ENGLISH-IN-LAW. Textbook

4.How does law affect private planning?

5.Why should laws be enforced?

6.What kind of conflicts does law resolve?

7.How does law maintain peace and order in society?

8.How is interdependence of sovereign states coordinated today?

9.What function of national government is still important today?

TASK 8 a) Summarise the following text:

The American realists have different types of approach to the aims of law. Karl Llewellyn (1893–1962, a prominent American jurisprudential scholar associated with the school of legal realism) identified five “law jobs”. He thinks that law in any community serves to:

•prevent disruptive conflicts within the community. Law helps maintain a peaceful, orderly society, and contribute to this stability by providing a means of resolving disputes.

•resolve disputes between members of the community. Property law facilitates business activities, while laws limiting the powers of government help ensure some individual freedom.

•accommodate changes in the circumstances of the community and its members. Law can also be a means of accomplishing social change, as for example in the prohibition of racial discrimination on the one hand and the establishment of national health and social security systems on the other.

•recognise the authority structure of the community, and

•establish procedural rules for performing other tasks.

But Oliver Wendell Holmes (1841–1935, an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932) wrote in ‘The Common Law’ (1881) that the life of the law is not logic but experience, “The prophecies of what the courts will do in fact, and nothing more pretentious, are what I mean by the law”.

Roscoe Pound (American jurist, born 1870) named the informal practices of legal institutions “the law-in-action,” contrasting it to “the law-in-the-books,” by which he meant formally enacted legal doctrine.

A functionalist approach would see the law as characterising the values and principles of society and maintaining these values

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by securing compliance. The law is symbolic, and expresses wrong by providing a remedy for those who feel they are victims of wrongdoing. By providing a deterrent, compliance can be assured, at least among ‘...some of the population, some of the time, in some circumstances...’ (Walker ‘The Some Theory’)

Hart (1907–1992, an influential legal philosopher of the 20th century, Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford University) said in “The Concept of Law” that ‘Law is the means by which we articulate displeasure at anti-social conduct.’

b)Agree or disagree with the following:

•“The law-in-action” contradicts “the law-in-the-books”.

•“Law is the means by which we articulate displeasure at antisocial conduct.”

•“The life of the law is not logic but experience.”

TASK 9 Discuss the following issues:

1.Law and the stability of the society.

2.Guarantees provided by law.

3.The role of international bodies in the government of the states.

TASK 10 Divide into groups and discuss the need for the constitution. Answer the following questions:

•Does your country have a comprehensive constitution?

•Do all citizens in your country know the constitution?

•At what age should they study the constitution?

•Should constitution be taught at school or at university?

•Is constitution important only for lawyers?

•What fundamental rights are provided for by the constitution in your country?

TASK 11 Agree or disagree with the following quotations:

1.“Translation is at best an echo.” (George Henry Borrow, 1803—1881, English writer)

2.“Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” (Will Durant, 1885—1970, American writer)

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Text 4

LAW, MORALITY AND SELF-INTEREST

Law cannot deal with the whole problem of how people, states and international bodies should behave to one another. Though the threat of punishment and other sanctions are often effective in the short run, in the long run law has to build on a basis of morality and self-interest. For instance, though fear of being caught out is an important motive for paying taxes, laws that impose taxes are in the long run effective only if most people think it right or in their own interest to make a contribution to the expenses of the state. If most people do think this, law can (within limits) settle what taxes there should be and how much each person should pay. It can impose penalties on those who do not pay their share. Of course not everyone will pay, but the majority probably will, and the minority, or many of them, will be caught and penalised.

Law builds on moral opinion and self-interest. But that is not the whole story. Laws claim to be morally sound — to be part of morality. They try to mould moral opinion. The existence of a law can convince people that what it requires is right and in people’s interests. Tax law is a good example, because it is fair to make someone pay a tax only if other people in the same position are also forced to pay it. Indeed, even if people agree that they should make a contribution to the state’s expenses, only a law can fix what that contribution should be. In this way law and moral opinion support one another. Morality is incomplete without law, and law can only be enforced when it is backed by morality and self-interest.

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Another advantage of making a rule of conduct law is that, if people or states do not conform, the law can spell out the steps to be taken against them. In this way the people or states concerned know pretty much what can happen if they step out of line. Offenders can be made liable to official measures of disapproval — sanctions. These range from the use of armed force and economic boycott to imprisonment, fines, disqualification and being made to pay compensation.

There are arguments, however, for not making everything that is morally right into a legal duty. There is much to be said for keeping law to the minimum. To do this allows people more space to do what they like without interference. It is tempting to want to regulate every aspect of life, but to have too many laws irritates people and in the long run brings law into disrepute.

What is more, laws, like other formal arrangements, are expensive, because the state has to find and pay for ways of enforcing them. If it allows many laws to become a dead letter, this undermines respect for the law in general. So the cost of imposing do’s and don’ts by law often outweighs the likely benefit. Too much law creates a bonanza for lawyers without any real benefit to ordinary people.

TASK 1 a) Study this useful vocabulary:

contribute, v – to join others in giving money, help, etc.

penalty, n – a punishment for breaking a law, rule or legal agreement

mould, v – to influence the way someone’s character or attitudes develop

conform, v – to comply with accepted standards, rules, etc. liable, adj – legally obliged or responsible

range, v – to include a variety of different things or people spell out, v – to explain smth. clearly

bonanza, n – sudden good luck or wealth sound, adj – sensible, complete and thorough impose, v – to force people to accept something

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b) Study the following collocations and continue the list to describe the tax law. Would you like to introduce some new taxes or to repeal some obsolete tax legislation? What is tax-free? Is tax avoidance or tax evasion a legal method to minimise a tax burden?

to impose taxes, punishment, restrictions, penalties, a rule , … to impose taxes, to levy taxes, to collect taxes, to pay taxes, to reduce taxes, to … taxes

national taxes, local taxes, income taxes, inheritance taxes, … taxes

TASK 2 Match the words on the left with their synonyms on the right:

in the long run; in the short run; to step out of line; a dead letter; do’s and don’ts; the likely benefit; morally sound; bonanza

TASK 4 Write down the missing word (word association):

1.to convince, opinion, sound, a motive

2.a sanction, a penalty, liable, a rule

3.boycott, armed forces, imprisonment, fines

4.to irritate, interference, a legal duty, to tempt, disrepute

5.a sentence, a jail, punishment, term, an offender

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TASK 5 Insert modal verbs into the following sentences:

1.It’s a problem how states ... behave to one another.

2.Law ... settle what taxes ... be.

3.Law ... impose penalties on those who do not obey it.

4.In the long run law ... to build on a basis of morality.

5.Only a law ... fix what contribution there ... be.

6.The law ... spell out the steps against offenders.

7.Too much law ... create a bonanza for lawyers.

8.Law ... regulate every aspect of life without irritating people.

TASK 6 Derive nouns from the following verbs:

to penalize; to tempt; to contribute; to range; to behave; to pay; to exist; to arrange; to offend; to argue; to approve

TASK 7 Answer the following questions:

1.What should make up the basis of law?

2.Why don’t some people pay taxes? What happens to them?

3.How can law influence moral opinion?

4.What does enforcement of law depend on?

5.What sanctions can law use?

6.Why can’t laws include all morally right concepts?

7.Why are laws expensive?

8.Who loses from having too many laws? And who benefits from it?

TASK 8 a) Summarise the text and explain the meaning of modals verbs:

Rules

A rule is something which prescribes what a person must/must not do, may/may not do, can/cannot do. It is generally possible to go to a text (such as an Act of Parliament, a contract, the written decision of a court, or the holy book of a particular religion) which specifies what the rule is. The authority of a rule is generally accepted and observed by those to whom it applies. Formal sanctions, such as punishment or the payment of compensation, may be applied if the rule is broken.

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Text 5

LAWYERS

As you know law consists of constitutional arrangements plus officially-backed rules that tell us how to behave or help us to make private arrangements or provide for settling disputes. These are all connected because the constitution settles who is entitled to lay down the rules.

In modern states three bodies play a part in settling what the law is. The legislature (in Britain, Parliament and the Queen) makes new laws and cancels or repeals old laws. The laws made by the legislature are statutes. The executive government (in Britain the Queen and her ministers) is given power by the legislature to make less important laws, like traffic regulations. Judges in deciding disputes interpret the laws and fill in the gaps in them. The law they make is case-law.

Lawyers study this triple system of official rules: statutes, regulations and case-law. Some lawyers advise legislators; some are judges; some teach law. But most advise private clients or organizations about the rules that apply to them in particular cases. If necessary, they argue their client’s case in court.

To some people these activities have an endless fascination. Why? To be a good lawyer is more difficult than it seems. It is not just a matter of repeating rules to be found in statutes or regulations or case-law. Laws, however carefully drawn up, do not solve all the problems that they are meant to solve, or that in practice crop up.

People and states lay down laws and make contracts and treaties and wills only to come up against a situation that they did not foresee. A man makes a will thinking that his children will

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outlive him. What happens if he outlives them? I agree to buy a house on the basis that I can sell my present house. Do I have to go on with the sale if I find that I cannot? Income is taxable, but do tips amount to income? Murder is forbidden, but is it murder to put a terminally ill patient who wants to die out of their misery? The answers are not obvious. Lawyers have to work them out.

So laws and arrangements that are legally binding (like contracts, wills and treaties) are permanently up for debate. How are they to be interpreted? Unsolved problems abound. But solutions cannot be plucked from the air. They must be reached in a way that respects authority. And in a legal system the authority comes from the constitution and attaches to the statutes, regulations and case-law that conform to the constitution.

To find the right (or best) solution to an unsolved problem calls for learning, wisdom, and restraint. Learning: the decision must be consistent with the history and traditions of a society and its laws. Wisdom: the solution must fit the facts of the case and the interests of the people concerned. Restraint: the law must build on what already exists. It must appeal to people’s view of what is right and in their interest. It cannot leap too far ahead of opinion.

A lawyer is concerned, then, to find the best solution to a conflict that is consistent with the authority of the constitution. Lawyers can be just as grasping and unscrupulous as anyone else; but a good lawyer can hope in a modest way to make his community a better place. Brains are a help, but it is not necessary to be specially clever.

TASK 1 Study this useful vocabulary:

cancel, v – to postpone indefinitely

repeal, v – to put an official end to a law, revoke, set aside, annul, nullify

abound, v – to be plentiful, to overflow bind, v – to place smb. under obligation

draw up, v – to prepare a written document, such as a list or contract

crop up, v – to happen unexpectedly

consistent, adj – in accordance with, in agreement, compatible

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