Study On The Rules Of Legal Interpretation

The introduction of extraterritorial legal interpretation theory and the gradual improvement of our system of legal doctrine have made our legal interpretation already go through the process of fully understanding the concept,basic principles and application of legal interpretation methods and applying it in a departmental and practical way.To ensure the certainty of interpretation conclusions,improve the precision of interpretation theories and promote the practical application of interpretation methods,it is necessary to enter the next stage of the research on legal interpretation methods,that is,to carry out the research on legal interpretation rules.The research content at this stage is mainly based on highlighting the practical character of the methodology to make the macro legal interpretation methods approach to the micro level,so as to reveal the way the interpreters reach the interpretation conclusions in the name of the legal interpretation rules.The academic circles have paid some attention to the rules of legal interpretation,but there is still a lack of necessary research context combing and comparative analysis of viewpoints.In order to provide typological,embodied and operable interpretation rules to support refined interpretation and argumentation and restrain wanton value judgment,it is necessary to conduct a profound theoretical research on legal interpretation rules.This article systematically sorts out the domestic and foreign research on the rules of legal interpretation,focusing on the three issues of the concept,generation and classification of the rules,hoping to lay a foundation for the theoretical research and practical application of the legal interpretation rules in our country.From a historical point of view,the rules of legal interpretation have a long history,but as an academic research point,it has received the attention of the academic world in recent years,especially in our country.Combing the works related to the research of legal interpretation rules along the time line,it can be seen that the research of legal interpretation rules in our country has experienced a process from starting to dispersing and then refocusing.It initially appeared in the works of legal hermeneutics as the role of applying rules or applying sequence of legal interpretation methods.Later,it gradually moved to the specific interpretation rules of department law or common law,and finally returned to the exploration of basic theories under the reflection and advocacy of scholars.On the contrary,the research on the formulation of legal interpretation rules in foreign countries is quite different from that in China.The research results in recent years show that the theoretical achievements of legal interpretation rules in foreign countries have been accumulating and the problems are increasingly clear,forming a relatively mature academic field.The research of legal interpretation rules should first answer the question "what are the legal interpretation rules",that is to clarify the concept of legal interpretation rules.On the one hand,there are many discussions about the nature of legal interpretation rules,but there is no definite and clear special definition.On the other hand,the expressions related to the rules of interpretation are confusing,which can easily lead to differences in understanding.Fundamentally speaking,the rule of legal interpretation is a thinking rule that regulates and guides the thinking activities of the interpreter.It adheres to a legal thinking mode of normative theory,follows logical thinking rules,and comes from the summary of long-term thinking experience of professional legal personality.It is not only different from the legal norms created by legislators,but also not a single method of legal interpretation.It is more deterministic and operational than interpretation principles,more systematic and normative than interpretation techniques,and more prescriptive and operational than interpretation guidelines.The above characteristics of legal interpretation rules determine that they are more in line with the needs of the construction of the rule of law.To form a more comprehensive and profound understanding of the concept of legal interpretation rules,it is necessary to explore their functions.From the perspective of the functional significance of the rules of interpretation,the interpretation rules can provide legitimate reasons for the legal interpretation on the stage of legal application.In the midst of the complicated norms and methods of interpretation,the interpretation rules can provide the interpreters with precise thinking path guidance.It helps to standardize the thinking activities of interpreters and limit their subjective and arbitrary interpretation behaviors.On the basis of clarifying the concept of legal interpretation rules,it is necessary to explore the generation of interpretation rules from the perspectives of the two legal systems.Civil law system generates legal interpretation rules in the form of traditional authoritative legislation,while common law system countries summarize them mainly in the form of specific applicable rules in case law(i.e.as an empirical statement,such as typical precedents or legal proverbs).After several years of development and adaptation,the two legal systems draw on their strengths in the generation of legal interpretation rules,and gradually show a trend of integration and confluence.This has a certain enlightening significance for the generation of legal interpretation rules in our country,which not only helps us to conduct a deep review and summary of the generation basis of interpretation rules,but also provides a targeted way to explore.We should take the interpretative norms in legislative texts as the fundamental basis,judicial interpretations and normative documents as the basic compliance,guiding cases and bulletin cases as necessary guidance,and judicial experience in interpretation practice as an important guide,generate our specific rules of legal interpretation,and exert their practical effect from the legislative,judicial and experience aspects.To promote legal interpretation rules in the theory and practice,it is necessary to explore the classification of the rules of legal interpretation.First of all,what needs to be clarified is the significance of the classification of legal interpretation rules,which is mainly reflected in four aspects: First,the classification reflects an orderly arrangement of different interpretation rules;Second,classification lays the foundation for construction of an interpretive rule system;Third,classification provides convenience for interpreters to find and apply interpretation rules;Fourth,classification can improve the quality and effect of practical application of interpretation rules.The regularity and order of legal thinking require us to follow the rules of legal interpretation and their classification.Secondly,the ultimate goal of the classification of legal interpretation rules is to construct a system of legal interpretation rules with inherent logical unity,which is based on reasonable and effective classification standards.By inspecting the existing classification strategies of interpretive rules at home and abroad and analyzing their advantages and disadvantages,two mainstream classification methods can be summarized: one is the classification of classical linguistic(formal)interpretation rules and substantive interpretation rules,which is mainly applicable to common law countries;The other is the traditional classification based on interpretation factors(or interpretation methods),which is mainly applicable in civil law countries with methodological traditions.Based on the progress of our legal construction and considering the difficulty of two classifications in our judicial environment,this paper does not tend to make a choice between the two classifications but puts forward the trend of interpretation rules classification and system construction ideas exclusive to China.