科技的發展與進步，讓世界越來越靠近，各國接觸頻繁的結果，跨國案例也越來越多，對於他國法律的瞭解，成為現代法律人不可避免的課題；同時，如何介紹本國法律讓外國認識，更是法律人學習中的重要一環。在英文仍是世界共同語言的現在，專業的法學英文自然成為跨國法律爭議中的共同語言，如何學習法學英文，更是成為達到成功法律人的基礎墊腳石。
為了讓法律人能夠熟悉英美的法律制度，各大學的法律學院或法律學系早就開始教授英美法導論、英美契約法、英美侵權法等等課程，但是對於如何使用英文表達我國的法律，則是最近數年才開始普遍發展的教學內容。2011年，台灣的律師與司法官考試新增法學英文一科，依照考選部命題大綱所公布的原則，其核心能力為「獲取法律專業知識的基本法學英文閱讀能力」，包含新聞報導與法院判決常用之字彙、片語及文法句型，並使學生理解新聞報導與法院判決的主旨與要意。換言之，就是希望通過律師與司法官考試的未來律師或司法官，都能閱讀新聞中有關法律案件的報導，或者能夠瞭解外國判例或判決的主旨與要意。本書的內容除針對法學英文的命題大綱內容——緒論、憲法、民事法中之契約與侵權、證券交易法與刑事法等領域加以介紹外，外並進一步針對我國國際法與其實踐提出重點說明。本書的撰寫方式全部以英文為主，每章均以cover
story的方式導讀，讓閱讀者可以瞭解本章所要陳述的內容，結束時並輔以問題，讓學習者有自我檢視是否瞭解本文內容的機會。本書希望能提供學生準備律師、司法官考試使用，並成為從事法律實務工作者的參考入門，同時也期待提供不懂中文的外國法律人，一個可以瞭解台灣法律的最佳管道。
本書的出版，要特別感謝所有撰寫的國立台北大學法律學院的教授們，雖然他們在法律各領域均學有專精，也都曾留學美國，是以對於相關領域的英美法律用語，有深入的研究，但因為他們平日教學研究非常繁忙，若沒有對於法學教育的熱忱，無法完成此書。最後，期待這本書的出版，能協助台灣的法律更加接近國際化。
徐慧怡及作者一同
Preface
Taiwan is a Chinese speaking country that is governed by civil law. Thus, Taiwan’s statutory regulations, complaints and judgments, as well as a majority of its law school textbooks and
supplements, are all written in Chinese. In fact, the Court Organization Act and the Attorney Regulation Act, both expressly provide that the judge is required to use the Chinese while
conducting proceedings in court, and all documents submitted by attorneys in the course of their professional work must be drafted in Chinese characters as approved. Moreover, a non-citizen
licensed to practice law within the R.O.C.’s territory is required to use the Chinese either in court proceedings or at an investigation procedure.
Due to the substantial increase in transnational cases, English has become the standard language for transnational litigations. In order to familiarize law students and members of the legal
profession with English legal terms of art, law schools in Taiwan have long ago introduced courses of Anglo American Law. Scholars did not until recently, however, attempt to interpret Taiwan’s
law in English through various teaching methods.
As of 2011, Taiwan’s Bar and Judicial Exams have incorporated an additional subject—Legal English. In accordance with the standards established by the Ministry of Examinations, the Legal
English subject evaluates the examinees’ ability to read English newspaper articles related to law, court decisions, and commonly used legalese. Besides evaluating the examinees’ English
comprehension, the purpose of incorporating this extra subject into the Exams is also to promote the ability of future lawyers and judges to read and interpret foreign court decisions.
This book address provides an in depth analysis of the following topics: Torts, Contracts, Securities Regulations, Criminal Law and Procedures, and Constitutions. The book also highlights
other aspects of laws in Taiwan, such as the legal systems, and International Aspects of R.O.C. Law. Our vision is to provide legal education and basic legal terms in English to prospective
lawyers, judges, those currently practicing in the profession, as well as give foreigners a general understanding of the laws of Taiwan. Additionally, the book will begin each chapter with a
cover story to provide readers with a general idea of the topic covered in the chapter. At the end of the chapter, the book will give readers an opportunity to examine their understanding of
the material through a self-quiz.
The writers of this book are faculty members of the College of Law, National Taipei University, all of whom studied law both in Taiwan and the United States. They all teach courses in their
areas of expertise and have all conducted extensive research on Anglo-American legal terminology. Additionally, in order to bolster the accuracy of this book, we thank Tiffany Wang and Jessica
Chu, two extremely talented young ladies receiving their legal education in California, for helping the editing work of this book.
Huei-Yi Shyu and authors
