Anglo-saxon law

Answer the following questions

LEAD IN

Below you will find phrases and language you can use in the discussion to express opinions, offer explanations and disagree.

V. SPEAKING

What do you think about the following statements?

When men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are broken. Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) British politician and author.

It would be better to have no laws at all, than to have too many.

Law, without force, is impotent. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) French mathematician, physicist and philosopher.

Where the law is uncertain there is no law. (proverb)

Opinions, Preferences:

I think..., In my opinion..., I'd like to..., I'd rather..., I'd prefer..., The way I see it..., As far as I'm concerned..., If it were up to me..., I suppose..., I suspect that..., I'm pretty sure that..., It is fairly certain that..., I'm convinced that..., I honestly feel that, I strongly believe that..., Without a doubt,...,

Disagreeing:

I don't think that..., Don't you think it would be better..., I don't agree, I'd prefer..., Shouldn't we consider..., But what about..., I'm afraid I don't agree..., Frankly, I doubt if..., Let's face it, The truth of the matter is..., The problem with your point of view is that...

Giving Reasons and offering explanations: To start with, The reason why..., That's why..., For this reason..., That's the reason why..., Many people think...., Considering..., Allowing for the fact that..., When you consider that...

Unit 2 Evolution of Law: Historical Aspect Section 2 Anglo-Saxon Law

1. What is the name England derived from?

2. What ethnic groups formed the people known as the English?

2. Match the following English words and phrases with their Ukrainian equivalents:

in conjunction королівське дарування

promulgate гільдія

ecclesiastical звичаєве право

outlawry порушення

folkright проголошувати

royal grant оголошення поза законом

exertion разом з

guild вияв

infringement народна мова

vernacular церковний

TEXT 2

Read the text “Anglo-Saxon law”.

Notes on the text:

Domesday Book Книга Судного Дня

Anglo-Saxon law is the body of legal principles that prevailed in England from the 6th century until the Norman Conquest (1066) and after. In conjunction with Scandinavian law and the so-called barbarian laws of continental Europe, it made up the body of law called Germanic law. Anglo-Saxon law was written in the vernacular and was relatively free of the Roman influence found in continental laws that were written in Latin. Anglo-Saxon law was made up of three components: the laws and collections promulgated by the king, authoritative statements of custom such as those found in the Norman-instituted Domesday Book, and private compilations of legal rules and enactments. The primary emphasis was on criminal law rather than on private law, although certain material dealt with problems of public administration, with public order, and with ecclesiastical matters.

Before the 10th century, the codes often merely presented lists of compositions--money paid to an injured party or his family--but by the 10th century a new penal system had evolved, based on outlawry (declaring a criminal an outlaw), confiscation, and corporal and capital punishment. By this time there had also been an increased development of the law relating to administrative and police functions.

The Anglo-Saxon legal system rested on the fundamental opposition between folkright and privilege. Folkright is the aggregate of rules, whether formulated or not, that can be appealed to as an expression of the juridical consciousness of the people at large or of the communities of which it is composed. The responsibility for the formulation and application of the folkright rested, in the 10th and 11th centuries, with the local shire moots (assemblies). The older laws of real property, succession, contracts, tariffs of fines were mainly regulated by folkright; the law had to be declared and applied by the people themselves in their communities.

Folkright could, however, be broken or modified by special enactment or grant, and the foundation of such privileges was royal power. In time the rights originating in the royal grants of privilege came to outweigh folkright in many respects and were the starting point for the feudal system.

Before the 10th century a man's actions were considered not as exertions of his individual will but as acts of his kinship group. Personal protection and revenge, oaths, marriage and succession were all regulated by the law of kinship. The preservation of peace was an important feature of Anglo-Saxon law. Peace was thought of as the rule of an authority within a specific region. Because the ultimate authority was the king, there was a gradual evolution of more and more stringent and complete rules in respect of the king's peace and its infringements.

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