作為上訴機構的總理衙門與美國駐京公使──以“熙爾控楊泰記”上訴案為中心

上海公共租界會審公堂于同治十三年末（1875年初）審理的“熙爾控楊泰記案”自光緒二年（1876年）起經歷了曲折的上訴過程。美駐京公使同總理衙門作為上訴機構會同受理了該上訴案。總理衙門試圖將案件納入司法軌道處理，提出並運用頗有理據的證據法原理，而美駐京公使在證據弱勢的情況下，採取“交涉式司法”，將案件納入政治軌道。美駐京公使對關鍵性證據即“高橋輪船”租船契等避而不談，甚至不惜使用炮艦政策，要求清政府“官為保償”，即在上訴階段以外交手段最終將原訴請由楊泰記承擔的個人責任轉為政府責任。重要的是，美國通過其國內立法及同中國訂立的不平等條約等形式，在實踐中攫取在華領事裁判權和公使裁判權，在近代中國不僅設有領事法庭，還包括久被忽略的公使法庭。美公使法庭對自美駐滬領事法庭或上海會審公堂上訴的案件往往按處理國際關係問題的路徑或方式解決，這種作法不僅是一種政治交涉，更是美駐京公使行使域外管轄權和公使裁判權的具體表現。

The case Hill vs . Ta Kee, heard by the International Mixed Court at Shanghai in early 1875, went through a decades-long appeal process before the Tsungli Yamen & the United States legation at Peking from 1876. The Tsungli Yamen attempted to handle and settle the appeal case judicially, proposing and employing quite reasonable legal principles of evidence, whereas the American minister at Peking attempted to politicize the appeal case by resorting to ''negotiated justice'' on behalf of the appellant Charles E. Hill, an American merchant in China, who lacked sufficient documentary evidence to support his appeal. Various American ministers at Peking chose to ignore the fact that the appellant had no solid evidence, including the bill of sale and the charter party of the steamer Keor jeor, and instead sought to hold the Qing government responsible for the debt alleged by the appellant Hill, by employing ''gunboat diplomacy'', that is, transferring Ta Kee the appellee's individual responsibility (if any) to the government responsibility of Qing China. The case demonstrates that the United States obtained both consular and ministerial jurisdiction in late Qing China through domestic legislation and unequal treaties or conventions with China. Scholars have long overlooked the fact that the United States not only had consular courts in China, but also ran a ministerial court. Cases brought before the ministerial court from consular courts or the Shanghai mixed court were frequently handled and resolved as issues of international relations, and such resolution would be interpreted as both a political negotiation and the United States minister exercising extraterritorial or ministerial jurisdiction.