Presumably, everyone has heard of the profession of lawyer more or less, and lawyers can represent the plaintiff or defendant in accountability and mediation. The well-known profession of lawyer, also known as "modern lawyer", can be traced back to the complicated written code and litigation system in ancient Rome.
It was precisely because of the complexity of the written law in ancient Rome at that time that ordinary people and even some royal nobles could not defend themselves in person, and lawyers in ancient Rome were born because of luck. They practiced their rhetoric and eloquence, and tried their best to state and mobilize the emotions of the masses. Some of them were even members of the Senate, and lawyers in ancient Rome had a very high social status.
In ancient China, they also had a career similar to that of lawyers. They are a group of people with legal discrimination and litigation ability. They are good at writing with words and knives, helping people and people write complaints, defending themselves in court and making suggestions. They are also called "legalists" or "litigators" because they can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty at the earliest, and then formally appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Their appearance is not accidental, nor is it a simple mediation role between civilians and nobles. As "lawyers" in ancient China, their existence also reflected the economic, political, cultural and legal systems at that time. To understand the origin and development of litigation lawyers, we have to observe the relationship between litigation lawyers and the defense system at that time.
The Origin of the Parties-"Mr. Knife and Pen"
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a hundred schools of thought contended, and Legalism was one of them. They are a group of schools that advocate the rule of law as the core concept. They are also called "litigators" when promoting academic ideas in various countries and regions. You must have heard of some of them who helped Qin Xiaogong to carry out political reform and laid the foundation of Shang Yang in Daqin and Ye Wei. Strong Wei Fuchu, together with soldier Sun Wu, is called Sun Wu's "Wuqi"; "Han Feizi" who combines Shang Yang's method, Shen Buhai's technique and cautious independence. ...
They were all "litigators" at that time, which played an inestimable cornerstone role in the construction of the rule of law at that time and even in the subsequent social development, and even some ideas are still in use today.
However, under the mainstream ideology of autocratic feudal society at that time, the situation of legalists was not good, which was usually described by words such as "the article is irrelevant and confuses black and white". Both "Evil Spirit of Knife and Pen" and "Mr. Knife and Pen" were branded as "bad names" under the suppression of other schools and the oppression of some unscrupulous litigants at that time.
In fact, the main business of "litigation lawyers" in ancient China was to write complaints for the parties. In the earliest Western Zhou Dynasty, the law stipulated that in general litigation cases, minor cases could be stated orally and appealed to local parents, but serious cases must rely on "written evidence". Litigation lawyers are the people who provide people with such written evidence, that is, complaints, and at the same time, they will make suggestions for the parties and bribe people to get through the upper-level relations.
However, these litigators can serve both the ruling class and the people. Dozens of "lawyers" who violate the law and discipline, collude with officials and businessmen, and oppress the people are recorded in the case of the supervision of Belle Chao in Qing Dynasty, and are despised as "inspection sticks" by the people who are forced to have grievances.
Especially under the influence of the Confucian thought of "litigation", which was strongly sought after by the rulers at that time, the eyes of ordinary people felt that litigation was not only a waste of money, but also a manifestation of moral corruption, which would undermine social stability and make others feel that the living environment was crumbling, which was not conducive to the rule of the feudal class.
However, the litigator did not compromise. With the increasing dissatisfaction of the people under the backlog of social contradictions, the concepts of "brave litigation", "expensive litigation" and "happy litigation" have also spread, and it is believed that "litigation" is to protect everyone's rights from evil forces. If we choose to make peace, the evil forces will only become more rampant. Therefore, under the influence of various schools, we feel inferior and conceited, morally rich, brave and timid.
Blood and tears of ancient defense system
In the darkest days of ancient times, the defense system was extremely unfair. If you want to go to court, you have to call 30 times before you can see your parents, to ensure that what you said is true, and to remind the litigants to be cautious. If you are a scholar or famous, you can skip this step. In court, the grassroots should kneel down and sit tight.
It is also common for people to kneel and feel dizzy after questioning. If they are scholars, they can stand up straight in court. In addition, in ancient times, education was monopolized by nobles. Only wealthy people can afford education and attend private schools. These people are generally mediocre and illiterate. In this case, they still need someone to write a letter for them, from a few pence to a lot. The manpower and material resources needed for "litigation" are usually beyond people's ability. "Born in the official gate, died in hell" is the blood and tears born under the biased defense system at that time.
The establishment of the defense system is partly due to the changes in laws and regulations. In ancient times, a man quarreled with his father and gave him a punch in anger. Under the law at that time, "disobedience and unfilial" was a felony, almost to the crime of deceiving the monarch, and was classified as "heinous". Not surprisingly, I will be put to death, the whole county will be implicated, and the battlements will be torn down, for example.
At that time, in desperation, the man found the local teacher "Yang Xiaolian", and under the arrangement of negotiation, he got his life and the safety of the county at the expense of one ear.
If you want to know more about the ancient litigant and defense system, you might as well watch the movie Death Judge. This famous saying comes from this film that ends lawyers and the defense system full of class differences. In this film, Song Shijie, the protagonist, decided to write a complaint for the bank boss after accepting several boxes of gold and taking part in the lawsuit. The defendant became the plaintiff when the defense was submitted in advance.
The first step, from the standpoint of intentional injury to death, changed to the result that the deceased injured the offender and induced the innocent parents to be released under the statement of the concept of theft. In ancient times, the defense system has lost its purpose as a compass to seek the truth of the matter, so the more and more perfect laws, regulations and defense systems we use today are based on the blood and tears of countless cases.
abstract
The development of defense system and lawyer system has been gradually improved. From the acquisition of lawyer's qualification certificate to the expansion and perfection of defense system, people can completely restore the facts through the three processes of "control", "defense" and "trial" when filing a lawsuit. Only when the system is perfect and complete can there be a society ruled by law where everyone is equal today.