Jurisprudence. Constitution. Legal History. Judicial System and Professional Ethics (Revised Edition)

Author: Zhou Wangsheng, Jiao Hongchang (editors), Legal Examination Center (compilers)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
Features: As a discipline that studies the fundamental issues and general principles of law through various legal phenomena in reality and history, jurisprudence is the main theoretical discipline of law, and a mandatory professional basic course for all law-related majors, legal majors, and legal education. Almost all branches of legal studies are to some extent related to jurisprudence. Therefore, the National Judicial Examination includes a certain proportion of jurisprudence questions in the annual exam papers to assess candidates' mastery and application of fundamental legal theories. Based on the teaching of basic jurisprudence theories, this book is accompanied by corresponding examples and their step-by-step solutions, aiming to help candidates master relevant knowledge points, basic problem-solving approaches, and techniques, and achieve good results in the first paper of the Judicial Examination. During the review and preparation process using this book, candidates should adhere to the fundamental principle: focus on the learning and application of jurisprudence knowledge points. This is not only the experience of the authors, who have long been engaged in Judicial Examination tutoring, but also a proven secret for many successful candidates. Specifically, "focusing on knowledge point learning" requires candidates to thoroughly clarify and understand the content of jurisprudence knowledge points, and to do well in four "positions": highlighting key points, breaking through difficult points, eliminating doubtful points, and perceiving confusing points. Candidates should pay attention to the following aspects in their preparation:
1. Comprehensive review, leaving no gaps. Candidates should discard the (:) and ensure they understand every knowledge point, avoiding guesswork or relying on tips. Comprehensive review helps candidates identify key, difficult, and doubtful issues in the textbook, improving the targetedness of their study.
2. Master the theories, grasp the techniques. Candidates should be thoroughly familiar with the basic theories and related knowledge points of jurisprudence, rather than having superficial understanding. They should continuously practice problem-solving methods by reviewing past exam questions and example solutions. Only by combining these two aspects can candidates remain clear-headed and skilled in the exam.
3. Broaden horizons, connect with practice. Jurisprudence is highly theoretical, and candidates cannot rely solely on memory. They should pay special attention to integrating jurisprudence with judicial practice—by studying various branches of law—to enhance and strengthen their understanding of fundamental legal theories and train their ability to analyze, judge, and solve practical problems using jurisprudential reasoning. In recent years, some changes have occurred in the jurisprudence section of the exam. Since 2003, the fourth paper of the Judicial Examination has included an essay question. For example, in the 2003 exam, question 8 required candidates to "discuss their understanding of the legality and rationality of a new measure by a city to govern traffic order," with the note that "candidates should not focus solely on the issues or individual cases arising from this measure when providing legal opinions." Although essay questions in recent years appear to be directly related to branch law knowledge and do not contribute to jurisprudence scores, their purpose is to assess candidates' comprehensive ability to analyze and evaluate legal phenomena microscopically and holistically. Relying solely on branch law knowledge is unlikely to yield satisfactory answers. Essay questions in 2004 and 2005, despite shorter word limits, remained challenging, requiring candidates to have a solid foundation in jurisprudence to handle them confidently. Since 2004, the score for the jurisprudence section has increased to 20 points. Among the 12 questions in the jurisprudence section, there are 6 multiple-choice questions, 4 multiple-choice questions, and 3 uncertain-choice questions, with a well-balanced distribution and increased difficulty. These changes require candidates to continuously strengthen their learning and mastery of jurisprudence. The question-setting approach for jurisprudence questions is primarily based on two considerations: first, the distribution and testability of jurisprudence knowledge points; second, the content of recently enacted laws—each year, in addition to testing the knowledge points candidates should know in the jurisprudence system, the exam also pays attention to combining recent legislative progress. Candidates should fully pay attention to and deeply understand this. From the analysis of past exam questions, the main question types for jurisprudence are multiple-choice questions, including single-choice, multiple-choice, and uncertain-choice questions. The questions are primarily concentrated in chapters such as the sources and classification of law, legal relationships, the operation of law, and the origin and development of law. The knowledge points in these chapters account for about 70% of the total jurisprudence score. Candidates should note that since the implementation of the 《Legislation Law》 in 2000, issues such as legislative authority, the hierarchy of legal sources, legal interpretation and reasoning, legal liability, and sanctions have become new hotspots for question-setting. The 《Legislation Law》 is almost tested every year, and some of its knowledge points, such as "the division of legislative authority," were tested in the same form in 2000 and 2002, and the knowledge point of "local legislative authority" was involved in the 2003 exam. In addition, candidates should pay more attention to other knowledge points related to the 《Legislation Law》. It is recommended to focus on mastering legislative principles, legislative authority, legal interpretation, legislative procedures, application and filing, and to thoroughly study Articles 7–13, 21–25, 27, 28, 39, 41, 42, 46, 47, 50, 56, 61, 63–65, 69, 73, 76, 78–91 of the 《Legislation Law》. Additionally, in recent years, the examination of "law and society" has shown a trend of comprehensive assessment of various points, which should not be underestimated. In recent years, the question-setting for jurisprudence in the Judicial Examination has become more flexible, with the use of real-life examples to test jurisprudential knowledge points. Many questions have a scenario-based stem that presents a specific legal phenomenon or fact, requiring candidates to use jurisprudential knowledge to provide answers. It should be noted that in recent years, question-setters have also put considerable effort into designing options (e.g., question 81 in the first paper of the 2004 exam). Such questions have long stems and numerous options, with strong interference and confusion, requiring high problem-solving skills from candidates. Candidates should be fully prepared for this.