Vocabulary tasks

The word LEGAL has the following meanings in Russian:

1) юридический

legal person – юридическое лицо

2) правовой

legal text – правовой текст

3) судебный

legal action – судебный иск

4) законный, дозволенный законом

legal owner – законный владелец

5) легальный

legal activities – правомерная, законная деятельность

A Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents.

1 legal activities	a	законные права
2 legal address	b	законный владелец
3 legal advice	c	имеющий законную силу
4 legal age	d	использовать своё законное право
5 legal costs	e	история права
6 legal decision	f	консультация юриста
7 legal document	g	правовая защита
8 legal entity	h	правовой документ
9 legal ethics	i	правовой статус
10 legal expert	j	правомерная, законная деятельность
11 legal history	k	профессиональная этика юриста
12 legal language	l	решение суда
13 legal owner	m	совершеннолетие
14 legal procedure	n	стать юристом
15 legal protection	o	судебные издержки
16 legal rights	p	судопроизводство
17 legal status	q	юридическая терминология
18 of legal force	r	юридический адрес
19 to enjoy one’s legal rights	s	юридическое лицо
20 to enter the legal profession	t	юрисконсульт; юридический советник

B Find in the text the following words and phrases and translate them into Russian.

1	declarers	7	unenacted	13	predominant
2	aspect	8	law reports	14	legislative enactment
3	solemnity	9	formal enactments	15	sale of goods
4	misleading	10	set	16	casts
5	enacted	11	codified	17	statutes
6	whether reduced to writing or not	12	preponderate over	18	wholesale codification

C Match each word or phrase on the left to the correct definition on the right for groups given below.

Example: issues are questions or matters

Answer: Group I: a/2

Group I

	words or phrases		definitions
a	issues	1	legal actions or sets of legal circumstances
b	grounded	2	questions, matters
c	actualities	3	legal action
d	litigation	4	real conditions or facts
e	cases	5	based

Group II

	words or phrases		definitions
a	code	1	put into a code (adjective)
b	codification	2	a person who forms theories
c	encoded	3	a written set or collection of laws
d	theorist	4	modification by judges for a particular purpose
e	judicial adaptation	5	the act of making into a code

Group III

	words or phrases		definitions
a	restatements	1	different from each other
b	jurists	2	law based on judicial precedent
c	case-law	3	declarations or statements in a new form
d	approach to	4	experts in law, especially legal writers
e	divergent	5	method of dealing with

Group IV

	words or phrases		definitions
a	salient feature	1	reach the same decision as
b	binding case	2	striking or especially important characteristic
c	hierarchical	3	case containing principles which a court must apply to similar facts in a later case
d	follow	4	heard, judged (in a court of law)
e	tried	5	classified into higher and lower grades or levels

D Match these sources of law with the description below.

Common law Roman Law

Napoleonic code The Ten Commandments

1) ________, which evolved in the 8^th century BC, was still largely a blend of custom and interpretation by magistrates of the will of the gods. 2) ________ evolved from the tribal and local laws in England. It began with common customs, but over time it involved the courts in law-making that was responsible to changes in society. In this way the Anglo-Norman rulers created a system of centralized courts that operated under a single set of laws that replaced the rules laid down by earlier societies. 3) ________ formed the basis of all Israelite legislation. They can also be found in the laws of other ancient peoples. 4) ________ refers to the entire body of French law, contained in five codes dealing with civil, commercial, and criminal law.

E Are the following sentences about the sources of law true or false?

1. The Ten Commandments are based on moral standards of behaviour.

2. In common law, judges resolve disputes by referring to statutory principles arrived at in advance.

3. Roman law is based on the principles of deciding cases by reference to previous judicial decisions, rather than to written statutes by legislative bodies.

4. The Napoleonic Code was introduced into a number of European countries, notably Belgium, where it is still in force. It also became the model for the civil codes of Quebec Province in Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, some Latin American republics, and the state of Louisiana.

F Complete the following passage to check that you have understood the text so far and can use the new vocabulary. For each blank space choose the correct word from the list below. Use each word once only.

The Importance of Legislation as a Source in English and Continental Law

In many 1) continental countries much of the law is 2) ________. For this reason there is more written, or 3) ________ law than 4) ________ law. In contrast, there is no general code of 5) ________ law. Still, 6) ________ is common, and many areas of law, e.g. 7) ________ are codified, but 8) ________ is the main source of the law.

Choose from:

a partnership b enacted c Continental d unwritten

e English f judicial precedent g legislation h codified

G Decide where you think some of the following pieces of information belong in the table. Copy and complete the table.

A civil law/common law

B central importance of enacted law/central importance of precedent

C inductive/decisions reached by reasoning from general rules to particular cases/reasoning in individual cases leads to general rules/deductive

D principles are flexible/principles are based on real facts/in time fixed principles may not correspond to changing circumstances/principles develop in individual cases/general enacted principles are applied to individual cases.

E original source of principles may be case-law, custom, etc./inferior courts must follow decisions of superior courts/central position of judges.

		English law	Continental law
A	Type of legal system
B	Basic characteristic of system
C	Style of legal reasoning
D	Legal principles
E	Other characteristics

Over to you

Use your own knowledge and information from the text to compare the following:

• codification of law on the Continent and in England

• codification of law in your country and in England

• written sources of law on the Continent and in your country

• written sources of law in your country and in England

• unwritten sources of law in England and in your country

Examples

‘Many continental countries have codified their law, whereas this has not happened in England. In fact, only some areas of English law, such as the sale of goods, are codified.’

‘In England most of the law is unwritten and the same is true in my country. In fact the principal sources of law in the legal system in my country are…’

Write your comparisons down.