common law的翻译（二）

……the common law has in itself a number of historical sources which were, prior to Conquest, embodied in local custom. The unique contribution of the Norman Conquest,  was to unify these local customs into one system of law common to all men, for this reason termed the "common law".

——Walker & Walker, The English Legal system, London l976, The English Legal system, London l976, p.3

2.

The common law is so called because it was commonly applied throughout the kingdom of England.

——You and the Law, Reader's Digest Association, Inc.,

由此可见，英国的“common law”是以其区别于前英国各地各种各样不统一的习惯而使之统一为在全国各地共同适用为其特征的，故汉语译之为“普通法”显然不如“共同法”之切合原意——哪怕译成“普遍法”也许也要比“普通法”略胜一筹吧。

以“普通法”译“common law”的另一个严重缺点，则在于其易滋歧义——“普通法”可以被误解为另一法学概念“特别法”的对立概念。 由此得出的体会是：

甲。 法律翻译工作要求译者不但是精通语言的，而且也是精通比较法学的；

乙。 约定俗成只是翻译诸规律之一而千万不能捧之为翻译的最高原则，更不能容忍它成为在翻译中实事求是、尊重科学、服从真理、从善如流的绊脚石