals regarding Plain English writing style,as they were seriously alarmed by the state of affairs in legal writing.
笔者将首先概览在法律英语平实化问题上产生的诸多争议,接着就平实写作的宗旨、策略与技巧等方面回顾当前的主要研究成果。
(一)争议与博弈
陶博在评述麦林科夫的法律语言观时,虽承认“应尽量更多地使用直白的英文”,但同时也指出“应当受到一些限制”(2004:40)。然而究竟存在哪些具体限制呢?
1.针锋相对
美国杰出的平实语言写作专家之一约瑟夫·金伯尔(Joseph Kimble)教授将反对平实化运动的批评意见分为法律界内外新旧两派(1994/1995:51):
Ⅰ 法律界内陈旧的批评意见(old criticism)
The old criticism is,in essence,that we either should not or cannot write in plain language:should not,because it debases the language;and cannot,because of the overriding demands of precision.
Ⅱ 法律界外新兴的批评意见(new criticism)
The new criticism is,in essence,that plain language doesn't matter:its approach to communication is too narrow,and there is no empirical evidence that it improves comprehension.
对于法律界内的批评,金伯尔旁征博引诸家学说,强调平实写作只为清晰有效地交流,绝不可武断地归入反文学(anti-literary)、反智主义(anti-intellectual)、不缜密(unsophisticated)、乏味(drab)、丑陋(ugly)、幼稚(babyish)或低俗(base)的实践;且多数情况下,“清晰”与“精确”乃互补的写作目标(同上,52—53)。
对于法律界外的批评,金伯尔更多地通过实证研究,借助数据和实例从以下六个方面进行论证(同上,62—80):
1.There is long-standing evidence that plain language improves comprehension.
2.Plain language involves much more than just plain words and short sentences.
3.The plain-language movement definitely recommends testing documents on readers whenever possible.
4.When testing is not possible,plain language is more likely to be understood and appreciated than traditional legal writing.
5.Ultimately,you must use plain language to write clearly.
6.Plain language would reduce litigation by preventing the unnecessary confusion that traditional legal writing produces.
2.各擅胜场
(1)传统风格根深蒂固
悉尼大学(University of Sydney)平实法律语言研究中心(The Center for Plain Legal Language)主任彼得·布特(Peter Butt)教授与新西兰律师理查德·卡瑟尔(Richard Castle)合著的《现代法律写作——为使用更清晰的语言提供指南》(Modern Legal Drafting—A Guide to Using Clearer Language)专门就传统法律写作风格难以被撼动的根源进行了迄今最为完整的综述(Butt&Castle,2001:5):
1.熟悉与习惯(familiarity and habit)
2.保守性(conservatism)
3.害怕疏忽大意的指控(fear of negligence claims)
4.撰写工具(the means of production)
5.职业压力(professional pressures)
6.避免歧义的压力(straining to avoid ambiguity)
7.多语言混合体(the mixture of languages)
8.按篇幅计费(payment by length)
9.按时间计费(payment by time)
10.诉讼环境(the litigious environment)
而德克萨斯州立大学(Texas State University)法学院大卫·J.贝克法律检索、写作与上诉辩护中心(The David J.Beck Center for Legal Research,Writing,and Appellate Advocacy)主任韦恩·希斯(Wayne Schiess)分析了律师因循守旧的心理状态,包括误解法官的期待(a misconception about what judges want)、惰性(inertia)、害怕(fear)及职业精神的误导(a misguided sense of professionalism)等(2008/2009:163—165),并不由自主地感慨墨守成规的陋习很难消除。但他也指出其让位于理智和权威的可能性:
Old ways die hard,but they may yield to good sense and good authority.(Ibid.167)
(2)平实语言大势所趋
无论如何,使用平实英语撰写法律文书的优势是显而易见的。《现代法律写作》认为这至少表现在以下几个方面(Butt&Castle,2001:86-95):
1.提升效率(increased efficiency)
2.减少错误(fewer errors)
3.改善法律职业形象(image of the legal profession)
4.促进市场营销(marketing)
5.遵循法律要求(compliance with statutory requirements)
为更好地说明问题,该书作者不仅逐个描述英国、澳大利亚、美国、加拿大等主要英语国家平实化运动的蓬勃发展,还不厌其烦地列举了这些国家要求使用平实英语撰写法律文书的现行规定,包括卡特和克林顿签发的总统令,以及牵涉消费者权益的各部门法规(同上,77—81,91—95)。
(二)写作准则——“为读者而写”
《联邦政府平实语言指南》(Federal Plain Language Guidelines)[57]的封面上印着:“改善联邦政府与公众之间的交流”(Improving Communication from the Federal Government to the Public)。其撰写者强调平实语言写作的首要准则就是——“为读者而写”(write for your audience)。这与澳大利亚维多利亚省法律改革委员会和苏格兰议会顾问室的宗旨不谋而合。
正如布特与卡瑟尔所总结的,法律文书功能很多,最根本的当然是实现法律目的,但同时也有其他功能需要实现——交流、预测和说服等。“传统法律文书是律师之间的交流,而法律写作的改革运动提醒我们,这也是律师与客户之间的交流”[58](Butt&Castle,2001:95)。无疑,清晰、高效地向非法律职业人士传递与之密切相关的信息,正是平实化运动的出发点和皈依。
(三)写作策略与技巧研究
多数致力于推进语言平实化运动的法律写作专家将讨论的焦点集中在谋篇布局、遣词造句乃至标点与排版的层面,并从整体概述延伸至各种具体文书的写作方法,包括预测与说服型文书(predicative and persuasive writing)以及立法文书(legal drafting)[59]/论述性法律文件(discoursive writing)、涉诉性法律文件(litigation-related writing)和规定性法律文件(normative writing)[60],希望借助语言层面的种种实用技巧,扭转传统文书“冗长”、“模糊”、“浮夸”的弊病(科斯坦佐,2003;都南、福斯特,2003;Butt&Castle,2001;Garner,2001;Haigh,2009;etc.)。
特别值得一提的是加纳教授的《法律风格要素》(The Elements of Legal Style,2005),从修辞角度比较了两种不同文学传统,即华丽的亚洲式风格(Asiatic prose)与朴素的阿提卡式风格(Attic prose)。他的结论是两者各有所长,法律职业人士应当量体裁衣,杜绝矫揉造作,“‘用诚实来书写,用热情来表达’的文章都是好文章”[61](Garner,2005:309)。作者还历数了法律写作中常见且行之有效的修辞手法,包括比较(com-parison)[62]、巧妙用词(wordplay)[63]、句法安排(syntactic arrangement)[64]、重复(repetition)[65]四大类。
除此而外,另有文书写作方面的学者从法律分析(legal analysis)与法律推理(legal reasoning)角度出发,阐明法律解释原则,介绍法律检索及引用方法(legal research and citation),然后在此基础上论述法律文书的写作步骤(包括提纲、起草、定稿、修改四个环节)、逻辑结构、风格策略等(Neumann,2003;Edwards,2003;Putman,2009,2010)。
第三节 法律程序语言
美国北卡罗来纳大学(University of North Carolina)法学教授约翰· M.康利(John M.Conley)和杜克大学(Duke University)文化人类学教授威廉·M.奥巴尔(William M.O'Barr)在《法律,语言与权力》(Just Words:Law,Language and Power,1995)中勾勒了法律与语言研究的兴起——社会语言学和法律与社会运动的相互融合:
Law and language emerged as a field ofscholarship in the 1970s as sociolegal scholars incorporated the language of the law into their studies and as linguists began to concern themselves with language in legal arenas.(Conley&O'Barr,2005:viii)
此类研究超越传统的静态结构决定论,聚焦法律程序,将斯特高尔教授所谓作为过程和工具的语言研究兼而论之。学者们立足法律语境,描写法官、陪审团、警察、律师、证人、当事人等参与者相互间的真实会话,分析话语结构、话语风格、话语策略,并试图解释法律话语折射的不平等权力关系。
澳大利亚新英格兰大学(University of New England)语言、文化与语言学学院(School of Languages,Cultures and Linguistics)的戴安娜·伊徳斯(Diana Eades)教授著有《社会语言学与法律程序》(Sociolinguistics and the Legal Process,2010)一书,较为全面地综述了社会语言学视角下法律程序中的语言研究现状。笔者将以此为基础,概览普通法语境中的话语分析。
一 社会语言学与法律程序
所谓社会语言学,简而言之即在社会语境中研究语言的使用。如果说语言学主要分析的是语言结构,那么社会语言学分析语言的功能与用法。尽管如此,社会语言学研究通常要求理解语言学的原则和方法,且两者之间的界限并非截然分离。只不过社会语言学家讨论法律语言结构,更多地关注交际目的(Coulthard &Johnson,2007:55):
...when creating texts,the producer's lexical choice is a direct consequence of their communicative activity and purpose.This assertion makes register and genre inter-related aspects of textualisation.Lexical and grammatical choices,such as the use of a restricted set of reporting verbs in police statements and notes(said,replied),inclusive phrases and lists in legal texts(using and and or),passive constructions with by and phrases that contain the verbs including or provided in contracts,are made because of what needs to be communicated.
‘Genre’can be defined simply:conventional,repeated and distinctive features of text that arise from its communicative purpose.
从方法论角度看,运用社会语言学理论进行现场研究(field study),早已成为法律语言学领域的主要潮流:
...mainly refer to the legal process because the interest of sociolinguists is in what happens in the process,specifically what people do in in-teractions that take place within the legal system.(Eades,2010:5)
二 程序语言的公理假设(axiomatic assumption)
(1)二元对立关系(the dichotomy)
Ⅰ 语言反映社会(language reflects society)
Such an assumption would view the hierarchical ways of addressing people in the courtroom—such as calling the judge your honour—as a reflection of the hierarchical authority structure of courtrooms.
Ⅱ 语言改造社会(language shapes society)
...the hierarchical authority structure in courtrooms would be seen partly as the effect of such language usage as calling the judge your honour.
(2)动态双向关系(the dynamic and reciprocal relationship)
Ⅲ 语言既反映也改造社会(language both reflects and shapes society)
正如伊德斯所言,认为语言和社会之间存在动态双向联系的观点,在更宽泛的层面上假设社会结构(social structure)与个体能动性(agency of individuals)密不可分,这特别适合法律程序中的语言研究:
This third view can be seen as part of the wider approach in the social sciences,in which the earlier dichotomy between social structure and agency is also rejected,in favor of an understanding that the two are inseparable:it is the agency of individuals in social groups which creates,shapes,maintains,reinforces and changes social structures,which in turn limit and enable the agency of individuals.This axiomatic understanding of society underpins the best sociolinguistic work on language in the legal process.Indeed,the legal process is an ideal institutional site for the examination of this dynamic interrelationship between social structure and agency,as we will see.To understand language usage in any specific legal context is impossible without an examination of structural institutional as-pects of the legal system.On the other hand,sociolegal studies of the law can be greatly enriched by an examination of situated language practices in specific legal contexts.(Ibid.5)
三 程序语言的研究方法
社会语言学视角下法律程序中的语言研究路径,包括描写(descriptive)、分析(analytical)与解释(interpretative)三个层面。焦点当然是真实参与者的语言互动,虽以共时性分析为主;但也关注历时性变化,譬如道恩·阿彻(Dawn Archer)的《英国法庭问答1640—1760:社会语用学分析》(Questions and Answers in the English Courtroom 1640-1760:A Sociopragmatic Analysis,2005)。
适合法律程序语言研究的社会语言学分析工具包括(Eades,2010:14-15):
(1)口语/交际民族志研究方法(ethnography of speaking/ethnography of communication)[66]:运用人类学民族志方法研究言语社群中的口语表达方式(或更宽泛的交际方式)。例如康利与奥巴尔合著的《规则与关系:法律话语的民族志研究》(Rules Versus Relationships:The Ethnography of Legal Discourse,1990)。
(2)话语分析(discourse analysis)[67]:研究超越句法层面的语言使用。
Ⅰ 会话分析(Conversation Analysis,CA)
Ⅱ 互动社会语言学(interactional sociolinguistics)
Ⅲ 批判话语分析(Critical Discourse Analysis,CDA)
(3)变体社会语言学(variationist sociolinguistics)[68]:通常运用数量分析研究语言变体的模型与结构。
(4)语言社会学(sociology of language)[69]:关注涉及语言的社会问题。
(5)批判社会语言学(critical sociolinguistics)[70]:运用各种(宏观和微观)社会语言学方法结合社会学分析,考察语言在权力关系中的作用。
(6)描写语言学(descriptive linguistics)[71]:研究语言结构,补充或伴随社会语言学分析。
四 法律语境与弱势群体
法律程序涉及的典型社会语境主要包括两类,即法庭(courtroom)与警察问询(police interview)。绝大多数相关著作论文都是在此背景下结合社会学理论展开话语分析的,譬如英国卡迪夫大学(Cardiff University)语言与交际中心讲师珍妮特·科特里尔(Janet Cotterill)编辑的《法律程序中的语言》(Language in the Legal Process,2002)。
该论文集的最大特色就是撰稿人来自四大洲六个不同国家,包括美国、加拿大、英国、巴西、澳大利亚和南非,因而极具代表性。其中既有学者亦有律师,却都关注法律程序中可能出现的交际困难(communicative difficulties),尤其是非职业人士及非母语人士经常遭遇的语言障碍。
全书除第一部分“法律程序中的语言学家”(The Linguistic in the Legal Process)探讨作为证据的语言外,其余章节的组合恰恰反映了社会语言学视角下作为过程的法律语言研究方向:
(1)警察语言与警察问询(The Language of the Police and the Police Interview)。
(2)法庭语言Ⅰ:律师和证人(The Language of the Court Ⅰ:Lawyers and witness)。
(3)法庭语言Ⅱ:法官和陪审团(The Language of the Court Ⅱ:Judges and juries)。
(一)警察语言(language of the police)
严格而言,警察语言包括调查(investigation)、询问(interview)和审讯(interrogation)三个方面。根据《劳特利奇法律语言学手册》,相关研究主要聚焦以下主题(Coulthard &Johnson,2010:viii):
1.公民紧急求助电话(citizens' emergency calls)
2.米兰达权利(Miranda rights)
3.问询中的证人和犯罪嫌疑人(witnesses and suspects in interviews)
4.问询中的律师(lawyers in interviews)
5.司法程序中的警察询问(police interviews in the judicial process)
警察语言的研究同样关注弱势群体(minority group),诸如非母语人士(second language speakers)、未成年人(minor)、智障者(intellectually disabled people)等。
(二)法庭语言(language of the courtroom)
麦克梅纳明将法庭语言细分为证人、律师和法官语言,并收集现有文献研究的相关论题如下(McMenamin,2002:96-97):
1.证人语言(Language of Witnesses)
Ⅰ 证人质询(witness examination)
Ⅱ 性侵犯受害人(sexual assault victims)
Ⅲ 未成年受害人(child-victim witnesses)
Ⅳ 争议与调解(disputes and mediation)
Ⅴ 法庭中的语言与性别(language and gender in the courtroom)
2.律师语言(Language of Lawyers)
Ⅰ 律师与语言学家(lawyers and linguists)
Ⅱ 审判语言(trial language)
Ⅲ 律师语言(language of lawyers)
Ⅳ 法律辩论语言(legal-debate language)
Ⅴ 总结陈词语言(language of closing arguments)
3.法官语言(Language of Judges)
Ⅰ 法官语言(language of judges)
Ⅱ 陪审团指示语言(language of jury instructions)
毫无疑问,麦氏罗列的清单详则详矣,仍未能穷尽。此外,考察法庭参与者之间的语言互动,可以各有侧重不同,却绝对无法将法官、律师、证人等各自的话语方式与策略完全分离出来孤立研究。早期成果如约翰·麦斯威尔·阿特金森(John Maxwell Atkinson)撰写的《法庭秩序:司法环境中口语互动的组织》(Order in Court:the Organisation of Verbal Interaction in Judicial Settings,1979)、华盛顿大学交际学卢迪科·C.劳伦斯(Ruddick C.Lawrence)教席教授兼政治学教授W.兰斯·贝内特(W.Lance Bennett)与加州大学(University of California)民政与公共管理约翰逊(Johnson)教席教授马瑟·S.费尔德曼(Martha S.Feldman)合著的《重构法庭真实》(Reconstructing Reality in the Courtroom,1981)就很能说明问题。
(三)小结
尽管如此,我们已不难发现无论警察语言还是法庭语言的研究,全都关注法律专家与非职业人士的交流,特别是律师和证人、警察和犯罪嫌疑人、法官和陪审团之间的语言互动;弱势群体譬如女性[72]、未成年人[73]等更是分析的焦点。
本节开篇提及的《法律、语言与权力》可以说是对法律程序语言问题探究最为深入的专著之一。该书从性犯罪的审判、离婚案件的调解入手,通过微观话语分析,揭示了司法程序中存在的各种不平等的权力关系:
虽然法律的字面规定不再公然对人们实行歧视和区别对待政策,但是法律话语仍旧继续使不同种族、阶级和性别之间存在的各种不平等的权力关系正常化、合法化、永恒化。正是通过语言,尤其是通过法律交谈的微观话语,实际上的不平等才得以产生和存续。(程朝阳,2007:3—4)
[1]麦克梅纳明在《法律语言学:法律文体学的最新发展》(Forensic Linguistics:Advances in Forensic Stylistics)第4.2节中提出了语言学视角下法律语言研究领域的划分标准:“The classification of areas in forensic linguistics evolves as the field develops.It usually follows existing classifications in the structure and function of language(see Chapter 1)as a basis for cataloging actual and potential subject areas.”(McMenamin,2002:86)
[2]Google图书对奥尔森的介绍如下(引自http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=i3399LFSzqQC&dq=forensic+linguistics&hl=zh-CN&source=gbs_navlinks_s):Since 1996,John Olsson has operated a world-renowned forensic linguistics consultancy and training service at www.thetext.co.uk.He is an Adjunct Professor at Nebraska Wesleyan University,USA,where he teaches forensic linguistics online.He is also a Visiting Professor of Forensic Linguistics at the International University of Novi Pazar,Serbia,where he runs an annual summer school in Forensic Linguistics,and is a board member of the Language and Law Centre at the University of Zagreb,Croatia,where he is also a Visiting Professor.
[3]引自阿斯顿大学法律语言学研究中心对法律语言学的介绍(http://www.forensiclinguistics.net/cfl_fl.html)。
[4]梯尔斯马曾任国际法律语言学家协会主席(2005—2007年)。
[5]库萨德是国际法律语言学家协会首任主席,还曾担任阿斯顿大学法律语言学中心主任。
[6]该手册总共三部分,但第三部分“新争论与新方向”(New Debates and New Directions)明显带有学科展望性质。
[7]利维在《司法程序中的语言》(Language in the Judicial Process)第一章中将自己的研究领域称之为“the domain of social science research on language and law”(Levi,1990:11)。
[8]英语原文:“Words are the principal tools of lawyer and judges,whether we like it or not.They are to us what the scalpel and insulin are to the doctor.”
[9]粗体由本书作者添加。
[10]以下解释均出自Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary(http://bbs.enfamily.cn/tools/dict.htm)。
[11]Definition of lingo:strange or incomprehensible language or speech as
a:a foreign language
b:the special vocabulary of a particular field of interest
c:language characteristic of an individual
[12]Definition of jargon:
1 a:confused unintelligible language
b:a strange,outlandish,or barbarous language or dialect
c:a hybrid language or dialect simplified in vocabulary and grammar and used for communication between peoples of different speech
2:the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group
[13]Definition of argot:an often more or less secret vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a particular group
[14]Definition of legalese:the specialized language of the legal profession
[15]麦林科夫认为“legalese”语带贬义,陶博持同样观点,故将之译成“法律八股文”(2004:2)。但也有学者认为该术语属于中性词,与之意思相近的“legalspeak”方在特定语境中隐含否定态度(Stanojevi,2011:66)。
[16]陶博教授不仅将麦氏著作的原文译入汉语,并补充了第十项特征。
[17]即经常使用官样文章用语(Frequent use of formal words)。
[18]即刻意使用具有可变通含义的词汇和短语(Deliberate use of words and expressions with flexible meanings)。
[19]即力求表述准确(Attempts at extreme precision of expression)。
[20]http://books.google.com/ngrams/info.
[21]英语原文:“History makes men wise;poetry witty;the mathematics subtle;natural philosophy deep;moral grave;logic and rhetoric able to contend.”
[22]英语原文:“Let rhetoric be[defined as]an ability,in each[particular]case,to see the available means of persuasion.”
[23]英语原文:“...words be given their ordinary sense.The meaning of an ordinary English word is not a question of law but of fact,to be found by taking all the circumstances of the case into consideration.”
[24]英语原文:“Different words are taken to refer to different things,and same words to same things.”
[25]帕特森在《法律与真相》(Law and Truth)中专节讨论了解释普适主义(interpretive universalism)及其代表学者罗纳德·德沃金(Ronald Dworkin)和斯坦利·费希(Stanley Fish),并认为当代解释传统存在无限放大的根本谬误:“There is something fundamentally wrong with the current interpretive orthodoxy.The notion that every act of textual and verbal comprehension is a matter of some act or theory of interpretation is a deeply misconceived idea,one born of a lack of attention to some obvious features of ordinary understanding,coupled with an inordinate emphasis upon,and faith in,the power of theory as the genesis of expressive intelligibility.As we shall see,by making interpretation central to legal thought,the proponents of interpretive universalism have created nothing short of a philosophical hall of mirrors.”(Patterson,1996:72)
[26]著名分析哲学家葛丽泰·伊丽莎白·玛格丽特·安斯康姆(Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe)师从维特根斯坦。她的英译本《哲学研究》(Philosophical Investigations)在英美国家流传甚广。就遵守规则论而言,尤其值得关注的是第201、242节,现将其译文摘录如下:“201 This was our paradox:no course of action could be determined by a rule,because every course of action can be brought into accord with the rule.The answer was:if every course of action can be brought into accord with the rule,then it can also be brought into conflict with it.And so there would be neither accord nor conflict here.That there is a misunderstanding here is shown by the mere fact that in this chain of reasoning we place one interpretation behind another,as if each one contented us at least for a moment,until we thought of yet another lying behind it.For what we thereby show is that there is a way of grasping a rule which is not an interpretation,but which,from case to case of application,is exhibited in what we call ‘following the rule’and‘going against it’.That's why there is an inclination to say:every action according to a rule is an interpretation.But one should speak of interpretation only when one expression of a rule is substituted for another.204 It is not only agreement in definitions,but also(odd as it may sound)agreement in judgments that is required for communication by means of language.This seems to abolish logic,but does not do so.—It is one thing to describe methods of measurement,and another to obtain and state results of measurement.But what we call‘measuring’is in part determined by a certain constancy in results of measurement.”(Wittgenstein,2009:84e,94e-95e)
[27]梯莫西·A.恩迪科特(Timothy A.Endicott)教授认为正是“什么将规则与其适用衔接在一起”(What connects a rule with its applications)?这一哲学思考引发了(不)确定性论战,故将之概述如下:“On the skeptical interpretation,Wittgenstein is pointing out that,because there is no extra something,there is an unbridgeable gap between a rule and its applications...The skeptics deal with this paradoxical situation by saying that the consensus of a community licenses us to talk as if a rule existed:‘following a rule’is another way of saying‘doing what members of the community say is following a rule’.The non-skeptical interpretation claims that Wittgenstein was trying to dissolve a philosophical muddle rather than to generate one.The remarks on following rules are an articulation of the relation between meaning and use that Wittgenstein pointed out.On this view,he was not arguing that nothing bridges a gap between rule and application...So learning a rule is neither finding something to bridge the gap,nor merely happening to do the same thing as other people,but grasping a way of using the examples that the teacher gives.”(2000:22-23)
[28]Hart says that any general term in a natural language has a central“core”of determinate meaning and a surrounding“penumbra”of indeterminate meaning(Lyons,2000:2).
[29]诚如比克斯所言,“开放结构”的概念由弗里德里希·魏斯曼(Friedrich Waismann)首创,而魏斯曼的观点又以维特根斯坦的语言观为基础(Bix,1993:7)。
[30]英语原文:“The applicability of a general term depends on whether there are good reasons for and against its application.”
[31]德沃金在《法律帝国》第七章中对他所倡导的法律解释方法做出如下说明:“It(Law as integrity)insists that legal claims are interpretive judgments and therefore combine backward and forwardlooking elements;they interpret contemporary legal practice seen as an unfolding political narrative.”(Dworkin,1986:225)
[32]英语原文:“I have not said that there is never one right way,only different ways,to decide a hard case.”
[33]请参阅德沃金在《法律帝国》第一、第二章有关语义缺陷及语义学之刺的详尽论述。
[34]英语原文:“Dworkin did not view the limitations and complexities of language as a serious obstacle to his‘right answer thesis’.”
[35]恩迪科特在《法律中的模糊性》第2.4节内引用了数位解构主义学者就意义对语境的依赖(the context dependence of meaning)展开的论述:“There are still rules.But there are no rules that can be understood apart from the context...(Margaret Jane Radin)...if the meaning of a signifier is context bound,context is boundless—that is,there are always new contexts that will serve to increase the different meanings of a signifier.(J.M.Balkin)Deconstruction...stresses that meaning is context bound—a function of relations within or between texts—but that context itself is boundless:there will always be new contextual possibilities that can be adduced,so that the one thing we cannot do is to set limits.(Jonathan Culler)”(Endicott,2000:17-18)
[36]格赖斯曾在《言辞用法研究》(Studies in the Way of Words)中约略论及模糊性表述的界定:“To say that an expression is vague(in a broad sense of vague)is presumably,roughly speaking,to say that there are cases(actual or possible)in which one just does not know whether to apply the expression or to withhold it,and one's not knowing is not due to ignorance of the facts.”(Grice,1989:177)
[37]英语原文:“An expression is vague if there are borderline cases for its application.”
[38]恩迪科特在《法律中的模糊性》第二章罗列了法律语言模糊性的各种表现形式,包括不精确性(imprecision)、开放结构(open texture)、不完整性(incompleteness)、不可通约性(incommensurability)、不可测度性(immensurability)、可争辩性(contestability)、家族相似性(family resemblance)等:“I will start with imprecision,and then look at additional characteristics of expressions in virtue of which they might fit Grice's definition of vagueness.I will look at what various people have termed‘open texture’,‘incompleteness’,‘incommensurability’(and something I call‘immensurability’),‘contestability’,and‘family resemblances’,and ask how they differ from imprecision and,more importantly,how they are connected to imprecision.A brief look at‘dummy standards’will introduce a discussion of pragmatic vagueness.Ambiguity will be mentioned,because it might be viewed as a source of pragmatic vagueness;but I will try to distinguish it from vagueness.”(Endicott,2000:33)
[39]恩迪科特在《法律中的模糊性》第六、第七章深入透彻地比较了“界限模型”与“相似性模型”的差异:“The boundary model is the framework of classical conceptions of vagueness.It represents the extension of a word as a geometrical figure,and represents vagueness either as a failure of language to draw a boundary to the figure,or as ignorance of the boundary that language draws.In the similarity model,vagueness is flexibility in the normative use of paradigms.The associated indeterminacy is not a deficiency or incoherent in the social facts that determine meaning,but is a feature of the creativity of language use.”(Ibid.137)
[40]恩迪科特的模糊语言观从阐释“不确定性”和“模糊性”概念出发渐次展开。他在区分了“法律不确定性”(legal indeterminacy)和“语言不确定性”(linguistic indeterminacy)后,将“不确定性”概念视作特定情状下法律或语言适用的特征,而“模糊性”概念则是法律或语言本身的特征:“I will generally treat‘indeterminacy’as a feature of the application of the law,or of an expression,to a particular case(or cases),and‘vagueness’as a feature of the law and of expression.”(Endicott,2000:9)
[41]马默称之为语义学上的意义(semantic meaning):“the meaning of an expression,which is,at least in the semantic context,basically determined by rules or conventions”。
[42]马默在此强调的是说话者的意图(the speaker's intention):“someone meaning that suchand-such by an expression,which is normally defined in terms of communication intentions”。
[43]马默在此强调的是解释者的目的(the interpreter's purpose):“formulations of the meaning of an object for the interpreter(or,for some particular community interested in the relevant object)”。
[44]粗体由本书作者添加。
[45]英语原文:“Abandoning conversational standards for interpreting the words of canonical rules is morally undesirable because it is morally desirable that legislative bodies have the ability to settle moral controversies through the enactment of canonical rules.”
[46]英语原文:“The words are important as embodying the rule-makers' intentions:whether as resolutions of disputes or as choices among possible co-ordination schemes.”
[47]罗蒂在《实用主义的后果》(Consequences of Pragmatism)第八章中探讨19世纪唯心主义与20世纪文本主义时,曾有如下描述:“The critic asks neither the author nor the text about their intentions but simply beats the text into a shape which will serve his own purpose.He does this by imposing a vocabulary—a‘grid,’in Foucault's terminology—on the text which may have nothing to do with any vocabulary used in the text or by its author,and seeing what happens.”(Rorty,1982:151)
[48]英语原文:“...language,alternatively,as a path to finding the correct result and as a temptation towards the wrong result that must be overcome.”
[49]英语原文:“...semantic theories must sometimes yield in this area to other considerations.”
[50]英语原文:“...to have the same linguistic intentions as other language users,namely[metaphysically]realist ones.”
[51]英语原文:“...reducing it[speakers' meaning]to a simple function of semantic content.”
[52]比克斯的原文如下:“...a legal rule should be‘extended...or qualified or limited’according to some view of the purposes of that particular rule,that doctrinal area,or law in general”。其中引文出自德沃金的《法律帝国》:“The second is the further assumption that the requirements of courtesy—the behavior it calls for or judgments it warrants—are not necessarily or exclusively what they have always been taken to be but are instead sensitive to its point,so that the strict rules must be understood or applied or extended or modified or qualified or limited by that point.”(Dworkin,1986:47)
[53]英语原文:“For the paradigms will be treated as concrete examples any plausible interpretation must fit...”
[54]英语原文:“Plain language is language which is direct and straightforward.It is designed to deliver its message to its intended readers clearly,effectively and without fuss.”
[55]英语原文:“The movement aimed to simplify legal English,prevent it from being the privilege of a small group of people who were either legal experts or legal professionals,and at the same time enable average people to come to grips with the task of comprehending legal texts which occasionally seemed insurmountable.”
[56]英语原文:“People are generally considered to have the right to be informed of benefits they are entitled to,and of obligations imposed on them,in language which is self-evident to them.”
[57]该指南由平实语言行动与信息网(The Plain Language Action and Information:www.plainlanguage.gov)编写,初版于20世纪90年代中期发布。
[58]英语原文:“The traditional legal document is a communication from lawyer to lawyer.The reform movement in legal drafting reminds us that it is also a communication from lawyer to client.”
[59]加纳教授在《使用平实英语进行法律写作》(Legal Writing in Plain English)中采两分法(Garner,2001:53,89)。他提出的“analytical writing”即通常所谓的“predicative writing”。
[60]哈格德教授在《法律写作》(Legal Drafting)中采三分法(Haggard,2004:10-13)。
[61]英语原文:“Everything is good that is‘conceived with honesty and executed with communicative ardor’.”
[62]加纳列举的比较类修辞手法:暗喻(metaphor)、拟人(personification)、明喻(simile)。
[63]加纳列举的巧妙用词类修辞手法:夸张(hyperbole)、反讽(irony)、间接肯定法(meiosis)、双关语(paronomasia)。
[64]加纳列举的句法安排类修辞手法:倒装(anastrophe)、对比(antithesis)、省略连词(asyndeton)、递进(climax)、平行(parallelism)、圆周句(periodic sentence)、反问(rhetoric question)。
[65]加纳列举的重复类修辞手法:头韵法(alliteration)、联珠法(anadiplosis)、首语重复法(anaphora)、反向法(antanadasis)、交错法(chiasmus)、间隔反复(epanalepsis)、叠句(epistrophe)、紧接反复(epizeuxis)、冗词法(pleonasm)、连词叠用(polysyndeton)。
[66]英语原文:“Ethnography of speaking/ethnography of communication studies the ways of speaking(or more broadly ways of communication)in a speech community.It can be characterised as the study of who can talk to whom about what,where,when and how.It uses the anthropological approach of ethnography,in which researchers are interested in how members of a social group live,and in learning about their beliefs,values and practices from careful observation(rather than for example,interviews).”
[67]英语原文:“Discourse analysis studies language use beyond the sentence level,whether in face-to-face interactions such as conversations or interviews or public speeches,or written communication such as newspaper articles or codified laws.Analysis in this approach examines the details of actual talk,and is a type of microanalysis.It often uses audio-or video-recorded data,although it can use written data.The term‘discourse analysis’is used quite widely in the social sciences to refer to a range of approaches to the analysis of discourse.Sociolinguistic discourse analysis pays attention not just to the content of what is said but how it is said,examining linguistic dimensions,such as grammar,accent,word choice,turn-taking and context.Within sociolinguistic discourse analysis,there are several more focused traditions.”
[68]英语原文:“Variationist sociolinguistics studies patterns and structures of language variation,often using quantitative analysis,e.g.to examine different ways of pronouncing the same word by a large number of speakers.Initially this approach correlated social variables such as age,gender and socioeconomic class with language variation.Increasingly this is being broadened to examine dynamic interactions between variations in ways of using language and ways in which speakers can actively fine-tune a wide range of aspects of their social identity.”
[69]英语原文:“Sociology of language focuses on society-level issues involving language.Topics include language choice and language planning in multilingual contexts.Traditionally this kind of analysis has used macroanalysis.”
[70]英语原文:“Critical sociolinguistics typically uses a range of sociolinguistics approaches(both macro and micro)in combination with social theoretical analysis to examine the role of language in power relationships.”
[71]英语原文:“Descriptive linguistics studies the structure of language and it complements and accompanies much sociolinguistic analysis.It uses a number of analytical approaches:phonetics and phonology encompass the study of speech sounds and sound systems,morphology and syntax make up the study of the structure of words and sentences(and is sometimes referred to with the term‘grammar’);and semantics refers to the study of the meaning of words and expressions.”
[72]研究法庭中性侵犯受害人作证情况的经典著作有两部,分别是:(1)苏珊·林恩·埃利希(Susan Lynn Ehrlich)的《再现强奸:语言与同意发生性关系》(Representing Rape:Language and Sexual Consent,2001);(2)珍妮特·科特里尔的《性犯罪的语言》(The Language of Sexual Crime,2007)。
[73]关注交叉质询中未成年人话语权利的代表学者是马克·布伦南(Mark Brennan),他曾撰写过两篇重要文献:(1)专著:《陌生语言:接受交叉质询的未成年受害人》(Strange Language:Child Victims Under Cross Examination,1988);(2)论文:《否认话语:交叉质询未成年受害人作证》(“The Discourse of Denial:Cross-examining Child-Victim Witnesses”,1994)。