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examination of others， and in the early years through examination of
the defendant as well. The inquisitorial system， which developed in the
ecclesiastical courts， compelled the alleged wrongdoer to affirm his
culpability through the use of the oath ex officio. Under the oath， an
official had the power to make a person before him take an oath to tell
the truth to the full extent of his knowledge as to all matters about which
he would be questioned; before administration of the oath the person
was not advised of the nature of the charges against him， or whether
he was accused of crime， and was also not informed of the nature of
the questions to be asked.
The use of this oath in Star Chamber proceedings， especially to root
out political heresies， combined with opposition to the ecclesiastical
oath ex officio， led over a long period of time to general acceptance of
the principle that a person could not be required to accuse himself under
oath in any proceeding before an official tribunal seeking information
looking to a criminal prosecution， or before a magistrate investigating
an accusation against him with or without oath， or under oath in a
court of equity or a court of common law. The precedents in the colonies
are few in number， but following the Revolution six states had
embodied the privilege against self-incrimination in their constitutions，
and the privilege was one of those recommended by several state
ratifying conventions for inclusion in a federal bill of rights. Madison’s
version of the clause read ‘‘nor shall be compelled to be a witness
against himself，’’ but upon consideration by the House an
amendment was agreed to insert ‘‘in any criminal case’’ in the provision.
郑戈：
Basta兄的要求的确十分合理。但我现在提供的这些拉丁法谚，是若干年来研习罗马法的过程中逐渐积累下来的，来源颇为庞杂。其中的确有许多来自普通法资料，若是一一详加介绍，恐怕非我现在的时间表所能允许。但统称为“拉丁法谚”当是不错的。我现在于法思网上公布这些法谚，实在是因为看到包括兄台在内的许多高人出没此间，真心想要求得斧正。其实，我早在两年多前就与一家出版社谈好了出版《拉丁法谚集》的“口头协议”，2000年出国后，多项正式合同均告搁浅，更不用说这项“口头协议”了。其中包括与中国政法大学出版社签订的《司法与国家权力的多种面孔》和与商务印书馆签订的霍姆斯的《普通法》及马丁·洛克林的《公法与政治理论》的译著出版合同。好在最后一本书已经于2002年出版，另两部书的译稿均已杀青，《拉丁法谚》终于可以“崭露”一下“头角”了。我现在反而庆幸当初没有急于“赶制出”这本书，因而得以避免许多错误。将来正式出版之时，每条法谚下必会附有详细的源流介绍。
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