Common law Roman law Napoleonic code The Ten Commandments

What is law? The sources of law

Vocabulary

Task 1. Complete the text using the following words:

Authority, govern, law enforcement agency, legal action, legal systems, legislation, rule, the judiciary, tribunal

Why do we have laws and 1 ___? At one level, laws can be seen as a type of 2 ___ which is meant to 3 ___ behaviour between people. We can find these rules in nearly all social organizations, such as families and sports clubs.

Law, the body of official rules and regulations, generally found in constitutions and 4 ___, is used to govern a society and to control the behaviour of its members. In modern societies, a body with 5 ___, such as a court or the legislature, makes the law, and a 6 ___, such as the police, makes sure it is observed.

In addition to enforcement, a body of expert lawyers is needed to apply the law. This is the role of 7 ___, the body of judges in a particular country. Of course, legal systems vary between countries, as well as the basis for bringing a case before a court or 8 ___. One thing, however, seems to be true all over the world- starting a 9 ___ is both expensive and time consuming.

Task 2. Match these sources of law with the descriptions 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 customs and interpretation by magistrates of the will of the gods.
2. ________ evolved from the tribal and local laws of England. It began with common customs, but over time it involved the courts in law-making that was responsive 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 five codes dealing with civil, commercial, and criminal law.

Active vocabulary

Task 3. Read and translate the text.

One of the earliest systems of law of which we have knowledge is the collection of laws, known as the Code of Hammurabi, the Babylonian king. It was carved in stone about 1900 B.C. and set up in a temple, and now it can be seen in the British museum in London. The laws laid down by Hammurabi covered crime, divorce and marriage, the rights of slave owners and slaves, debts, inheritance and property contracts and so on. Punishments were harsh and murderers faced the death penalty according to the principle of revenge. Nevertheless, the punishment couldn’t be more severe than the crime.

The ancient Greeks were among the first to develop the concepts of law. In the 7^th century B.C. Solon, the famous Athenian law-giver provided a new code of law. In a civil case the verdict was given by a jury, who listened to the speeches of the person who brought the case before them, and to his friends’ speeches. The Greeks also established the concept of ‘natural law’, which meant that certain basic principles are above the laws of a nation.

Roman law is one of the greatest systems that have ever existed. It was based upon custom, and by A.D. 528 the quantity of Roman law had become so immense that the Emperor Justinian in Constantinople ordered to make a clear, systematic code of all the laws. Roman law seemed to be lost or forgotten until the 11^th century, when it reappeared in European universities and was developed and brought into courts. Roman law has influenced the law of most European countries, including Anglo-Saxon law.

In France, however, each province had its own laws until Napoleon codified the law in 1804. The Napoleonic code was a splendid achievement, and has been copied in many countries in Europe and South America. The code was an attempt to create a legal system that treated all citizens as equals without regard to their rank or previous privileges.

A Study the underlined phrases in the text and match them with their Russian equivalents:

B Study the text and the phrases in bold and choose the best translation for these word combinations: