Leasehold Estate. Mortgages and Liens. Easements and Licenses. Mineral Rights and Similar Interests

Leasehold Estate. If the owner gives temporary possession and use of her property to another in return for the payment of rent or something else of value, by means of a written agreement called a lease, the party to whom possession of the property is given acquires a leasehold interest or leasehold estate. In such a case, the landowner is called the lessor and the person to whom the property is rented is called the lessee or tenant. The term, or time, of the lease may be weeks, months, or years.

Mortgages and Liens. A "lien" is a charge or encumbrance on property to secure the payment of a debt or the performance of some act. There are many other types of liens: a tax lien, a judgment lien, a mechanic's lien, etc. The procedure for enforcing a lien is called foreclosure. Frequently, property will be subject to many liens. In such cases, when one lienholder sues to foreclose, all lienholders are notified and their claims dealt with in the same suit. This process is called "marshalling of liens". Some liens, for example tax liens, have statutory priority.

Easements and Licenses. An easement is formal permission, granted in writing by deed or similar document, to use another's property. Easements are commonly granted to utility companies to install and maintain water, sewer, etc. gas, across private property. A license is informal permission to use another's property, e.g. to use a path across an owner's property.

Mineral Rights and Similar Interests. An owner might lease the mineral rights to her property to an oil exploration company in return for a flat payment when the lease is signed, plus a royalty of, for example, one-eighth of the value of any oil or natural gas brought to the surface.

 

Rights of the Minors

Minors in General. Under the law, minors are treated differently from adults in many situations. Certain rights may not apply to minors in quite the same way as they apply to adults. Very young children are not criminally liable, and older children are accorded dif­ferent treatment from adults for criminal acts.

Apart from the criminal law, minors may be subject to more, and different, controls on their behavior than adults. Minors must have parental permission to do certain things. Although minors can own property, it is often necessary that a guardian hold and manage such property. The right of minors to enter into contracts is limited. The ability of minors, I especially very young children, to act as witnesses in court is limited.

Constitutional Rights of Minors. With a few major exceptions, minors have the same constitutional rights as adults. Minors do not have complete freedom of speech and as-1 sembly under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Minors cannot freely keep and bear arms. Searches and seizures which would be unconstitutional if they in-1 volved an adult may be constitutional when they involve a juvenile. A minor does not have the right of jury trial in juvenile proceedings.

Contractual Rights of Minors. With some exceptions, minors do not have full rights to enter into contracts. If a minor does enter into a contract with an adult, the contract may be canceled or honored at the minor's option. Finally, there are some situations where a minor can enter into a binding contract and not have the right of cancellation. These situa­tions generally involve contracts for "necessaries". As stated above, necessaries are gener­ally defined as food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. The minor's parents may be held liable on contracts for necessaries.

 

 

ДОДАТОК 2

TEXTS FOR SUPPLEMENTERY READING

TEXT 1 FROM THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LAW

ASSIGNMENTS

The British present legal system began, for all practical purposes, in the reign of Henry II (1154-89). When he came to the throne justice was for the most part administered in local courts, i.e. by local lords to their tenants in the feudal courts, and by the County Sheriffs, often sitting with Earl and the Bishop, in the courts of the Shires and Hundreds. They administered the Law in their respective areas and decided the cases which came before them on the basis of local custom. Many of these customary rules of law were the same or similar in all parts of the country.

The Curia Regis existed as a central royal court but was the feudal court for those hig-ranking persons who were tenants-in-chief of the King, and not a general court open to all. Henry II took steps to ensure that royal justice would be open to all. In the Assizes of Clarendon (1166) and Northampton (1176) he provided that there should be 12 men in every country to be responsible for presenting to the sheriff those suspected of serious crimes. The accused were brought before certain royal officials who travelled the country from time to time looking after the King's affairs, a system known as the General Eyre. Thus royal and more uniform justice began to come to the country as a whole.

 

TEXT 2 CLASSIFICATION OF LAW

Municipal law, i.e. state law, as opposed to international law, is commonly divided into categories. The chief of these categories is the distinction between public law on the one hand and private law on the other.

Public law consists of those fields of law which are primarily concerned with the state itself. Thus constitutional law, which regulates the functioning of the organs of the central government, and the relationship of the individual to them, is a branch of public law. Criminal law is also "public" law because crimes are wrongs which the state is concerned to prevent; and so is most of the law created by modern statutes designed to promote social security, for these statutes cast special duties upon the state.

Private Jaw is that part of the law which is primarily concerned with the rights and duties of individuals. Thus the branches of the law which govern private obligations such as the law of contract and of torts - are all aspects of private law. So too is the law of property, which determines the nature and extent of the rights which people may enjoy over land and other property, and the law of succession which governs the devolution of property upon death, and in certain other events.

These are only examples of sub-divisions of public and private law; many others might be given. Both the main division and the subdivisions are, to some extent, arbitrary and they are made primarily for the purpose of convenient exposition.

 

TEXT 3 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 penalty but may command 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 centers 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, known as 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 advantage 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.