美国法律文献与信息检索导论课件.pdfVIP

美国法律文献与信息检索 LEGAL RESEARCH IN AMERICAN LAW 王昶 WANG CHANG, ESQ. 2014 INTRODUCTION FUNDAMENTALS OF AMERICAN LAW FORMS OF LEGAL INFORMATION WHAT IS LEGAL RESEARCH? WEST’S ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICAN LAW Common Law vs. Civil Law Common law: allows judges to build on past cases so that the law is not only bound by earlier precedents (stare decisis), but also always evolving. Civil law: based on Roman law as enacted into codes. Judges refer to codified rules from the codes to decide cases whose holdings are not binding in later disputes with different parties. Globalization: common law countries are creating more codes and civil law systems are becoming more deferential to earlier decisions. 4 UNITED STATES V. CHINA US PRC Long tradition New Common Law Civil Law Separation of Powers; Check and balances One Party Rule as a Constitutional Guarantee Independent Judiciary; Judicial Review Independent Judiciary not desired; No judicial review Federalism “Democratic Centralism” The Rule of Law The Rule by Law Access to Information: a right Access to Information: a privilege Separation of Powers Separation of powers refers to the division of government into Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches under the U.S. Constitution and other state constitutions. ? The Legislative Branch has a bicameral (two-branch) Congress, which consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both representatives and senators are elected by the people. ? The Executive Branch is led by the President of the United States. ? The Judicial Branch is headed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Separation of Powers Checks and Balances Besides providing for the organization of government branches, the U.S. Constitution carefully outlines which powers each branch may exercise to prevent an abuse of power. This arrangement of governmental powers is referred to as “checks and balances,” whereby powers of one governm