Spheres of Law

Read the text and tell what information is new for you.

I. LEAD-IN

Write down the plan of the text in the form of questions. Ask your partner to answer them.

V. SPEAKING

2. Give some advice to your friend who is going to become a lawyer using the following plan:

1. choice of specialization

2. number of years of training

3. income expectations

4. responsibilities

5. kinds of clients

6. challenges and opportunities.

3. Being a lawyer is regarded as one of the best professions in many countries. Consider the areas of specialization, which you would choose, or have chosen, and why? Discuss your future career in pairs, giving reasons for your decisions. Use some of the following expressions:

Agreeing: Yes, you are quite/absolutely right.

Yes, I quite agree with you.

Well, I suppose you may/could be right.

Disagreeing: I’m not sure you’re right about…

I’m afraid I can’t agree with you.

I don’t really think…

e.g. A. I think I can become an investigator because I am very good at studying Criminal Code.

B. Yes, I quite agree with you. You could also become a notary.

A. I don’t really think I would choose this career because…

Unit 5 Law and Lawyers Section 2 Spheres of Law

1. Read and comment the quotation by famous people:

“No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it.”
Theodore Roosevelt

“Lawless are they that make their wills their law.”
William Shakespeare

“The law is reason, free from passion.”
Aristotle

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

1) contract law A профспілки

2) property law B делікт, цивільне правопорушення

3) real estate C договірне право

4) perpetrator D трудове право

5) employment law E право власності

6) trade unions F загальне право

7) common law G правопорушник, злочинець

8) tort H нерухоме майно

TEXT 2

Law is a system of rules and guidelines, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. The field of civil rights deals with the balance of governmental power and individual liberties. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets. Property law defines rights and obligations related to the transfer and title of personal and real property. Real estate law generally involves anything dealing with real property (land). These laws are designed to determine who owns land and the buildings on it, who has a right to possess and use land or buildings, the sale and purchase of real property, landlord and tenant issues, the development of real property, and compliance with local, state, or national regulations affecting the use of real property.

If the harm is criminalised in a statute, criminal law offers means by which the state can prosecute the perpetrator. So, it is a body of law that prohibits certain kinds of conduct and imposes sanctions for unlawful behaviour. Constitutional law provides a framework for the creation of law, the protection of human rights and the election of political representatives. Administrative law is used to review the decisions of government agencies, while international law governs affairs between sovereign states in activities ranging from trade to environmental regulation or military action. Employment law addresses the legal rights of workers and their employers. Issues might include disputes regarding wages, hours, child labor, workplace safety, discrimination based upon race, gender, age, and disabilities; and trade unions.

Legal systems elaborate rights and responsibilities in a variety of ways. A general distinction can be made between civil law jurisdictions, which codify their laws, and common law systems, where case law is not consolidated into the code. In some countries, religion informs the law. Law provides a rich source of scholarly inquiry, into legal history, philosophy, economic analysis or sociology. Law also raises important and complex issues concerning equality, fairness and justice.

All legal systems deal with the same basic issues, but each country categorises and identifies its legal subjects in different ways. A common distinction is that between "public law" (a term related closely to the state, and including constitutional, administrative and criminal law), and "private law" (which covers contract, tort and property). In civil law systems, contract and tort fall under a general law of obligations, while trusts law is dealt with under statutory regimes or international conventions. International, constitutional and administrative law, criminal law, contract, tort, property law and trusts are regarded as the "traditional core subjects", although there are many further disciplines.

Дата добавления: 2014-11-20