“法制”可用于法律制度的简称,可以指相对于经济制度、政治制度的“法律的制度”。但这种表述是一般语义上的使用,不应成为“法制”在法律科学上的定义。“法制”是基于法律制度而形成的社会法律秩序的总和,是法律秩序结构中与社会发展要求相辅相成或相反相离的矛盾关系。“法治”是相对于“人治”的一定社会历史阶段的法现象,而“法制”是凡有法律制度的社会都存在,不以法律性质的良恶好坏而影响其存在。早在中国春秋时期和西方古希腊、古罗马时代,就有许多思想家探讨“法治”问题。但是现在有人主张,“法治”只是随着资产阶级革命及资产阶级宪法的产生才开始确立。 “法制”与“法治”的区别主要在于: 其一、“法制”所关注的焦点是体现立法效应及目的的法律秩序的制约系统。而“法治”强调 The “legal system” may be used for the short form of the legal system and refers to the “legal system” of the economic system and the political system. However, such statements are generally semantic use and should not be defined as “legal” in the legal science. The “legal system” is the sum of social legal order formed based on the legal system. It is the contradictory relationship between the legal order structure and the social development requirements. The “rule of law” is a legal phenomenon at a certain social and historical stage relative to “rule by the people,” while the “legal system” is a society where all legal systems exist and does not affect its existence in terms of its legal nature. As early as in China during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Western ancient Greece and ancient Rome, many thinkers discussed the issue of “rule of law.” However, some people now argue that the “rule of law” only began to be established with the bourgeois revolution and the bourgeois constitution. The main difference between “legal system” and “rule of law” lies in: First, the focus of “legal system” is the restriction system of the legal order that reflects the legislative effect and purpose. The “rule of law” emphasizes