Legal English - 1
CHAPTER I LAW
Unit 1 Introduction to Law
Before you read
Discuss these questions.
1 Why is law necessary in communities?
2 What could you do if there were no laws?
3 What does The law of the jungle mean? Give your own example.
4 Why do people take the law into their own hand?
5 Which laws are most often broken in Russia?
Introduction to Law
In the opinion of many people, the law is a necessary evil that should be used only when everyday informal ways of settling disputes break down. If our neighbour plays loud music late at night, we probably try to discuss the matter with him rather than consulting the police, lawyers or the courts. Only when we are injured in a train accident, or when a neighbour refuses to behave reasonably, do we start thinking about the legal implications of everyday activities.
Even so, some transactions in modern society are so complex that few of us would risk making them without first seeking legal advice; for example, buying or selling a house, setting up a business, or deciding whom to give our property to when we die. In some societies, such as the United States, precise written contracts, lawyers, and courts of law have become a part of daily life, whereas in others, such as Japan, lawyers are few and people tend to rely on informal ways of solving disagreements. It is interesting that two highly industrialized societies should be so different in this respect.
On the whole it seems that people all over the world are becoming more and more accustomed to using legal means to regulate their relations with each other. Multinational companies employ expensive experts to ensure them their contracts are valid wherever they do business. Non-industrialized tribes in South America use lawyers in order to try to stop governments from destroying the rainforests in which they live. In the former Soviet republics where law was long regarded as merely a function of political power, ordinary citizens nowadays challenge the decisions of their governments in courts of law. And at a time when workers, refugees, commodities and environmental pollution are travelling around the world faster than ever before, there are increasing attempts to internationalize legal standards. When it helps ordinary people to reach just agreements across social, economic and international barriers, law seems to be regarded as a good thing. However, when it involves time and money and highlights people`s inability to cooperate informally, law seems to be an evil but a necessary one that everyone should have a basic knowledge of.
Vocabulary
accident n
behave reasonably
break down v (); ()
challenge the decisions
commodity, n commodities n pl ,
|
|
|
contract n ; ; valid contract
;
court n ; ; court of law ,
discuss the matter
environmental pollution n
implication n 1 , ; 2 ; ; ; legal
implication /;
inability n - /
injure v ;
law n 1 ; 2
lawyer n ; ;
legal means n
police n ; ; consult the police
political power ,
property n 1 ; 2
reach a just agreement ()
()
refugee n ;
seek (sought, sought) legal advice ;
set up (a business) ()
settle dispute
solve disagreement ,
transaction n ; ;
tribe n ;
Reading tasks
A Comprehension check.
1 Markthese statements T (true) or F (false) according to the information in the text.
a Japanese prefer written agreements to informal ones.
b There are more lawyers in the United States than in Japan.
c Contracts and courts of law are a part of ordinary people`s daily life in all
industrialized countries.
d There are increasing attempts to internationalize legal standards.
2 Give examples of the growing uses of law throughout the world.
B Answer these questions.
1 What do people think of law?
2 In what circumstances do people think of their everyday activities as legal matters?
3 Are laws for lawyers or for ordinary people?
4 What will you do if your neighbour plays loud music at night? Will you go to the court?
5 How do people solve problems in the United States and in Japan?
6 Why do multinational companies employ expensive experts in law?
7 In your opinion, is law merely a function of political power?
8 Can ordinary citizens challenge the decisions of their governments? How?
9 Why do people increase attempts to internationalize legal standards?
10 When is law regarded as a bad thing?
11 Are there any laws in Russia that you would like to change or introduce?
Language focus
Put the verb in brackets into the correct form, present simple, past simple or present perfect.
It is obvious to everyone that, in a community such as the one in which we 1) _______ (live), some kind of law is necessary. When the world was at a very primitive stage, there 2) _____ (be) no such law. But, for a very long time now, members of every community 3) _______ (make) laws for themselves in self-protection.
Every day of our lives we are restrained and guided by law. It 4) _______ (protect) us while it 5) _________ (restrict) us. Sometimes it 6) _______ (punish) us. It 7) _______(determine) the registration of our births and the distribution of our possessions at death. It tells us how fast we 8) _______ (can) drive and how long we 9) ______ (must) attend school.
|
|
|
Every country 10) _______ (try), therefore, to provide laws which will help its people to live safely and as comfortably as possible. This is not at all an easy thing to do, and no country 11) _______ (be) successful in producing laws which are entirely satisfactory. But we are far better off with the imperfect laws which we 12) _______ (have), than if we had none at all.
Vocabulary tasks
A Match the English words and expressions with their Russian equivalents.
1 law a
2 settle a dispute b
3 negotiations broke down c
4 consult the police d
5 lawyer e
6 court f
7 accident g
8 legal implication h
B Find in the text the English equivalents for the following words and expressions.
1
2
3
4 ,
5
6
7
C Completethe text with the words and phrases from the box.
| agreements conduct enforcement lawless promoting legislature power personal safety property punishing |
A law is a norm for 1) ______. Law embodies the 2) _______ that a political society has made about how life in that community is to be lived. Law is a method for 3) _____ whatever values a community wishes to achieve protection of 4) _______, assurance of 5) _______, clean streets, equal treatment of all races, 6) _______ of contracts. In a 7) _______ community, persons must protect their own lives and property. But law takes over the task of protection by forbidding acts that are socially disapproved, and 8) _______ those acts when they are committed. The first and fundamental positive law of all communities is the establishing of the 9) _______.
D Complete the following text by translating the words and expressions in brackets.
Use the correct form of the appropriate words and phrases from the box.
| flourish sanction live securely libel enforce threaten murder forbid European Union income tax protect make wills international bodies impose restrictions enforce laws disobey the rules pay compensation broken settle disputes govern |
The Aims of Law
Law has several aims. They are all concerned with making society more stable and enabling people to (1 ). The law forbids certain ways of behaving like (2 , 3 ),and requires others,like paying (4 ). If people (5 ) the law threatens them with something unpleasant (often called a (6 )), like being punished or having to (7 ). The idea is that within this framework of dos and donts people can (8 ). If they are more secure they will treat one another better.
A second aim is the following. Laws guarantee to people who buy and sell goods, (9 ), form companies and so on that the state will if necessary (10 ) these arrangements.
A third aim is to (11 ) about what the law is and whether it (12 ). Taking these three aims together, we see that law not only (13 ) those who do what it (14 ) but promises to (15 ) peoples interests. It (16 ) on them but also gives them certain guarantees.
Lastly, a very important aim of law is to settle what the system of government is to be. Today and for the last few hundred years we have been mainly (17 ) by sovereign states. That is changing. We are now increasingly governed, indirectly or directly, by (18 ), for example the (19 ). But the state still occupies centre stage, especially when it comes to (20 ).
|
|
|
E Collocations
1 Look at the expressions in the box below.
Which means
a suspected of having committed a crime?
b she doesnt follow rules?
c we are all equal in the eyes of the law?
d take revenge without using the legal system?
e bossing people about?
f what I say must be respected?
g illegal?
h obeying and respecting the law?
i legally?
|
2 Complete these sentences with the expressions in 1.
a After years as a ________ citizen, John decided to rob a bank and flee the country.
b Policeman: You were doing 160 kilometres per hour.
Prince: Yes, but do you know who I am?
Policeman: Yes, but ________.
c There was a constable here earlier. I think Marks ________ again!
d I was tempted to ________ and wring his neck.
e Do this! Do that! Be back by 10! My father was always ________.
f You can never tell what Ruths going to do. Shes ________.
g Im the boss and ________.
h Most Europeans are required ________ to carry ID cards.
i In some countries its ________ to chew gum.
Discussion
Look at the proposals for laws below. Discuss with your group which would affect you personally. Which of these laws would make the world a better place?
a No one should work more than a 32-hour week.
b Shops should all be open 24 hours a day.
c Cars should be banned from city centres.
d The dropping of chewing gum should be forbidden.
e Mobile phones should not be used in public areas.
Over to you
Society can do without lawyers.
Write a paragraph containing two arguments for and two against this statement. Then discuss your answer with other students.
Unit 2 What Law Is
Before you read
Discuss these questions.
1 What is your understanding of law?
2 What categories of law are known to you?
3 Are laws always sufficient? Give your own examples of perfect and imperfect laws.
4 In your opinion, are laws always fair?
Definitions
Study the dictionary definitions of LAW. Translate them into Russian. Which of them do you consider the most suitable?
1 All the rules established by authority or custom for regulating the behaviour of members of a community or country.
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English
2 The whole system of rules that citizens of a country or place must obey.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Longman Business English Dictionary
3 The regime that orders human activities and relations through systematic application of the force of politically organized society, or through social pressure, backed by force, in such a society; the legal system.
Blacks Law Dictionary
What Is Law?
The English word law refers to limits upon various forms of behaviour.
Some laws are descriptive: they simply describe how people, or even natural phenomena, usually behave. An example is the rather consistent law of gravity; another is the less consistent laws of economics. Other laws are prescriptive they prescribe how people ought to behave. For example, the speed limits imposed upon drivers are laws that prescribe how fast we should drive. They rarely describe how fast we actually do drive, of course.
Social Morality, Rules and Laws
In all societies, relations between people are regulated by prescriptive laws. Some of them are customs that is, informal rules of social and moral behaviour. Some are rules we accept if we belong to particular social institutions, such as religious, educational and cultural groups. And some are precise laws made by nations and enforced against all citizens within their power. It is important to consider to what extent such laws can be distinguished from customs and social rules.
|
|
|
Customs need not be made by governments, and they need not be written down. We learn how we are expected to behave in society through the instruction of family and teachers, the advice of friends, and our experiences in dealing with strangers. Sometimes, we can break these rules without suffering any penalty. But if we continually break the rules, or break a very important one, other members of society may ridicule us, criticize us, act violently toward us or refuse to have anything to do with us. The ways in which people talk, eat and drink, work, and relax together are usually guided by many such informal rules which have very little to do with laws created by governments.
The rules of social institutions tend to be more formal than customs, carrying precise penalties for those who break them. They are not, however, enforceable by any political authority. Sports clubs, for example, often have detailed rules for their members. But if a member breaks a rule and refuses to accept any punishment, the club may have no power other than to ask him or her to leave the club.
However, when governments make laws for their citizens, they use a system of courts backed by the power of the police to enforce these laws. Of course, there may be instances where the law is not enforced against someone - such as when young children commit crimes, when the police have to concentrate on certain crimes and therefore ignore others, or in countries where there is so much political corruption that certain people are able to escape justice by using their money or influence. But the general nature of the law is that it is enforced equally against all members of the nation.
Government-made laws are nevertheless often patterned upon informal rules of conduct already existing in society, and relations between people are regulated by a combination of all these rules. Governments often consider anti-social behaviour not simply as a matter between two individuals but as a danger to the well-being and order of society as a whole.
What motives do governments have in making and enforcing laws? Social control is undoubtedly one purpose. Public laws establish the authority of the government itself, and civil laws provide a framework for interaction among citizens. Without laws, it is argued, there would be anarchy in society (although anarchists themselves argue that human beings would be able to interact peacefully without laws if there were no governments to interfere in our lives).
Another purpose is the implementation of justice. Justice is a concept that most people feel it very important but few are able to define. Sometimes a just decision is simply a decision that most people feel is fair. But will we create a just society by simply observing public opinion? If we are always fair to majorities, we will often be unfair to minorities. If we do what seems to be fair at the moment, we may create unfairness in the future. What should the court decide, for example, when a man kills his wife because she has a painful illness and begs him to help her die? It seems unjust to find him guilty of the crime, yet if we do not, isnt there a danger that such mercy-killing will become so widespread that abuses will occur? Many philosophers have proposed concepts of justice that are much more theoretical than everyday notions of fairness. And sometimes governments are influenced by philosophers, such as the French revolutionaries who tried to implement Montesquieus doctrine of the Separation of Powers. But in general, governments are guided by more practical considerations such as rising crime rates or the lobbying of pressure groups.
Sometimes laws are simply an attempt to implement common sense. It is obvious to most people that dangerous driving should be punished; that fathers should provide financial support for their children if they desert their families; that a person should be compensated for losses when someone else breaks an agreement with him or her. But in order to be enforced, common sense needs to be defined by law, and when definitions are being written, it becomes clear that common sense is not such a simple matter. Instead, it is a complex skill based upon long observation of many different people in different situations. Laws based upon common sense dont necessarily look much like common sense when they have been put into words!
|
|
|
In practice, governments are neither institutions solely interested in retaining power, nor clear-thinking bodies implementing justice and common sense. They combine many purposes and inherit many traditions. The laws that they make and enforce, reflect this confusion.
The laws made by the government of one country are often very different from the laws of another country. Law today is, to a large extent, a complex of different and relatively independent national systems.
Vocabulary
abuse n
anarchy n
argue v , , , ; it is
argued
assertion n
clear-thinking adj
commit crime v
common sense n
concept n
confusion n
consider v , , , , ;
consideration n
consistent adj ,
defined by law
descriptive adj
desert v , ; ()
doctrine n ,
economics n
enforce v ,
; enforced ,
establish v
to a large extent
framework n , , , ,
guide v , ; be guided by
implement v ,
implementation n ; implementation of justice
impose v (), , , ,
inherit v
interaction n
justice n ,
law n ,
law of gravity
lobby (in Parliament) n , ; lobbying ,
;
mercy killing n , ,
minority n
motive n ,
nation n , ,
necessarily adv
notion n ,
painful illness ,
penalty n
phenomenon n ; phenomena n pl
precise adj
prescriptive adj
pressure group n ,
propose v ,
public laws n ( )
retain v ,
revolutionary n
ridicule v
rule n ,
skill n , , , ; skilled (highly trained)
solely adv ,
tend v ,
well-being n ,
within their power / ;
Reading tasks
A Comprehension check.
1 Give your own example of a descriptive law and a prescriptive law.
2 Mark these statements T (true) or F (false) according to the information in the text.
a Social customs and rules are both enforced by governments.
b Many laws reflect social customs.
c Unlike social customs, laws are usually international.
d In all societies relations between people are regulated by customs and traditions.
e The speed limits imposed on a driver is an example of a prescriptive law.
f In general it is very easy to escape justice.
g Both customs and rules are enforced by governments.
B Answer these questions.
1 What does the word law refer to?
2 What is a descriptive/prescriptive law?
3 What is understood by prescriptive laws in all societies?
4 What is the difference between a custom and a law?
5 Do governments have any motives in making laws?
6 What are four possible influences on a government when it is making a law?
7 What considerations are governments guided by in law-making?
8 What does common sense have to do with laws?
9 Why do some laws appear to differ from common sense?
10 What kind of institutions are governments?
11 Are the laws nationally oriented?
Language focus
A Translate the following expressionsinto Russian payingspecial attention to the past participle.
1 laws made by the governments
2 customs used by people
3 relations regulated by
4 laws accepted by the society
5 laws enforced by the police and courts
6 crimes ignored by the police
B Combine these three parts into sentences using the suitable modal verb.
| aobey the laws | ||
| must | bprotect people | |
| 1Citizens | should | cgo to school every day |
| 2Children | have to | dbehave properly |
| 3The police | ought to | ebe attentive |
| fknow the customs of the country |
C Put the verb into the correct form, present, future, past simple or present perfect.
The fact that English law 1) _______(function) without major revolutions for upwards of nine hundred years is one of the great stabilizing factors of the English legal and political traditions. Of course there has been constant change throughout the centuries. But because change 2) _______(be) gradual most people 3) _______(feel) a sense of security in their personal and political lives. As time 4) ______(pass), however, it 5) ______(become) necessary to adopt rules governing the conduct of individuals toward one another. Certain laws were enacted. The purpose of law 6) ______(be) to bring some measure of order, of predictability into what would otherwise be the chaos of community living. It 7) ______ (give) protection to property. It 8) ______(ensure) that individuals rights are guaranteed by rules laid down in advance. Law is defined as any rule that society 9) _______(enforce).
Law generally 10) ______(represent) the developing common morality of human beings. There 11) ______(be) a close relationship between law and morality. Law not only 12) ______(have) its origin in morality, but also is easier to enforce when citizens 13) ______ (yield) to government for moral reasons.
Vocabulary tasks
A The word AUTHORITY has the following meanings in Russian:
supreme authority
