English_for_Lawyers_2011

Unit 5. Law and Lawyers. Section 1. Profession of a Lawyer

III. VOCABULARY STUDY

1. Fill in the correct word from the list below:

1.… presides in courtroom and administers justice, resolves disputes between parties, decides the case during the trial, gives the judgment.

2.… investigates a criminal case, collects evidence, and discovers criminals.

3.… usually initiates a criminal case and conducts criminal proceedings, presents evidence in the court.

4.… is a public officer who certifies the documents or its copies and official acts: wills, commercial papers, deeds, etc.

5.… prepares a case or documents, presents a case in a courtroom, defends a client, and drafts legal documents.

2.Match the terms with their definitions and make up your own sentences with these words:

3.Write the word families of the following words:

Law, judge, nation, science, activity, protect, practice.

4.Mark the meaning in which the following words are used in the text with a tick. Use them your own to make up sentences:

1.state – a) стан, положення

b)держава

c)штат

2.counsel – a) адвокат

b)порада

c)консультація

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3.image – a) репутація

b)зображення

c)подібність

4.branch – a) гілка

b)підрозділ

c)відділення, філіал

5.Arrange the letters into correct order and write the words:

1) foenrmentce

2) seproorcut

3) ciajurydi

4) lishtabmentes

5) viordsa

6.Translate the following into English:

Яку роботу виконує юрист у сучасному світі? Прокурора, помічника прокурора, слідчого, судді, адвоката, оперативного співробітника МВС України, поліції, податкової міліції, митних органів, різних служб безпеки, а також співробітника управління в адміністрації області, міст і районів, начальника підприємств, установ та фірм. Значна кількість юристів займається політикою, дослідженнями і викладацькою діяльністю. Таким чином, професійні можливості юриста розповсюджуються на спеціалізовані установи, тобто судові, правоохоронні, правові та економічні структури.

IV. GRAMMAR FOCUS

1.Explain the use of articles with the names of institutions and organizations mentioned in the text.

2.Give the names of 5 higher education institutions and explain the use of capital letters. If the institutions do not appear in proper names, do they require capitalization?

V.SPEAKING

1.Write down the plan of the text in the form of questions. Ask your partner to answer them.

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Unit 5. Law and Lawyers. Section 1. Profession of a Lawyer

2.Give some advice to your friend who is going to become a lawyer using the following plan:

1.choice of specialization

2.number of years of training

3.income expectations

4.responsibilities

5.kinds of clients

6.challenges and opportunities.

3.Being a lawyer is regarded as one of the best professions in many countries. Consider the areas of specialization, which you would choose, or have chosen, and why? Discuss your future career in

pairs, giving reasons for your decisions. Use some of the following expressions:

e.g. A. I think I can become an investigator because I am very good at studying Criminal Code.

B. Yes, I quite agree with you. You could also become a notary. A. I don’t really think I would choose this career because…

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PART I. Legal Systems

Unit 5. Law and Lawyers

Section 2. Spheres of Law

I.LEAD-IN

1.Read and comment the quotation by famous people:

«No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it.»

Theodore Roosevelt

«Lawless are they that make their wills their law.»

William Shakespeare

«The law is reason, free from passion.»

Aristotle

2.Match the following English words and expressions with their Ukrainian equivalents:

TEXT 2

3. Read the text and tell what information is new for you.

SPHERES OF LAW

Law is a system of rules and guidelines, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways

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Unit 5. Law and Lawyers. Section 2. Spheres of Law

and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. The field of civil rights deals with the balance of governmental power and individual liberties. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets. Property law defines rights and obligations related to the transfer and title of personal and real property. Real estate law generally involves anything dealing with real property (land). These laws are designed to determine who owns land and the buildings on it, who has a right to possess and use land or buildings, the sale and purchase of real property, landlord and tenant issues, the development of real property, and compliance with local, state, or national regulations affecting the use of real property.

If the harm is criminalised in a statute, criminal law offers means by which the state can prosecute the perpetrator. So, it is a body of law that prohibits certain kinds of conduct and imposes sanctions for unlawful behaviour. Constitutional law provides a framework for the creation of law, the protection of human rights and the election of political representatives. Administrative law is used to review the decisions of government agencies, while international law governs affairs between sovereign states in activities ranging from trade to environmental regulation or military action. Employment law addresses the legal rights of workers and their employers. Issues might include disputes regarding wages, hours, child labor, workplace safety, discrimination based upon race, gender, age, and disabilities; and trade unions.

Legal systems elaborate rights and responsibilities in a variety of ways. A general distinction can be made between civil law jurisdictions, which codify their laws, and common law systems, where case law is not consolidated into the code. In some countries, religion informs the law. Law provides a rich source of scholarly inquiry, into legal history, philosophy, economic analysis or sociology. Law also raises important and complex issues concerning equality, fairness and justice.

All legal systems deal with the same basic issues, but each country categorises and identifies its legal subjects in different ways. A common distinction is that between "public law" (a term related closely to the state, and including constitutional, administrative and criminal law), and "private law" (which covers contract, tort and property). In civil law systems, contract and tort fall under a general law of obligations, while trusts law is dealt with under statutory regimes or international conventions. International, constitutional and administrative law, criminal law, contract, tort, property law and trusts are regarded as the "traditional core subjects", although there are many further disciplines.

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II. DEVELOPMENT

1.Are the following statements true or false?

1) The text describes different law fields.

2) According to the text, law is generally enforced through a set of institutions.

3) The text characterizes means by which the state can prosecute the perpetrator.

4) Civil law system doesn’t differ essentially from that of common law. 5) Common law systems usually codify their laws.

6) There are no countries where religion informs the law.

7) Law also raises significant and complicated problems concerning equality, fairness and justice.

8) Basic issues are about the same for each country.

2.Complete the chart with the information from the text.

3. In the text find the synonyms for the following words:

course of action, put into effect, freedom, duties, to be intended, rulings, law, measures, offender, penalty, principle, concerning, develop, difference.

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Unit 5. Law and Lawyers. Section 2. Spheres of Law

4.Use the information in the text to explain the meaning of the following legal terms:

–law;

–civil law jurisdiction;

–common law system;

–public law;

–private law;

–trusts law;

–traditional core subjects.

III. PRACTICE AND EXPERIENCE

1.Do the General Law Quiz. Discuss the answers in groups of

four.

1)What type of law system relies heavily on tradition and precedent?

A Civil Law

B Common Law C Public Law

D Private Law

2)Which of the following is the most appropriate explanation of Civil

Law:

Civil Law is about ...

A ensuring perpetrators of crimes are punished

Bensuring that the processes of government are in accordance with the principles of democracy

C settling disputes among individuals

Dprotecting the rights of the individual when they are accused of a crime.

3)Which of the following is the most appropriate word used to indicate law that has come into existence through the decision of judges in previous court cases:

APrecedence

BAntecedence

C Preference

DSupposition

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4)Which of the following is the best explanation of the term "Legislation"? A Law made in the courts by the decision of judges

B Law made in parliament by the decision of judges

C Law made in courts by the decision of elected representatives of the people

D Law made in parliament by the decision of elected representatives of the people

5)Which of the following is not a legal term?

Acivil tort

Bcriminal tort

C constitutional tort

D government tort

Epersonal tort

F public tort

6)In the United Kingdom, what kind of a lawyer wears a wig in court?

Ajury

B barrister

Cdefendant

Dprosecutor

7)Which established set of laws are the laws of the United States fundamentally founded?

A General Civil Law

B English Common Law C French Civil Law

DThe Laws of the Founding Fathers

2. In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1)Why do we have laws?

2)Where, when and why do you think laws first started?

3)Do you think all laws are good?

4)Would you like to be a lawmaker? What new laws would you like your country to introduce?

5)Do you think the laws in your country are similar to those in other countries?

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Unit 5. Law and Lawyers. Section 2. Spheres of Law

6)Are there any laws in your country that you think should be made tighter?

7)What’s the craziest law you know of?

8)What do you think of the idea of international laws that would replace all national laws?

9)What new laws do you think we’ll have fifty years from now?

10)What law would you like to make for your English class?

3.Read the text and fill in the gaps with the appropriate field of law.

The Main Areas of Ukrainian Legislation

The Ukrainian legislative system is based on the systematically organized legal rules (norms) which are combined to constitute different legal areas – spheres of regulation.

In accordance with the system applied in Ukraine, large law areas are defined in the national legislation.

1.… comprises the norms devoted to the political and state system, human rights, freedoms and duties of citizens, legal status of the Verkhovna Rada, the President, the Cabinet of Ministers, other central state bodies and local authorities, the Procuracy, the judiciary, territorial structure, state symbols etc. The main source of it is the Constitution.

2.… combines the legal rules that deal with relations between the state bodies and persons, and administrative offenses as well. The main source of it law is the Code on Administrative Infractions. The newest invention is the system of the administrative courts, which are governed by rules set up in the Administrative Procedural Code of Ukraine.

3.… includes the legal rules defining crimes, forms of guilt, punishment, discharge or mitigation. The Criminal Code of Ukraine came into force from September 1, 2001. The main change in the new Criminal Code is the replacement of the death penalty by perpetual imprisonment. It also envisages such new types of punishment such as public work, arrest, deprivation of liberty, and official restrictions for persons on military service. Economic crimes in Ukraine are defined in a separate chapter

"Crimes in Economic Sphere" of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

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PART I. Legal Systems

4.… relates to the commencement of criminal proceedings, investigation, and court examination in criminal cases. The Criminal Procedural Code administers these procedures.

5.… includes the legal rules governing the procedure of the court consideration and solving the disputes and the enforcement of writs. This legal field is governed by the Civil Procedural Code of Ukraine.

6.… regulates issues of the state budget, banking, tax system etc. and its object of regulation includes money, securities and other financial instruments.

Formation of the financial system of Ukraine is in a permanent progress. The Budget Code was passed at the Verkhovna Rada in 2001.

7.… comprises provisions governing the ownership and non-property, and intellectual property rights, contracts, torts, etc. The main act in this field of legislation is the newly adopted Civil Code. The other subjects of the new Civil Code are as follows: obligations, contract law, inheritance law, legal entities concept and other. The Code introduces new types of business contracts into the legal practice: factoring, franchising, and rent service or inherited contracts etc.

8.… relates to the grounds of marriage, its solemnization and dissolution, personal ownership and non-property rights and duties of the spouses, relations between parents and children, adoption issues etc. Such rules are incorporated into the new Family Code adopted in 2002.

9.… regulates contracts-based relations and deals with conflicts between legal entities, individuals and/or a state. Economic Procedural Code envisages that commercial courts administer actions filed by the business participants regarding protection of their rights and interests.

10.… includes the legal rules combined in the Labor Code of 2001 that governs the matters of the labor contracts, working hours, holidays and rest days, safety at the working place, wages, sick leave, social protection, the labor disputes resolution, as well as basics of trade union activity.

IV. WRITING

1.Imagine that you are a lawyer. Write a brief note about what sphere of law you prefer to practice in, point out advantages and disadvantages of being a practitioner in this field.

2.Prepare a report on topic: «Important and complex legal issues raised in Ukraine during last year» .

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