译者序 1804年公布的《法国民法典》,也称《拿破仑法典》,是 1789年法国资产阶级大革命的产物。它是资产阶级国家最早 的一部民法典;经过一些修正后,它现在仍然施行于法国 法国在大革命后之所以亟欲制定民法典,是由于两个主 要的原因。第一,在此以前,法国的民法是不统一的,因而 它需要一部统一的民法典。第二,革命既已成功,必须除旧 布新,即通过成文法的制定来巩固资产阶级革命的胜利,并 为资本主义的发展在法律上奠定基础 (一)统一的民法典的需要 在法国大革命以前,尽管法国在政治上已经统一了很久, 在法律上却是很不统一的

Following the September 1 l terrorist attacks on New York and Wash ington, Congress rushed into action and quickly passed antiterrorism legis lation known as the USA Patriot Act. The Patriot Act has been widely understood as a\sweeping\ antiterrorism law that gave the government vast new powers to conduct electronic surveillance over the Internet The Act's surveillance provisions proved so controversial that Congress added a sunset provision that will nullify several of its key provisions after