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.pdf1 The main legal documents of Great Britain.
The topic of my presentation is devoted to the most significant legal documents in British history. First of all, I am going to speak on the Magna Carta, which set forth the two basic principles of government in England. Secondly, I’ll draw your attention to the history of creation of the Habeas Corpus Act. After that I’ll speak on the development of the Petition of Right and finally I’ll set out some important facts about the Bill of Rights, which limited the monarch’s power and than I’ll make a conclusion. The idea that government was not allpowerful first appeared in the Magna Carta (The Great Charter), which established the principles of limited government and representative government. It was signed by King John under the threat of civil war after baronial unrest. The Magna Carta also stipulated that no citizen could be punished or kept in prison without a fair trial and provided for protection against loss of life, liberty and property. The king also agreed that certain taxes could not be levied(взимать) without popular consent. The law of Habeas Corpus guarantees that nobody can be arrested without sufficient grounds and held in prison without a fair trial. It became a law because of a wild party held in 1621 at the London home of Alice Robinson. After she rudely refused to quiet down constable arrested her and committed to jail. Being pregnant, she had been treated so violently(given 50 lashes, stripped, put on a diet of bread and water) that when she was finally brought to trial her story caused public outcry. As a result she was acquitted, the constable who had arrested her without a warrant was himself sent to prison, and the justice of the peace was severely reprimanded. This case, along with other similar cases, led to the passing of Habeas Corpus Act in Britain in 1679. HC is a part of a Latin phrase (Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum) that means «Let the body be brought before the judge». Every arrested person can address to the
Crown for issuing a writ oh HC. When receiving it a prison chief should bring arrested person to judge, who checks the sufficiency of the grounds of imprisonment). The Petition of Right appeared in 1628 as a result of increasing resistance between Parliament and the Crown. At the time of Stuart succession in 1603 Parliament influenced by gentry began to use its gradually acquired weapon of financial control and to refuse royal requests for money. The Petition of
Right further restricted the monarch’s power and was intended to prevent him from raising taxes without Parliaments consent. This basic document also guaranteed citizens other civil rights. The result of above-mentioned struggle between the Stuart kings and the English people and the Parliament was the Bill of Rights passage in 1689. Intended to declare illegal various practices of the king James 2(the complete suspension of laws, levying of taxes, etc.), it eventually limited the monarch’s power by eliminating(исключающий) royal interference in parliamentary matters, stating that elections must be free and the members of Parliament must have complete freedom of speech. It also proscribed certain forms of interference in the course of justice. The Bill of Rights also dealt with the proximate succession to the throne, provided the heirs were Protestants. It is one of the basic instruments of the British constitution, which made monarchy clearly conditional on the will of Parliament. Summing up, I should say that in contrast with other countries, the British unwritten Constitution has evolved over a long period of time, reflecting the relative stability of the British polity. At the same time British constitutional papers as it was illustrated above, appeared as the result of long-time struggle between the monarchy and the Parliament + the citizens and declared the basic civil rights and freedoms by providing guarantees against governmental bodies abusing their powers. That is the reason for these cornerstones of British legal history remaining in effect nowadays.
2 2. The forms of punishment for criminals.
Punishment describes imposition by someone of a deprivation on a person who has violated a law, a rule, or other norm. When the violation is of the criminal law of society, there is a formal process of accusation and proof followed by imposition of a sentence by designed official, usually a judge. What is the purpose of punishment? One purpose is obviously to reform the offender, to correct the offender’s moral attitudes and antisocial behaviour and to rehabilitate him or her. The second purpose is punishment can also be seen as a deterrent because it warns other people of what will happen if they were tempted to break the law and prevents them from doing so. The third purpose of punishment lies in society’s desire for retribution, which basically means revenge. In other words, don’t we feel that a wrongdoer should suffer for his misdeeds.For the most history punishment has been both painful and public to act as deterrent to others. One of the most bizarre methods of execution was inflicted in ancient Rome on people found guilty of murdering their fathers. Their punishment was to be put in a sack with a rooster, a viper, and a dog, and then drowned along with three animals. In Europe one of the most terrible punishments was hanging and quartering. Capital and corporal punishment, widespread in early 19th century, are seldom invoked by contemporary society. Capital punishment is a legal infliction of the death penalty; in modern law, corporal punishment in its most severe form. The usual alternative to the death penalty is long term or life imprisonment. The earliest historical records contain evidence of capital punishment. The Bible prescribed death as a penalty for more than 30 different crimes, ranging from murder to fornication. Nowadays the death penalty is possible in certain country only for certain types of murders and treason. And the defenders of death penalty insist that because taking an offender’s life is a more severe punishment that any prison team, it must be better deterrent. But the opponents have replied that the death penalty can be the result of a mistake in practice and that is impossible to administer fairly. Criminal sentences ordinarily embrace four basic modes of punishment. There are incarceration(заключение в тюрьму), community supervision, fine, and restriction. The death penalty is now possible only for certain types of atrocious murders and treason. Various correctional approaches developed in wake of causation theories. The 19th –century British philosopher tried to make punishment fit the crime. He urged definite, inflexible penalties for each class of crime: the pain of penalty would outweigh only slightly the pleasure of success in crime; it would exceed sufficiently to act as deterrent, but not so much as to amount to wanton cruelty. In early 20th century there was a movement known as neoclassical school. This school, rejecting fixed punishments, proposed that sentences vary with the particular circumstances of a crime, such as the age, intellectual level, and emotional state of offender; the motive and other conditions that may have incited to crime; and offender’s past record and chances of rehabilitation. At about the same time, the so-called Italian school stressed measures for preventing crime rather than punishing it. Members of this school argued that individuals are shaped by forces beyond their control and therefore cannot be held fully responsible for their crimes. The contemporary scientific attitude is that criminals are individual personalities and that their rehabilitation can be brought about only through individual treatment.
3 A jury trial
A jury is a body of a lay man and women randomly selected to determine facts and to provide a decision in a legal proceedings such a body traditionally consists of 12 people and is called a petit jury or trial jury. The exact origin of the jury system is not known. The jury is probably of Frankish origin. In medieval Europe, trials were usually decided by ordeals. However in 1215 the Catholic Church decided that trial by ordeal was superstition (религиоз предрассудок). By the 15th century trial by jury became the dominant model of resolving a legal issue.
The right to trial by a jury is one of the most important rights and is guaranteed by the law (constitution).Job as a juror is to listen to all the evidence presented at trial and to decide the fact that is to decide what really happened. The judge decides the law that it makes a decision on legal issue that come up during the trial. In order to do job you do not need any special knowledge or ability. It is enough keep an open mind, concentrate, and be fair and honest. Finally juries should not be influenced by sympathy or prejudice.
Juries have to meet certain requirement in order to do their job. To be eligible, you must be over 18 years of age, a resident of the country in which you are to serve as a juror, able to communicate in the proceedings”s language. People who meet these requirements may be excused from jury service if they have illness.
Selection of the trial jury. The first step in the selection of the trial jury is the selection of a jury panel. The judge assigned to that case will tell you about the case and will introduce the lawyers and the people involved in the case. You will take an oath, by which you promise to answer all questions truthfully.
The judge and the lawyers will question you and other members of the panel to find out if you have any personal interest in it. This process of questioning is called voir dire. During voir dire the lawyers may ask the judge to excuse you or another member of the panel from sitting on the jury. This is called challenging a juror. There are 2 types of challenges. 1) challenge for cause: the lawyer has a specific reason for thinking that the juror would not be able to be impartial. 2) peremptory challenge. It means that the lawyer does not have to state a reason for asking that the juror be excused. Those jurors who have not been challenged become the jury for the case.
A juror may sit on a criminal case, a civil case, or both. Events in a trial usually happen in a particular order.
step 1 selection of jury. step 2 opening statements: the lawyers for each side will discuss their views of the case. step 3 presentation of evidence. step 4. closing arguments. the lawyer summarize the case from the point of view. step 5 In order to permit the jury to perform that role, the judge must instruct the jury. Instructions can be given at four different times during the case.
– preliminary instructions given at the beginning of the case; specific instructions given during the case$ final instructions and instructions that respond to question submitted by the jury during their deliberations. step 6. jury deliberation. The jury retires to the jury room to conduct the deliberations on the verdict in the case. The jury elects a foreman. All issues are fully and fairly discussed. When a verdict has been reached, the foreman signs it. The jury returns to the court room, where the foreman presents the verdict, which must be unanimous.
4 4. The hierarchy of courts in Britain.
There are many different types of courts, each with its own particular function and responsibilities. The House of Lords is the highest court in the land. It is the final court of appeal and hears appeals in both civil and criminal cases. It deals with cases of real public importance. The judges who sit in the House of Lords are the 12 Law Lords. All rulings of the House of Lords are always binding (обязат). The Court of Appeal hears most of the important civil and criminal appeals. Very few cases go on appeal from the Court of Appeal to the House of Lords. The Court of Appeal has two main functions: to hear appeals in civil cases from the High Court and county courts, and to hear appeals in criminal cases from the Crown Court. The Appeal Court judges who deal with civil cases are the Master of the Rolls and 37 Lords Justices of Appeal. Appeals in criminal cases are heard by the Criminal Division of the court. There are three divisions of the High Court of Justice – the Queen’s Bench Division, Chancery (канцлерск) Division, and Family Division. The judges of The Queen’s Bench Division try criminal and civil cases. The Chancery Division consists of about 20 High Court Judges and is headed by the Chancellor of the High Court. The Family Division consists of about 20 High Court Judges, headed by the President of the Family Division. The judges of these divisions try cases at first instance. Crown Courts hear all the criminal cases involving trial by judge and jury. County courts were introduced to enable civil claims for small amounts to be heard quickly and cheaply. The judges of the county court almost always sit alone – without juries – and they deal with a great variety of civil work. The vast (подавляющее) majority of all criminal cases are dealt with in the magistrates’ courts (мировых) by magistrates, who are also known as Justices of the Peace. They sit alone and usually deal with the more complicated cases. They try the huge number of criminal cases which are brought for relatively petty (мелкие) crimes such as motoring offences, petty theft, drunkenness, and minor offences of violence and other breaches of public order. Justices of the Peace also hear certain civil cases, and sit in Family Courts. Tribunals are independent judicial bodies set up by Parliament to hear appeals from decisions made in certain types of cases by civil servants and others. There are more than 60 different types of tribunal. Agricultural land tribunals settle disputes between the landlords and tenants of farms. Employment tribunals deal with matters of employment law involving many aspects of disputes between employers and employees. Mental health (психич здор) review tribunals are responsible for reviewing cases of patients who have suffered from mental illness.
5 5. The UK legislative branch.
The legislative authority has three separate elements: the Monarch, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The Head of the legislative body is the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth. Royal Assent of the Monarch (королевская санкция принятого парламентом закона) is required for all Bills to become law, and certain Delegated Legislation must be made by the Monarch by Order in Council (правительственный декрет). The Crown also has executive powers which do not depend on Parliament (e.g. ability to dissolve Parliament, make treaties, declare war, etc.). The parliament is bicameral, with an upper house, the House of Lords, and a lower house, the House of Commons. The House of Lords includes two different types of members: the Lords Spiritual (bishops (епископы) of the Church of England) and the Lords Temporal (Peers of the Realm) whose members are not elected by the population at large, but are appointed by the Sovereign on advice of the Prime Minister. Powers of the House of Lords are very much less than those of the House of Commons. All bills excerpt money bills are debated and voted upon in House of Lords, however, House of Commons can force the Bill through without the Lords consent under Parliament Acts. Each member of the House of Commons is chosen by a single constituency (избир округ) according to the First-Past-the-Post electoral system (система простого большинства). The term of members of the House of Commons depends on the term of Parliament, a maximum of five years. All legislation must be passed by the House of Commons to become law and it controls taxation and the supply of money to the government. Government ministers (including the Prime Minister) must regularly answer questions in the House of Commons. Both houses of the British Parliament are presided over by a speaker. Laws, in draft form known as bills, may be introduced by any member of either House, but usually a bill is introduced by a Minister of the Crown (Министр короны). Each Bill goes through several stages in each House. The first stage, called the first reading, is a formality. At the second reading, the general principles of the bill are debated, and the House may vote to reject the bill. Following the second reading, the bill is sent to a committee. A committee considers the bill clause by clause, and reports the bill as amended to the House, where further detailed consideration occurs. Third reading. In the House of Commons, no further amendments may be made. After the passage of the third reading motion, the House of Lords must vote on the motion "That the Bill do now pass." Following its passage in one House, the bill is sent to the other House. If passed in identical form by both Houses, it may be presented for the Sovereign's Assent. The last stage of a bill involves the granting of the Royal Assent. Theoretically, the Sovereign may either grant the Royal Assent (that is, make the bill a law) or withhold it.
6 6. The UK executive branch.
The Executive is the power which can take action. In the town and country the local authority in each area decides such matters as who should clean the streets, what the traffic speed and parking restrictions might be, and what sort of organisation schools should have. The executive in the Local Authority is formed by the political party which wins the local elections. The national executive is always known as the Government. It is formed from the winning political party at the nationwide General Election. This is the party which has the most members in the House of Commons. These are Members of Parliament. The leader of that winning party becomes Prime Minister. He or she chooses other members of that party to be in charge of different aspects of government—for example, foreign affairs (the Foreign Secretary), money and taxation (the Chancellor of the Exchequer (мин финансов)), law and order (the Home
Secretary (мин внутр дел)). The Home Secretary is in charge of a great Department of State (the
Home Office), and together with his junior Ministers who have special responsibilities in the Department, he must make the major decisions. The Home Office is the Government department in which civil servant employees (all persons employed by the State or 'the Crown' are called civil servants) deal with matters of law and order and the reform of the criminal law. 'Law and order' involves making laws to protect people from any form of crime or disorder, providing a police force to investigate and enforce these laws, and the means of rehabilitating or punishing anyone who breaks them. The most important of the Secretaries of State are the Senior Ministers who form the Cabinet. The Government makes the day-to-day decisions about the public life of the country: foreign policy—even war and peace; the level of taxation; expenditure (расходы) on roads, hospitals, education, and welfare (соц обеспеч). It is the executive which decides how that policy is to be carried out, and the executive is actually responsible for carrying it out.
7. The two branches of the legal profession in the UK.
In English-speaking countries, the Bar is a term for the legal profession itself, while a bar association is the association which regulates the profession. A person who qualifies to practice law is admitted to the Bar. On the other hand, to disbar a lawyer it to make him or her unable to practice law. Studying law in the UK usually begins with the completion(заверш-е) of a bachelor degree(степень бакалавра) in law known as an LLB.(takes 3 years). In the subsequent (последн)vocation (профессия)stage? F person who wishes to become a barrister joins one of the Inns of Court before beginning the Bar Vocational Course. The completion of this stage is marked by a ceremony referred to as the call to the Bar. A third stage(pupillage) is a year-long apprenticeship(учение). Usually at a set of barristers chambers, Which customarily (привычно) consists of group of 20-60 barristers. Similarly, A person wishing to become a solicitor must also complete 3 stages: 1)gaining a law degree 2) passing a one year Legal Practice Course 3) working for two years as a trainee solicitor with a firm of solicitors or in the legal department of a local authority or large company.
8 8. Aspects of family life subject to the regulation of Family law
Marriage is a legal union of two people. When you are married, your responsibilities and rights toward your spouse concerning property and support are defined by the laws of the state in which you live. Your marriage can only be terminated by a court granting a divorce or an annulment. Living together: if you and your partner are unmarried, you must take steps to protect your relationship and define your property rights. Premarital agreements: couples who want to live together but have no intention of getting married benefit from signing a living together agreement. It creates a framework for non-married couples to handle money and property issues while they live together and if they should separate. These agreements are also called antenuptial or prenuptial agreements. Divorce is a legal termination of a marriage. In some states, divorce is called dissolution or dissolution of marriage. Grounds of for civil annulment: misrepresentation of fraud, concealment, refusal or inability to consummate the marriage, misunderstanding. There are different kinds of separation: trial separation, living apart, permanent separation, legal separation and «no fault» divorceб which describes any divorce where the spouse suing for divorce does not have to prove that the other spouse did something wrong. Property division: a divorce usually includes division of marital property and provisions for spousal support. Community property includes all earnings during marriage and everything acquired with those earnings. All debts incurred during marriage are community property debts.
9 9.The Civil prosedure rules.
Most civil claims concern disputes between individuals or companies who are asking the court to provide some kind of legal remedy (for example,compensation).Civil claims are usually private matters-the State is not involved. A process of civil litigation has undergone a major change after taking Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). These rules were created by Lord Wolf. The CPR are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Courts in civil cases in England and Wales. The CPR were designed to improve access to justice by making legal proceedings cheaper, quicker and easier to understand for non-lawyers. Under CPR judges must completely manage the cases. In particular, they control and try to simplify the issues that have to be decided; and they must put strict limits on the evidence which may be called at the trial. Under CPR the court has ‘an overriding objective to deal with cases justly’.
This includes:-ensuring that parties are on equal footing (стороны равны) ;-saving expense (экономить расходы);-dealing with cases in ways which are proportionate to the amount of money involved in the case, the complexity (сложность) of issues, and the financial position of each party;-ensuring that the case is dealt with promptly and fairly. CPR also states a lot of other issues. The person making a claim (‘bringing an action’) is now called a claimant instead of plaintiff. The person against whom the claim is brought is still called the defendant. Proceedings are commenced (начинаются) with a claim form, stating the nature of the claim and the remedy that claimant is seaking. In civil cases the claimant has the burden of proving that his or her claim is a good one, but doesn’t have to make the court sure about it. There is a standart of proof
(it is more probable than not that case is right). This is called proving something on a balance of probabilities (баланс вероятностей). In criminal cases judge must be sure about the circumstances of the case. In civil cases claimant has to prove only the probability of defendant’s quilt. That is why it is easier to prove a civil case than it is to prove a criminal case. Almost all civil cases are tried by judges alone. Juries do try some civil cases, but this usually only happens when the action concerns the liberty of the subject, or his reputation. In conclusion, I would like to say, that CPR make easier to people to understand what is to do, if you’re their rights have been violated. It contains a lot of provisions, which regulate the process of civil litigation. Also, it shows the differences between civil and criminal cases.
10 The main rules of will-making in the USA
Making your will legal follow a few simple rules to make a binding will.
1.Age: In order to make a will, you must be either 18 years of age or older, or living in one of the few states that permit younger persons to make a will if they are married, in the military, or otherwise considered «emancipated». 2. Mental state: You must be of «sound mind» to make a valid will. This standart requires you: know what a will is and that you are making one; understand the relationship between yourself and those persons who you would normally provide for, such as spouse or children; understand what you own, and be able to decide how to distribute your property. It is important to remember that in the vast majority of cases, there is no need to prove mental state to a court. It is presumed that the will writer was of sound mind, and the issue will never arise unless someone challenges it in a court proceeding. A will can also be declared invalid if a court determines that it was procured by «fraud» or «undue influence». 3Technical requirements: the will must be typewitten or computer-printed. Handwritten will (also known as holographic will) is legal in about 25 states. To be valid a holographic will must be written, dated and signed in the handwriting or the person making the will. 2)The document must expressly state that it is a will 3)You must date and sign the will 4)The will must be signed by at least two, or in some states, three witnesses. They must watch you sign the will, though they don t need to read it and then withesses should sign it themselves. Your witnesses must be people who won t inherit anything under the will. You don t have to have your will notarized. A will doesn t need to be recorded or filed with any government agency. 4. You must appoint an executor. It is a person who is responsible for supervising the distribution of your property after your death. Nevertheless, in most states, even if you fail to name an executor in an otherwise valid will, a court will appoint one and enforce the will.