Words and phrases you need to know

1. lay down the law ( rules) (to give an opinion or order in an unpleasant comanding manner)

2. Rules and regulations

3. supplement v (to add to)

4. delegated legislation n

5. by-law n (a special law or rule made not by a national government, but by a local council)

6. legislative sovereignty (the power to make and enforce law)

7. invalid adj (not legally binding)

8. validity n

9. quilify v (as, for) (to reach a necessary standard)

qualification n (requirement)

10. evolve (to develop gradually by a long continuous process)

11. constituency n (any of the areas of a country that elect a representative to a parliament)

12. elect v (to choose someone for an official position by voting)

general election n (any regular election to fill public offices)

by-election n (a special election held between regular elections to fill a position whose former holder has left it or died)

13. preside over v (to be in charge of)

14. adjorn v (close a meeting until some future date)

adjournment n

15. amend v (to make changes)

16. barrister n (a lawyer who may argue cases in superior courts)

17. convict of v (accuse of)

18. allowances n (something, especially money, provided regularly or for a special purpose)

19. expenses n (cost in money, time, or effort)

20. deliberation n (discussion)

21. evidence n (information; facts)

Reading notes:

European Union - a group of European nations, the European Union (EU) known as the European Communities (EC). It is made up of 15 countries. The aim of the EU is to unite, or bring together, Western Europe

The Interpretation Act 1978 gives certain statutory rules of interpretation, for example that the masculine gender shall include the feminine, and the singular shall include the plural, and vice versa, unless a contrary intention is obvious. Moreover, almost all Acts contain a series of definitions of technical and other terms which the enactment contains.

Hereditary peers - dukes and lords who have inherited the title from their parents.

Life peers - the title is not passed to their children.

Law Lords – the members of the British House of Lords who are also important lawyers and judges. As a group they act as the highest court in the British legal system.

Senior judges – law lords

Court of Appeal – the second most important court of law in the British legal system, which examines a criminal or civil case that has already been judged in a lower (less powerful court). If people are not satisfied with the decision made at the Court of Appeal, the case can then be taken to the House of Lords.

Standing Committee - a committee of members in the British Parliament or in the US House of Representatives, whose purpose is to examine a bill (=new law that has been suggested) and to consider whether it needs any changes.

Select Committee – a committee of the British Parliament which is responsible for looking at particular area of government activity, such as trade, employment, or defence. Its members can try to improve laws, check the work done in government departments and give advice to the government.

The Bar – the profession of being a barrister, or the members of this profession.

Backbencher a member of the British Parliament who does not hold an official position in the government or opposition, and sho sits on one of the back seats.

Exercise 1. Read the following sentences, notice carefully the active words in bold, and translate the sentences into Russian.

Rules and regulations/supplement

1. I get so annoyed by all these petty rules and regulations.

2. For various reasons, some of Parliament’s legislative functions are delegated to government ministers and their departments, which within a limited field are to enact rules and regulations, which supplement Acts of Parliament.

3. She supplements her regular income by doing a bit of teaching in the evenings.

Delegated legislation

1. As delegated legislation in many instances is made by non-elected bodies and, since there are so many people with the power to make delegated legislation it is important that there should be some control over this.

2. Parliament has the initial control with an enabling Act which sets the parameters within which the delegated legislation is to be made.

3. During the twentieth century, statute law and judicial decisions continued to be the major source of law but, in addition, two new sources of law became increasingly important: these were delegated legislation and European law.

Qualify

1. Her teaching experience qualifies her admirably for the job.

2. Will our team qualify for the second round of the competition?

3. Its procedure and practices differ in detail from those of the Commons, and its powers over legislation are qualified: the Lords may not amend ‘money bills, and they can only delay other bills passed by the Commons for an effective period of thirteen months.

Qualification

1.Previous experience is not an essential qualification for this job.

2. She has all the right qualifications to be a good manager.

3. This conventional view is now subject to a major qualification.

Evolve

1. The British political system has evolved over several centuries.

2. They evolved a new system for running the factory.

3. The courts have, in fact, evolved rules of interpretation which they will use to discover the ‘true’ meaning of the words of a statute.

Constituency

1. Our MP doesn’t even live in this constituency.

2. He represents the Essex constituency of Epping Forest.

3. The country is divided into constituencies and each of these returning one Member of Parliament (MP).

Elect

1. She has been elected to the committee.

2. They elected a President.

3. The members of the House of Commons are elected by the British public in a General Election.

The general election

1. In the United States in the general election, the voter votes for the presidential and vice-presidential candidates of his choice by name, but in reality he is voting for the electors of his candidate’s party.

2. They registered to vote in the general election.

3. A General Election is held at least once every five years, though such an election can be called sooner by the Prime Minister.

Preside over (at)

1. Who is presiding at the meeting?

2. As prime minister, she presided over the biggest ever rise in unemployment.

3. The Speaker is elected by MPs to preside over the Commons.

Adjourn/adjournment

1. While Congress is in session, neither house may adjourn for more than three days without the consent of the other, and both houses must meet at the same place.

2. Last half-hour of sitting. Adjournment debate on a subject chosen by a backbencher.

3. On Fridays the House meets at 9.30 am, does not usually take questions to ministers, and is likely to adjourn at 3 pm or shortly after.

Amend

1. The Constitution of the United States has been amended 27 times.

2. Your plan needs to be amended.

3. The law was amended to include women.

Convict of

1. They were convicted of murder.

2. In the United States to convict a person of treason, there must be two witnesses who actually saw the person commit the traitorous act, or the accused person must confess to it in a public court.

3. On very rare occasions, people who have been convicted of criminal offences can appeal to the House of Lords, and their case is heard by five of the law lords.

Allowances/Expenses

1.Congressmen in the United States receive free office space, free postage (the frank), free printing for speeches, allowances (set amounts of money for such things as office help, stationery, long-distance telephoning, telegrams, and travel to and from sessions of Congress).

2. The scholarship includes an allowance of 100 pounds for books.

3. From this total membership of about 480 there is an average daily attendance of some 350. Peers are unpaid, but receive expenses and allowances.

Deliberation

1. After much deliberation we found, that nothing could be done.

2. Our deliberations failed to produce a decision.

3. Their door is first slammed in his face, to symbolise the Commons’ claim to exclude the Sovereign from their deliberations.

Evidence

1. When the police arrived, he had already destroyed the evidence of his guilt (=papers, photos etc, proving he was guilty).

2. Is there any evidence for believing the world is round?

3. Departmental committees have the power to report to the House of Commons detailing its opinion and observations upon any matter referred to them for their consideration, together with the minutes of the evidence taken before them, and also to make a special report of any matters which they may think fit to bring to the notice of the House.

Exercise 2. Fill the spaces in the following sentences with a suitable expression from Exercise 1.

1. In the United States conviction of treason cannot result in corruption of blood (make all members of the traitor’s family and his descendants guilty); or forfeiture (loss of property as payment for a wrong-doing) except during the life of the person … of treason.

2. Mary … her regular salary by tutoring in the evenings.

3. After much … , first prize was awarded to Derek Murray.

4. I don’t know how the government can justify the … of the project.

5. The defendant later … his evidence.

6. The departmental select committes cover area such as Defence, Education and Employment, Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Health and Home Affairs. They have the power to call for persons, papers and record, to … from place to place and to report from time to time.

7. Finch … … the company over 30 years.

8. In addition, there may be individual by-elections in … where the MP has died or retired during the current session of Parliament.

9. They … her to represent them on the committee.

j. There was some … that the documents had been tampered with.

k. It’s too much of … to own a car.

Exercise 3. Find in the text English equivalents for the following Russian words and expressions.

общепринятый, законодательство, издать закон, недействительный ( не имеющий силу), осудить, председательствовать, барристер (адвокат, имеющий право выступать в суде), переносить, подлежащий, правила и нормативы, юридическая сила( юридическая действительность, законность), парламентский акт, закон (законопроект, принятый палатой общин [House of Commons] и палатой лордов [House of Lords] и получивший королевскую санкцию, "духовные лорды", светские члены палаты лордов, денежное пособие

Exercise 4. Translate these sentences into English.

a. В теории права к основным источникам английского права

относят прежде всего законодательство, судебный прецедент и правовые документы Европейского Союза.

b. Парламент – высший законодательный орган Соединенного Королевства.

c. Теоретически считается, что Парламент пользуется неограниченной свободой усмотрения при принятии статутов.

d. Таким образом, теоретически английский Парламент может принять любой закон.

e. Парламент наделяет соответствующих должностных лиц правительства и органов государства, в частности министра, возглавляющих департаменты правительства, полномочиями издавать в определенных целях соответствующие нормативные акты.

f. По общему правилу эти нормативные акты, которые называются делегированным законодательством, имеют ту же законную силу, что и законы Парламента.

g. Никакой суд не вправе подвергать сомнению законность принятых Парламентом актов.

h. Большое значение имеет Закон о толковании статутов 1978 г. Он содержит определения многих терминов и понятий, которые используются в других законодательных актах.

i. Интересно, что Закон о толковании статутов предусматривает, что, если толкуемый законодательный акт не содержит иного определения, слова, употребляемые в мужском роде, следует понимать и в женском роде, и наоборот. А слова, употребляемые в единственном числе, могут толковать и как употребляемые во множественном числе, и наоборот.