论中英两国政府处理林维喜事件的手法与态度

鸦片战争前夕 ,英国水手在中国领土上殴毙林维喜。对此 ,林则徐根据国际法准则要求英方交出凶犯 ,据理力争 ,有理有节。而义律作为英国驻华的高级官员 ,其所作所为 ,背离国际法原则 ,藐视中国法律尊严 ,也使英国声誉受到严重损害。义律在林维喜命案中设立的法庭与所进行的审讯是非法的 ,他的裁决当然也是无效的。

On the Approaches and Attitudes of the Chinese and British Governments in Dealing with the Lin Weixi Incident

When Lin Weixi, a Chinese villager, was beaten to death by British sailors on the eve of the Opium War, Lin Zexu demanded, in accordance with international legal principles, that the British sailors involved be handed over to the Chinese authorities. Yet Charles Elliot refused to comply. There is little doubt that the misconduct on the part of Elliot as a senior British official stationed in China seriously damaged the reputation of the British government, since by sneering at the Chinese law he contravened international law. The court he set up and the sentence passed by that court were of course illegal.