Visiting the official site of the uk Parliament – www.Parliament.Uk

On the first page of the official site you will see a number of links which will bring you the necessary information you request.

The upper line represents the major parts of the site but the following selection is offered here.

I. Down on your right you will see a column of links “House of Commons” and “House of Lords”.

1. House of Commons – find information 1); 2) about Principal officers and staff; 3) about the Speaker

2. House of Lords – find the information about - what the Lords does (in brief).

II. Front page – down on your left you will see links Parliamentary business - “What’s on” and “Bills and Legislation”

1. “What’s on”

House of Commons Main Chamber - copy the Business schedule for the day, work with it to understand what Commons are doing.

Then find out the schedule of committees – Select and Grand.

House of Lords - copy the Business schedule for the day, work with it to understand what the Lords are doing..

Then find out the schedule of committees – Select and Grand.

2. Bills and legislation

“Draft Bills before Parliament”

a) look through the list

Prepare the information that you will report at the lesson

How Bill Becomes Law in the USA

All laws in the United States begin as bills. Before a bill can become a law, it must be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and the President.

Study the chart below thoroughly. Refer to Core Vocabulary 4.

Core Vocabulary 4

to assign a number – присвоить (порядковый) номер

to refer to a committee – передать в комитет

to table - отложить

to mark up – сделать пометки

to report out - доложить

to calendar – назначить на определенный день

floor reading – чтение в палате

to engross a bill – переписать документ; придать документу надлежащую форму

conference committee – комитет по согласованию расхождений; согласительный комитет

block - заблокировать

full vote – голосование всей палатой

to enroll - зарегистрировать

override a veto – преодолеть вето

Exercise 6

Find out if the following statements are TRUE or FALSE. Correct the false statements.

1. A bill can be initiated only in the House of Representatives.

2. The Clerk of the House is the first person to receive the bill.

3. The Clerk assigns a certain number to the bill and refers it either to the Senate or the House of Representatives.

4. An appropriate Committee arranges the reporting of the bill.

5. The bill must be tabled before it goes further.

6. Then the bill is debated and amended by a Subcommittee or Committee.

7. The Committee members report out the bill and fix the date of the final hearing by the full house.

8. After the floor reading and debates the house votes on the amended bill.

9. The bill is referred to another house (from House of Representatives to the Senate or from the Senate to the House of Representatives)

10. The bill again goes through the Committee’s hearing, mark up and debates.

11. Then the engrossed bill can be transferred to the President.

12. But first both houses must agree upon all amendments and details of the bill.

13. The President considers the bill and signs it, and the bill becomes Law.

14. If the President vetoes the bill, it goes back to the Senate or the House of Representatives.

PUT THESE STEPS IN THE CORRECT ORDER:

Committee action

Bill is introduced

Vote

Conference committee if needed

Debate

Law is given a number

Floor action

Presidential action

Override veto if needed

Exercise 7

Make up a text to describe the process of law making in the USA.

Exercise 8

Compare the information. Highlight identically expressed ideas.

A "bill" is introduced when a member of Congress decides to create a new law. Any member of Congress can introduce a bill. Only members of the House may introduce bills that deal with taxes or spending. Before a bill can become a law, both houses of Congress must pass identical versions of the bill.

Once a bill is introduced in either house, it goes through almost the same process. Each bill is first assigned to a committee for review. The bill is tabled, or set aside, if the committee decides the bill is not worthy. The bill is sent to the entire house for debate if the committee decides the bill is worthy of further action.

If the bill passes, it is sent to the other house. A joint committee works out any differences the two houses of Congress have concerning a bill. When both houses agree on a bill, the Speaker of the House and the vice president sign it. The bill must be signed before being sent to the president.

In each two-year session, thousands of bills come before Congress. Almost twelve thousand bills were introduced in Congress in one recent session. Less than five hundred were enacted into law.

A bill becomes law if the president signs it. The president doesn't always wish to sign the bill. He may choose to say "no" by vetoing it. If this happens, the bill is sent back to Congress. If two-thirds of all the members of Congress vote "yes," the bill can still become law. The bill dies when there are not enough votes to override the President. For example, when George Bush was president, Congress tried to override his vetoes thirty-six times but was successful only once. Sometimes a president decides to do nothing. He may decide neither to sign nor veto a bill. If Congress is in session, the bill becomes law after ten days without the president's signature. Otherwise, the bill suffers a pocket veto and does not become law.

Legislation Process in the Russian Federation

Render the following material in English making full expanded sentences and using the previous active vocabulary.

Special vocabulary

законопроект – draft law (bill concerns only English or American legislation terminology)

Государственная Дума – the State Duma

Совет Федерации – the Federation Council

Конституционный Суд – Constitutional Court

Верховный Суд – Supreme Court

Высший Арбитражный суд – Supreme Arbitrazh Court

субъект федерации – constituent entity

пленарное заседание – plenary meeting

обнародование - publication

по истечении 10 дней - upon 10 days expiration

Законодательный процесс в Российской Федерации.

Основная задача Федерального Собрания – это принятие законов.

Принятие федерального закона.

I этап: Внесение законопроекта в Государственную Думу

II этап: Обсуждение и принятие законопроекта в Государственной Думе;

III этап: Обсуждение и принятие законопроекта в Совете Федерации.

IV этап: Подписание законопроекта Президентом РФ.

I этап: Внесение законопроекта в Государственную Думу

Президент РФ, Совет Федерации, Государственная Дума, Правительство РФ, законодательные

органы субъектов федерации, Конституционный суд, Верховный Суд, Высший Арбитражный суд по вопросам ведения процессов.

II этап: обсуждение законопроекта в Государственной Думе:

Делится на несколько стадий:

I стадия: разработка законопроекта в комитете или комиссии Государственной Думы.

II стадия – обсуждение и принятие законопроекта на пленарном заседании Государственной Думы, которое проходит в трёх чтениях:

Первое чтение – при этом депутаты принимают решение о необходимости принятия закона;

Второе чтение – при этом депутаты решают вопрос о принятии законопроекта за основу, предварительно законопроект обсуждается, рассматривается детально и постатейно;

Третье чтение – окончательное принятие законопроекта Государственной Думой – федеральный закон считается принятым, если за него проголосовало большинство членов Государственной Думы (т.е. более 226 человек). III этап: принятие и обсуждение законопроекта в Совете Федерации.

Закон считается принятым Советом Федерации, если за него проголосовало большинство членов.

Если Совет Федерации не рассмотрел законопроект в течение 14 дней, то он считается автоматически принятым

IV этап: подписание закона Президентом РФ.

Президент РФ подписывает закон в течение 14 дней. Если он не подписывает законопроект в течение этого времени, то он передает его на рассмотрение в Государственную Думу и Совет Федерации.

Если при повторном рассмотрении федеральный закон будет одобрен Советом Федерации и Государственной Думой большинством не менее 2/3 от общего числа членов Совета Федерации и Государственной Думы, он подлежит подписанию Президентом РФ в течение 7 дней и опубликование полного текста закона в «Российской газете» или «Собрании Законодательства РФ». Закон вступает в силу одновременно на всей территории РФ по истечении 10 дней после опубликования.

UNIT II

Legal Systems

Before you start

1. Which of the following defines the legal system:

- a system that interprets and enforces laws of the country,

- set of laws of a country,

- sources that a jurisdiction finds binding in deciding cases,

- procedures and processes for enforcing laws?

2. What are the types of legal system:

- private law and public law,

- common law and civil law,

- civil law, common law and religious law?

3. How can you explain the common law system? Civil law system?

4. What are the sources of law that are used in deciding cases?

Choose from the following:

- acts of law;

- local rules and regulations;

- codes like criminal or civil code, tax code or administrative code;

- constitution;

- set of court decisions;

- president’s or monarch’s decrees

5. Can you explain what precedent is and how it is applied in certain jurisdictions?

6. Does the role of judge depend on the type of legal system?

Concept

Core vocabulary 1 legal system – правовая система binding – обязательный к исполнению; обязывающий bind (bound, bound) – обязать common law – общее право; англо-саксонское право religious law – религиозно-правовая система civil law – романо-германское право; континентальное право interpret law – толковать закон enforce law – обеспечивать соблюдение закона apply law – применять закон

Legal system is defined as a system of binding principles used to interpret, enforce and apply laws while prosecuting offenders in criminal cases or imposing liability in civil cases, and deciding cases in the course of court hearing. In general, legal systems around the world can be split between civil law jurisdictions, on the one hand, and systems using common law, on the other. The term civil law, referring to a legal system, should not be confused with civil law as a group of legal subjects, as distinguished from criminal law or public law. A third type of legal system — still accepted by some countries in part, or even in whole — is religious law, based on scriptures and interpretations. The specific system that a country follows is often determined by its history, its connection with countries abroad, and its adherence to international standards. The sources that jurisdictions recognise as binding are the defining features of legal systems. scriptures – священные книги adherence to international standards – приверженность международным нормам

Exercise 1

Civil Law countries (examples)

Europe: France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Hungary ….

Latin America: ……………………………

Asia ………………………….

Africa …………………

Common Law countries

United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, India

Religious laws are Sharia Law in Islamic states and Halakha in Judaism.

Civil Law and Common Law compared

While reading the following text pay attention to the way the ideas are compared. Highlighted are the connectors in the sentences and links of comparison and contrast in the text.

Core vocabulary 2 provision - положение origin – происхождение emerge from – возникнуть (из) Corpus Juris Civilis – [‘korpəs ‘dʒuris sivilis] – Body of Civil Law – свод законов гражданского права Emperor Justinian [‘empərə dʒ^stiniən] – император Юстиниан Henry II – [henri ðə sekond] source of law – источник права code - кодекс codify – кодифицировать, внести в кодекс precedent – прецедент, решение суда по конкретному делу, имеющее силу источника права stare decisis [‘stεərə di’saisis] – доктрина судебного прецедента «стой на решенном» - обязывающая сила прецедента judgment – решение судьи binding court decision / ruling – обязывающее решение суда legal rule – правовая норма Connectors Both … and … - и…. и….. However – Однако /Тем не менее While ……- притом, что … Whereas … - между тем …. Similarly – сходным образом Unlike – в отличии от Thus – таким образом Though - хотя Consequently - соответственно By contrast – напротив, в противоположность этому Nevertheless – все же, тем не менее

Civil Law is usually compared with Common Law under certain provisions. Both civil law and common law have their historical origins. However, while common law developed from custom – the customary way to decide cases, civil law emerged from Roman codified law. The founder of civil law was Emperor Justinian who created the famous Corpus Juris Civilis – codified legal principles. Similarly, the founder of common law is considered to be Henry II who introduced the system of “common law” – unified system of precedential higher court rulings common throughout the country. Each legal system uses particular sources of law. Unlike common law where binding higher court decisions, or precedents, form a primary source of law, civil law applies codes and statutes referring to previous case decisions as to secondary sources. Thus, we can say that civil law is codified whereas common law is precedential, though constitution and codes are also included into the category of its primary sources. Consequently, the basic principle for civil law judges is the application of a relevant provision of the code. By contrast, the basic principle for the common law court is “stare decisis” – or “stand by the decision”. To make a decision the judges in common law courts interpret the binding rulings and even legislate (create a decision where there isn’t any appropriate precedent), while civil law judges apply the code provisions. Nevertheless, the court decisions in common law are also based in large part on legal rules and statutes, which the judges are supposed to apply and interpret in much the same way as the civil law judges do (e.g. the Sale of Goods Act 1979, the Uniform Commercial Code).

Exercise 2

a) The following table represents the criteria used to compare the legal systems. Complete the table according to the information from the text.

b) Compare the ideas in the table using the connectors and links from the text.

c) Speak about civil law characteristic features then about common law features.

	CIVIL LAW	COMMON LAW
Origin
The founder
Basic source
Basic characteristic of the system
Basic principle
Role of precedent
Judgment based on

Sources of common law

Exercise 3

As we have seen in common law precedent is one of the primary sources of law. Further you will see what other sources of common law are.

a) You will have to match the title with its definition. Use the dictionary if necessary.

b) Decide which sources are primary and which are secondary in common law countries

1. constitution	a) a law, statute, or regulation enacted by a municipal body.
2. work of authority	b) a systematically arranged and comprehensive collection of laws.
3. statute	c) series of books that contain judicial opinions from a selection of case law decided by courts
4. regulation	d) a law school publication containing both case summaries written by student members and scholarly articles written by law professors, judges, and attorneys.
5. local ordinances	e) a legal writing, research work considered as a source of information
6. case law	f) a rule designed to govern those to whom it is applied
7. act	g) a law enacted by a legislative body and expressed in a formal document.
8. law review	h) precedents or court binding decisions
9. rule	i) the basic law of a state which sets out how that state will be organized, the powers and authorities of government between different political units, and by stating and the basic principles of the society
10. law reporter	j) an established standard, guide, or a principle governing conduct, procedure, or action
11. codes	k) a formal decision, law, or the like, by a legislature, ruler, decree; statute; judgment, resolution

Exercise 4

1. The chart below will show the sources of law in the UK and US (federal jurisdiction and state jurisdiction) after you complete it. Some sources from the above may appear in 2 or three columns.

Don’t forget:

UK – no written constitution but Acts of Parliament;

USA – they have: US Constitution and each state has a constitution; federal legislation and state legislation (codes and statutes)

Case law includes law reports

UK	USA
	Federal	State
…………….. EU legislation ………………….

Exercise 5

Compare the sources of law in the UK and the USA using the connectors