In a criminal case, the state must prove the defendant’s

guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (поза всякими сумнівами). This means that

even if a preponderance (перевага) of the evidence favors (сприяє) the state,

and even if the state’s evidence is convincing (переконливий), the decision

must be awarded to the defendant if a reasonable (обгрунтований) doubt (сумнів) of

the defendant’s guilt remains.

UNIT 10

TORT LAW

Tort law is one of the major divisions (основні розділи) of the law. A

“tort” (делікт) is a civil wrong (цивільне правопорушення) as distinguished (відокремлювати) from crime.

A crime is a public wrong (кримінальна карана шкода суспільству).

What is a Tort? A tort is the breach (порушення) of a legal duty which

Causes (спричиняє) some kind of compensable injury (шкода, яку можна компенсувати) or loss (шкода) to person,

property, or rights.

Requirements for a Tort. In general, four elements must

Coincide (збігатися) for an act to constitute a tort (становити делікт) on which a lawsuit (судовий процес)

can be based. These elements are: (1) a legal duty (встановлений законом

обов’язок)

owed (заборгований) by one person to another; (2) violation of the duty; (3)

Injury or loss to the plaintiff (тілесне ушкодження,

майнова шкода або обмеження прав заявника); (4) the violation of the

duty (порушення обов'язку) is the proximate cause (безпосередня причина) of the injury (пошкодження) or loss.

The first requirement for a tort is the presence (наявність) of a legal

duty owed by one person to another. The nature and scope

of these duties (обсяг цих обов’язків) are defined mainly by case law (прецедентне право). An example

of a duty which is important in many lawsuits is the

broad rule that a person must act with reasonable regard

for the safety of others (враховуючи необхідність забезпечення безпеки інших осіб).

The second requirement for a tort is a breach (порушення) of

the legal duty. Normally, the issue (питання) of whether a legal duty

exists is a question of law, and the issue of whether the duty

has been violated is a question of fact. The judge decides

whether the law imposes a duty (накладати (ставити

за) обов’язок), but the jury decides

whether or not the defendant breached (порушив) the duty.

The third requirement for a tort is injury or loss suffered (постраждалий)

by the plaintiff. The injury or loss may be a physical injury,

Injury to property, or injury to (or loss of) a valuable right

or interest (важливе право або інтерес). In the absence (відсутність) of injury or loss, violation of

a legal duty is a “wrong without harm” (порушення без спричинення шкоди) or “damnum

absque injuria”. Moreover, the injury or loss must be significant (істотний)

enough to warrant (слугувати підставою (виправданням) для) the court’s time in providing

and enforcing a remedy (визначення розмірів

відшкодувань та їх стягнення).

The fourth requirement for a tort is that the defendant’s

breach of duty is a proximate cause (безпосередня причина) of injury or loss to the plaintiff.

Legally, an act is a proximate cause of an event if the act is

a substantial factor (істотний чинник) in bringing about the event (спричинення

настання події).

UNIT 11

CONTRACTS

A contract is a legally binding (обязательный) agreement between

two or more competent persons to do, or not to do, a particular

thing. The three basic elements to a contract are:

an offer (оферта); an acceptance (акцепт) of the offer; and sufficient (достаточный,обоснованный) consideration (зустрічне задоволення) to support the offer and acceptance. In addition, there must be a reasonable certainty (розумне усвідомлення) as to

what the parties are to do, or not to do, when they are to

do it, and what the consideration is. Finally, the parties

must be competent to contract (правоможний укладати

договір), that is, they must be

of sufficient (достаточный) age, in reasonable possession of their wits

(бути при своєму розумі), and not under legal disability (юридична

недієздатність;

пораження у правах

).

Basic Requirements for a Contract. The first requirement

for a valid (имеющий силу) contract is that the parties have a meeting

of the minds (порозуміння ). A meeting of the minds is evidenced

by an offer, and an acceptance (принятие) of the offer. The second

requirement is that the promise of each party is given in return

for some benefit (вигода) sufficient to justify (оправдывать) the promise.

This benefit is the consideration for the contract.

An offer can be made by words or acts. That is, it

can be made specifically (определенно) (in writing or orally), or it can be