TYPES OF LAW Law is the set of rules or principles dealing with a specific area of a legal system. Black’s Law Dictionary

 Start-up

Discuss the following questions:

1. What categories of law do you know?

2. What major legal systems do you know?

3. What is the difference between civil and criminal law?

 Vocabulary

EXERCISE 1. Fill in the table according to the given example. Not all the forms will be used for each word. Use dictionary, if necessary. Translate the words into Russian.

Verb	Noun (thing or concept)	Noun (person)	Adjective
proceed	procedure		procedural
injure
require			requisite
offend		offender
prosecute
treat
act		actor
harm

victimize	victimization	victim	victimized
prohibit
codify
judge

EXERCISE 2. Choose the correct word from the list to complete each sentence. Translate the sentences into Russian.

offender procedure prohibited victim injured

harm requirements codes treatment

judgment action prosecution codified Act

1. She was _________ badly in the car accident.

2. Girls need special _________ while in prison.

3. A person harmed by a crime is a _________.

4. Writing a cheque is quite a simple _________.

5. Civil law systems are _________ systems, and the basic law is found in_________.

6. You will have to use your_________.

7. A person who has broken the law is an_________.

8. There are some special_________ for those who enter the faculty of law.

9. A famous lawyer was asked to appear for the _________.

10. The sale of narcotics is ___________ in our country.

11. A criminal act may cause ___________ to some individual.

12. Parliament has passed an __________ prohibiting the sale of narcotics.

13. A civil or criminal judicial proceeding is __________.

 Reading and language study

Types of Law

(I) The content of law may be categorized as substantive and procedural. Substantive laws consist of rights, duties, and prohibitions administered by courts—which behaviors are to be allowed and which are prohibited (such as prohibition against murder or the sale of narcotics). Procedural laws are rules, concerning how substantive laws are to be administered, enforced, changed, and used by players in the legal system (such as filing charges, electing a jury, presenting evidence in court or drawing up a will).

(II) A distinction is also made between public law and private law. Public law is concerned with the structure of government, the duties and powers of officials, and the relationship between the individual and the state. It includes such subjects as constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law and procedure, and law relating to the proprietary powers of the state and its political subdivisions. Private law is concerned with both substantive and procedural rules governing relationships between individuals (the law of torts or private injuries, contracts, property, wills, inheritance, marriage, divorce, adoption, and the like).

(III) *A more familiar distinction is between civil law and criminal law. Civil law, as private law, consists of a body of rules and procedures tended to govern the conduct of individuals in their relationships with others. Violations of civil statutes, called torts, are private wrongs for which the injured individual may seek redress in the courts for the harm he or she experienced. In most cases, some form of payment is required from the offender to compensate for the injury he or she has caused. Criminal law is concerned with the definition of crime and the prosecution and penal treatment of offenders. Although a criminal act may cause harm to some individual, crimes are regarded as offenses against the state or "the people." A crime is a "public," as opposed to a "private," wrong. It is the state, not the harmed individual that takes action against the offender. Occasionally, a criminal action may be followed up by a civil suit such as in a rape case where the victim may seek financial compensation in addition to criminal sanctions.

(IV) A distinction can also be made between civil law and common law. In this context, civil law refers to legal systems whose development was greatly influenced by Roman law, a collection of codes compiled in the Corpus Juris Civilis (Code Civil). Civil-law systems are codified systems, and the basic law is found in codes. These are statutes that are enacted by national parliaments. France is an example of a civil law system. The civil code of France, which first appeared in 1804, is called the Code Napoleon and embodies the civil law of the country. By contrast, common law resisted codification. Law is not based on acts of parliament but on case law, which relies on precedents set by judges to decide a case. Thus, it is "judge-made" law as distinguished from legislation or "enacted" law. *

(Adapted from Law and Society by Steven Vago)

EXERCISE 3. Scan the text and find definitions to these legal terms:

• Tort

• Crime

EXERCISE 4. Read the text and answer the following questions:

1. Into what categories can law be divided?

2. What is the difference between private and public law?

3. What is civil law concerned with?

4. What is criminal law concerned with?

5. What is the difference between civil and common law systems?

EXERCISE 5. Read the text carefully and complete the sentences given below.

1. Law can be divided into public and __________.

2. Private law is concerned with private _______________, contracts, wills and the like.

3. Some form of payment is required from the _________________ to compensate for the injury he or she has caused.

4. Criminal law is concerned with the ______________ and penal treatment of offenders.

5. A criminal act may cause _________________ to some individual.

6. _______________are offenses against the state.

7. Violations of ______________________statutes are private wrongs.

8. Civil law systems are ____________________ systems.

9. _________________ law is based on case law.

10. Case law relies on precedents set by _________________ to decide a case.

EXERCISE 6. Using the paragraph reference given in brackets, find words in the text which have a similar meaning to:

• proof, data (I)

• harm, damage (II)

• behavior, actions (III)

• misdeed, offense, crime ( III)

• ask for, request, want ( III)

• compensation, payment (III)

• law-breaker, wrongdoer, criminal ( III)

• damage, injury (III)

• litigation, lawsuit, case (III)

• a legal action (III)

• injured person (III)

• example, model, standard ( IV)

EXERCISE 7. Put the words into the right order (subject-verb-object) to make up sentences.

1. crime, the state, offence, against, is.

2. the victim, is, offender, to compensate, required.

3. a civil statute, is, tort, violation, called, of.

4. may, harm, to, cause, a criminal act, some, individual.

5. a criminal case, takes, action, the offender, in, the state, against.

EXERCISE 8. Make up sentences using the following words and word combinations:

be categorized, legal system, be concerned with, body of rules, cause harm, govern relationship, seek redress, civil suit, seek financial compensation, take action, criminal sanctions, conduct of individuals, be based on, private wrongs, injury, criminal action.

EXERCISE 9. Using the paragraph reference given in brackets, find in the text the English equivalents for these Russian legal terms and expressions.

• материальное право (I)

• процеcсyaльное право (I)

• выдвигать обвинение (I)

• публичное право (II)

• частное право (II)

• проприетарные, вещно-правовые полномочия (II)

• гражданское право (III)

• уголовное право (III)

• совокупность норм права (III)

• потерпевший, получивший телесные повреждения (III)

• добиваться, требовать возмещения, удовлетворения (III)

• причинить вред (III)

• возбудить судебное дело(III)

• уголовный судебный процесс (III)

• гражданский иск (III)

• система общего права (IV)

• система гражданского права (IV)

• прецедентное право (IV)

EXERCISE 10. Translate the marked* passage of the text TYPES OF LAW into Russian.

EXERCISE 11. Read the text given below. Make up questions that may lead to further classroom discussion. Ask your questions to your classmates.