Administrative law in common law countries

ЗМІСТ

1. Адміністративне право

2. Аграрне право

3. Цивільне право

4. Кримінальне право

5. Судова система України

6. Судова система Великобританії

7. Органи адвокатури, прокуратури та правосуддя України

8. Законодавство. Закони і кодекси.

9. Питання про закон.

10. Типи юридичних професій.

11. Судочинство. Судоустрій.

12. Види злочинів. Розслудування

13. Обвинувачення. Розгляд справи у суді.

14. Обовязки поліцейської служби.

 

ІV studying year, І term

Theme 1: text “Administrative law”

1. READ AND TRANSLATE THE TEXT.

2. RETELL THE TEXT.

 

Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law. As a body of law, administrative law deals with the decision-making of administrative units of government (for example, tribunals, boards or commissions) that are part of a national regulatory scheme in such areas as police law, international trade, manufacturing, the environment, taxation, broadcasting, immigration and transport. Administrative law expanded greatly during the twentieth century, as legislative bodies worldwide created more government agencies to regulate the increasingly complex social, economic and political spheres of human interaction.

Administrative law in common law countries

Generally speaking, most countries that follow the principles of common law have developed procedures for judicial review that limit the reviewability of decisions made by administrative law bodies. Often these procedures are coupled with legislation or other common law doctrines that establish standards for proper rulemaking. Administrative law may also apply to review of decisions of so-called semi-public bodies, such as non-profit corporations, disciplinary boards, and other decision-making bodies that affect the legal rights of members of a particular group or entity.

While administrative decision-making bodies are often controlled by larger governmental units, their decisions could be reviewed by a court of general jurisdiction under some principle of judicial review based upon due process (United States) or fundamental justice (Canada). Judicial review of administrative decisions, it must be noted, is different from an administrative appeal. When sitting in review of a decision, the Court will only look at the method in which the decision was arrived at, whereas in an administrative appeal the correctness of the decision itself will be examined, usually by a higher body in the agency.This difference is vital in appreciating administrative law in common law countries.

The scope of judicial review may be limited to certain questions of fairness, or whether the administrative action is ultra vires. In terms of ultra vires actions in the broad sense, a reviewing court may set aside an administrative decision if it is unreasonable (under Canadian law, following the rejection of the "Patently Unreasonable" standard by the Supreme Court in Dunsmuir v. New Brunswick), Wednesbury unreasonable (under British law), or arbitrary and capricious (under U.S. Administrative Procedure Act and New York State law). Administrative law, as laid down by the Supreme Court of India, has also recognized two more grounds of judicial review which were recognized but not applied by English Courts viz. legitimate expectation and proportionality.

The powers to review administrative decisions are usually established by statute, but were originally developed from the royal prerogative writs of English law, such as the writ of mandamus and the writ of certiorari. In certain Common Law jurisdictions, such as India or Pakistan, the power to pass such writs is a Constitutionally guaranteed power. This power is seen as fundamental to the power of judicial review and an aspect of the independent judiciary.

 

ІV studying year, І term

Theme 2: text “Agriculture law”

1. READ AND TRANSLATE THE TEXT.

2. RETELL THE TEXT.

 

What are the social relations governing the agrarian law, which is the subject of his study? In the process of production and economic activity of agricultural producers have interlinked property, land, commercial, labor, organizational and administrative relations. They do not constitute an organic unity, but the specific activities in the agricultural sector necessitates their integration into one system. Thus, we can conclude that the agrarian law as a complex area to regulate agrarian relations of both traditional and special rules. The subject of agrarian law is a relationship based on private, state, municipal property and arising in the field of agriculture. To such conclusion the authors of the textbook "Agrarian Law of Ukraine". The authors of the textbook "Agrarian Law of Ukraine" have suggested that the agrarian law in a state of becoming as independent and integrated area of ​​national law which has its own subject, his own and partly integrated facilities, own subjects, methods, system. Agrarian law as a specialized branch of law designed to regulate the relations established between actors in the agricultural sector. The provisions of the Agricultural Law regulated range and content of these rights and responsibilities. Thus, the nature of industrial and economic and socio-economic activities, feature social conditions of existence of agricultural producers is determined by the uniqueness of the subject of agrarian law as a field of law. Agrarian Law of Ukraine as a branch of law that is under formation and the formation, regulates a complex of related industrial and commercial relations, which consist in the production and processing of agricultural products. Agrarian law as a system of rules governing a variety of complex social relations, which consist in the process of agricultural production. This coherent system of legal rules, blocks and elements are placed in hierarchical order. Agrarian law as a systematic branch regulates a group of complex social relations and is thus a comprehensive integrated area of ​​law. It is associated with economic, civil, administrative, labor, land and other areas of law. The term "agrarian law" covered interrelated but not identical concepts. Agrarian Law should rozhlyadyaty as a branch of law, the legal branch of science and academic discipline. Agrarian law as one of the branches of legal science - a system of scientific knowledge, legal ideas, theoretical views, concepts and knowledge about the laws of agrarian-legal regulation of social relations that are the subject of agrarian law. As a science agrarian law is a theoretical position about the subject, methods, sources, subjects and objects of agrarian law of agrarian legal on state regulation silskohohospodarskyh relations, organization, discipline and safety in agriculture and more. Agrarian law as an academic discipline is a system of scientific knowledge about the agrarian law - the branch of law and legislation designed to study the relevant institutions, particularly - legal.

 

ІV studying year, І term

Theme 3: text “Civil law”

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Civil law (or civilian law) is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are written into a collection, codified, and not (as in common law) co-created by judges.

Conceptually, it is the group of legal ideas and systems ultimately derived from the Code of Justinian, but heavily overlaid by Germanic, ecclesiastical, feudal, and local practices,^] as well as doctrinal strains such as natural law, codification, and legislative positivism.

Materially, civil law proceeds from abstractions, formulates general principles, and distinguishes substantive rules from procedural rules. It holds legislation as the primary source of law, and the court system is usually inquisitorial, unbound by precedent, and composed of specially trained judicial officers with a limited authority to interpret law. Juries separate from the judges are not used, although in some cases, volunteer lay judges participate along with legally trained career judges.

Overview

The principle of civil law is to provide all citizens with an accessible and written collection of the laws which apply to them and which judges must follow. It is the most widespread system of law in the world, in force in various forms in about 150 countries,and draws heavily from arguably the most intricate legal system we know of from before the modern era. Colonial expansion spread the civil law which has been received in much of Latin America and parts of Asia and Africa.

Where codes exist, the primary source of law is the law code, which is a systematic collection of interrelated articles, arranged by subject matter in some pre-specified order,and that explain the principles of law, rights and entitlements, and how basic legal mechanisms work. Law codes are usually created by a legislature's enactment of a new statute that embodies all the old statutes relating to the subject and including changes necessitated by court decisions. In some cases, the change results in a new statutory concept. Other major legal systems in the world include common law, Halakha, canon law, and Islamic law.

Civilian countries can be divided into:

• those where civil law in some form is still living law but there has been no attempt to create a civil code: Andorra, Malta, and San Marino
• those with uncodified mixed systems in which civil law is an academic source of authority but common law is also influential: Scotland and Roman-Dutch law countries (South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Guyana)
• those with codified mixed systems in which civil law is the background law but has had its public law heavily influenced by common law: Louisiana, Quebec, Puerto Rico, Philippines
• those with comprehensive codes that exceed a single civil code, such as France, Germany, Greece, Japan, Mexico: it is this last category that is normally regarded as typical of civil law systems, and is discussed in the rest of this article.

The Scandinavian systems are of a hybrid character since their background law is a mix of civil law and Scandinavian customary law and have been partially codified. Likewise, the laws of the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark) are hybrids which mix Norman customary law and French civil law.

A prominent example of a civil-law code would be the Napoleonic Code (1804), named after French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The Code comprises three components: the law of persons, property law, and commercial law. Rather than a compendium of statutes or catalog of caselaw, the Code sets out general principles as rules of law.^[6]

Civil law is sometimes referred to as neo-Roman law, Romano-Germanic law or Continental law. The expression civil law is a translation of Latin jus civile, or “citizens’ law”, which was the late imperial term for its legal system, as opposed to the laws governing conquered peoples (jus gentium).

History

The civil law takes as its major inspiration classical Roman law (c. AD 1–250), and in particular Justinian law (6th century AD), and further expounding and developments in the late Middle Ages under the influence of canon law.^[8] The Justinian Code's doctrines provided a sophisticated model for contracts, rules of procedure, family law, wills, and a strong monarchical constitutional system.^[9] Roman law was received differently in different countries. In some it went into force wholesale by legislative act, i.e., it became positive law, whereas in others it was diffused into society by increasingly influential legal experts and scholars.

Roman law continued without interruption in the Byzantine Empire until its final fall in the 15th century. However, subject as it was to multiple incursions and occupations by Western European powers in the late medieval period, its laws became widely available in the West. It was first received into the Holy Roman Empire partly because it was considered imperial law, and it spread in Europe mainly because its students were the only trained lawyers. It became the basis of Scots law, though partly rivaled by received feudal Norman law. In England, it was taught academically at Oxford and Cambridge, but underlay only probate and matrimonial law insofar as both were inherited from canon law, and maritime law, adapted from the law merchant through the Bordeaux trade.

Consequently, neither of the two waves of Romanism completely dominated in Europe. Roman law was a secondary source that was applied only when local customs and laws were found lacking on a certain subject. However, after a time, even local law came to be interpreted and evaluated primarily on the basis of Roman law (it being a common European legal tradition of sorts), thereby in turn influencing the main source of law. Eventually, the works of civilian glossators and commentators led to the development of a common body of law and writing about law, a common legal language, and a common method of teaching and scholarship, all termed the jus commune, or law common to Europe, which consolidated canon law and Roman law, and to some extent, feudal law.

Codification

An important common characteristic of civil law, aside from its origins in Roman law, is the comprehensive codification of received Roman law, i.e., its inclusion in civil codes. The earliest codification known is the Code of Hammurabi, written in ancient Babylon during the 18th century BC. However, this, and many of the codes that followed, were mainly lists of civil and criminal wrongs and their punishments. Codification of the type typical of modern civilian systems did not first appear until the Justinian Code.

Germanic codes appeared over the 6th and 7th centuries to clearly delineate the law in force for Germanic privileged classes versus their Roman subjects and regulate those laws according to folk-right. Under feudal law, a number of private custumals were compiled, first under the Norman empire (Très ancien coutumier, 1200–1245), then elsewhere, to record the manorial – and later regional – customs, court decisions, and the legal principles underpinning them. Custumals were commissioned by lords who presided as lay judges over manorial courts in order to inform themselves about the court process. The use of custumals from influential towns soon became commonplace over large areas. In keeping with this, certain monarchs consolidated their kingdoms by attempting to compile custumals that would serve as the law of the land for their realms, as when Charles VII of France commissioned in 1454 an official custumal of Crown law. Two prominent examples include the Coutume de Paris (written 1510; revised 1580), which served as the basis for the Napoleonic Code, and the Sachsenspiegel (c. 1220) of the bishoprics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt which was used in northern Germany, Poland, and the Low Countries.

The concept of codification was further developed during the 17th and 18th centuries AD, as an expression of both natural law and the ideas of the Enlightenment. The political ideal of that era was expressed by the concepts of democracy, protection of property and the rule of law. That ideal required the creation of certainty of law, through the recording of law and through its uniformity. So, the aforementioned mix of Roman law and customary and local law ceased to exist, and the road opened for law codification, which could contribute to the aims of the above mentioned political ideal.

Another reason that contributed to codification was that the notion of the nation-state required the recording of the law that would be applicable to that state.

Certainly, there was also a reaction to law codification. The proponents of codification regarded it as conducive to certainty, unity and systematic recording of the law; whereas its opponents claimed that codification would result in the ossification of the law.

In the end, despite whatever resistance to codification, the codification of European private laws moved forward. Codifications were completed by Denmark (1687), Sweden (1734), Prussia (1794), France (1804), and Austria (1811). The French codes were imported into areas conquered by Emperor Napoleon and later adopted with modifications in Poland (Duchy of Warsaw/Congress Poland; Kodeks cywilny 1806/1825), Louisiana (1807), Canton of Vaud (Switzerland; 1819), the Netherlands (1838), Italy and Romania (1865), Portugal (1867), Spain (1888), Germany (1900), and Switzerland (1912). These codifications were in turn imported into colonies at one time or another by most of these countries. The Swiss version was adopted in Brazil (1916) and Turkey (1926).

Because Germany was a rising power in the late 19th century and its legal system was well organized, when many Asian nations were developing, the German Civil Code became the basis for the legal systems of Japan and South Korea. In China, the German Civil Code was introduced in the later years of the Qing Dynasty and formed the basis of the law of the Republic of China, which remains in force in Taiwan.

Some authors consider civil law to have served as the foundation for socialist law used in communist countries, which in this view would basically be civil law with the addition of Marxist–Leninist ideas. Even if this is so, civil law was generally the legal system in place before the rise of socialist law, and some Eastern European countries reverted back to the pre-Socialist civil law following the fall of socialism, while others continued using their socialist legal systems.

Several civil-law mechanisms seem to have been borrowed from medieval Islamic Sharia and fiqh. For example, the Islamic hawala (hundi) underlies the avallo of Italian law and the aval of French and Spanish law.

ІV studying year, І term

Theme 4: text “Criminal law”

1. READ AND TRANSLATE THE TEXT.

2. RETELL THE TEXT.

 

Criminal law, or penal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is prohibited by the state because it is held to threaten, harm or otherwise endanger the safety and welfare of the public, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on those who breach these laws. Criminal law is to be distinguished from civil law.

Objectives of Criminal Law

Criminal law is distinctive for the uniquely serious potential consequences or sanctions for failure to abide by its rules. Every crime is composed of criminal elements. Capital punishment may be imposed in some jurisdictions for the most serious crimes. Physical or corporal punishment may be imposed such as whipping or caning, although these punishments are prohibited in much of the world. Individuals may be incarcerated in prison or jail in a variety of conditions depending on the jurisdiction. Confinement may be solitary. Length of incarceration may vary from a day to life. Government supervision may be imposed, including house arrest, and convicts may be required to conform to particularized guidelines as part of a parole or probation regimen. Fines also may be imposed, seizing money or property from a person convicted of a crime.

Five objectives are widely accepted for enforcement of the criminal law by punishments: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation and restitution. Jurisdictions differ on the value to be placed on each.

• Retribution – Criminals ought to suffer in some way. This is the most widely seen goal. Criminals have taken improper advantage, or inflicted unfair detriment, upon others and consequently, the criminal law will put criminals at some unpleasant disadvantage to "balance the scales." People submit to the law to receive the right not to be murdered and if people contravene these laws, they surrender the rights granted to them by the law. Thus, one who murders may be murdered himself. A related theory includes the idea of "righting the balance."

• Deterrence – Individual deterrence is aimed toward the specific offender. The aim is to impose a sufficient penalty to discourage the offender from criminal behavior. General deterrence aims at society at large. By imposing a penalty on those who commit offenses, other individuals are discouraged from committing those offenses.
• Incapacitation – Designed simply to keep criminals away from society so that the public is protected from their misconduct. This is often achieved through prison sentences today. The death penalty or banishment have served the same purpose.
• Rehabilitation – Aims at transforming an offender into a valuable member of society. Its primary goal is to prevent further offense by convincing the offender that their conduct was wrong.
• Restitution – This is a victim-oriented theory of punishment. The goal is to repair, through state authority, any hurt inflicted on the victim by the offender. For example, one who embezzles will be required to repay the amount improperly acquired. Restitution is commonly combined with other main goals of criminal justice and is closely related to concepts in the civil law.

Selected criminal laws

Many laws are enforced by threat of criminal punishment, and their particulars may vary widely from place to place. The entire universe of criminal law is too vast to intelligently catalog. Nevertheless, the following are some of the more known aspects of the criminal law.

The criminal law generally prohibits undesirable acts. Thus, proof of a crime requires proof of some act. Scholars label this the requirement of an actus reus or guilty act. Some crimes – particularly modern regulatory offenses – require no more, and they are known as strict liability offenses (E.g. Under the Road traffic Act 1988 it is a strict liability offence to drive a vehicle with an alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit). Nevertheless, because of the potentially severe consequences of criminal conviction, judges at common law also sought proof of an intent to do some bad thing, the mens rea or guilty mind. As to crimes of which both actus reus and mens rea are requirements, judges have concluded that the elements must be present at precisely the same moment and it is not enough that they occurred sequentially at different times.

An English court room in 1886, with Lord Chief Justice Coleridge presiding

Actus reus is Latin for " guilty act " and is the physical element of committing a crime. It may be accomplished by an action, by threat of action, or exceptionally, by an omission to act, which is a legal duty to act. For example, the act of A striking B might suffice, or a parent's failure to give food to a young child also may provide the actus reus for a crime.

Where the actus reus is a failure to act, there must be a duty of care. A duty can arise through contract, a voluntary undertaking, a blood relation with whom one lives, and occasionally through one's official position. Duty also can arise from one's own creation of a dangerous situation.^] On the other hand, it was held in the U.K. that switching off the life support of someone in a persistent vegetative state is an omission to act and not criminal. Since discontinuation of power is not a voluntary act, not grossly negligent, and is in the patient's best interests, no crime takes place. In this case it was held that since a PVS patient could not give or withhold consent to medical treatment, it was for the doctors to decide whether treatment was in the patient's best interest. It was reasonable for them to conclude that treatment was not in the patient's best interest, and should therefore be stopped, when there was no prospect of improvement. It was never lawful to take active steps to cause or accelerate death, although in certain circumstances it was lawful to withhold life sustaining treatment, including feeding, without which the patient would die.

An actus reus may be nullified by an absence of causation. For example, a crime involves harm to a person, the person's action must be the but for cause and proximate cause of the harm.^] If more than one cause exists (e.g. harm comes at the hands of more than one culprit) the act must have "more than a slight or trifling link" to the harm.

Causation is not broken simply because a victim is particularly vulnerable. This is known as the thin skull rule. However, it may be broken by an intervening act (novus actus interveniens) of a third party, the victim's own conduct,^[17] or another unpredictable event. A mistake in medical treatment typically will not sever the chain, unless the mistakes are in themselves "so potent in causing death."

Mens rea is another Latin phrase, meaning "guilty mind". This is the mental element of the crime. A guilty mind means an intention to commit some wrongful act. Intention under criminal law is separate from a person's motive.

A lower threshold of mens rea is satisfied when a defendant recognises an act is dangerous but decides to commit it anyway. This is recklessness. For instance, if C tears a gas meter from a wall to get the money inside, and knows this will let flammable gas escape into a neighbour's house, he could be liable for poisoning. Courts often consider whether the actor did recognize the danger, or alternatively ought to have recognised a risk. Of course, a requirement only that one ought to have recognized a danger (though he did not) is tantamount to erasing intent as a requirement. In this way, the importance of mens rea has been reduced in some areas of the criminal law.

Wrongfulness of intent also may vary the seriousness of an offense. A killing committed with specific intent to kill or with conscious recognition that death or serious bodily harm will result, would be murder, whereas a killing effected by reckless acts lacking such a consciousness could be manslaughter On the other hand, it matters not who is actually harmed through a defendant's actions. The doctrine of transferred malice means, for instance, that if a man intends to strike a person with his belt, but the belt bounces off and hits another, mens rea is transferred from the intended target to the person who actually was struck.[Note: The notion of transferred intent does not exist within Scots' Law. In Scotland, one would not be charged with assault due to transferred intent, but instead assault due to recklessness.

 

 

ІV studying year, І term

Theme 5: text “The Ukrainian Legal Foundation”

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2. RETELL THE TEXT.

 

ІV studying year, І term

Theme 6: text “Bodies of Prosecution and Advocacy”

1. READ AND TRANSLATE THE TEXTS.

2. RETELL THE SECOND TEXT.

BODIES OF PROSECUTION, ADVOCACY & JUSTICE OF UKRAINE

Ukraine’s Law Enforcement Agencies have the following stucture:

1. The Prosecutor’s Office

2. The Ministry of Internal Affairs

3. The National Security

4. Advocacy

5. The Ministry of Justice

6. The Notary Servise Board

 

The Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine fulfils such functionc as: supervision under the execution of all laws by all state and civil institutions, enterprises, establishments, officials and citizens (i.e. general supervision); supervision under the execution of all laws by the bodies which struggle against

infringement of the law and other crimes;backing of the state prosecution in trial;presentation of citizen’s or state’s interests in trial;supervision under the execution of laws in the places of confinement. The Prosecutor’s Office activity is based on such principles as: centralization,independence, defence of citizen’s rights on the basis of “Equal Justice Under Law”, glasnost, unity, and legality.

Bodies of the Prosecutor’s Office are headed by the General Prosecutor and include: Prosecutor’s Office of Crimean Autonomous Republic; Prosecutor’s Offices of oblasts (city, district, interdistrict); Kyiv’s Prosecutor’s Office;Sevastopol’s Prosecutor’s Office;Transport Prosecutor’s Office;Military Prosecutor’s Office of regions;Military Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine’s.

Advocacy

Advocacy is a voluntary professional association aimed to assist in the defence of rights, freedoms, and to present lawful interests of the citizens of Ukraine, foreign citizens,people without citizenship, legal entities,to provide them with anyjuridical help. There are such organizational forms of advocate’s activity in Ukraine, as: the Union of advocate’s of Ukraine; advocate’s firms; college of barristers; advocate’s

Offices; advocate’s bureaus and individual activity.We can define such general trends of advocate’s activity as:providing advisory services on juridical questions;drawing up of applications, complaints and other legal documents; presentation in trial and other state institutions; supplying different enterprises, institutions and organizations with juridical help; realization of legal protection of citizen’s business undertakings and legal entities, etc.

Every advocate must know his official duties, which are as follows: to keep to the current legislation underswervingly; to use all envisaged by law means of defence of citizen’s and legal entity’s rights and interests;an advocate has no right to use his authority to harm the person whose interests he presents;an advocate has no right to break down the defence of a suspected, defendant or convicted, once accepted by him; an advocate is obliged to keep lawyer’s secret, he has no right to use it in his interests or in the interests of the third person.

Justice

The Judicial system of Ukraine can be presented with the help of such a scheme:

1. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine

2. The Courts of General Jurisdictions

3. The Court ofArbitration (economic)

4. The International Commercial Courts of Arbitration

All these bodies of justice settle disputes about rights, which appear in such spheres of social life, as:creation of laws (the Constitutional Court); business undertakings’ activity and administration (the Courts of Arbitration); legal relations of citizens with each other and with legal entities, and also in case of committing a crime (the Courts of General Jurisdiction); disputes which appear in a sphere of the international trade (the International Comm ercial Courts of Arbitration).The Courts of General Jurisdiction consist of such links, as: the first link - district courts, okrug courts, interdistrict courts, military courts of garrisons;the second link - the Supreme Court of the Crimean Autonomous Republic, courts of oblasts, Kyiv’s and Sevastopol’s city courts, military courts of regions and Ukraine’s NAVY;the third link - the Supreme Court of Ukraine.Separate links of the judicial system cooperate with each other. Depending on their terms of reference they may act as the Court of the first instance, appeal instance and supervision instance.As for the court instances it should be mentioned that there exist 3 of them in the Ukrainian judicial system. They are:Courts of the first instance - the courts which hear cases and bring in a verdict (guilty, not guilty, not proven...);Courts of the second or appeal instance - the courts which check up on a complaint the rightness of a verdict brought in by the courts of the first instance, if the sentence is not carried into effect (these can only be the courts of the second or third links); Courts of the third or supervision instance - the courts which check up the rightness of the verdicts which have already been carried into effect (these can only be the Presidiums of the Oblasts Courts, and courts equal to them, the Judicial Boards, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Ukraine).The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is the only body of the constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine (article 47). The main task of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is to guarantee supremacy of the Constitution as the main law of the state on the whole territory of Ukraine. Activity of the Constitutional Court is based on such principles as: independence, completeness and thoroughness of the cases heard; glasnost; the judgement of the court must be well-grounded; equal rights of the judges; supremacy of law. The Constitutional Court consists of 18 judges. They are appointed by: the President of Ukraine (6 judges);the VerkhovnaRadaofUkraine (6 judges);the Congress of Judges of Ukraine (6 judges).

 

ІV studying year, І term

Theme 7: text “Making a Law”

1. READ AND TRANSLATE THE TEXT.

2. RETELL THE TEXT.

Making a Law

Why do we need laws? We all depend on other people. Even those who live alone depend on others to provide them with heat, light and other services. They generally accept that these services can only be provided if they obey the rules and pay their bills. Those of us who live as part of a group, perhaps a family, find that we have to follow unwritten rules which tell us how we should behave towards the other members of our group. At the college your timetable provides one set of rules, telling you which lesson you should be in at a given time. The fire tegulations are a different set of rules which could save your life. As well as belonging to a group at home, college or work, we all belong to a national group and have to obey the national rules known as laws. How Parliament makes Laws? Every year Parliament passes about 100 Laws directly by making Acts of Parliament. Parliament sometimes passes a very general law and leaves a minister to fill in the details. Using the powers given to them by Parliament, ministers become lawmakers themselves. No new law can be made by Parliament unless it has completed a number of stages in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Queen also has to sign a Bill to show that it has been given the Royal Assent (a formality). Only after the Royal Assent it becomes a new law or Act of Parliament. Before this it is called a Bill. Bills can begin in the House of Lords or the House of Commons, so they can pass through Parliament in one of two ways:

1. Commons Lords Queen

2. Lords Commons Queen

There are two main sorts of Bill: Private Bill and Public Bill. Private Bills deal with local matters and individuals. Public Bills deal with matters of public importance. Important Bills are usually sponsored by the Government. One example of a Government Bill is the Sea Fish (Conservation) Bill of 1992—1993, which affects the amount of time that fishing boats may spend at sea,. Although a rather old example, it illustrated well how a Government Bill becomes an Act of Parliament. This particular Bill was introduced into the Commons by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. This stage is called First Reading. It gives MPs notice that the Bill will soon be coming for discussion. The text is then printed and read by Members in time for the important Second Reading. Here the main purpose of the Bill is explained by the Minister of State responsible for fisheries, and the Bill is debated by the House. The House then votes to decide whether the Bill should continue its passage through Parliament. The Bill continues to its Committee Stage where eighteen Members from both Government and Opposition discuss it in detail, considering many possible changes (amendments). This is followed by Report Stage when the committee reports back to the rest of the House. At the Third Reading stage, the House decided to pass the Bill as a whole. The Bill cannot be changed at this stage — it is either accepted or rejected. Once a Bill has passed its Third Reading in the Commons, one of the Clerks at the Table carries the Bill to the House of Lords.

The House of Lords has the job of reviewing Bills received from the Commons. A different group of people can often see something in a completely different way. The House of Lords often makes changes to Commons Bills. Once both Houses of Parliament have passed a Bill, then it has to go to the Queen for the Royal Assent. After receiving the Royal Assent the Bill becomes an Act of. Parliament. Even after an Act has received the Royal Assent, it may not come into force straight away.

 

WORDS AND PHRASES

to provide – забезпечувати

Committee Stage – парламентськй пленум, який обговорює деталі законопроекту

rule – правило

amendment – поправка до законопроекту

bill – законопроект, рахунок

Report Stage – доповідь перед ІІІ читанням

to behave – діяти, поводити себе

to accept - приймати

Act of Parliament – закон парламенту

to reject - відхиляти

Royal Assent – королівська санкція

conservation - збереження

 

EXERCISES

 

1. Fill in the blanks:

1. Every country has its own …

2. People must obey the national... known as laws.

3. Every year Parliament passes about 100 Laws directly by making....

4. A new law in the making is called a....

5. Every Bill must complete certain... in Parliament befo becomes a new law.

6. Important Bills are usually sponsored by the....

7. Bills can be introduced into the... or....

8. There are two main types of Bills —... Bills and... Bills.

9. Once both Houses of Parliament have passed a Bill, then it to go to the Queen for the …

10. Once a Bill has received the Royal Assent it becomes an …

 

2. Find words and expressions in the text which mean:

 

1. the approval by the British Sovereign of a Bill which has been passed by both Houses of Parliament;

2. a proposed law — the preliminary version of an Act of Parliament

3. changes in rule, document, law, etc.;

4. law or custom which guides or controls behaviour or action.

 

3. Answer the questions:

 

1. What is the difference between a Bill and an Act of Parliament?

2. What two types of Bills do you know?

3. What stages should a Bill complete to become an Act?

4. What is the function of the House of Lords in making a law?

5. Which of the two Houses of Parliament has more power?

6. When does a Bill become an Act of Parliament?

ІV studying year, І term

Theme 8: text “Types of Legal Professions”

1. READ AND TRANSLATE THE TEXT.

2. RETELL THE TEXT.

TYPES OF LEGAL PROFESSIONS

Who is who in the law? If you are prosecuted for a crime in Britain, you may meet the following people during your process through the courts:

Magistrates Magistrates are unpaid judges, usually chosen from well—respected people in the local community. They are guided on points of law by an official, the clerk. There are magistrates’ courts in most towns.

Solicitors After the accused person has been arrested, the first person he or she needs to see is a solicitor. Solicitors are qualified lawyers who advise the accused and help prepare the defence case. The solicitor may represent the accused in court. A person who is too poor to afford a solicitor will usually get Legal Aid — financial help from the state.

Barristers In more serious cases it is usual for the solicitor to hire a barrister to defend the accused. The barrister is trained in the law and in the skills required to argue a case in court. The barrister for the defence will be confronted by his or her opposite number, the prosecuting barrister who represents the state.

Jurors A jury consists of twelve men and women from the local community. They sit in the Crown Court, with a judge, and listen to witnesses for the defence and prosecution before deciding whether the accused is guilty or innocent. In Britain the person is innocent

unless found guilty: the prosecution has the burden of establishing guilt.

Judges Judges are trained lawyers, nearly always ex—barristers, who sit in the Crown Court (and appeal courts). The judge rules on points of law, and makes sure that the trial is conducted properly. He or she does not decide on the guilt or innocence of the accused — that is the jury’s job. However, if the jury find the accused guilty, then the judge will pass sentence.

Coroners Coroners have medical or legal training (or both) and inquire into violent or unnatural deaths.

Clerks of the court Clerks look after administrative and legal matters in the courtroom.

Sentencing The most common sentnces are fines, prision and probation. Probation is used often with more minor offences. A person on probation must report to a local police station at regular intervals, which restrict his or her movement. A sentence of community service means that the convicted person has to spend several hours a week doing useful work in his locality.

A few more facts Children under 10 cannot be charged with a criminal offence. Offenders between 10 and 17 are tried by special juvenile courts. The death penalty technically still exists in Britain for some rare offences, such as treason, but is no longer used.

The punishment for murder is a life sentence. This can be much less than a lifetime in prison, depending on factors such as good behaviour. The most common punishment for crimes — 80 per cent of the total — is a fine.

 

WORDS AND PHRASES

magistrate – мировий суддя

to accuse – обвинувачувати

defence - захист

to argue – обговорювати; заперечувати

innocent – невинний

burden – тягар доказу

prison – тюрма, в’язниця

probation – умовне засудження

restrict – обмежувати

treason - зрада

EXERCISES

 

1. Fill in the blanks:

1. Magistrates are unpaid ….

2. There are... courts in most towns.

3. Solicitors are qualified....

4. Solicitors advise the... and help prepare the defence cae.

5. If the case is serious, the solicitor hires a... to defen the accused.

6. The prosecuting barrister represents a ….

7. A jury consists of... men and women from local communuty.

8. A jury sits in the Crown Court and listens to... for the defence and prosecution.

9. A jury decides whether the accused is... or....

10. Judges are trained... who sit in the Crown Court.

11. The judge will pass... if the jury finds the accused....

12. The most common... are fines, prison and probation.

13. A person on... must report to a local police station at regular intervals.

14. Children under 10 cannot be... with a criminal ….

15. Offenders between 10 and 17 are tried by....

16. The punishment for murder is a life....

17. The most common punishment for crimes is a....

 

2. Read the following sentences and decide if they true or false:

1. Juries sit in magistrates’ courts.

2. Magistrates are legally qualified judges.

3. There are magistrates’ courts in most towns.

4. Solicitors are not legally qualified.

5. The solicitor represents the accused in court.

6. The state helps poorer suspects to pay for their defence.

7. Barristers are hired to defend the accused.

8. A jury consists of ten men and women from local community.

9. Barristers sit in the Crown Court and listen to witnesses for the defence and prosecution.

10. Crown Court judges decide on the guilt or innocence of the accused.

11. The judge passes sentence.

12. Children under 10 are tired by special juvenile courts.

13. The punishment for murder is a life sentence.

14. The most common punishment for crimes is probation.

3. Find words and expressions in the text which mean:

1. a public officer with authority to hear and decide cases in a law court

2. say that smb. has done wrong, broken the law, is to be blamed;

3. not guilty;

4. system when offenders are allowed to go unpunished for their first offence while they continue to live without further breaking of the law;

5. limit;

6. allow the use or services of smb. for fixed payment;

7. body of twelve persons who give a decision on issues of fact in a case in a court of justice.

4. Answer the following questions:

1. Are magistrates legally qualified judges?

2. Who does the accused person need to see after he has been arrested?

3. Who may represent the accused in court?

4. In what cases does the solicitor hire a barrister?

5. How many people does a jury consist of?

6. Who has the right to decide whether the accused is guilty or innoncent?

7. Where do judges sit?

8. Whose job is it to pass sentence?

9. What are the most common sentences?

10. What does a sentence of community service mean?

11. Cah children under 10 be charged with a criminal offence?

12. Does the death penalty still exist in Britain?

13. What is punishment for murder?

14. What is the most common punishment for crimes?

ІV studying year, І term

Theme 9: text “Law”

1. READ AND TRANSLATE THE TEXT.

2. RETELL THE TEXT.

 

THE QUESTION OF LAW

Jurisprudence is the philosophy of law, or the science which deals with positive law and legal relations. The study of jurisprudence asks questions such as: What is law? Where does it come from? Why do we have it? When do we first meet it? Where have you met it? In my opinion, no nation that does not have an informed populace in jurisprudence can be strong and free. Fundamentally, law may be called rules governing behavior between people. Purposes for law include: to regulate human relations; to determine ownership (control) of property; to fix parameters of freedom in community and relationships by restraining anarchy (for without law there is only anarchy); to produce justice. But so long as we agree and live out our agreements, we do not need written law. But when we disagree, we must have a system designed to restore us to agreement or decide between us so we do not fall into blood feuds. To have a system we must recognize need for a Rule of Law. But who decides what is or is not justice? A legislature passing laws? Public opinion directing legislators? Judges? Juries? Money? Lawyers? Yes, but No - each individual will decide, inside him, when in conflict, whether he will accept the outcome as justice or not.

Law can be spoken of in many different ways: Political, Criminal, Civil, and Equitable, or Constitutional, Statutory and Procedural. Or case precedent (stare decisis) or local custom (tradition); or in a vertical manner - international, then national, then district, then city, etc.; or repressive, democratic, autonomous, common, etc. Yet all law will, at times, seem arbitrary and capricious. That is because people make the decisions, not the law - the law is not self-acting. Rule of Law asks the question: “Are these decisions of people made in a framework of law, or a framework of no law?” The problem always was, and is: What is an adequate base for law? What is adequate so that a human desire for freedom can exist without anarchy and yet be gentle enough to provide a form that will not become arbitrary tyranny? Jurisprudence has to do with administration, or weighing of justice, or right values. All pronouncements of right and wrong are moral concerns, at their base religious. In recent years we have witnessed numerous marches on Washington in which one group or another demanded new “rights”; not freedom from state control but entitlement to state action, protection, or subsidy. In creating rights a state inevitably enlarges its bureaucracy. As a state creates new rights, it necessarily diminishes some rights for others. The modern secular view holds that individuals have just such rights as laws give them. Rights must have a reference point and specific context or they are meaningless; reference point determines the nature of the right exercised, defines who possesses it and sets limits to others who must respect it. When we fail to live at peace, we need compulsion - so the law exists to compel. It does this by punishment. Man’s methods of law place two people in combat against each other, using advocates (lawyers) who, in the normal setting, keep the parties separate from one another. In this, we say that we search for the truth of the case.

 

WORDS AND PHRASES

jurisprudence – юриспруденція, правознавство

rule of law – принцип господарювання права, правова норма, законність

stare decisis - судовий прецендент, забовязуюча сила прецендентов

restraint – міра приборкання

Constitutional Law – конституційне право

Procedural Law – процесуальне право

Statutory Law – статутне право

Political Law – державне право

Criminal Law – кримінальне (карне право) право

Civil Law – цивільне (громадянське) право

Equitable Law – право справедоивості

International Law – міжнародне право

ІV studying year, І term

Theme 10: text “Judiciary”

1. READ AND TRANSLATE THE TEXT.

2. RETELL THE TEXT.

JUDICIARY

Criminal Proceedings There are two courts of trial and two courts of appeal for criminal proceedings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The courts of trial are the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court, and the courts of appeal are the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.

 

The Magistrates’ Court The most common type of law court in England and Wales is the Magistrates’ Court. The Magistrates’ Court is the lower court of trial. It deals with summary offences. More serious criminal cases (indictable offences) then go to the Crown Court. Civil cases are dealt with in County courts. Magistrates’ Courts have limited powers of penally but may commit a convicted offender to the Crown Court if it is considered that the powers of the Magistrates’ Court are insufficient. Approximately 95% of all prosecutions are dealt with in the Magistrates’ Courts.

 

Juvenile Courts are composed of specially trained magistrates. They try most charges against children and young persons under the age of 18 years.

 

The Crown Court The Crown Court is the senior court of trial for criminal offences. The courts are established at various centres throughout the country. The courts are presided over by either a High Court Judge, Circuit Judge or Recorder who sits with a jury. The Crown Court for the City of London is the Central Criminal Court, also known as the Old Bailey. The Crown Court may also hear appeals against conviction and/or sentence for some offences dealt with at the Magistrates’ Court.

 

The Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal hears appeals from criminal cases heard in the Crown Courts.

 

The House of Lords The House of Lords is the most senior and final court of appeal.

 

Civil Proceedings Civil proceedings consist of litigation about property, family matters and actions to obtain financial redress for damage to property and personal injury. The courts of trial for such

litigation are the County Court and the High Court of Justice.

 

County Courts are local courts and are presided over by a single Judge. The High Court of Justice is situated in London. Some cases before the High Court of Justice may be heard before a jury.

 

WORDS AND PHRASES

Judiciary - судочинство

court of trial – суд першої інстанції

court of appeal – апеляційний суд

the Magistrates’ Court – Магістратський суд

the Crown Court - Королівський суд

juvenile court – суд у справах неповолітніх

summary offence – злочин, який не являє великої суспільної небезпеки

indictabIe offence – особливо тяжкий злочин

prosecution – судовий розгляд

to sentence for smth. – засуджувати за щось, виносити вирок

litigation – тяжба, спір

to obtain financial redress for smth – одержувати фінансове відшкодування за щось

injury – образа, кривда

EXERCISES

1. Fill in the blanks:

1. There are two courts of... and two courts of... for criminal proceedings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

2. The Magistrates’ Court deals with....

3. More serious offences go to the....

4 Magistrates’ Courts have limited powers of ….

5. Magistrates’ Courts may commit... to the Crown Court.

6. Approximately 95% of all... are dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court.

7. … courts try most charges against children and young persons under the age of 18 years.

8. The Crown Court is the senior court of trial for ….

9. The Crown Court may hear... against conviction and/or... for some offences dealt with at the Magistrates’ Court.

10. The Court of... hears appeals from criminal cases heard in the Crown Court.

11. The House of Lords is the most senior and final… ….

!2. Civil proceedings consist of... about property, family matters and actions to obtain... for damage to property and personal injury.

13. Couty Courts are... over by a single Judge.

14. Some cases before the High Court of Justice may be heard before a ….

 

2. Read the following sentences and decide if they are true or false:

1. The courts of trial are the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court.

2. The courts of appeal are the Court of Appeal and the House of I ii us.

3. The Magistrates’ Court is the senior court of trial.

4. The Magistrates’ Court deals with summary offences.

5. More serious offences are committed to the Crown Court.

6. Juvenile Courts try charges against convicted offenders.

7. Juvenile Courts try most charges against children and persons under the age of 18 years.

8. The Crown Court is the lower court of trial.

9. The Court of Appeal hears appeals from criminal cases heard in the Crown Courts.

10. The House of Lords is the most senior and final court of appeal.

11. Criminal proceedings consist of litigation about property, family matters and actions to obtain financial redress for damage to property and personal injury.

12. County Courts are local courts and are presided over by ajury.

 

 

3. Find words and expressions in the text which mean:

1. the system of law courts in a country;

2. place where law—cases are held;

3. person against whom a legal action is brought;

4. punishment for wrongdoing;

5. court where children are tried;

6. crime, breaking of a rule.

4. Ask questions to get the following answers:

1. There are two courts of trial and two courts of appeal for criminal proceedings in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

2. The courts of trial are the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court.

3. The courts of appeal are the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.

4. The Magistrates’ Court deals with summary offences.

5. The Crown Court deals with indictable offences.

6. Magistrates’ Courts have limited powers of penalty.

7. Approximately 95% of all prosecutions are dealt with in the Magistrates’ Courts.

8. Juvenile Courts try most charges against children and young persons under the age of 18 years.

 

 

ІV studying year, І term

Theme 11: text “Types of offences”

WORDS AND PHRASES

Robber – грабіжник, розбійник Smuggler - контрабандист

Thief – злодій Spy - шпигун

Pick-pocket – кишеньковий злодій Kidnapper – викрадач людей

Burglar – злодій – зломщик Drag dealer - наркоділець

Shop-lifter – магазинний злодій Terrorist - терорист

Bigamist – двоєженець Arsonist – той, хто здійснює підпал

Deserter – дезертир Accomplice – спільник, співучасник

Traitor – зрадник Stowaway – безбілетний пасажир

Forger – фальшивомонетник Murderer - вбивця

Hijacker – повітряний пірат;нальотчик,бандит Gangster – гангстер, бандит

що нападає на літаки, автомобілі і т.п.

 

1. Read and translate the following sentences.

Robber – a person who steals smth. from a person or place, esp. by violence or threat.

The robber stole 2.000 £ from a lokal bank, by threating people with a gun.

Thief — a person who steals things secretly, usually without violence.

Thieves stole £1,000from the post office last night.

Pick—pocket — a person who steals smth. out of your pocket in a crowded street:

The pick—pocket took her purse in a crowded train.

Burglar — a person who enters a building during the hours of darkness in order to steal. A person who entes a building in daylight to steal is a thief, or, if he breaks into a building by using force, a house — breaker:

The burglars escaped through the window.

Shop-lifter — a person who steals from the shops:

The security officer has been assaulted by shop-lifters three times.

Bigamist — a person who marries illegally, being married already.

Deserter — a soldier who runs away from the army.

Traitor — a person who betrays his or her country to another state.

Forger — a person who makes false money or signatures.

Hijacker — a person who takes control of a plane by force and makes the pilot change course.

Smuggler — someone who brings goods into a country illegally without paying tax.

Spy — a person who gets secret information from another country.

Kidnapper — someone who takes away people by force and demands money for their return.

Drag dealer — a person who buys and sells drugs illegally.

Terrorist — uses violence for political reasons.

Arsonist — a person who sets fire to property illegally.

Accomplice — a person who helps a criminal in a criminal act.

Stowaway — hides on a ship or plane to get a free journey.

Murderer — kills someone.

Gangster — a member of a criminal gro