日治法院檔案的整編與研究

Compilation and Research of the Taiwan Colonial Court Records Archives

源自近代西方的現代型法院：臺灣總督府法院，於1896年7月起開始在臺灣這塊土地上運作，在此之後約半個世紀的歲月裡，深刻影響著日治時期臺灣人民司法生活。戰後臺灣的司法當局，從2000年7月起，函詢日治時期即已成立的八所地方法院，有無與日治時期相關的裁判資料。至2009年2月為止，已發現且業經整編者，包含收藏於臺北、新竹、臺中、嘉義等四所地方法院，以及司法官訓練所（來自臺中地方法院）內的日治時期司法文書。還有某些日治時期司法文書收藏於花蓮、高雄兩地方法院，甚至收藏於地政機關內，這部份雖已發現但尚未整編。目前「已發現且經整編」的日治法院檔案，總數為5,645冊。數量上則以民事類最多，其中又以民事判決原本與公證書為最大宗；在刑事類中，亦以刑事判決原本為最大宗。民、刑事判決原本和公證書等三類文書所涵蓋的時間，除民事判決原本欠缺1895－1914年外，已貫穿整個日治時期，所涉及的地域約為臺灣西部嘉義以北。為使用這批史料來深化臺灣法律史研究，筆者從2002年起率領團隊進行「日治法院檔案」的整編，並與臺大圖書館合作而於2008年9月正式啟用「日治法院檔案資料庫」，提供給國內外研究者為「學術使用」。日治法院檔案呈現了在臺灣的地理和物質條件下，帶有傳統中國法律文化的漢人移民，以及多數已被漢化和少數仍持固有法律文化的原住民族，如何與近代歐陸式法院，從猝然相遇到逐漸相互調適的整個過程。其可再搭配淡新檔案與1945年以後的中華民國司法檔案，以探究從十九世紀到二十一世紀的臺灣司法運作狀況；亦可據以與同時期的日本內地或其他殖民地，以及清末及民國時代中國的司法文書，進行對比式研究。不過，若欲藉日治法院檔案來探究臺灣人民的法律生活經驗，則需再搭配各種民間史料的使用。日治法院檔案的豐富內涵，足以因應各個不同的歷史領域、學科訓練、或特定議題的研究需求，故其服務對象將非限於臺灣、亦不限於法律史，而包含臺灣國內外的各類學術工作者。期待這份屬於臺灣人民的法院檔案，能對人類知識的累積與當代的文明，有所貢獻。

The Court of the Government-General of Taiwan, the first modern-style court in Taiwan, began operation in July 1896 and had since then deeply influenced the judiciary and life of Taiwanese for half a century under Japanese colonial rule. In July 2000, the judicial authorities of post-war Taiwan launched a search for judicial records related to the Japanese colonial era in eight District Courts that were established before 1945. By February 2009, colonial judicial documents stored in District Courts of Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung (some of the original documents had been moved to the Training Institute for Judges and Prosecutors) and Chiayi had been retrieved and reorganized, while part of those stored in the district courts in Hualian and Kaohsiung, and even in land offices had also been recovered but still waited further reorganization. In order to deepen our understanding of Taiwan legal history through these precious materials, I had worked with my team to reorganize the recovered colonial court records since 2002. With joint effort from the NTU library, the database of the Taiwan Colonial Court Records Archives (TCCRA) was finally compiled and made available in September 2008 to scholars worldwide for academic research. At the present stage, the TCCRA consists of 5,645 volumes of reorganized judicial documents, including 4,139 volumes of civil case documents, 1,216 volumes of criminal case documents, and other judicial administrative documents. The archives comprise mainly originals of civil and criminal verdicts as well as notarized contracts. These data cover the entire Japanese colonial era (except for civil verdicts between 1895 and 1914) and concern the area in western Taiwan north of Chiayi geographically.