Английский язык для студентов юридических вузов и факультетов. Учебник

УДК 802.0 (075.8) ББК 81.2 Англ-923 И 46

Рецензенты:

доктор филологических наук, профессор М.А. Ярмашевич; кандидат педагогических наук, доцент И.И. Ефимова.

И 46 Ильичева Е.Г.

Английский язык для студентов юридических вузов и факультетов. Учебник / Е.Г. Ильичева, С.П. Хижняк. — Саратов: Ай Пи Эр Медиа, — 2009.— 203 с.

ISBN 978-5-904000-17-2

Учебник включает девять уроков. Цель его — совершенствование коммуникативных навыков студентов, изучающих английский язык, и формирование их способности и готовности к межкультурной коммуникации. Коммуникативная направленность учебника учитывает профессионально-деловую и социокультурную ориентацию студентов юридических вузов.

Для студентов юридических вузов и факультетов. Второй этап обучения. Издание рекомендовано Министерством образования и науки РФ.

©Издательский центр «Ай Пи Эр Медиа», 2009

©ГОУ ВПО «Саратовская государственная академия права», 2009

©Ильичева Е.Г., Хижняк С.П., 2009

ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ

Настоящий учебник — четвертое издание учебника с грифом Министерства образования и науки РФ, переработанный вариант учебника, опубликованного с грифом Государсвенного комитета РФ по высшему образованию в 1996 г. (автор С.П. Хижняк) — является продолжением «Учебника английского языка для юридических вузов и факультетов», который выдержал четыре издания с 1995 г. (авторы С.П. Хижняк, И.И. Ефимова, Т.В. Кирюшкина, В.В. Митрофанова). Все это говорит о высоком методическом уровне издания, его проработанности и опробированности.

Цель учебника — развитие у студента способностей и готовности к межкультурной коммуникации. Данная цель подразумевает овладение всеми видами чтения текстов, навыками устной речи в различных социально-культурных и профессиональных сферах общения; изучение лексических единиц, формул и клише речевого общения, различных по содержанию и стилю; обучение студентов основам письма на английском языке (заполнение бланков, например заявлений и анкет; написание аннотаций, рефератов, деловых писем; составление рабочих записей при чтении и т.д.); расширение пассивного и активного словарного запаса; закрепление основных грамматических правил, изученных на первом этапе, и дополнительного грамматического материала.

Структура учебника

Учебник состоит из 9 уроков и рассчитан примерно на 140 часов аудиторной работы. Каждый урок включает в себя следующие разделы: «Грамматика», «Чтение», «Устная речь», «Письмо».

В разделе «Грамматика» представлены наиболее сложные грамматические темы, изученные студентами на I этапе обучения (типы ивиды предложений, неличные формы глагола, модальные глаголы, условные предложения, сослагательное наклонение и т.п.). Кроме того, вводится новый грамматический материал (усложненные грамматические конструкции в составе предложения, формальные признаки логико-смысловых связей между элементами текста и т.п.). Грамматический материал дан сжато в виде таблиц и кратких правил, что позволяет более наглядно и доступно освоить и изучить материал. За пояснениями следуют упражнения на закрепление грамматического материала урока.

Раздел «Чтение» каждого урока включает в себя разное количество текстов, что обусловлено общей тематикой урока и количеством содержательных аспектов той или иной темы. В уроках учебника представлены тексты для изучающего, ознакомительного, поискового и просмотрового чтения.

Тематика текстов разнообразна и обусловлена требованиями «Программы курса иностранного языка для вузов неязыковых специальностей» (М., 2004), специфика которых состоит в сочетании профессионально-деловой

исоциокультурной ориентации как двух взаимосвязанных составляющих межкультурной коммуникации специалистов-нефилологов. В данном учебнике предпринята попытка объединения социокультурной тематики с профессионально-деловой, так как правовая наука тесно связана с культурой

исоциально-экономическими проблемами общества. Поэтому в нем объединены такие темы профессионально-деловой и социокультурной сферы, как понятие права и национально-культурные различия правовых систем; юридическое образование и проблемы современной молодежи (учеба и ее финансирование, международные молодежные контакты, альтернативные формы образования с помощью теле-, радио- и электронных средств коммуникации); национально-культурная специфика кодификации права; конституционные права и их ограничения, права молодежи и проблема ограничения доступа к информации; проблемы экологии и правовое обеспечение сохранности окружающей среды, экологические движения; уголовное право и ювенальная юстиция; гражданское право, семейно-правовые отношения и проблема занятости; предпринимательское право, проблемы занятости молодежи и программы профессиональной переподготовки; международное право и возможности для студентов изучения его за рубежом и т.д. Для составления текстов использовалась оригинальная литература (статьи, монографии), тексты конституций и кодексов, справочная литература и монографии, изданные на русском языке, а также Интернет-сайты (см. ссылки после текстов).

Раздел «Устная речь» состоит из нескольких подразделов. Первый подраздел «Грамматика в устной речи» включает в себя коммуникативные

иситуативные упражнения, в которых активизируется грамматика урока. Во втором разделе «Клишированные фразы» представлены речевые клише, объединенные в тематические группы (выражение точки зрения, ведение диспута и т.п.). За списком клише следует ряд иллюстративных минидиалогов, в которых показывается употребление таких клише, упражнения ситуативного характера для активизации изучаемых клише в устной речи. Третий подраздел включает диалог или полилог, тематически связанный с текстами урока и с разделом «Клишированные фразы». В разделе «Дискуссия» предлагаются темы для развития навыков устной речи. Данный раздел включает в себя также ролевые игры, прецеденты или проблемные задачи (case study).

Для выполнения некоторых заданий студенты отсылаются к определенным сайтам Интернета, или должны самостоятельно найти информацию с помощью Интернета.

Вразделе «Письмо» представлены задания на развитие навыков, которые могут пригодиться в период учебы в вузе или в будущей профессиональной деятельности (см. выше).

Авторы выражают благодарность профессору Кристин Кендрик за ценные замечания и предложения, сделанные во время работы авторов над учебником.

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LESSON ONE

Word Order in a Sentence

(Declarative, Interrogative, Negative and Imperative Sentences)

Exercises

1. Make the following sentences negative.

1. He is a second-year student. 2. They have a new compilation of laws. 3. Tell him about the coming conference of lawyers. 4. Do you know that judge? 5. Somebody told him the news. 6. Both my fellow students I and are interested in legal systems of other countries.

2. Ask as many questions as you can based on the following sentences.

1. He speaks English. 2. He is a well-known lawyer. 3. She went to London two days ago. 4. I have just finished reading this article. 5. He is looking through the compilation of laws. 6. Professor Smith will deliver his lecture on civil law tomorrow.

3. Write two-member sentences based on the following one-member sentences.

1. Morning. 2. Rain. 3. Snow. 4. Don’t know anything about it. 5. Glad to meet you. 6. Sorry. 7. Talking about the new law? 8. Never heard of it!

4. Vladimir, a student of law from Russia, has visited Brigham Young University in the U.S.A. and the J. Reuben Clark Law School, which is an integral part of the university. He jotted down some facts of the J. Reuben Dark Law School in fragments. Make up complete sentences based on the fragments. For each fact write two kinds of sentences: a declarative and an interrogative.

Is accredited by the American Bar Association.

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READING

Founded in 1875. Provides broad training.

Admission of students of any race, sex, national origin. 330,000 volumes in the library.

A technologically advanced library. Each new class — 150 students.

Sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

J. Reuben Clark, a member of the First Presidency of the Church.

READING

TEXT 1

1. Read the text. Make up as many questions as you can covering: a) the main ideas of the text; b) the details.

WHAT IS LAW?

Law permeates our lives. In all modern societies, relations between people are regulated by laws. Some of these laws are rules of social and moral behaviour, which can be called customs. But some laws are specially made by the legislature of the country and are enforced against all citizens.

It is natural that in every society people act primarily for their own interests, and their actions in society often result in conflicts. To restrain such conflicts rules for the control of people have been very important from the very dawn of civilization. The main repository of such rules is the law.

Law helps us to be civilized. It states a number of rules, which tell us what we may or may not do. Law is based on concepts of order and compulsion. Without laws there would be anarchy in society. Textbooks on law define it as “a body of rules for human conduct, enforced by a governing power, as the means by which the control of society is achieved.”1

Besides social control laws are aimed at implementing justice. Some laws are the reflection of the necessity of implementing common sense. E.g.: it is common sense that drunken driving should be punished, that a person who sustains damages should be compensated for them, etc. But sometimes there is some disagreement as to whether or not in reality one of the main purposes of the law is to promote social justice.

The rules of law that exist in modern societies are the result of evolution over centuries of social progress. The evolution of different legal systems reflects many specific factors (cultural, historical, etc.). That is why the laws of one country are often very different from the laws of another country.

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LESSON ONE

Note: 1Henzey, Myers, Phalan, Bagby and Sharp. Introduction to Basic Legal Principles. — 5th ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1991.

2. Give the Russian for:

custom; legislature; to enforce; to result in conflicts; to restrain conflicts; from the very dawn of civilization; repository; order and compulsion; means; justice; common sense.

3. Give the English for:

общество — современное общество; отношение — отношение между людьми; регулироваться — регулироваться законом; поведение — моральное поведение; действовать — действовать в своих собственных интересах; учебники — учебники по праву; правила — правила поведения человека; вождение (автомобиля) — вождение в нетрезвом состоянии; ущерб — понести ущерб — компенсировать ущерб.

4.Complete the following sentences using the words given below each sentence (a, b, с or d).

1.... and legal rules have a long history in human society. a) legislature; b) law; c) legality; d) lawyer.

2.Laws are made by:

а) society; b) governments; c) legislatures; d) people.

3.In every society people act for their own:

a) interests; b) behaviour; c) justice; d) conflicts.

4.People’s actions in society often ... in conflicts. а) consist of; b) result; c) sustain; d) restrain.

5.Law is based on concepts of order and:

a) civilization; b) damage; c) conduct; d) compulsion.

5. Translate the following sentences into Russian. to enforce

1. Laws are made by legislatures and enforced by police. 2. This rule must be enforced.

to result in

1. Yesterday the talks did not result in any decision. 2. The accident resulted in the death of two people. 3. The game resulted in our victory.

to aim at

1. You should aim at studying well. 2. Laws are aimed at implementing justice. 3. The efforts he makes are aimed at achieving success in his career.

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READING

to compensate (for)

1. The debtor must compensate for your losses. 2. They will compensate you for travelling expenses. 3. The employers must compensate their workers in case of injury at work.

6. Make up word-combinations. Use them in sentences of your own.

TEXT 2

1.Read the following proper names minding their pronunciation and give their Russian equivalents. Say what the names stand for:

European Economic Community; the United Nations; Moslem; Montreal; Canada; Quebec; Romano-Germanic; Hindu; Jewish; Corpus Juris Civilis; Justinian; British Empire; British Commonwealth; Guyana; Panama, Florida; California; New Mexico; Arizona; Texas; Egyptian; Normandy; William the Conqueror; Napoleon; Latin America.

2.Translate the following family words:

influence — influential; system — systematic — systematically — systematize — systematization.

3.Analyze the morphological structure and meanings of the following words: uncodified; religiously-based.

4.Read the text and try to understand its main ideas.

LEGAL SYSTEMS OF THE MODERN WORLD

AND THEIR CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS

There are various definitions of the term “legal system”.

A legal system could be interpreted as a set of legal institutions, procedures, and rules. In this sense there is one federal system and fifty state legal systems in the United States, separate legal systems in each of the other nations, and still other legal systems in such organizations as the European Economic Community

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LESSON ONE

and the United Nations1. The term “legal system” can also refer to the nature and content of the law generally, and the structures and methods whereby it is legislated upon, adjudicated upon and administered, within a given jurisdiction2.

A legal system may even govern a specific group of persons. Thus a person belonging to various groups could be subject to as many legal systems. For example, a Moslem student attending McGill University in Montreal might be subject to the rules and judicial institutions of Canada, Quebec, the University and the Moslem faith3.

One of the most important legal concepts is “legal tradition” or “legal family”. Scholars give diverse definitions of “legal traditions,” or “legal families.” Some writers base their classification on the law’s conceptual structure or on the theory of sources of the law; others think that these are technical differences of secondary importance, and emphasize as a more significant criterion either the social objectives to be achieved with the help of the legal system or the place of law itself within the social order. The Romano-Germanic family, the Common law family and the family of Socialist law are considered to be the three highly influential legal traditions in the contemporary world4.

Other legal traditions include Moslem law, Hindu law, Jewish law, laws of the Far East, and African tribal laws5. A legal tradition is thus the general culture underlying a family of similar legal systems.

Civil law may be defined as that legal tradition which has its origin in Roman law, as codified in the Corpus Juris Civilis of Justinian and as subsequently developed in Continental Europe and around the world. Civil law is divided into two streams: the codified Roman law (continental Europe, Quebec and Louisiana being examples); and uncodified Roman law (as in Scotland and South Africa). Civil law is highly systematized and structured and relies on declarations of broad, general principles, often ignoring the details6.

Common law derives in part from the French local customs imported from Normandy into England by William the Conqueror in 1066. Common law is the legal tradition which evolved in England from the 11th century onwards. Its principles appear for the most part in reported judgments, usually of the higher courts, in relation to specific factual situations arising in disputes which courts have adjudicated. The common law is usually much more detailed in its prescriptions than the civil law. Common law is the foundation of private law, not only for England, Wales and Ireland, but also in forty-nine U.S. states, nine Canadian provinces and most countries which first received that law as colonies of the British Empire and which, in many cases, have preserved it as independent States of the British Commonwealth7. In addition to England and its former colonies, some legal systems follow the common law tradition: Guyana, the Panama Canal Zone, Florida, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and other former Spanish colonies8.

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READING

Statutory law, or law found in legislation other than civil codes, is basic to both the civil and common law. In common law jurisdictions, most rules are found in the jurisprudence and statutes complete them. In civil law jurisdictions, the important principles are stated in the codes, while the statutes complete them9.

A mixed legal system is derived from more than one legal tradition or legal family. For example, in the Quebec legal system, basic private law is derived partly from the civil law tradition and partly from the common law tradition. Another example is the Egyptian legal system, in which basic private law is derived partly from the civil law tradition and partly from Moslem or other religiously-based legal traditions. For example, Scotland may be said to be a mixed jurisdiction, because it has a mixed legal system, derived in part from the civil law tradition and in part from the common law tradition10.

Notes: 1 Merryman J.H. The Civil Law Tradition: An Introduction to the Legal Systems of Western Europe and Latin America, 2 Ed., Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1985, p. 1.

2 Tetley W. Mixed Jurisdictions: Common Law vs. Civil Law (Codified and Uncodified). Unif. L. Rev., 2003, p.4.

3 Ibid.P.4.

4 David R., Brierley J.E.C. Major Legal Systems in the World Today, 3 Ed., Stevens & Sons, London, 1985,p. 20, 22.

5 Ibid.

6 Private Law Dictionary and Bilingual Lexicons, 2 Ed. Revised and Enlarged, Les Йditions Yvon Blais, Cowansville, Quebec 1991, p.62.

7 Ibid. P. 72.

8 David R., Brierley J.E.C. Op. cit. p. 76.

9 Tetley W. Op. cit. p.6.

10 Ibid.

3. Answer the questions.

1. How is the term “legal system” defined in the text? 2. Can one and the same person be in a situation when he or she must obey the rules of different legal systems? 3. What is the basis for giving legal family definitions? 4. What are the three highly influential legal traditions of the modern world? 5. What are the grounds for differentiation between Moslem law and Jewish law, on the one hand, and Romano-Germanic law and common law, on the other hand? 6. Are legal systems similar to some extent? 7. What are the origins of civil law? 8. What countries does civil law system prevail in? 9. When did common law tradition begin to develop? 10. What are the characteristic features of a common law system? 11. What role did common law play for the development of private

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LESSON ONE

law? 12. Could statutory law be considered as a basis of civil law/common law? 13. What is a mixed legal system?

4. Give the Russian for:

to legislate; to adjudicate; to administer; source of the law; criterion (pl. criteria); to achieve objectives; to evolve; to rely on; to interpret; to be subject (to); origin; British Commonwealth; conqueror; in addition (to); mixed legal system; civil law tradition.

5. Give the English for:

правовая традиция; правовая семья; природа и характер права; важный критерий; игнорировать детали; местные обычаи; статутное право; бывшие колонии; общее право; частное право.

6. Read the definitions of a “law family” and single out the features, which are the basis of differentiation in law families.

a)“There are three highly influential legal traditions in the contemporary world: civil law, common law, and socialist law... A legal tradition, as the term implies, is not a set of rules of law about contracts, corporations, and crimes, although such rules will almost always be in some sense a reflection of that tradition. Rather it is a set of deeply rooted, historically conditioned attitudes about the nature of law, about the role of law in the society and the polity, about the proper organization and operation of a legal system, and about the way law is or should be made, applied, studied, perfected, and taught. The legal tradition relates the legal system to the culture of which it is a partial expression. It puts the legal system into cultural perspective”1.

b)“There is no agreement as to which element should be considered in setting up these groups and, therefore, what different families should be recognized. Some writers base their classification on the law’s conceptual structure or on the theory of sources of the law; others are of the view that these are [683] technical differences of secondary importance, and emphasize as a more significant criterion either the social objectives to be achieved with the help of the legal system or the place of law itself within the social order… There would appear to be three at least which occupy an uncontested place of prominence: the Romano-Germanic family, the Common law family and the family of Socialist law”2.

c)A legal tradition is thus the general culture underlying a family of similar legal systems. Because most legal systems duplicated the law administered in another jurisdiction (e.g. former British colonies duplicated British law), major legal traditions tend to be associated with the original legal system as it then existed rather than as it exists today3.

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READING

Notes: 1 Merryman J.H. The Civil Law Tradition: An Introduction to the Legal Systems of Western Europe and Latin America, 2 Ed., Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1985, p. 1, 2.

2 David R., Brierley J.E.C. Major Legal Systems in the World Today, 3 Ed., Stevens & Sons, London, 1985, pp. 20, 22.

3 Tetley W. Mixed Jurisdictions: Common Law vs. Civil Law (Codified and Uncodified). Unif. L. Rev., 2003. p. 5.

TEXT 3

1.Remember the word: incompatible — несовместимый.

2.Mind the pronunciation of the proper name:

Montesquieu.

3.Translate the family words:

individual — individualism; liberty — liberal — liberalism; civil — civilist; code — codify — codifier; legislate — legislator; organize — organized — disorganized.

4. Read the text for the first time and try to guess the meaning of the words and word-combinations in bold type. Pay special attention to sentences marked with an asterisk.

VARIOUS DIFFERENCES IN SOURCES, CONCEPTS AND STYLE

BETWEEN CIVIL LAW AND COMMON LAW

Common law and civil law legal traditions share similar social objectives (individualism, liberalism and personal rights) and they have in fact been joined in one single family, the Western law family, because of this functional similarity1. The term ‘Western law’ is not connected with geographical position of the countries.

A major difference between the civil law and common law is that priority in civil law is given to doctrine (including the codifiers’ reports) over jurisprudence, while the opposite is true in the common law. This difference in priority can be explained by the role of the legislator in both traditions. French civil law adopts Montesquieu’s theory of separation of powers, whereby the function of the legislator is to legislate, and the function of the courts is to apply the law. Common law, on the other hand, finds in judge-made precedent the core of its law2.

The main difference between common law and civil law takes on the shape of the opposition between jurisprudence and codified law3. Law is produced in the

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LESSON ONE

sense that it constitutes a set of norms resulting from the activity of “law-makers.” In civil law countries, the traditional distinction is drawn between law which is applied by the judge and law which is created by the legislator. This distinction leads to the subordinate position of the judge and implies that the legislator produces laws. On the contrary, in common law it is the judge who takes part in the creation of law by providing legal solutions to the cases for which he is required to make a decision. In England or America, jurisprudence has long been the major source of law, this set of non-codified rules being designated as common law. The courts, of course, are obliged to implement statutory law, but, theoretically, the latter serves no other purpose than to complete or rectify common law. In this sense, law exists quite independently of codification and one may truly speak of the primacy of judge-made law (as opposed to judge-said law). In theory, this is not the case in civil law countries because judges are considered to be “interpreters of law,” restricted to implementing the solutions provided for by enacted law4. The principle of the judge as “interpreter of law” is characteristic of Romano-Germanic tradition. Indeed, it does not recognise any other law than that produced by the legislator. Hence, jurisprudence is not a source of civil law5.

This position could be explained by the origins of common law and civil law. Systematized character, good scientific organization, logic and theoretical basis of the legal system of Continental Europe are the result of the work of such professors of law, civil scientists, as Bartolus, Boldus, etc. Anglo-American law was formed under the influence of the judges of Westminster royal courts such as Glanvil, Coke, Mansfield, and Denning, who made common law close to real life.

The civil law doctrine’s function is “to draw from this disorganised mass [cases, books and legal dictionaries] the rules and the principles which will clarify and purge the subject of impure elements, and thus provide both the practice and the courts with a guide for the solution of particular cases in the future.”6. The common law doctrine’s function is more modest: authors are encouraged to distinguish cases that would appear incompatible to a civilist, and to extract from these specific rules. (Of course, there is a point where the common law author will refuse to draw specific rules that have no policy basis and will criticize openly absurd judgments.)7

The common law author focuses on fact patterns. He or she analyzes cases presenting similar but not identical facts, extracting from them specific rules, and then, through deduction, determines the often very narrow scope of each rule, and sometimes proposes new rules to cover facts that have not yet presented themselves. The civilist focuses, rather, on legal principles. He or she traces their history, identifies their function, determines their domain of application, and explains their effects in terms of rights and obligations.

Common law jurisprudence sets out a new specific rule to a new specific set of facts and provides the principal source of law, while civil law jurisprudence

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ORAL SPEECH PRACTICE

applies general principles, and that jurisprudence is only a secondary source of law of explanation8.

Notes: 1 David R., Brierley J.E.C. Major Legal Systems in the World Today, 3 Ed., Stevens & Sons, London, 1985, p. 25-26.

2. Tetley W. Mixed Jurisdictions: Common Law vs. Civil Law (Codified and Uncodified). Unif. L. Rev., 2003.p. 21.

3. Credes B.D. Efficiency of civil law. University of Nancy, Corte, 2002. p. 4.

4.Credes B.D. Ibid. cit.

5.Credes B.D. Ibid.cit.

6.David R., Brierley J.E.C. Major Legal Systems in the World Today, 3 Ed., Stevens & Sons, London, 1985, p. 94.

7 Tetley W. Mixed Jurisdictions: Common Law vs. Civil Law (Codified and

Uncodified). Unif. L. Rev., 2003.p. 21. 8 Tetley W. Op. cit., p. 22.

5.Translate the sentences marked with an asterisk.

6.Read the text a second time and point out paragraphs devoted to: a) civil and common law doctrines, b) scholars and law-enforcement officials whose influence on the development of law was great.

ORAL SPEECH PRACTICE

I.Mind Your Grammar When You Speak

1.Express surprise. Act as in the models.

Model 1. A: Who’s that?

B: That’s Jim Brown. Don’t you know him?

Prompts: Sally O’Connor, Pete Brown, Sam Whitney, Kate White, Ann Williams, John Simpson

Model 2. A: Where is he now?

B: He is in London. Didn’t you know about it?

Prompts: Linda Smith — in Moscow, Patrick Briggs — in Nigeria, Margaret Clinton — in Spain, Timothy Pink — in Canada.

2. React to the questions as in the models.

Model 1. A: What’s there on the table?

B: There’s a pencil on the table. Can’t you tell (различить)? Prompts: on the desk, in that box, under the table, near the door, on the

wall, on the ceiling

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ORAL SPEECH PRACTICE

1. Read the following flashes of conversation.

1.

A:Olga has just returned from London.

B:Really? How interesting!

A:She has brought a lot of souvenirs for you and me.

B:Great!

2.

A:Somebody has taken my dictionary of English legal terms.

B:I gave it to Jim. He said he would return it tomorrow.

A: You are the limit! Don’t you know I’ll have an English lesson tomorrow? I shan’t be able to get ready for it.

3.

A:I was late for the lecture in Civil Law again.

B:That’s unfortunate!

2. React to the following statements.

1. Somebody has stolen my bag in the tram. 2. Sam says he has wrecked his new car. 3. Jane has sent me some detective stories in English. 4. I’m sorry, I forgot to buy you envelopes. 5. You know, I left my textbook at home again. 6. I’d like to invite you to spend this weekend with us. 7. I shan’t be able to do this work by tomorrow. 8. Steve failed in his exam. 9. I’ve made you a cup of tea. 10. Is this your notebook? I found it in the lecture hall yesterday.

III. Polylogue

At the Seminar on Theory of State and Law

Professor: Today we are going to speak about law. First, we should define this term. Can you tell me what law is?

Oleg: When we speak about law, we mean a justified and well-founded freedom of behaviour, which is proper to society.

Professor: That’s right! But the word “law” has at least two meanings in legal practice.

Nina: Oleg has mentioned one of the meanings. Professor: And what about the other, Pete?

Pete: I’m afraid, I’m not ready to answer this question.

Professor: How very annoying! Last time you were not ready for the seminar either. Nina: I think I can answer your question. We use the word “law” in the second meaning when we speak of the law of the Russian Federation, law of France, or when we speak of definite branches of law, for

example, civil law or criminal law.

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LESSON ONE

Professor: That’s good! A lot of great thinkers, philosophers and lawyers reflected upon the role of law in society. Here is what famous English writer Daniel Defoe said about law: “Law is just a heathen1 word for power.” Do you agree with this statement?

Dennis: I agree with what Defoe said about law. Law, like the state, must serve the people, but one must remember that sometimes law doesn’t meet the requirements of society, because it can be reactionary. For example, legislative bodies can pass anti-popular laws or the courts can pronounce unjust decisions. Sometimes laws and courts become instruments of politics.

Professor: Quite right. I must add that in the situation you have outlined, law can become a negative factor.

Note: 1 heathen — варварский.

Add anything you can to the discussion above.

IV. Topics for Discussion

Comment on the following statements.

1.“This is the court of law, young man, not a court of justice.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

2.“If you laid all of our laws end to end there would be no end.”

Mark Twain

3.“It usually takes a hundred years to make a law, and then after it has done its work, it usually takes a hundred years to get rid of it.”

Henry Ward Beecher

4.“The law’s delay.”

William Shakespeare

V. Case Study

1. Read the following text.

Regina v. Dudley and Stephens

On July 25, 1884, three seamen and a young boy drifted in a small boat in the ocean. They were 1,000 miles off the African coast, had no fresh water, and had not eaten for 8 days. There were no signs they would be rescued. They had been floating for 20 days after their yacht was wrecked in a storm. The three men argued quietly among themselves about sacrificing one of them so that the others could eat. The three knew they meant the boy would be the one killed. They said

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WRITING

nothing to the boy. On the nineteenth day, two of the three men wanted to draw lots to decide who would die so the others could survive. One man refused to draw. On the twentieth day, one man with the other’s consent (the third man disagreeing) went to the boy, told him what was going to happen and killed him. The boy did not agree to be murdered. All three men survived 4 more days until their rescue.

The two men agreeing to sacrifice the boy were later tried in England for murder. They raised the defense of necessity.

VI. Discussion

1.If you were a judge, would you find these men guilty? Why?

2.Does this case raise moral or legal problems (or both)? Why?

3.Read the decision of the court.

VII. Decision

The English court held that there was no necessity. The court said that morality and law are not always the same but should be the same as often as possible. Separating law from morality would be a mistake, which would happen if necessity were a defense to murder in this case. Dudley and Stephens were convicted of murder. (The death sentence was commuted to six months’ imprisonment.)

4.Do you agree with the court’s decision? Why?

5.Do you think it was just that the death sentence was commuted to six months’ imprisonment? Why?

WRITING

Filling out the Forms (Applications)

1. Suppose you are going to apply to a Russian-American Program of Distance Learning. You have to fill out the following form before your interview.

Remember:

1)Neatness counts.

2)Filling out your form, take one step at a time.

3)If an item does not apply to you, draw a line through the answer space. Do not leave it blank, or the person reading the form may think that you missed that item.

4)After finishing, make sure that everything is in order before you hand in the form.

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