ENGLISH-IN-LAW. Textbook

Mills believes that “the only time law can be used to prevent someone doing an act, is to prevent harm to others”. Do you share this opinion or do you believe that we should use law to prevent ‘harm’ in all cases? Are there any other cases to use law? Do you think there can be some extraordinary situations not established by laws? Give arguments and examples to prove your point of view.

TASK 17 The tagline of the film ‘Runaway Jury’ (by John Grisham) states that “trials are too important to be left up to juries”. Do you agree that trials are too important to be decided by juries? Why (Why not)? Give arguments and examples to prove your point of view. Discuss your views in groups.

TASK 18 Comment on the following:

1.“Laws were made to be broken.” (Christopher North, 17851854, a Scottish author, in Blackwood’s Magazine, May 1830)

2.“Asking the ignorant to use the incomprehensible to decide the unknowable.” (on the jury system – Hiller B. Zobel, born 1932, an Associate Justice (retired) of the Superior Court of Massachusetts and author of books on various legal topics, in ‘The Jury on Trial’, July-August 1995)

ADDITIONAL TASKS

TASK 1 Answer the following questions:

a) A roll is a document containing an official or formal record (e.g. the rolls of parliament). What is a statute roll? Can you find some synonymous phrase?

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b) There are several main types of legislation: government bills, private member’s bills, private bills, hybrid bills, statutory instruments (secondary legislation). Which of these can be called public bills? Consult a reference book and find out the difference between a public bill and a private bill. Who can initiate and introduce these bills? What do they concern?

TASK 2 Match the prefixes in the words on the left with their meanings on the right:

TASK 3 Make new words using the prefixes dis-, il-, im-, in-, ir-, non-, unand translate them:

agreement, athletic, ability, capable, convenient, happy, legal, loyal, mature, rational

TASK 4 Replace the expressions in italics with one negative adjective:

1)An angry judge labels a prosecution worker an “unable to read or write idiot” for spelling mistakes in an indictment.

2)Drivers with number plates which you can’t read are facing a crackdown.

3)Baby rats call to their mothers with high pitched squeaks impossible to hear to humans.

4)He accepted he lost his temper and his actions were not based on clear thought or reason.

5)As these talks are at a very preliminary stage it would be not suitable or right to comment further.

TASK 5 Outline the following monarchs and their reign:

Henry VI, Tudor monarchs, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I

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TASK 6 Study this additional information:

In November 1236, Henry III (1216—1272) adjourned a law case to a ‘parliament’ which was due to meet in January the following year – the very first occasion the term ‘parliament’ was recorded in an official document of the English crown.

This did not, however, mark the birth of parliament. The use of the term in 1236 was new, but it described a type of assembly which had existed for many centuries.

The word ‘parliament’, derived from the French parlement, or Latin parliamentum, meant, in essence, ‘discussion’. English kings had always discussed the affairs of the realm with their subjects, but under the Norman and Angevin kings these meetings had been described by contemporaries as ‘councils’.

Nevertheless, the use of the term ‘parliament’ signalled that important changes were happening. The council, made up of the king’s closest advisors, would always remain at the heart of parliament, but from the 1240s the assembly began to acquire characteristics which made it clearly distinguishable from these older gatherings.

Parliament therefore became synonymous with an enlarged gathering of the kingdom’s political elite.

In the reign of Edward I (1272—1307) parliament became a more consistent part of political life, brought together as and when the king required it, which usually was when the crown needed taxation.

This meant that the annual gatherings were infrequently meeting twice or sometimes three times a year. The length of each parliamentary session varied, depending on the nature of the business to which it attended.

Most assemblies met at Westminster, but it was not uncommon for parliament to be held elsewhere in order to accommodate the king’s itinerary. In October 1290, parliament was summoned to meet at Clipstone in Nottinghamshire, a popular royal hunting lodge.

In 1292, as Edward I was campaigning in the North against the Scots, an assembly met at Berwick.

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Text 9

DEVELOPMENT OF POSITIVE LAW (PART A)

When people first began to live in groups they had few rules or laws, but they soon realized that each individual had to pay attention to the needs and welfare of his neighbors in order to make life not only tolerable but pleasant for the greatest number of people. It was considered necessary, for instance, for each person to recognize everyone else’s rights to life and the ownership of property. Without this mutual recognition, society could not function in peace. Law develops as society evolves. Historically, the simplest societies were tribal. The members of the tribe were bonded together initially by kinship and worship of the same gods. Even in the absence of courts and legislature there was law — a blend of custom, morality, religion, and magic. The visible authority was the ruler, or chief; the ultimate authorities were believed to be the gods whose will was revealed in the forces of nature and in the revelations of the tribal head or the priests. Wrongs against the tribe, such as sacrilege or breach of tribal custom, were met with group sanctions including ridicule and hostility, and, the tribe members thought, with the wrath of the gods. The gods were appeased in ritualistic ceremonies ending perhaps in sacrifice or expulsion of the wrongdoer. Wrongs against individuals, such as murder, theft, adultery, or failure to repay a debt, were avenged by the family of the victim, often in actions against the family of the wrongdoer. Revenge of this kind was based on tribal custom, a major component of early law.

With the emergence of written languages it was possible to put laws into written form. One of the best known of the early codes,

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or collections of written laws, is that of Hammurabi, king of Babylon, who lived about 1800 BC. Probably the most famous of the ancient codes, however, is that found in the first five books of the Bible, the laws of Moses. The heart of this code is the Ten Commandments presented by Moses to the people of Israel. These commandments are the basic summary of all moral law designed to regulate the behavior of individuals with regard to each other.

All other societies in the ancient world devised sets of laws. In the 7th century BC, a lawgiver named Draco drew up a very harsh code that punished offenсes, no matter how trivial, with death. Not many years later, another Greek lawgiver, Solon, repealed all but the laws dealing with murder. In the Greek city-state of Sparta, there was a legendary lawgiver named Lycurgus who, after giving the Spartans a code of law, left the city with the instruction that the laws were not to be changed until he returned. He never did return. The most complete and complex system of laws in the ancient world was developed by the Romans. It was the product of many centuries of civilization, from the early years of the Republic until the end of the Empire. In the 6th century AD, the emperor Justinian collected and organized the laws for use as the Roman Civil Law. Roman law has strongly influenced the general character of the laws in every nation of Western Europe except England.

TERMS AND NOTIONS:

Tribe – a group of people of the same race, and with the same customs, language, religion living in a particular area and often led by a chief.

Custom – an accepted way of behaving or of doing things in a society or a community (compare it with “law”).

Morality – principles concerning right and wrong or good and bad behaviour.

Sacrilege – an act of treating a holy thing or place without respect.

Ritual – a series of actions that are always carried out in the same way, esp. as part of a religious ceremony.

Moses (lived in the 13th century BC) – a Hebrew lawgiver and judge who led the Israelites out of Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. On Mount Sinai he claimed to have received from Jeho-

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vah the oral and written law, including the Ten Commandments engraved on tablets of stone.

Solon (638—558 BC) – an Athenian statesman. As one of the chief magistrates about 594 BC, he carried out the cancellation of all debts from which land or liberty was the security and the revision of the constitution that laid the foundations of Athenian democracy. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece.

Lycurgus – a Spartan lawgiver. He was believed to have been a member of the royal house of the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, who, while acting as regent, gave the Spartans their constitution and system of education. Many modern scholars believe him to be at least partly legendary.

Justinian (483—565) – an East Roman emperor (527—565). He ordered the codification of Roman law, which influenced European jurisprudence.

Hammurabi (about 1800 BC) – a king of Babylonia. He drew up one of the most detailed ancient legal codes. The laws were extensive. Punishments were often harsh. Hammurabi’s laws were an advance on earlier tribal customs, because the penalty could not be harder than the crime.

TASK 1 a) ACTIVE VOCABULARY. Read the text. Consult a dictionary to find the meanings of the following words and word combinations:

ownership n. evolve v.

tribe n. (tribal adj.) kinship n.

legislature n. (legislate v.) worship n,. v.

wrong n. wrongdoer n. sacrilege n. breach n. code n. devise v.

draw up phr. v.

develop v. (development n.)

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lawgiver n. (lawmaker n.) harsh adj.

offence n. (offend v.) trivial adj.

repeal v., n.

b) Fill in the correct word in the appropriate grammar form. Use the list above.

1.The judge ruled that there had been no … of the code.

2.Solon, a Greek … , devised a new code of law.

3.The men were punished for the most … offences.

4.The man is one of the most influential politicians in the national ….

5.The restaurant is under private ….

6.Lawyers were asked to … … proposals for reforming the law.

7.If a government … a law, it officially ends that law.

8.It’s … to even think of destroying that lovely building.

9.… of the old gods still continues in remote areas of the country.

10.Humans … from apes.

11.Each state in the US has a different criminal and civil….

12.The possession of stolen property is a criminal ….

13.The government took … measures against the….

revenge v. bad or wrong that they have done to you, your family or friends.

People avenge smth. or avenge themselves on smb.: She avenged her brother’s death. He avenged himself on his wife’s killers.

People revenge themselves on smb. or are revenged on them: He revenged himself on his wife’s killers. He was revenged on his wife’s killers.

b)Make up sentences out of the jumbled words:

1.she, to be, vowed, them, all, on, revenged.

2.the, girl, be, must, revenged.

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3.he, death, wanted, his, to avenge, brother’s.

4.themselves, avenged, enemy, their, they, on.

5.the, group, terrorist, looking, still, itself, attackers, is, its, on, to revenge.

TASK 3 a) Study the meanings of the word “authority”:

authority n. 1. the power you have because of your official position

2.an official organization or a government department that has the power to make decisions, and has particular responsibility

3.someone who knows a lot about the subject and whose knowledge and opinions are greatly respected

4.official permission to do something

b)Identify the meanings of the word “authority” first in the text and then in the following sentences:

1.Only a strong central authority could guarantee internal peace and economic stability.

2.The attack took place under the authority of the UN Security Council.

3.Mr. Li is a leading authority on law.

4.The court held that school officials have the authority to dismiss teachers.

5.Welsh health authorities face a 13 m. pounds deficit this year.

TASK 4. a) Match the words on the left with their synonyms on the right:

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b) Match the words on the left with their antonyms on the right:

TASK 5 Add as many nouns as possible to the following words to form word combinations. Use the word combinations to describe the development of law in your country:

devise v., draw up, develop, harsh, trivial, repeal v., avenge v.

TASK 6 Change the structure of the sentences without changing sence:

1.Law develops as society evolves.

2.The members of the tribe were bonded together initially by kinship and worship of the same gods.

3.Wrongs against the tribe, such as sacrilege or breach of tribal custom, were met with group sanctions.

4.The wrongs against the individuals were avenged by the family of the victim.

5.In the seventh century BC, a lawgiver named Draco drew up a very harsh code that punished offences, no matter how trivial, with death.

6.Another Greek lawgiver, Solon, repealed all but the laws dealing with murder.

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TASK 8 a) Find the adjectives in the superlative degree in the text. How is the superlative of the adjectives formed?

b) Open the brackets to form the comparative or superlative of the adjectives:

1.(early) known legal text was written by Ur-Nammu, a king of the Mesopotamian city of Ur, in about 2100 BC.

2.The laws laid down by Hammurabi were (extensive) than any that had gone before.

3.One of (detailed) ancient legal codes was drawn up in about 1758 BC by Hamurabi, a king of Babylonia.

4.Hammurabi’s laws represented an advance on (early) tribal customs, because the penalty couldn’t be (hard) than the crime.

5.Solon, one of (prominent) Athenian statesmen, introduced a new and (humane) law code.

6.The Magna Carta is one of (old) written constitutional papers.

7.The findings of criminology can give lawyers, judges and prison officials a (good) understanding of criminals, which may lead to (effective) treatment.

8.Lombroso encouraged (constructive) treatment of convicts through the use of work programmes intended to make them (productive) members of society.

TASK 9 Answer the questions:

1.What is one of the main conditions for every society to survive?

2.What kind of laws did tribal societies have?

3.What punishments were imposed in tribes?

4.What early sets of laws do you know? What do they provide for?

5.What laws were issued by Draco, Solon, Lycurgus, and Justinian?

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