МІНІСТЕРСТВО ОСВІТИ і НАУКИ УКРАЇНИ
Український державний університет фінансів та міжнародної торгівлі
Кушевська Н.М.
Лихицька Ю.Г
WHAT IS LAW
TYPE OF LEGAL PROFESSION
Київ – 2014
Укладачі: старший викладач кафедри іноземних мов за професійним спрямуванням УДУФМТ, Кушевська Н.М.
старший викладач кафедри іноземних мов за професійним спрямуванням УДУФМТ, Лихицька Ю.Г.
Рецензенти:
Тимощук І.В. – к.п.н., доц., зав. кафедрою іноземних мов за професійним спрямуванням, УДУФМТ
Михайленко Т.В. - к.п.н., доцент кафедри іноземних мов Інституту міжнародних відносин Київського Національного університету імені Тараса Шевченка
Схвалено: на засіданні кафедри іноземних мов за професійним спрямуванням, протокол № 11від 30.05.14
Мета посібника – забезпечити розвиток навичок роботи з фаховою літературою та усного мовлення на теми, передбачені програмою з іноземних мов для факультету «Міжнародні відносини та правознавство».
Посібник складається з 2 уроків та додаткових текстів для читання за тематикою підручника. Система вправ забезпечує швидке та ефективне засвоєння студентами необхідних знань і вироблення стійких навичок фахової усної та письмової комунікації, роботи з англомовною правовою літературою.
Unit 1
W
hat
is Law?
Section A
Warmer:
How would you express the quotation in your own words?
Do you agree with the quotations? Why or why not?
“There are not enough jails, not enough policemen, not enough courts to enforce a law not supported by the people.”
H.Humphrey, 38th Vice President of the United States
“Every law is an evil, for every law is an infraction of liberty.”
J.Bentham, an English jurist,
philosopher, legal and social reformer
“Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.” Plato quotes, Ancient Greek Philosopher
428 BC-348 BC
“Nobody has a more sacred obligation to obey the law than those who make the law” Sophocles quotes, one of classical Athens' three great tragic playwrights
Section b Reading and speaking
Before you read:
2. Discuss your ideas as following:
1. Do we need rules and laws?
2. Why do people sometimes break rules and laws? Have you ever broken any rules?
3. In your opinion, what is the difference between law and tradition?
4. What traditions do you know?
What is law?
The term “law” is used in many senses: we may speak of the laws of physics, mathematics, science, nature, or the laws of football, logic or health.
Your job, your home, your relationships, your everyday life – and your death, all – and more are managed, controlled, and directed by the law. Some laws are descriptive: they simply describe how people, or even natural phenomena, usually behave. An example of descriptive laws is rather consistent law of gravity another example is the less consistent laws of economics.
Other laws are prescriptive – they prescribe how people should or must behave. An example of prescriptive laws is traffic regulations. When we speak of the law of a state we use the term “law” in a special and strict sense and in that sense law may be defined as “a rule of human conduct, imposed upon and enforced among the members of a given state”.
A rule is a guideline for behavior. It is meant to manage the way a person acts or does something. Good rules are helpful, and bad rules are sometimes confusing. For example, “Do not run in the swimming pool area” is a good rule because it protects people from getting hurt.
Guidelines for Good Rules: rules should be clear and easy to understand; people should be able to do what the rules say; rules should not conflict with other rules; rules should be enforceable; there should be a penalty for breaking rules; rules should be explained to people or written in a place where everyone can see them.
Laws are rules which are set and enforced by a government. They protect people and help people get along with each other. Laws are written by the government for the entire community. They are put in a code or law book. If you break a rule, you can lose privileges: the members of society may ridicule you, act violently toward you or refuse to have anything to do with you. If you break the law, you can be punished by the government, lose privileges or money (fine), and go to jail (prison).
Law has its origins in the early development of civilized society, and through time there have been major influences on the laws that we follow today. The sources of law are: Common law, Roman law, Napoleonic Code and The Ten Commandments.
In any society laws have several characteristics. First, laws symbolize norms, values, traditions. Second, laws must be codified in some way, usually through writing. Third, there must exist a method of enforcement: this can include police, social pressure, or some other force that enable society to punish or reward its members. And finally, there must be something specific to be enforced: laws are not general, but specific. The main characteristic of law is that it is enforced, and such enforcement is usually carried out by the State.
This is why we need law: if we all behaved according to our personal standards of behavior and morality, anarchy would rule the world.
We may say, then, that two ideas underlie the concept of law: 1) order, in the sense of method or system; and 2) compulsion – i.e. the enforcement of obedience to the rules or laws laid down.
As it is known, law has several aims which are mainly concerned with making society more stable. Laws enable people to flourish and feel secure in their lives. To achieve this purpose it is necessary to set up an official framework of compulsion. So the first aim of law is to forbid certain ways of behaving, like murder, terrorism, or smoking in public places, and to require other ways of conduct, like paying income tax. If people disobey the rules, the law may threaten them with something unpleasant – often called a sanction – like being imprisoned or having to pay compensation. This aim serves to the idea that within this framework of do’s and don’ts people can live more securely.
The second aim of law is to provide facilities for people to make their own arrangements. Laws should guarantee to people who buy and sell goods, form companies, sign contracts, take employment, and so on that the state will protect or enforce these arrangements.
The third aim of law is to settle disputes among citizens about what the law is and whether or not it was broken. If we take these three aims together, we may see that law not only threatens those who break it (that means they do what the law forbids) but promises to protect people’s interests. The law imposes restrictions on people but also gives them certain guarantees.
Every country tries to provide laws, which will help its people to live safely and comfortably. This is not at all an easy thing to do. No country has been successful in producing laws, which are entirely satisfactory. But the imperfect laws are better than none.