LESSON 7

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Pensioner is banned over speed trap alert.

A pensioner who warned motorists of a police speed trap was convicted of obstructing a constable in the execution of his duty, banned from driving and ordered to pay £364 costs yesterday.

Stuart Harding, 71, was attempting to slow motorists down as they approached a Sunday morning car boot sale* where many people were crossing the road. Noticing that police were parked nearby with an officer using a hand-held laser speed camera, he decided that a warning stating “Speed Trap – 300 yards ahead” would be the most effective way of getting drivers to reduce their speed. But as soon as the officer noticed his placard he was cautioned for committing an offence.

Harding said: “ I have been convicted of breaking the law because I was trying to stop others from doing so. It is totally unjust.” Harding also said he had stood at the same spot on previous Sundays warning drivers of the car boot sale, and had received a thumbs-up sign from a passing police car. But the attitude of officers changed when he warned drivers of the speed camera.

Sergeant Sarah Cashman told the court that when she cautioned Harding and confiscated the sign he told her ”I stop people speeding down here. I am only doing what I think is right”.

Banning Harding for a month, Alex Wyman, the magistrate, said: “The use of the sign was a deliberate act and by use of the words ‘speed trap’ you were assisting speeding motorists from being prosecuted”. The court also confiscated Harding’s sign and ordered it to be destroyed.

After the case he said that he had been told that fines collected from speeding motorists on that stretch of the road had netted £12,000 in one morning alone. “It seems to be more about raising revenue than road safety. I’m just so angry and upset about driving ban. It was totally uncalled for because this wasn’t a motoring offence”, he said.

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*car boot sale – an informal market, often in a field, where people sell things from the backs of their cars. People usually sell books, clothes, children’s toys, etc. which they no longer want. Car boot sales are very popular in Britain and take place regularly in many parts of the country.

B. COMPREHENSION

B1. Answer the questions:

1.What was the pensioner convicted of?

2.What was he doing and why?

3.Explain what actions were regarded as an offence.

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4.Mr. Harding said that previously his actions had been approved by passing police officers. Why did the officers’ attitude change later?

5.What penalty was imposed on Stuart Harding?

6.What was Mr.Harding’s reaction to it?

C. DISCUSSION

C1. Give your opinion:

1.Whose actions were fair and just (or unfair, unjust) – of the police officers or of Mr. Harding?

2.Do you agree that the pensioner committed an offence?

3.Was he given fair punishment?

4.In your opinion, what preventive measures would be best to slow drivers down?

D.VOCABULARY

D1. Find in the text the English equivalents to the following:

1.ему запретили вождение автомобиля

2.приближаться к месту распродажи

3.машина была припаркована неподалеку

4.ручное устройство для определения скорости

5.предупреждающая надпись

6.одобряющий знак

7.преднамеренный поступок

8.помогать водителям избежать преследования по закону

9.собирать штрафы

10.дорожное правонарушение

D2. Translate the following expressions into Russian:

a)to damage a house; his reputation was damaged; to do a damage to something; the fire caused great damages to the building; to pay the damages; to do much harm to the health; it hasn’t harmed me; to warn on the danger; a warning look; pay no attention to warnings;

b)to protect one’s own interests; under the protection of the law; legal protection; protective measures; protective arrest; protected state; protecting state; to prevent an accident; nothing shall prevent me from doing my duty; preventive measures; prevention of crime;

c)fair demand; public demand; high in demand; to satisfy somebody’s demands; to demand an answer (a payment); the operation demands great care; means of protection; to find (a) means to do something; by fair means; by no means; you must do it by all means;

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d) minor offence; criminal offence; an offence against the law; to offend against custom; first-time offender; heavy fine; to impose a fine; to ban a meeting (a newspaper); to be under a ban; execution of the plan; to execute somebody’s commands;

e)violation of military discipline; violation of fundamental principles; deliberate violation; to violate rules; violence of emotions (of the wind and waves); to attack an enemy with violence; to use violence; robbery with violence; to enter a house by violence; violent means; violent death; he became violent;

f)to treat somebody badly (kindly); to treat somebody like dirt (like a dog); don’t treat him as a child; please treat this information as strictly private; to oppose the enemy (the rival); to oppose a plan; if they win our party will oppose them; to meet with opposition; to hold opposite opinions.

E. SPEAKING OUT

E1. Agree or disagree with the following statements. Prove your point of view.

1.The execution of the laws is more important than the making of them. (T. Jefferson)

2.The good of the people is the highest law. (Cicero)

3.Public opinion is always in advance of the law. (J. Galsworthy)

4.Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered. (Aristotle)

F.WRITING

F1. Project work.

Choose the statement you like most of all and write a short composition.

LESSON 8

A. REVISION

A1. Match the synonyms. Use a dictionary if necessary.

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A3. Choose the correct form and translate the sentences:

1)I regret that you do not have the qualifications requirement/ requiring/ required for this job.

2)Under the new rules working time is restrictive/ restricted/ restriction to 45 hours a week.

3)We may speak about the relate/ related/ relative advantages of different methods of transporting goods.

4)It is difficult to relate/ related/ relative these results to any known phenomenon.

5)You ought to settlement/ settled/ settle your affairs before you go into hospital.

6)The terms of settlement/ settled/ settle seem just.

7)He was sentenced for a serious offender/ offend/ offence.

8)At the moment the law gives women little protected/ protect/ protection/ protective from violent/ violated husbands.

9)There were reports that some people had been prevented/ preventive/ prevention from voting in the elections.

10)We have opposed/ opposite/ opposition opinions on almost everything.

11)But there are, of course, provisions governing compulsory/compel/ compulsion education.

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12) The majority of people were obedience/ obediently/ obedient to the King, not questioning his government.

4. Students who ________ the rules and smoke in college will have to leave.

A5. Translate the following text into English:

В современном обществе люди постоянно сталкиваются с правилами и нормами, зафиксированными в законах и постановлениях. Везде мы сталкиваемся с требованиями, запретами и дозволениями, с необходимостью соблюдения правил и законов, с теми последствиями, которые возникают при их нарушении. Каждое государство устанавливает в общественных отношениях определенный порядок, который обеспечивает и защищает эти отношения. Закон охватывает

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многие сферы человеческой жизни и является основой безопасности общества.

Законодатели – это люди, которые создают законы. В древние времена законы создавались из старинных обычаев, и иногда кодифицировались сильным правителем. Правонарушители наказывались, и таким образом общество было принуждено повиноваться. В современном мире создание законов предполагает у законодателей не только общую культуру, но требует от них также специальных знаний. Правовая культура законодателей должна включать понимание действительности, ее истории и дальнейшего развития, а также специальные знания о праве и законах.

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сталкиваться – to face

последствия - consequences

действительность - reality

B. CASES

B1. Read the following situations. Give your comments on each of the situations. How would you judge the behaviour of people in each of the cases?

Case 1

Angela K., 29, is engaged to an old friend of hers. She is going to get married in a few months’ time. John S., her fiancé, is a bright, educated man who works as a top-manager of a huge corporation. He seems to adore her, satisfying every wish of hers. Suddenly you find out that she is seeing another young man secretly, although has no intention to break the engagement. John has no idea about her affair. Both Angela and John are your friends.

How would you behave (talk to Angela, talk to John, pretend you don’t know, etc.)? Would your attitude to your friends change? Is Angela breaking any rules?

Case 2

Yesterday’s football match between Solsdale and Milenton (the UK amateur football league) ended in a huge scandal. The first period ended in a 1:1 draw, the second period began with a foul committed by Milenton’s defender Gill T. , who bumped into Solsdale’s forward Ken B., the latter answered by kicking him secretly on the ankle. The defender returned and took revenge by kicking the lying forward on the stomach. When the referee ordered him out

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of the pitch, the rebellious defender refused to go claiming that the decision was unfair. The Solsdale’s captain tried to help the referee and pushed the protesting defender out of the pitch, the action caused a huge dissatisfaction among Milenton’s players who eagerly joined the conflict. The poor referee wanted to stop the fight but was knocked out by an unidentified player. The linesmen didn’t dare to interfere and called the police. By their arrival about a half of spectators were participating in the fight. The League’s officials are now investigating the case to take proper measures.

What legal offences or violation of rules can you identify in the case? Was the referee’s decision fair? Comment upon the scale of guilt of each of the participants. What moral norms were violated?

Case 3

The Dean of Law Faculty of Michigan University is now investigating the details of cheating on Midterm exams. Two students were asked to leave the exam room when the professor noticed they were using their mobiles while filling the exam tests. The students claim they were only trying to switch the mobiles off and were not using them for cheating. They also insist that they saw some other students using hand-held computers and the professor left that cheating unnoticed. They are even ready to name the cheating students.

Are the students breaking any rules, if “yes”, which rules do they break? Was the professor’s decision fair? Comment upon the wish of the students to disclose the secret of cheating in class.

Case 4

Part 1

Your friend Emily is rather well-off. She works as a brand manager with the annual salary of about $40,000. She had a happy childhood (though being a single a single child in the family she is a bit spoilt) and never experienced financial problems. Still she has a bad habit that annoys some of her friends very much. When she does the shopping in huge supermarkets or hypermarkets she usually steals some trifle like a pack of chewing gum or a chocolate bar. You are in a supermarket and you see she’s just stolen a pack of candies.

What would you do? Would you talk to her, pretend you saw nothing, pay for the stolen article, etc.? How would you call her behaviour? Would your attitude to this person change?

Part 2

That time you told her nothing, the next time she did it you asked her about her behaviour but it did not help. Emily just replied she was not stealing, she just checked the security system o the shop. Once you went shopping and as

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usual she stole a bottle of beer. Unfortunately that action was not left unnoticed and you both were detained by the shop’s security guards.

Are their actions legitimate? What might the penalty be? Is it fair that they detained you too?

Case 5

Amira Sinch, 23, is from India, but studied abroad for more than 5 years. Last year she graduated from Oxford and returned to India to work as a senior manager of a huge Indian corporation. On her return she found out that her parents had already arranged her marriage to a person she had never seen. Amire refused to get married to an unknown man but her parents insisted and even arranged a date of a formal engagement. Her father even threatened to make her leave her job. Amira is afraid to lose her job and spoil the relationship with her family, however, she is definitely against her parents’ decision.

What do you think about the situation? What can you advise her? Do her parents have a right to make her marry the man they want?

Case 6

Ginny S. was a star of an incredibly successful TV soap opera “Sweet Mothers”. She was extremely popular and served as an example of an ideal mother for millions of TV viewers. Three months ago one of the leading US tabloids published an article where they claimed that the “ideal mother” had had an abortion at the age of 15. After the revelation the show’s rating fell, the producers broke the contract and replaced her by another actress who, as they explained, had a better reputation and could pull in the viewers. Ginny wants to sue the newspaper for defamation and the show’s producers for breaking the terms of the contract. She is sure that the affairs of her past are not for public scrutiny. Besides, she claims that the rumors about her abortion are groundless.

Do you think she’ll be successful in the lawsuit? Were the actions of the producers legitimate? Comment on the attitude of the public to the situation. Who do you support in the case? Would your vision of the situation change if it turns out that the information about the abortion was truthful? Would you agree that pop stars have the same right for privacy as ordinary people? Do you read articles about celebrities in yellow press?

Case 7

James A., 46, from Great Britain lived and worked in his native country for all his life. Last year, however, he was offered a good job in Germany and moved to Hamburg. James is an experienced driver, but the first attempt of

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driving in the new country resulted in a car crash. The unsuccessful driver just forgot that unlike Britain they have a right-hand driving system in Germany. So he just entered the opposite lane thus scaring all the drivers who were moving in the right direction.

What might the penalty be? Do you think all countries should have the same system of traffic rules? Have you ever broken traffic rules, if yes, which ones? What was the punishment?

APPENDIX 1

VOCABULARY TO LEARN

Lesson 2

A1. Societies, prescriptive rules, informal rules, governments, behave, instructions, experience, immoral, penalty, break the rules, respect, moral choice, legal actions

A2. 1d 2g 3a 4b 5h 6f 7c 8e

Lesson 5.

A1. Basis, all, is built, believer’s, toward, can, concerning, for, the, was (sequence of tenses), permitted, has been transmitted, through, was codified, in, highly, attracts, to, to, although, smaller

B1. 1) influential 2) obedient 3) legal 4) compulsory 5) secure 6)immanent 7) substantial 8)unjust 9) rival 10) profound

B2. 1k 2i 3a 4d 5b 6j 7h 8c 9g 10f 11e

B3. 1c 2b 3b 4c 5c 6b 7a 8a 9c 10b

B5. 1d 2b 3h 4j 5c 6k 7g 8i 9f 10e 11a

Lesson 6.

F1. 1f 2i 3a 4j 5c 6g 7e 8d 9h 10b 11l 12k

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APPENDIX 3

SOURCES:

1.Учебники и учебные пособия:

1)Николаева А.В., Разуваева Т.Н. Английский для юристов. М.- Ростов н/Дону, 2003.

2)Оксюкевич Е.Д. Законодатели. Книга для чтения по правоведению. Пособие на англ.яз. М.,2005

II.Словари и справочники:

1)Longman Essential Activator, 1997.

2)The American Heritage Dictionary. Laurel, 1983.

3)The New English Penguin Dictionary, 1986.

4)The Macmillan English Dictionary, 2003.

5)Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Oxford, Moscow, 1982.

6)Chamber’s Dictionary of Quotations. New York, 1999.

7)Бенсон М., Бенсон Э., Илсон А. Комбинаторный словарь англ.

языка. М.,1990.

8)Карпентер Э. Часто смешиваемые слова. М.,2003

9)Новый большой англо-русский словарь: в 3-х т./ Апресян Ю. и

др. М.,1993

10)Кунин А.В. Англо-русский фразеологический словарь. М.,1984.

11)Гринбаум С., Уиткат Дж. Словарь трудностей англ. языка.

М..1990.

12)Сборник цитат и изречений на англ. языке. М.,1964.

III.Прочие источники:

1)Berki R.N. Security and society: Reflections on law, order and ethics. Oxford, 1991.

2)Hart H.L.A. The Concept of Law. Oxford, 1993.

3)Padfield C.F. Law made simple. London, 1985.

4)Encyclopedia of World’s Cultures. New York, 1999.

5)Daily Telegraph, June 3, 2004.

6)BBC news on-line

7)Cambridge Dictionary Online.

8)http://en.wikipedia.org