Exc.1 Give your own definition of law in English

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Exc.1 Give your own definition of law in English.

Exc.2 Read and memorize the active vocabulary:

LAW - право, закон

lawful, a - законный

lawfully, adv. - на законном основании

lawfulness, n - законность, правомерность

lawless, a - противоправный, незаконный

lawyer, n - юрист, адвокат

unlawful, a - незаконный

lawsuit, n -судебный иск, тяжба

legal- законный, юридический

illegal, a - незаконный

legality, n - законность

legalization, n - придание законной силы

legalize, v - узаконивать

legalized, a - узаконенный

legally, adv. - по закону, юридически

legislate, v - издавать законы

legislation, n - законодательство

legislative, a - законодательный

legislatively, adv. - в законодательном порядке

legislator, n - законодатель

legislature, n - законодательная власть

legitimate, a - законный

legitimately, adv. - законно

legitimateness, n - законность

legitimation, n - узаконивание

legitimization, n- узаконивайте

legitimize, v - узаконивать

legitimacy, n - законность

Тема 2. Branches of law

Law can be divided into two main branches: (1) private law and (2) public law. Private law deals with the rights and obligations people have in their relations with one another. Public law concerns the rights and obligations people have as members of society and as citizens. Both private law and public law can be subdivided into several branches. However, the various branches ofpublic and private law are closely related, and in many cases they overlap.

Private law determines a person's legal rights and obligations in many kinds of activities that involve other people. Such activities include everything from borrowing or lending money to buying a home or signing a job contract.

The great majority of lawyers and judges spend most of their time dealing with private law matters. Lawyers handle most of these matters out of court. But numerous situations arise in which a judge or jury must decide if a person's private-law rights have been violated.

Private law can be divided into six major branches according to the kinds of legal rights and obligations involved. These branches are (1) contract and commercial law, (2) tort, (3) property law, (4) inheritance law, (5) fam ily law, and (6) company law. The dividing line between the various branches is not always clear, however. For example, many cases of property law also involve contract law.

Contract and commercial law deals with the rights and obligations of people who make contracts. A contract is an agreement between two or more persons that can be enforced by law. A wide variety of business activities depend on the use of contracts. A business firm makes contracts both with other firms, such as suppliers and transporters, and with private persons, such as cus- tomers and employees.

Tort is a wrong or injury that a person suffers because of someone else's action. The action may cause bodily harm; damage a person's property, business, or reputation; or make unauthorized use of a person's property. The victim may sue the person or persons responsible. The law of tort deals with the rights and obligations of the persons involved in such cases. Many torts are unintentional, such as causing damage in traffic accidents. But if a tort is deliberate and involves serious harm, it may be treated as a crime.

Property law governs the ownership and use of property. Property may be real, such as land and buildings, or personal, such as a car and clothing. The law ensures a person's right to own property. However, the owner must use the property lawfully. People also have the right to sell or lease their property and to buy or rent the property of others. Property law determines the rights and obligations involved in such dealings.

Inheritance law, or succession law, concerns the transfer of property upon the death of the owner. Nearly every country has basic inheritance laws, which list the relatives or other persons who have first rights of inheritance. But in most Western nations, people may will their property to persons other than those specified by law. In such cases, inheritance law also sets the rules for the making of wills.

Family law determines the legal rights and obligations of husbands and wives and of parents and children. It covers such matters as marriage, divorce, adoption, and child support.

Company law governs the formation and operation of business corporations or companies. It deals mainly with the powers and obligations of management and the rights of shareholders. Company law is often classed together with contract and commercial law as business law.

Public law involves government directly. It defines a person's rights and obligations in relation to government. Public law also describes the various divisions of qovernment and their powers.

Public law can be divided into four branches: (1) criminal law, (2) constitutional law, (3) administrative law, and (4) international law. In many cases, the branches of public law, like those of private law, overlap. For example, a violation of administrative law may also be a violation of criminal law.

Criminal law deals with crimes—that is, actions considered harmful to society. Crimes range in seriousness from disorderly conduct to murder. Criminal law defines these offences and sets the rules for the arrest the possible trial, and the punishment of offenders. Law that is not criminal law is defined as civil law, although this also has another meaning, discussed later. Some crimes are also torts and the victim may sue for damages under civil law.

In the majority of countries, the central government makes most of the criminal laws. In some countries, such as Australia and the United States, each state, as well as the federal government, has its own set of criminal laws. However, the criminal laws of each state must protect the rights and freedoms guaranteed by federal constitutional law.

Constitutional law. A constitution is a set of rules and principles that define the powers of a government and fc:the rights of the people. The principles outlined in a constitution form the basis of constitutional law. The law also includes official rulings on how a constitution's principles are to be interpreted and carried out.

Most nations have a written constitution. A major exception is Great Britain. The British constitution is un'written. It consists of all the documents and traditions that have contributed to Britain's form of government. In most democracies, the national constitution takes first place over all other laws.

Conflicts between a constitution and other laws are se ttled by constitutional law. In many countries, the courts have the power of judicial review, under which they may overturn any laws judged to be unconstitu tional.

Administrative law centres on the operations of government departments. Administrative law is one of the most complicated branches of law.

Governments set up many administrative depart rnents to do the work of government. They deal with such matters as education, public health, and taxation. Other departments administer social welfare provisions, such as pensions and social security. In most cases, the departments are established in the executive branch of government under powers granted by the legislature. Administrative law consists chiefly of (1) the legal powers granted to administrative departments by the legislature and (2) the rules that the departments make to carry out their powers. Administrative law also includes court rulings in cases between the departments and private citizens.

International law deals with the relationships among nations both in war and in peace. It concerns trade, communications, boundary disputes, methods of warfare, the uses of the ocean, and many other matters. Laws to regulate international relations have been developed over the centuries by customs and treaties. But international law, unlike other branches of law, is difficult to enforce.

Exc.1 Read and memorize the active vocabulary:

OFFENCE - правонарушение

offend, v - нарушать право

offender, n - нарушитель права, правонарушитель

offendress, n - правонарушительница

offense, n - правонарушение(амер.)

offensive, ft - наступление

PROSECUTE - преследовать в судебном порядке

prosecutable, a - подлежащий судебному порядку

prosecuting, n - преследование

prosecution, n - обвинение

prosecutive, a - обвинительный

prosecutor, n - обвинитель

prosecutorial, a - относящийся к обвинению

prosecutrix, n - обвинительница

Тема 3. Systems of law

Every independent country has its own legal system. The systems vary according to each country's social traditions and form of government. But most systems can be classed as either (1) a common-law system or (2) a civil-law system. Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Great Britain (except Scotland), the United States, and other English-speaking countries have a common-law system. Most other countries have a civil-law system. Many countries combine features of both systems.

Common-law systems are based largely on case law —that is, on court decisions. The common-law system began in England many hundreds of years ago. The English called their system the common law because it applied throughout the land.

English common law developed from the rules and principles that judges traditionally followed in deciding court cases. Judges based their decisions on legal prec edents—that is, on earlier court rulings in similar cases. But judges could expand precedents to make them suit particular cases. They could-also overrule (reject) any precedents that they considered to be in error or outdated. In this way, judges changed many laws over the years. The common law thus came to be law made by judges.

However, some common-law principles proved too precious to change. For example, a long line of hard-won precedents defended the rights and liberties of citizens against the unjust use of government power. England—and the other common-law countries—have kept these principles almost unchanged. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, and other countries that were colonized by England based their legal systems on the common law. Case law is still important in common-law countries. However, the lawmaking role of legislatures in these countries has increased greatly during the 1900’s. The changes have dealt with such matters as employee management relations, workers' wages and hours, and environmental protection. Nevertheless, common-law countries have kept the basic feature of the English legal system, which is the power of judges to make laws. In addition, constitutional law in these countries continues the common-law tradition of defending the people's rights and liberties.

Civil-law systems are based mainly on statutes (legislative acts). The majority of civil-law countries have assembled their statutes into one or more carefully organized collections called codes. Most modern law codes can be traced back to the famous code commissioned by the Roman emperor Justinian I in the A.D. 500’s. Justinian's code updated and summarized the whole of Roman law. It was called the Corpus Juris Civilis, meaning Body of Civil Law. For this reason, legal systems that are based on the Roman system of statute and code law are known as civil-law systems. This use of the term civil law should not be confused with its use as an alternative term for criminal law.

In civil-law countries, such as France, Germany, and Mexico, the statutes, not the courts, provide the final answer to any question of law. Judges may refer to precedents in making their decisions. But they must base every decision on a particular statute and not on precedent alone.

Other systems. Many countries have patterned their legal system after both civil law and common law. For example, Japan and most Latin-American nations have assembled all their private law into a code. But public law in these countries has been greatly influenced by common-law principles, especially those that guarantee the rights and liberties of the people.

In China, where a billion people still live under Communist rule, the Ministry of Justice and the court system administer public, economic, and criminal laws. A procedure exists for handling private law cases, but no private law has been adopted by the state. Laws must conform to the Communist policies of China's leaders.

The court system

A. Civil courts

Both criminal and civil courts in England and Wales primarily hear evidence and aim to determine what exactly happened in a case. Broadly speaking, the lower courts decide matters of fact and the upper courts normally deal with points of law. In England, simple civil actions, for example family matters such as undefended divorce, are normally heard in either the Magistrates’ Courts or the County Courts.

Judges have different titles depending on their experience, training, and level. A single stipendiary magistrate or three lay magistrates sit in the Magistrates’ Court. There’s no jury in a Magistrates’ Court. Family cases may go on appeal from the Magistrates’ Court to the County Courts. The County Court also hears complex first instance civil cases, such as contract disputes, compensation claims, consumer complaints about faulty goods or services, and bankruptcy cases. Claimants, previously referred to as plaintiffs, may seek a legal remedy for some harm or injury they have suffered. There are circuit judges and recorders who sit in the County Courts, usually without a jury. Juries are now rare in civil actions, so normally the judge considers both law and fact.

More complex civil cases, such as the administration of estates and actions for the recovery of land, are heard in the High Court of Justice, which is divided into three divisions: Family, Chancery and Queen’s Bench. The court has both original, that is, first instance, and appellate jurisdiction. From the High Court cases may go on appeal to the civil division of the Court of Appeal, which can reverse or uphold a decision of the lower courts. Its decisions bind all the lower civil courts. Civil cases may leapfrog from the High Court to the House of Lords, bypassing the Court of Appeal, when points of law of general public importance are involved. Appellants must, however, apply for leave to appeal. Decisions of the House of Lords are binding on all other courts but not necessarily on itself. The court of the House of Lords consists of twelve life peers appointed from judges and barristers. The quorum, or minimum number, of law lords for an appeal hearing is normally three, but generally there is a sitting of five judges.

Note: A stipendiary is a full-time paid magistrate who has qualified as a lawyer.

A lay magistrate is unpaid and is an established member of the local community.

A circuit is a geographical division for legal purposes; England and Wales are divided into six.

A recorder is a part-time judge with ten years standing as a barrister or solicitor.

B. Criminal courts

About 95% of all criminal cases in England and Wales are tried in the Magistrates’ Courts, which deal with petty crimes, that is, less serious ones. In certain circumstances, the court may commit an accused person to the Crown Court for more severe punishment, either by way of a fine or imprisonment. Except in cases of homicide, children under 14 and young persons – that is, minors between 14 and 17 years of age – must always be tried summarily, meaning without a jury, by a Youth Court. A Youth Court is a branch of the Magistrates’ Court. Indictable offences, that is, more serious ones such as theft, assault, drug dealing, and murder, are reserved for trial in the Crown Court. In almost all criminal cases, the State, in the name of the Crown, prosecutes a person alleged to have committed a crime. In England and Wales, a jury of twelve people decides whether the defendant is guilty of the crime she or he is charged with. The Crown Court may hear cases in circuit areas. From the Crown Court, appeal against conviction or sentence lies to the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal. If leave to appeal is granted by that court, cases may go on appeal to the House of Lords.

What are crimes?

It is very important to know which acts are criminal.

Offenses Against Society

The most fundamental characteristic of a crime is that it is a punishable offense against society. Consequently, when a crime occurs, society, acting through such employees as the police and prosecutors, attempts to identify, arrest, prosecute, and punish the criminal.

Elements of Crimes

Before anyone can be convicted of a crime, three elements usually must be proved at the trial. They are:

1. a duty to do or not to do a certain thing,

2. a violation of the duty, and

3. criminal intent.

Duty. The duty to do or not to do a certain thing usually is described by statutes which prohibit certain conduct. Generally only conduct that is serious – involving violence or theft of property – is classified as an offense against society and therefore criminal.

Violation of the Duty. The breach of duty must also be proved in a criminal trial. This is the specific conduct by the defendant, which violates the duty. For example, battery is always a crime. Criminal battery is often defined in statutes as «the intentional causing of corporal harm». Corporal harm means bodily harm. A breach of this duty could be established in a trial by the testimony of a witness.

Criminal Intent. The third element, criminal intent, generally means that the defendant intended to commit the act and intended to do evil.

A few crimes do not require criminal intent. These are generally less serious crimes, for which a jail sentence is very unlikely. Traffic offenses fall within this classification. You may not have intended to speed or have intended evil but you have still committed this crime.

Today, statutes of most states fix the age of criminal liability at 18, but the figure ranges from 16 to 19. Statutes often provide that minors as young as 13 or 16 may be tried and punished as adults if they are accused of serious crimes such as murder. Generally, however, what is a crime for adults is juvenile delinquency for minors.

Ignorance or mistake is generally no excuse for violating a law. A person is presumed to know what the law is. To have criminal intent, one must have sufficient mental capacity at the time one commits a crime to know the difference between right and wrong and to be capable of deciding what to do. Accordingly, insane persons are not held liable for their criminal acts. Normally neither voluntary intoxication nor drug abuse is a good defense against a criminal charge.

HOW ARE CRIMES CLASSIFIED?

Crimes may be classified in various ways. One type of classification is given below:

1. crimes against a person (murder, assault and battery, kidnapping, rape),

2. crimes against property (robbery, hijacking, embezzlement, receiving stolen property),

3. crimes against the government and the administration of justice (treason, tax evasion, bribery, counterfeiting, perjury),

4. crimes against public peace and order (rioting, carrying weapons, drunk and disorderly conduct, illegal speeding),

5. crimes against buildings (burglary, arson, criminal trespass),

6. crimes against consumers (fraudulent sale of wild cat securities), or

7.crimes against decency (bigamy, obscenity, prostitution, sexual harassment).

Crimes are classified in terms of their seriousness as felonies or misdemeanors.

Felonies

A felony is a crime of a serious nature. It exists when the act:

1) is labeled so by law or

2) is punishable by death or confinement for more than one year in prison.

Murder, kidnapping, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, embezzlement, forgery, larceny (also called theft) of large sums, and perjury are examples of felonies. A person who lies when under oath commits perjury.

Misdemeanors

A misdemeanor is a crime of a less serious nature. It is usually punishable 1) by confinement in a jail for less than one year, 2) by fine, or 3) by both confinement and fine. Crimes such as drunkenness in public, driving an automobile at an illegal speed, shoplifting, and larceny of small sums are usually misdemeanors. A lesser misdemeanor is known as infraction. Parking overtime on metered parking, failing to clear snow from sidewalks, and littering are examples of infractions. Ordinarily, no jury is allowed in cases involving infractions because the punishment is no more than a fine.

Larceny

Larceny (commonly known as theft) is the wrongful taking of money or personal property belonging to someone else. Variations of larceny include robbery (taking property person in immediate presence and against the victim’s will, and by force or by causing fear) and burglary (entering a building with the intent to commit a crime). Other types of larceny include shoplifting, pickpocketing, and purse snatching.

Receiving Stolen Property

Knowingly receiving stolen property is an offense separate from larceny. It consists of receiving, concealing, or buying property known to be stolen, with intentto deprive the rightful owner of the property. One who receives stolen property is known as a fence. Special statutes deal with the fencing of types of property that are commonly stolen, such as motor vehicles and valuable airplane, ship, or truck cargoes.

Forgery

Forgery is falsely making or altering any writing (for example the signature of another person). In forgery there must be intent to defraud either the person whose name is signed or someone else. The most common forgeries are found on checks when one has signed another’s name without permission to do so. Forgery is usually a felony.

Bribery

Bribery is offering or giving to a government official money or anything of value which the official was not authorized to receive in order to influence performance of an official duty. Accepting the money or offer is also bribery.

Extortion

Extortion (commonly known as blackmail) is obtaining money or other property from a person by wrongful use of force, fear, or the power of office. The extortionist (blackmailer) may threaten to inflict bodily injury on the victim or a close relative of the victim. Sometimes the extortionist threatens to expose a secret crime if payment is not made. Kidnapping is a related crime.

Conspiracy

Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to do an unlawful criminal act, or to do a lawful act by unlawful means. Usually the agreement is secret. Depending on the circumstances, the crime may be either a felony or a misdemeanor.

Computer Crime

Society has only recently addressed the problems of crimes made possible by the computer revolution. One problem involves the stealing of valuable information from other persons’ computers.

Тема 10. A Famous criminal.

Jack the Ripper

“Jack the Ripper” is an alias given to an unidentified serial killer who killed a number of prostitutes in the East End of London in 1888. The name originates from a letter written by someone who claimed to be the killer published at the time of the murders. The killings took place within a mile area and involved the districts of Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Aldgate, and the City of London proper. He was also called the Whitechapel Murderer and “Leather Apron”. The lack of a confirmed identity for the killer has allowed Ripperologists – the term used within the field for the authors, historians and amateur detectives who study the case – to accuse a wide variety of individuals of being the Ripper.

It is unclear just how many women the Ripper killed. It is generally accepted that he killed five, though some have written that he murdered only four while others say seven or more. Attacks ascribed to the Ripper typically involved female prostitutes from the slums whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. The autopsies constantly revealed clear indications that the victims had been strangled. Usually he took a piece of the victim’s viscera. The removal of internal organs from at least three of the victims led to proposals that their killer possessed anatomical or surgical knowledge. Rumours that the murders were connected intensified in September and October 1888, and letters from a writer or writers purporting to be the murderer were received by media outlets and Scotland Yard. The “From Hell” letter included half of a preserved human kidney, supposedly from one of the victims. Mainly because of the extraordinarily brutal character of the murders, and because of media treatment of the events, the public came increasingly to believe in a single serial killer known as “Jack the Ripper”.

Butchers, slaughterers, surgeons and physicians were suspected because of the manner of the mutilations. The Ripper was never caught and the mysteries surrounding this killer create an intellectual puzzle that people still want to solve.

At the time of the murders and for the next few years, a lot was written about the murders. The FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit did a criminal profile of the Ripper and aspects of the murders were discussed in various professional journals. After more than a hundred years the case is still fascinating, and results are still being gotten through research. The future may or may not reveal the Ripper’s name.

Andrei Chikatilo, 1936 – 1994 (The Rostov Ripper)

Andrei Chikatilo, one of the world’s worst serial killers, murdered up to 53 young girls and boys in Russia starting in 1982 and ending in 1990, when he was captured. Starting from June 1982 the bodies of his victims were found in the Ukraine. They contained a numerous amount of stab wounds, and their eyes were ripped off. The fact that the information about the series of crimes was not published for fear of panic and embarrassment made it difficult to catch the killer. But the detectives managed to link the cases and realized that the killer lured his victims at the train station in town. The stations were then monitored by plain-clothes detectives, looking for any suspicious behaviour. Chikatilo was discovered in the train station trying to pick up children. The police apprehended him and searched his bag. They found a rope, dirty towels and a kitchen knife. But the blood tests seemed to indicate that he was not involved in the series of crimes. Chikatilo was then released.

A profile of the killer was compiled by a leading Russian psychologist. He called the killer “Citizen X” and concluded that X possibly had a wife and children (which was later confirmed). He called the killer a sadist, and mutilating his victims was some form of dominance.

Years later Chikatilo was detained again. He admitted to at least 53 murders and also led police to some undiscovered victims. Chikatilo’s reasons for gouging at his victims eyes was that he believed that the victims eyes kept an image of the killer in them after. Chikatilo spent his 6-months trial in a steel cage. He was found legally sane and sentenced to death. He was executed by a gunshot to the head in 1994.

Osama Bin Laden (b. 1957)

Osama Bin Muhammed bin Awad bin Laden was born in Saudi Arabia in 1957 – the 17^th of 52 children, born into Saudi Arabia’s wealthiest construction family. In 1979 Bin Laden graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and in the same year his violent terrorist roots were formed when he joined the mujahadeen movement in Afghanistan.

During 1986 –1989, Bin Laden established the now notorious “Al Quaeda” network – an organization of ex-mujahadeen, with a murderous mission to provide fighters and funds for the Afghan armed struggle. As a result of the increasingly violent policies, allegedly dictated by Bin Laden, there followed a series of terrorist actions across the globe. The first was an explosion in a hotel in Aden and then the New York World Trade Centre bombing in 2001. Bin Laden is now on a mission to promote his terrorist ideas in the name of Islam, driven by his belief that violence is the only policy. His fanatical terrorist views include the concept of suicide attacks.

Bin Laden’s Jihad (holy war) reached a peak in 2001, resulting in the world’s most devastating terrorist outrage – destruction of the New York World Trade Centre and an attack on the Pentagon in Washington on Sept 11^th, where 3,500 souls perished.

Bin Laden has enormous personal wealth and he could spend his life in tranquil luxury, but he has chosen to support violent terrorist groups. It could be argued he has symptoms of a control freak. It is interesting to observe that although he is only in his fifties, he looks much older and walks with a curved back and with a walking stick. This may be a classic example of somebody who is physically inferior but seeks power and violence as a substitute.

From Russia, With Love