本文从法治的核心内容出发,论述了证据法对诉讼制度的重要意义以及证据是法治的基石的原理。作者认为,证据法具有普适性,证据法的大部分内容在人类所有的诉讼程序中都是相同的,只有极其微小的例外。相比之下,刑事诉讼法具有地方性,体现了不同的制度安排和设想。诉讼法是本土化的,属于地方性知识;像实体法一样,它反映了时间空间的特殊性。刑事程序不能与其周围因素隔绝开来而孤立地加以看待,而要分析政府的性质、政府与民众的适当关系以及个人利益的性质等。因此,研究美国刑事诉讼法,不能仅仅考察成文法律和案例,还要深入了解美国的历史、文化、经济以及其他影响因素。要理解美国刑事司法制度的实际运作,需要深入研究其法理和政治问题,包括:书本上的法律与实践中的法律之间的差别;程序法与实体法之间紧密的相互关系,特别是事实上程序法是实体法的载体,而非我们习惯上所认为的相反的情况;一般的历史,特别是种族关系和种族歧视问题;经济因素。 Based on the core content of the rule of law, this article discusses the significance of evidence law to litigation system and the principle that evidence is the cornerstone of the rule of law. The author believes that the law of evidence is universal, and much of the content of the law of evidence is the same in all human litigation procedures, with only very small exceptions. In contrast, the criminal procedure law is endemic and embodies different institutional arrangements and assumptions. The procedural law is local and belongs to local knowledge. Like substantive law, it reflects the particularity of time and space. Criminal procedures can not be isolated from their surrounding factors, but should be analyzed in isolation from the nature of the government, the proper relationship between the government and the public and the nature of individual interests. Therefore, to study the U.S. Code of Criminal Procedure, we should not only examine written laws and cases, but also understand the history, culture, economy and other factors in the United States. To understand the actual operation of the criminal justice system in the United States, it is necessary to study in depth its legal and political issues, including the differences between laws in law and those in practice, the close interrelationship between procedural law and substantive law, and especially the fact The procedural law is a carrier of substantive law, not the opposite of what we are accustomed to; the general history, especially the issue of racial relations and racial discrimination; economic factors.