Text: What is Law?

Law is the whole set of rules that are supported by the power of government and that control the behaviour of members of a 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.

There are two main kinds of the law – public and private (civil). Private 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 regulates the main rights of citizens and state in accordance with the Constitution. A constitution is the political and ideological structure in which a system of laws operates.

Many countries face similar social, economic and political problems. Nations have always made political and economic treaties with each other. International law is created to regulate relations between governments and also between private citizens of one country and those of another.

Criminal law deals with wrongful acts harmful to the community and punishable by the state.

Civil law deals with individual rights, duties and obligations towards one another.

As well as defining the powers of government, most constitutions describe the fundamental rights of citizens. These usually include general declarations about freedom and equality, but, also some specific provisions. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was first adopted in 1950 and has now been signed by every country of Western Europe. Individual citizens of these countries have the right to bring a complaint before the European Commission if they think their government has broken the Convention.

Questions:

1. What is law?

2. What are the main kinds of law?

3. What is the Constitution?

4. What does international law regulate?

5. What does criminal law deal with?

6. What does civil law deal with?

7. What does ECHR deal with?

Лексический минимум по теме “spotlight of law” («Основы правоведения»)

a contribution	вклад
a federal system of government	федеральная система правительства
a final draft	окончательный проект закона
a legal system	правовая система
a set of certain rules	набор определенных правил
a society	общество
a sovereign	государь, суверен
accordingto	согласно чему-либо, в соответствии с
administration of justice	осуществление правосудия
amendments to the Constitution	поправки к Конституции
an official volume	официальный сборник
apex of legal codification	вершина правовой кодификации
chief constitutional safeguard	основная конституционная гарантия
civil law / criminal law	гражданское право / уголовное право
constant struggle for power	постоянная борьба за власть
constitutional monarchy	конституционная монархия
customs and rules	обычаи и правила
descriptive	описательный
duties and obligations	обязанности и обязательства
executive power	исполнительная власть
forms of behavior	формы поведения
free and independent	свободный и независимый
freedom and equality	свобода и равенство
freedom under law	свобода по закону
General elections	всеобщие выборы
harmful to the community	опасный для общества
judicial system	судебная система
law	право, закон
lawful judgment	законное решение
legally binding	юридически обязывающий
legislative power	законодательная власть
matters of law and justice	вопросы права и правосудия
prescriptive	предписывающий
punishable by the state	наказуемый государством
relations	взаимоотношения, связи
representative government	представительная форма правления
revision of law	пересмотр закона
the basis of civil law	основа гражданского права
the greatest achievement	величайшее достижение
the right to justice and liberty	право на правосудие и свободу
the right to vote	право голосовать
the Royal Assent	королевская санкция (согласие)
to affirm	утверждать
to approve,approval	одобрять, одобрение
to be adopted	быть принятым
to be elected directly by the people	быть избранным непосредственно народом
to be officially recognized	быть официально признанным
to be supported by the government	поддерживаться правительством
to control the social behaviour	контролировать социальное поведение
to dissolve Parliament	распустить Парламент
to elect the representatives	выбирать представителей
to enforce the duties	исполнять обязанности
to enforce the laws	приводить законы в исполнение
to enjoy human rights	пользоваться правами человека
to extend the powers	расширять полномочия
to force	вынуждать, заставить силой
to gain some freedoms	получить некоторые свободы
to have a great influence on	оказать большое влияние на
to impose taxes	облагать налогами
to introduce a new code of laws	представить новый свод законов, кодекс
to issue the Declaration of Independence	выпустить Декларацию независимости
to limit the prerogative of the Crown	ограничивать исключительное право власти монарха
to pass a law	принять закон
to protect the rights of individual citizens	защищать права отдельных граждан
to provide a new code of laws	предоставить новый свод законов
to put the laws into writing	излагать законы в письменном виде
to remain in force	оставаться в силе
to safeguard	охранять, гарантировать
to secure the succession to the throne	гарантировать престолонаследие
to share the power to rule	разделять право власти на управление
to sign	подписывать
unjust	несправедливость
wrongful acts	незаконные действия
to bring a complaint	подавать жалобу
Magna Carta	Великая Хартия Вольностей