Task 2. Fill the gaps in the sentences below with the words and expressions from the box. There are two expressions which you don't need to use

 

civil, adversarial, judicial, criminal, legislative, jurisprudence, jurisdiction, International Law, Procedural Law, autonomous, Statutory Law, political, executive, prudence, warning

1. The study of the philosophy of law is called_____, but the study of what court can enter a full faith and credit judgment in your case is a study of the_____of a court.

2. Our legal system is considered to be_____and_____.

3. The three major branches of the law are_____,_____, and_____.

4. The three branches of the Federal Government in the United States are ____, _____, and _____.

5._____is the body of law created by acts of the legislature.

6. The law which prescribes methods of enforcing rights, machinery for carrying on procedural aspects of civil or criminal action is_____.

7. The law which regulates the intercourse of nations, determines the rights and regulates the intercourse of independent nations in peace and war is ______.

Task 3. Write a clear and well-structured memorandum (60-80 words) to the text “The Question of Law” in Russian

Меморандум представляет собой сжатое изложение взглядов эксперта по определенному вопросу. При написании меморандума следует акцентировать следующие содержательные моменты: представление и раскрытие аргументов, выражение и обоснование точки зрения, оценка понятий, описание сущностей.

Task 4. Put the following words into a proper place

judiciary modify subsequent arbitrary doctrine bound legislative principles judgements enacts

About English Law

"Even when laws have been written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered."

These words by Aristotle, the famous ancient Greek philosopher, could have been written to describe English law and its sources. Where else would you find constitutional laws without any constitution? (N.B. The British Constitution is unwritten) Most people have heard of the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta is the charter of liberty and political rights obtained from King John of England ("Lackland")* by his rebellious barons at Runnymede in 1215, which came to be seen as the seminal* document of English constitutional practice. It is often described as the corner stone of liberty and the chief defence against arbitrary and unjust rule in England by establishing for the first time a very significant constitutional principle, namely that the power of the King could be limited.

Through the ages this principle has continued to be upheld in spite of various monarchs, civil war and riots resulting in Parliament making itself sovereign and representing the will of the people.

As a result, all (1) ……… power is vested in Parliament, which consists of two parts, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The buildings where the British parliament does its work are also called the Houses of Parliament. There is no legal limit to the power of Parliament and the courts are bound by all legislation that is enacted by Parliament. So, what is the role of the (2) ………..?

The courts interpret the law, which means that although Parliament (3) ……….. the law, the courts decide how they are to be applied. These decisions are treated as precedents and (4) ……….. courts will follow these decisions if they have similar issues to determine.

This (5) ………..of precedent developed from common law which itself is based on custom and dates from ‘time immemorial’* (or at least 1189). Often before government wrote new laws, judges applied local and ancient customs, and in order ensure that (6) ……….. were consistent relied on decisions made in previous cases. This has also led to the principle that a judge is (7) ………..by the decision of a superior court when reaching a decision in a similar case.

Judges do not exercise their discretion* in an (8) ………..* way. They rest their judgements upon the general (9) ………..of case law and can have influence upon the development of enacted law. Accordingly, the courts can exercise a considerable degree over the practical application of statutes although governments make new laws or statutes which (10) ………..or clarify the common law.

by Nigel Haines

Macmillan Publishers Ltd, 2007

Vocabulary notes

 

King John of England ("Lackland") король Англии Иоанн Безземельный

seminal плодотворный; конструктивный, продуктивный

‘time immemorial’ с незапамятных времён, испокон веков

discretion усмотрение

arbitraryпроизвольный, случайный

Task 5.Make a written annotation to the text “About English Law” in Russian

Аннотация представляет собой сжатое описание материала и ставит своей целью дать читателю представление о том, что сообщается в первоисточнике. Автор аннотации дает лишь общее представление о содержании оригинала, отмечая важнейшие позиции, но не раскрывая их сути.