| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | 第1-5页 |
| ABSTRACT | 第5-7页 |
| 摘要 | 第7-8页 |
| CONTENTS | 第8-10页 |
| CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION | 第10-15页 |
| ·Motivation of the study | 第10-11页 |
| ·Statement of problems | 第11-12页 |
| ·Purpose of the study | 第12页 |
| ·Significance of the study | 第12-13页 |
| ·Organization and supplementary explanations of the study | 第13-15页 |
| ·Organization of the study | 第13-14页 |
| ·Supplementary explanations | 第14-15页 |
| CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW | 第15-22页 |
| ·Vagueness and its related concepts | 第15-18页 |
| ·Definition of vagueness | 第15-16页 |
| ·Vagueness and its related concepts | 第16-18页 |
| ·Summary | 第18页 |
| ·Previous studies on vagueness in legislative language | 第18-21页 |
| ·Previous studies abroad | 第18-19页 |
| ·Previous studies in China | 第19-21页 |
| ·Previous studies on vagueness in the language of the Chinese criminal legislation | 第21-22页 |
| CHAPTER THREE VAGUENESS IN LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE | 第22-39页 |
| ·A brief introduction to legislative language | 第22-24页 |
| ·What is legislative language? | 第22页 |
| ·Features of legislative language | 第22-24页 |
| ·Reasons of vagueness in legislative language | 第24-28页 |
| ·Inherent nature of language | 第24-26页 |
| ·Complexity and changeability of legal phenomena | 第26-28页 |
| ·Summary | 第28页 |
| ·Functions of vagueness in legislative language | 第28-39页 |
| ·Positive functions | 第29-33页 |
| ·Negative functions | 第33-38页 |
| ·Summary | 第38-39页 |
| CHAPTER FOUR VAGUENESS IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE CHINESE CRIMINALLEGISLATION | 第39-66页 |
| ·A brief introduction to the Chinese criminal legislation | 第39-42页 |
| ·Evolution of the criminal legislation | 第39-40页 |
| ·Features of the criminal legislation | 第40-42页 |
| ·Vagueness in the Chinese criminal legislation | 第42-56页 |
| ·Vagueness at the lexical level | 第43-48页 |
| ·Vagueness at the phrase-level | 第48-53页 |
| ·Vagueness at the clause-level | 第53-54页 |
| ·Summary | 第54-56页 |
| ·Vagueness and evolution of the Chinese criminal legislation | 第56-66页 |
| ·Role of evolution of criminal legislation in eliminating negative functions of vagueness | 第56-62页 |
| ·From the Criminal Act of the PRC (1979) to the Criminal Act of the PRC (1997) | 第57-58页 |
| ·Amendments to the Criminal Act of the PRC (1997) | 第58-59页 |
| ·Single criminal statutes | 第59-60页 |
| ·Legislative interpretations | 第60-62页 |
| ·Roles of evolution of the criminal legislation in carrying forward the positive functions of vagueness | 第62-64页 |
| ·Summary | 第64-66页 |
| CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION | 第66-69页 |
| ·Summary | 第66-67页 |
| ·Suggestions | 第67-68页 |
| ·Limitations and recommendations | 第68-69页 |
| REFERENCES | 第69-70页 |
