Topic: The Institute of Law of Tomsk State University

 

The Law Faculty is the oldest one in Tomsk State University. It was formed in 1898. It's considered to be the first law faculty on the territory from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean and the ninth in the Russian Empire. In June 1994 it received the status of the institute.

Today the Institute of Law of TSU is a leading educational and legal institution in Western Siberia. Since its formation more than 15000 specialists have been trained in it. Nowadays the Institute of Law has students studying full time, part-time and students taking correspondence courses. The Institute has a department of multilevel education (for bachelors and masters of laws), department of secondary higher education and a special division for the employees of the Administration of Internal Affairs of Tomsk Region and the Administration of Penalties' Enforcement.

The Institute of Law has 11 chairs in different fields: criminal law; civil law; administrative law, legal theory and history; ecological and natural resources – law; financial law; labor law; civil procedure; penalty enforcement law and criminology; criminalistics; constitutional and in­ternational law; criminal procedure and law offices. There are associate professors and full professors working in the staff of those chairs. Such famous scientists and highly qualified specialists as judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation N.V. Vitruk, N.T. Vedemikov, the Representative of the President of Russia in the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation M.A. Mitukov are among them.

Within the specialty "jurisprudence" students can choose one of three majors: civil law, criminal law or public law. According to the chosen specialization they take particular courses and write final dissertation on specified topics. The graduates of TSU practice in state organs, banks, financial institutions, private companies, militia, prosecutor's offices, the bar and notary offices. Some of them continue their education taking post-graduate courses within the Institute of Law. More than 60 postgraduates are specializing in 6 academic spheres nowadays.

The Institute of Law is involved in a number of international projects (TEMPUS, DSG and others), which give students and professors the opportunity to learn the legal systems of other countries. In the faculty newspaper 'Verdict' students write about the vital problems of the insti­tute, such as the life in the students' dormitory, participation in conferences and other events and display their creative abilities in drawing, versification, photography, etc. There is a Legal Clinic attached to the Institute, where students get the opportunity to advise people on legal issues and get necessary practical skills.

 

Give a summary of the text.

2. Answer the questions:

a) When was the Law Faculty formed?

b) When did the Law Faculty get the status of the institute?

c)  What chairs are there in the Law Faculty?

d)  What people work in the staff of the Law Faculty?

e)  Where can graduates practice?

3. Work with a partner and discuss following questions:

a) What are the requirements for those who want to enter the Law Institute?

b) Is it prestigious to study at the Law Institute?

c) How do qualified lawyers find their job?

d) Do most law students become lawyers? What legal activities do they carry out?

Use the information above and retell the text “The Institute of Law”.

 

 

Занятия 7, 8, 9

Topic: What is Law?

 

Приведите однокоренные русские эквиваленты:

limit, form, phenomenon, incident, detail, gravity, economics, religion, compensation, concentration, corruption, instruction, natural, social, civil, general, criticize, legal.

 

Text: What is Law?

 

The English word “law” refers to limits upon various forms of behavior. Some laws are descriptive – they simply describe how people usually behave. An example is the law of gravity; another is the laws of economics. Other laws are prescriptive – they prescribe, for example, how fast we should drive.

So, law is the whole set of rules that are supported by the power of government and that control the behaviour of members of any society. The law itself provides the basic structure within which commerce and industry operate. It safeguards the rights of individuals, regulates their dealings with others and enforces the duties of government.

In all societies, relations between people are regulated by prescriptive laws. Some of them are customs – that is informal rules of social and moral behaviour. Customs need not to be made by governments, and they need not to be written down. We learn how to behave in society through the instructions of family and teachers, the advice of friends, etc. Sometimes, we can break these rules without any penalty. But if we continually break the rules, other members of society may criticize us. The ways in which people talk, eat and drink, work and relax together are usually guided by many such informal rules.

 

Vocabulary to the text:

custom

to make laws

to enforce law

descriptive law

prescriptive law

 

Ex.1. Найдите неправильное утверждение:

1. In all societies relations between people are regulated by customs and traditions.

2. The speed limits imposed on a driver is an example of a prescriptive law.

3. Both customs and rules are enforced by governments.

 

Ex.2. Давайте ответим на вопросы:

1. What is a descriptive/prescriptive law? Can you give your own examples?

2. What is the difference between a custom and a law?

3. In what way is the law system described in the text similar to that of your country.

 

Text: Types of Law

 

Civil and Public law: one important distinction is between private or civil law and public law. Civil law concerns disputes among citizens within a country, and public law concerns disputes between citizens and the state, or between one state and another.

Constitutional law: According to one very wide definition, constitutional law is that part of the law which relates to the system of government of the country. But it is more useful to define constitutional law as a set of laws which regulate the structure of the principal organs of government and their relationship to each other and to the citizen and determine their main functions.

Intellectual property laws reward the creators of original works by preventing others from copying, performing or distributing those works without permission.

International law constitutes that body of rules* which governs the relationships between sovereign states.

 

* body of rules – свод правил.

Complete the extract below from a law textbook by using the verbs in the box [1].

are tried is brought is committed is committed is fined is punished is put is resolved was caused

A crime is a wrong which 1).........................................................against society. The wrongdoer 2)...............................................: he or she 3).................................................... in prison or 4)..................................................... a sum of money. A tort, on the other hand, is a wrong which 5)............................................... against an individual. The injured party can sue the wrongdoer and receive damages from the court. Criminal sanctions exist to make society safer and to keep people from committing certain acts. Tort remedies exist to make the injured party whole again for the harm which 6).........................................................by the wrongdoer.

A key difference between the two is that a crime requires a criminal intent (mens rea), whereas a tort can result without intent to cause harm on the wrongdoer's part. Crimes 7).........................................................in the criminal courts. An action 8).........................................................by a governmental body against the wrongdoer. A tort, conversely, 9).........................................................in the civil courts; the injured party brings an action against the wrongdoer.