法学英语论文示例.doc

Study of American Legal Culture from Legal Movies & TV Playsby Li LiClass 04，Grade 2007，Civil LawLaw SchoolZhongnan University of Economics and LawJune，2008本人声明本论文是由本人独立撰写完成的，没有剽窃、抄袭、造假等违反学术道德、学术规范和其他侵权行为。对本论文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在文中以明确方式标明。特此郑重声明。论文作者签名：作者学号：作者专业：年月日AbstractAt the beginning of 20th century, German master of law, JKohler (18491919) started the study on law and culture, after which an upsurge of study on legal culture appeared. Chinese legal academic world became flourishing on the study of legal culture since the 1980s. Nowadays more and more scholars see the importance of legal culture and do studies on it. The topic of this thesis is “Study of American legal culture from legal movies & TV plays”. The author selects a number of American legal TV plays and movies; analyzes their topics, main characters, and plots; then finds out why United States adopt the legal system; what kind of legal culture it has; and how the legal culture is reflected in those movies and TV plays. The author hopes this thesis can work not only as an insight into the American legal culture, but also a source of reference for china to improve its legal system.Key words: legal movies, legal TV plays, legal system, legal culture中文摘要二十世纪初，德国人JKohler (18491919)开始研究法律和文化，从此掀起了法律文化研究的热潮，中国法律界对法律文化的研究始于二十世纪八十年代。目前，越来越多的学者认识到法律文化的重要性而致力于该研究。本文作者选取了大量的美国影视剧，并对他们涉及的主题、主要特征和情节进行了分析，指出了美国采用当前的法律制度的缘由，分析了美国的法律文化以及法律文化在影视剧中的具体体现。作者希望该论文不仅仅是对美国法律文化的介绍，同时也可以为中国法律制度的改革提供参考。关键词：法律电影；法律电视剧；法律制度；法律文化IntroductionThis thesis is a preliminary study of American legal culture from legal movies & TV plays. The reason why the author chooses this topic is as follows: As the authors major is law, the author has learned some knowledge about the legal system and constitution of some western countries. Among those countries, the author has got the most interest in American legal system. The author wants to find out why America adopts the criteria of “Checks and Balance” in its constitution. This question can be answered by research into the culture behind the legal systemso called legal culture. Whats more, American legal movies are the authors favorite. From the old movie To Kill a Mocking Bird to the popular TV plays Prison Break, the author is deeply impressed by those eloquent lawyers and excellent trials. Therefore the author wants to find out the legal culture that presents in those movies and TV series. The thesis can help readers to better understand the legal culture of America and to look deep into the culture behind any movie or TV plays. 1.American legal movies and TV plays1.1 Brief history of American movie industry The beginning of American movies dates back to April 1894, when Edison used his invention film projector to project the worlds first movie. After that, the age of silent movies came. Around the year 1915, the monopoly of the whole industry controlled by Edison was broken down by the famous Hollywood. In the year of 1927, Times Warner produced the first sound film, which brought the movie industry into a golden age of development in the 1930s to 1940s. Though the industry was influenced by the rising of television industry and the promulgation of the antitrust act in the 1950s to 1960s, the uprising of “American New Movie” or “New Hollywood” regenerated the movie industry. Owing to the development of economy and technology, nowadays the US movie industry is growing much faster than ever before.1.2 Development of American TV playsThe Queens Messenger broadcasted in 1928 in New York was the first TV play in Americas television history. At the end of 1930s, NBC and CBS established their own TV station. During the mid-1940s till 1950s, the TV plays were actually live telecasts rather than recorded ones. In the year of 1956, the invention of video tape recording (VTR) was gradually adopted by the television community, which later changed the form of broadcasting TV plays from the 1960s till now.1.3 Some typical American legal movies and TV plays in different times of historyShot in the 1960s, To Kill a Mocking Bird is quite representative among early legal movies. Atticus Finch, a lawyer that had a big sense of justice, decided to act as legal representative for a black, who was accused to rape a white girl. Fitch went into research and found that the black guy was innocent. Though he tried his best and delivered an excellent speech at the court, he didnt save the black mans life. This movie is one of the most famous movies acted by Gregory Peck, who was the winner of Academy Award in the year 1963.American legal TV plays are also familiar to Chinese audiences. Boston Legal and Justice are about lawyers. The play shows us a very vivid image of American law offices, law firms and those eloquent lawyers. After watching the two plays, the audiences will get clearer idea of the American legal system and legal culture. In this two TV plays, those lawyers are not only experts in the court debate, but also experts in collecting evidences, convicting the witness to show up in the court. 1.4 The main topics of American legal movies and TV playsFirstly, because in America the media enjoy more freedom and rights than in other countries, American legal movies and TV plays dare to disclose those vile social evils, unfair situation in society, corruption in the government etc. In many cases those TV plays show a scathing satire on the party in power. For example, in the play Prison Break, it shows two innocent brothers are forced to become fugitives just because the president abused her power to cover her brothers crime and protect him.Secondly, in those legal movies and TV plays, two important parties determine the winning of most case. The first party is the “Jury”. Lawyers need to spare no effort to persuade the Jury in order to win a case. Another character is the Lawyer. Lawyer is often the main character in most legal movies, which reflects that in fact lawyer plays an essential role in American judicial system. Lawyers are respected in United States. People need lawyers to deal with daily disputes, marriage problems and other affairs. Most times, the success of a case is mainly dependent on how well your lawyer works rather than what the fact is. This is quite unfair for those who dont have the money to employ a “good” lawyer. For example, in the movie to Kill a Mocking Bird, black people cannot win cases because they are of lower social classes and dont have money to employ a good lawyer. 2. American legal culture2.1 Definition of legal cultureLegal culture is one way of describing relatively stable patterns of legally oriented social behavior and attitudes. The identifying elements of legal culture range from facts about institutions such as the number and role of lawyers or the ways judges are appointed and controlled, to various forms of behavior such as litigation or prison rates, and, at the other extreme, more nebulous aspects of ideas, values, aspirations and mentalities. The author thinks that law is a cultural phenomenon as well as a social phenomenon. Legal culture is the product of the inter play of certain social conditions, with social material life being its economic foundation, social political structure being its political foundation and the whole social culture providing it with cultural environment. Legal culture has the characteristics of historical continuity, collectivity and mutual compatibility. Historical continuity means that a certain type of legal culture must have inherited from its formal basis. Collectivity means that a certain type of legal culture must be accepted by most people rather than single ones. Mutual compatibility means that different legal cultures learn from each other and have lots in common.2.2 Formation of American legal cultureFirstly, American legal culture is based on the material foundation of American society. Different countries different legal cultures are based on their different material foundations. The superstructure of one society is formed on basis of the economic foundation. Take ancient china as an example, the common people didnt have the ownership of their property, and the emperor owns it. Accordingly the law made by the emperor was based on his own benefit. No democracy existed at that period. America was once a colony of the United Kingdom, so it reached a high level of developed capitalism without experiencing a feudal period. Privatization and capitalization became the main economic trends of America, which was reflected in the legal system. The laws of United States are reflection and protection of the interests of the capitalist class. For example, in the end of the 19th century, the worlds first antitrust law was promulgated in America in order to protect the national economy.Secondly, American legal culture is reflected on the political structure of society: In America, the political structure is called two-tier system. It is a system of decentralization, which is reflected in the constitution that “checks and balances” should be achieved to a more functional and democratic government. This is how political structure determines legal culture. Thirdly, American legal culture itself is one composition of the culture of American society; it is formed under the influence of the changing conventions and values. Like culture itself, legal culture is not just about what we do but about who we are. In countries with unwritten constitution, those conventions and customs become the only principles that can be applied when making judgment. Those conventions and customs are part of the culture of a country. In America, there is a written constitution. The articles in the constitution are also reflection of peoples criteria of value.3. Relationship between American legal culture and American legal movies & TV plays3.1 The reflection of legal culture in the movies & TV playsLawyer is often the main character in most legal movies and TV plays, such as the movie To Kill a Mocking Bird. In America, the profession of lawyer is different from china. Firstly, lawyers in America can be divided into public lawyers and private lawyers. Pubic lawyers work for the court and government; and the private lawyers can open their own law offices and deal with all kinds of cases. Secondly, lawyers are more important in the legal procedure in America than in other countries. For one reason, the Supreme Court of United States stipulates that in any criminal case, the suspected person must be sentenced with one lawyer working as his or her legal representative. For another reason, American people are more willing to employ a lawyer to deal with disputes in daily life. From small quarrels between neighbors, divorce, writing wills, to big financial problems, criminal cases; American people are used to have their own lawyers to solve their problems, thus lawyers become more and more popular and essential in American peoples life. Trial by Jury is another characteristic of American legal system. It is the keystone of the American court system. The American jury consists of a group of ordinary citizens who vow to adjudicate according to facts and evidences presented to them. The defendants have the right of having a jury to make a judgment. In the TV plays Justice, there is a very interesting point. Before every trial, the lawyers will try their best to get more information of the members of the jury, to make guess who will be the chief of the jury, what does he or she likes, and choose the most suitable lawyer to make the most touching and convincing conclusion. Why are they doing so?Plea Bargaining can often be seen in legal movies. Plea Bargaining can be seen in the TV Play Prison Break when the prosecuting party asks Michael Scofield, the criminal, to offer a plea of guilty in order to reduce a penalty. The aim of Plea Bargaining is to save time and effort. However Plea Bargaining offers those habitual offenders opportunities to bargain with the court in order to escape from penalty.3.2 The public attitude towards the legal culture shown in the movies & TV playsDiscrimination is one major problem shown in the legal plays. The movies try to arouse public attentions to the discrimination that exists in the legal procedures, such as the racial discrimination shown in To kill a Mocking Bird, and discrimination towards Aids sufferers shown in Philadelphia. Though the leading character in those stories may have a happy ending, in real life people are not so lucky. The public hope that the legislative body of the United States can pass more laws to protect the weak.ConclusionIn this thesis, the author looks into American legal movies and TV series to find out the American legal culture behind them. The purpose is to help readers better understand American legal movies and TV plays, as well as the American legal system and legal culture. The main characteristics of American legal culture are clearly manifested in the legal movies and TV series. Therefore if students can pay more attention and think more when watching those movies, they will sur