Read the story and answer the question.

“Mr Grey?” inquired Shadow,” I’m afraid I have some bad news for you. Your brother- in- law is dead and I have reason to believe he was murdered.”

“Oh no!” replied Grey. “I just saw Sam a couple days ago. Ti tell you the truth though, I’m not surprised. Sam did have a big mouth and quite a few enemies. As a matter of fact both of my sisters’ husbands and Sam had a big fight over a business deal that went wrong. Then there was a friend of my of my brother’s who lent Sam a lot of money and never got it back. Another person is my wife’s brother who just got out of jail. He accused Sam of framing him. He swore he would get even.” As Grey talked on about Sam’s enemies, Shadow got out the handcuffs and arrested him on suspicion of murder. Why?

Read for Enjoyment

A lawyer was cross-examining a witness. He said: "And you say you called on Mrs. Jones May second. Now will you tell the jury what she said?"

"I object to the question", interrupted the lawyer of the other side. There was nearly an hour's argument between councils and finally the judge allowed the question.

"And as I was saying", the first lawyer began again, "on May second you called on Mrs. Jones. Now, what did she say?"

"Nothing", replied the witness. "She was not at home."

 

* * *

He was the only witness to the car accident. The policeman asked his name.

“John Smith,” he said.

“Give me your real name,” ordered the policeman.

“Well,” said the witness, “put me down as William Shakespeare.”

“That’s better, said the policeman, “you can’t fool me with that Smith stuff.”

UNIT 2

 

For Study

1. Vocabulary

· statute n - статут (международный коллективный акт конститутивного характера); законодательный акт

e.g. Statute law is the body of law contained in Acts of Parliament.

· precedent n - прецедент
judicial precedent - судебный прецедент

to set precedent - устанавливать прецедент

e.g. The judicial precedents are an important source of law in the English legal system.

· guilt n - 1. вина; 2. наказуемость

guilty, adj. – виновный

to plead (not) guilty - (не) признавать себя виновным

e.g. The guilt of the accused man was in doubt.

ant. innocent

· equity n - право справедливости

court of equity - суды, решающие дела, основываясь на праве справедливости

e.g. The court of equity made the wrongdoer accept a contract.

· fraud n - обман, мошенничество

positive fraud - фактический, умышленный обман, прямой обман
e.g. The man was trying to get money by fraud.

 

Supply the sentences with the missing words, given in brackets below.

(precedent, statute, equity, fraud, guilty)

1)... law is the body of law contained in Acts of Parliament as opposed to case-law.

2) A judicial... is an earlier judicial decision which influences courts in later similar cases.

3) He was found... of murder and sent to prison.

4)... is a special area of English law, which supplements the common law when this is necessary for justice in a particular case.

5) Nobody knew business... to be a crime many years ago.

 

Reading Practice

 

Before reading the text "Sources of Modern Law" think about the subject in general. Where do laws come from in your legal system? What are the sources of law in your country?

Sources of Modern Law

 

1. Each country in the world, even each state of the United States, has its own system of law. However, there are two main traditions of law in the world. One is based on English Common law and has been adopted by many Commonwealth countries and most of the United States. The other tradition, sometimes known as Continental, or Roman law, has developed in most of continental Europe, Latin America and many countries in Asia and Africa, which have been strongly influenced by Europe. Continental law has also influenced Japan and several socialist countries.

2. Common law system. Common law, or case law systems, particularly that of England differ from Continental law in having developed gradually throughout history, not as the result of government attempts to define or codify every legal relation. Customs and court rulings have been as important as statutes (government legislation). Judges do not merely apply the law; in some cases they make law, since their interpretations may become precedents for other courts to follow.

3. Before William of Normandy invaded England in 1066, law was administered by a series of local courts and no law was common to the whole kingdom. The Norman Kings sent travelling judges around the country and gradually a "common law" developed, under the authority of three common law courts in London. Judges dealt with both criminal cases and civil disputes between individuals. Although local and ancient customs played their part, uniform application of the law throughout the country was promoted by the gradual development of the doctrine of precedent.

4. By this principle, judges attempted to apply existing customs and laws to each new case, rather than looking to the government to write new laws. If the essential elements of a case were the same as those of previous recorded cases, then the judge was bound to reach the same decision regarding guilt or innocence. If no precedent could be found, then the judge made a decision based upon existing legal principles, and his decision would become a precedent for other courts to follow when a similar case arose. The doctrine of precedent is still a central feature of modern common law systems. Courts are bound by the decisions of previous courts unless it can be shown that the facts differ from previous cases. Sometimes governments make new laws-statutes- to modify or clarify the common law, or to make rules where none existed before. But even statutes often need to be interpreted by the courts in order to fit particular cases, and these interpretations become new precedents. In common law systems, the law is, thus, found not only in government statutes, but also in the historical records of cases.

5. Another important feature of the common law tradition is equity. By the fourteenth century many people in England were dissatisfied with the inflexibility of the common law, and a practice developed of appealing directly to the king or to his chief legal administrator, the Lord Chancellor. As the Lord Chancellor’s court became more willing to modify existing common law in order to solve disputes, a new system of law developed alongside the common law. This system recognized rights that were not enforced as common law but which were considered "equitable", or just, such as the right to force someone to fulfill a contract rather than simply pay damages for breaking it, or the rights of a beneficiary (лицо, в интересах которого осуществляется доверительная собственность) of a trust. The courts of common law and of equity existed alongside each other for centuries. If an equitable principle would bring a different result from a common law ruling on the same case, then the general rule was that equity should prevail.

6. One problem resulting from the existence of two systems of justice was that a person often had to begin actions in different courts in order to get a satisfactory solution. For example, in a breach (breaking) of contract claim, a person had to seek specific performance (an order forcing the other party to do something) in court of equity, and damages (monetary compensation for his loss) in a common law court. In 1873, the two systems were unified, and nowadays a lawyer can pursue common law and equitable claims in the same court.

7. Although courts continually have to find ways of interpreting existing common law for new cases, legislation has become the most important source of new law. When the government feels that existing common law, equity, or statutes are in need of revision or clarification, it passes new legislation. In this way courts avoid the obligation to follow precedent. Parliament passes hundreds of new laws every year on matters that need to be regulated more precisely than the common law has been able to do and on matters that never arose when the common law was developed. For example, modern society has produced crimes such as business fraud and computer theft, which require complex and precise definitions. Some modern legislation is so precise and comprehensive it is rather like a code in the Continental system.

8. The spread of common law in the world is due both to the once widespread influence of Britain in the world and the growth of its former colony, the United States. Although judges in one common law country cannot directly support their decisions by cases from another, it is permissible for a judge to note such evidence in giving an explanation. Unified federal law is only a small part of American law. Most of it is produced by individual states and reflects various traditions. The state of Louisiana, for example, has a Roman civil form of law, which derives from its days as a French colony. California has a case law tradition, but its laws are codified as extensively as many Continental systems. Quebec is an island of French law in the Canadian sea of case law. In India, English common law has been codified and adopted alongside a Hindu tradition of law. Sri Lanka has inherited a criminal code from the Russian law introduced by the Dutch, and an uncodified civil law introduced by the British.

 

Note

beneficiary of a trust- лицо, в интересах которого осуществляется доверительная собственность

 

Comprehension Check