Vague Words In Legal Norms

The open structure of Hart reveals the openness of legal language.In the core area of the word,people have no objection to how to apply the law.However,in the edge area of the word,the meaning of the word is ambiguous and controversial.This kind of word are called fuzzy words.Since ambiguity is an inherent property of legal language,vague words are also common in legal norms.Fuzzy words in legal norms are a double-edged sword.If fuzzy words can be used properly,the discretionary space given to law enforcement and judicial personnel can overcome the lag and rigidity of the law and adapt to the complex and changeable society,so that to maintain the stability of the law.Law enforcement officers and judicial officers can take advantage of the ambiguity of legal language,give full play to their subjective initiative,and make fair rulings and judgments that fit specific cases according to specific circumstances.However,if vague terms in legal norms cannot be used correctly,it will damage the clarity or certainty of the law,and the semantic extension of legal terms will become ambiguous,resulting in a reduction in the operability of the law,which will be difficult for law enforcement and judicial personnel.The application of the law brings difficulties,which leads to the abuse of discretionary power and the phenomenon of "different judgments in the same case",which undermines the authority and unity of the law.Therefore,it is of great significance to correctly understand the fuzziness of legal language and standardize the use of fuzzy words in legal norms.The introduction mainly introduces the theoretical and practical significance of the research on the ambiguity proposition of legal language,and lists the research status at home and abroad.It also explains the research methods and innovations of this paper.This thesis is divided into five parts.The first part elaborates on the definition,classification,and legal functions of vague words in legal norms.The vague words in legal norms refer to the language types that are opposite to the clear norms of the law,and are normative expressions of certain legal acts with unclear boundaries or categories.According to different classification standards,fuzzy words can be divided into different types.For example,fuzzy words can be divided into aspect fuzzy words,verb fuzzy words,adjective adverb fuzzy words,and quantitative fuzzy words.According to the meaning of words,fuzzy words can be divided into inclusive fuzzy words,quantitative fuzzy words,and degree fuzzy words.Furthermore,fuzzy words can be divided into active fuzzy words and passive fuzzy words based on the reasons for fuzziness.Various types of vague words widely exist in legal norms,bringing dual impacts to the application of law.On the one hand,vague language helps to increase the flexibility and applicability of the law,enriching and expanding the explanatory space of written law.On the other hand,the natural conflict between language fuzziness and legal accuracy leads to a negative impact of vague words on the authority and predictability of the law,and at the same time,it is also prone to the abuse of discretion.The second part discusses the use of vague words in legislative texts.This article takes criminal law texts,civil law texts,and procedural law texts as the analysis objects.According to the classification method of linguistics,they are divided into nominal,verb,adjective,pronoun,adverb,and auxiliary fuzzy words.It points out the problems that arise in the use of fuzzy words with different parts of speech and proposes corresponding response strategies.The unclear meaning of vague words in legislative texts is reflected in the unclear meaning of noun verb vague words,the excessive scope of pronoun vague words,and the degree of adjective adverb vague words that need to be determined.The third part discusses the use of vague language in judicial practice.From the perspective of positivism,this paper selects the "necessary limit" of justifiable defense in Article 20 of the Criminal Law,the "emotional breakdown" of the legal condition of divorce proceedings in Article 1079 of the Civil Code,and the "rationality" in administrative compensation cases as examples,and discusses the use of fuzzy words in judicial practice in three major departments of law,and puts forward countermeasures for their fuzzy semantics.The fourth part analyzes the drawbacks and causes of the use of vague language in legal norms.Fuzzy language in legal norms can increase the flexibility of legal application and alleviate the natural nature of rigid and lagging written laws,but its drawbacks cannot be ignored.In legislative practice,vague language poses obstacles to standardized expression,and maintaining a balance between accuracy and generality has become an issue that cannot be ignored in the legislative process;In judicial practice,the vague meaning of legal norms leads to various interpretations,resulting in excessive reliance on the discretion of judges and the dilemma of "different judgments in the same case".The reasons for the above drawbacks are multifaceted.The limitations of language expression,human cognitive limitations,complexity of legal phenomena,generalization of legal norms,and subjective reasons of legislators can all have a negative impact on the application of vague words.The fifth part discusses the standardized use of vague language in legal norms.There is no distinction between the advantages and disadvantages of fuzzy legal language,only whether this legal language is properly used.The standardized use of vague words helps to improve the legislative level and quality of our country,thereby maximizing the effectiveness of legal norms.In the face of the standardization obstacles in legislative practice and the difficulties in the application of fuzzy words in judicial practice,we should give full play to the positive functions of fuzzy words to weaken their negative effects,give full play to the advantages of legal language fuzziness,and try to overcome the drawbacks of legal language fuzziness.At the legislative level,the use of vague words can be regulated by controlling their ambiguity,limiting their meaning,overlapping the use of vague synonyms,and establishing legislative language review procedures.In the process of judicial adjudication,with the help of type thinking and legal interpretation,the semantic extension of fuzzy words is clarified,and the judicial discretion is standardized and guided correctly to avoid the anomie of fuzzy words and enhance judicial credibility.