The nature of law

OXFORD

As well as belonging to Oxford University, every student also belongs to a college. This gives you the resources of a large university with the benefits of living in a small community. Colleges and the University have separate responsibilities, which collectively contribute to the experience of an Oxford education.

The Colleges

The thirty-six colleges are independent, self-contained and self-governing. There are also seven Permanent Private Halls, which were founded by different Christian denominations; some still retain a religious character, see p. 166. Twenty-eight colleges and all seven halls admit students for undergraduate degrees, some 10,400 in all in a student body of 14,600. They are described in more detail in the Colleges section. These also admit graduate students: six other colleges are for graduates only one, All Souls, Fellows only, and one, Rewley House, specializes in part-time and continuing education. Each college has a governing body consisting of its Fellows, the teaching staff of the college, who elect their own Head of House.

Colleges and halls select their own students, so you should address any questions you have about admissions to the Oxford Colleges Admissions Office, and not to the University. Colleges provide accommodation (for at least two years), meals, common rooms, libraries, sports and social facilities, and pastoral care. The college is much more than a hall of residence, however. It also provides teaching through the tutorial system which plays an essential role in all Oxford courses. Most colleges teach most courses, (the Courses section of this Prospectus gives details of any exceptions), so that you will have the opportunity to meet students and Fellows from many fields within the college community.

College Teaching - The Tutorial

A tutorial is a weekly meeting of one or two students with the tutor to whom they are assigned for their subject. Your principal tutor will also belong to your college: he or she will arrange teaching with other tutors, not necessarily in the same college, in specialized subjects. Most college tutors also hold University lecturerships and give lectures open to Members of all colleges.

In the tutorial, you present the result of a week's work, based on your reading of the various sources suggested by your tutor the week before. This might be in the form of a formal essay, or the solution to a problem. The tutorial is an opportunity for you to put forward your own ideas, and to develop them through discussion. The success of the tutorial method depends on active co-operation between yourself and your tutor: you must be ready to risk giving your own opinions, and also to accept frank criticism and advice. The object of the tutorial method is to develop the habit of independent thought, a quality essential to an academic career but also much sought after by employers.

The University

The University, in the narrower sense of the central institution, provides the curricular framework within which college teaching takes place, as well as a wide range of resources for teaching and learning in the form of libraries, laboratories, museums/computing facilities and so on.

The University determines the content of the courses, sets examinations, and awards degrees. Oxford's courses, whether they are in a single subject or a combination of subjects, are structured to develop an understanding of your chosen field over a period of three or four years. In the sciences, most have a broad-based first year with elements common to several related courses, allowing for some change of direction early on: however, it is not possible to put together an Oxford degree from distinct course modules, as at some other universities.

Working Through the Course

Each term the University, through the various faculties, organizes an extensive programme of lectures for students from all colleges. Your college tutor will advise you as to which lectures will be most appropriate for you to attend at the particular stage you have reached. Science students follow compulsory practical courses in the laboratory, organized by the University science departments.

The Oxford term lasts only eight weeks, which means that each is spent working intensively for tutorials and attending lectures and practical classes During vacations you will undertake the wider, more leisurely reading which is essential to all courses. But despite the intensive character of each term's work, students still find time to take full advantage of the opportunities the University offers for other activities -athletic, cultural or social.

Assessment and Examinations

Students on each course have to pass two examinations, known as the First and Second Public Examination. The first ('Prelims' or 'Mods') is usually taken during the first year (the exact time varies between subjects). The Second Public Examination ('Finals') which is classified and upon which your degree is awarded, follows at the end of your final year. It consists of a series of written papers taken over a couple of weeks; in some courses a short thesis or project, prepared during the final year, may be taken in addition or instead of one of the papers. Between examinations your tutor will monitor your progress through your work for weekly tutorials, but this assessment does not count towards your degree. Your tutor is therefore your ally in preparing for examinations, rather than your judge.

To get the most out of an Oxford course you need to enjoy working and thinking independently, exploring ideas and arguments as much as facts. Oxford's systems or ensuring the quality of its teaching, like those of all UK universities, are regularly audited by the Higher Education Quality Council. The first report on Oxford was published in 1993. Copies can be obtained from the HEQC, 344-354 Grays Inn Road. London.WC1X 8BP. The Higher Education Funding Council for England publishes regular reports on the quality of education in English universities and colleges including Oxford. A list of the subjects at Oxford on which reports are available can be obtained from schools, public libraries and careers offices, or from the Oxford Colleges Admissions Office. Copies of the reports can be obtained from the Admissions Office, or directly from the HEFCE, Northavon House. Coldharbour Lane. Bristol BS16 1QD.

THE NATURE OF LAW

Warming up:

1. Give the examples of customs, principles of morality and legal rules. What legal rules are formed out of the customs of the people?

2. Who creates laws? Who is responsible for fairly and just administration of law?

Vocabulary notes:

conduct	поведінка
companionship	товариство
order	порядок
compulsion	примус
obedience	слухняність
transgression	правопорушення
ethical precept	етичні принципи
conscience	совість
justice	правосуддя, справедливість
agreement	згода
behavior	поведінка
authorized body	адміністративний орган
to impose	накладати
to enforce	забезпечувати виконання, примушувати
to draw up	укладати
to ensure	гарантувати, забезпечувати
to comprise	складатися
to guide	регулювати, керувати
to approve of	схвалювати
to be vested in	бути уповноваженим
to lay down	покладати
to subject to smth.	підкорятися
to carry out	здійснювати
to mould the law	формувати
to attain justice	добиватися, досягати
to resolve disputes	розв’язувати суперечки
to facilitate	сприяти
to limit	обмежувати
to inhibit	забороняти, перешкоджати, стримувати
coercive	примусовий

The term “law” is used in many senses: we may speak of the laws of physics, mathematics, science, or the laws of football. When we speak of the law of a state we use the term “law” in a special and strict sense, and in that sense law may be defined as a rule of human conduct, imposed upon and enforced among, the members of a given state.

People are by nature social animals desiring the companionship of others, and in primitive times they tended to form tribes, groups, or societies, either for self-preservation or by reason of social instinct. If a group or society is to continue, some form of social order is necessary. Rules or laws are, therefore, drawn up to ensure that members of the society may live and work together in an orderly and peaceable manner. The larger the community (or group or state), the more complex and numerous will be the rules.

If the rules or laws are broken, compulsion is used to enforce obedience. We may say, then, that two ideas underline the concept of law: (a) order, in the sense of method or system; and (b) compulsion - i.e. the enforcement of obedience to the rules or laws laid down. When referring to “the law” we usually imply the whole of the law, however it may have been formed. As we shall see later, much of English law was formed out of the customs of the people. But a great part of the law has been created by legislation, i.e. the passing of laws. Common law and statutory law together comprise what is referred to as the “Law of England”.

People resort to various kinds of rules to guide their lives. Thus moral rules and ethics remind us that it is immoral or wrong to covet, to tell lies, or to engage in drunkenness in private. Society may well disapprove of the transgression of these moral or ethical precepts. The law, however, is not concerned with such matters and leaves them to the individual’s conscience or moral choice and the pressure of public opinion: no legal action results (unless a person tells lies under oath in a court, when he or she may be prosecuted for perjury). Thus there is a degree of overlap between moral and legal rules.

Law serves a variety of functions. Laws against crimes, for example, help to maintain a peaceful, orderly, relatively stable society. Courts contribute to social stability by resolving disputes in a civilized fashion. Property and contract laws facilitate business activities and private planning. Laws limiting the powers of government help to provide some degree of freedom that would not be otherwise possible. Law has also been as a mechanism for social change, for instance, at various times laws have been passed to inhibit social discrimination and to improve the quality of individual life in matters of health, education, and welfare.

We sometimes think of laws as being laid down by some authority such as a monarch, dictator, or group of people in whom special power is vested. In Britain we can point to legislation for examples of law laid down by a sovereign body, namely Parliament. The legal author John Austin (1790-1859) asserted that law was a command of a sovereign and that citizens were under a duty to obey that command. Other writers say that men and women in primitive societies formed rules themselves, i.e. that the rules or laws sprang from within the group itself. Only later were such rules laid down by a sovereign authority and imposed on the group or people subject to them.

Clearly, unless a law is enforced it loses its effectiveness as a law and those persons subject to it will regard it as dead. The chief characteristic of law is that it is enforced, such enforcement being today carried out by the State. Thus if A steals a wallet from В, itmay be prosecuted before the court and may be punished. The court may then order the restitution of the wallet to its rightful owner, B. The “force” used is known as a sanctionand it is this sanction which the State administers to secure obedience to its rules.

The law is a living thing and it changes through the course of history. Changes are brought about by various factors such as invasion, contact with other races, material prosperity, education, the advent of new machines or new ideas or new religions. Law responds to public opinion and changes accordingly. Formerly the judges themselves moulded and developed the law. Today an Act of Parliament may be passed to change it.

People desire justice in their personal, social and economic dealings. There is no universal agreement on the meaning of justice, and ideal or perfect justice is difficult to attain in this life. People strive for relative justice, not perfect justice; and good laws assist to that end. It is the business of citizens in a democracy to ensure that wise laws are passed and that they are fairly administered in the courts of law.

COMMENTARY Термін «law» в англійській мові у значенні «право» як наука, спеціальність чи система та їх області чи галузі, відноситься до необчислювальних іменників [U] і використовується без артикля чи з означеним артиклем: the study of law, commercial law; the law of nations, а в значенні «закон», «правило поведінки» чи «процедура» термін «law» відноситься до обчислюваних іменників [С] і використовується в однині та в множині: а Bill becomes a law; the laws of a game и т.д.

Task 1. Read the text carefully & decide if the following statements are true or false. Add some other information.

1. When we speak of the law of a state we may speak of the laws of physics, mathematics, science, or the laws of football.

2. As the law of the state law may be defined as a rule of human conduct, imposed upon and enforced among, the members of a given state.

3. Rules or laws are drawn up to ensure that members of the society may live and work together in an orderly and peaceable manner.

4. If the rules or laws are broken no compulsion is used to enforce obedience.

5. A great part of the law has been created by the customs of the people

6. Laws were being laid down by some authority such as a monarch, dictator, or group of people in whom special power is vested.

7. Unless a law is enforced it doesn’t lose its effectiveness

8. Formerly the judges themselves moulded and developed the law.

9. It is the business of authorities in a democracy to ensure that wise laws are passed.

Task 2. Give the Ukrainian equivalents for the following words & expressions:

conduct, obedience, transgression, ethical precepts, to be under a duty, to develop the law, facilitate business activities, to mould the law, the individual’s conscience, compulsion, statutory law, to attain justice, to draw up the law, economic dealings, to provide freedom, pressure of public opinion, a degree of overlap, social change, to secure obedience, to administer the law, to carry out enforcement of law, to impose rules, to lay down laws.

Task 3. Give the English equivalents for the following words & expressions:

правила людської поведінки, не схвалювати правопорушення, розглядати судові справи, утворений зі звичаїв, товариство інших, підтримувати порядок, частковий збіг між нормами моралі та юридичними законами, забезпечувати слухняність, етичні принципи, суспільний правопорядок, забезпечувати дотримання закону, забороняти соціальну дискримінацію, укладати закони, член суспільства.

Task 4.Find in the text words that go with the following noun:

1___________	1__________
2____________	2__________
3____________	3__________
4 ___________ law	4__________ justice
5____________	5___________
6____________	6___________

Task 5. Match the following words & expressions with their Ukrainian equivalents.

I.

1. to enforce obedience 2. the companionship of others 3. rule of human conduct 4. social order   5. disapprove of the transgression   6. formed out of the customs 7. ethical precepts   8. overlap between moral and legal rules 9. to maintain order 10. to decide lawsuits	1. етичні принципи 2. суспільний правопорядок 3. підтримувати порядок 4. правила людської поведінки 5. частковий збіг між нормами моралі та юридичними законами 6. розглядати судові справи 7. забезпечувати слухняність 8. утворений зі звичаїв 9. товариство інших 10. не схвалювати правопорушення
II. 1. to enforce the law 2. to resolve disputes   3. to pass a law   4. to promote human dignity 5. to secure obedience   6. to find in legislation 7. to inhibit social discrimination   8. to facilitate business activities   9. to maintain orderly stable society	1. гарантувати слухняність 2. підтримувати людську гідність 3. запроваджувати закон (забезпечувати дотримання закону) 4. сприяти підприємницькій діяльності 5. забороняти соціальну дискримінацію 6. вирішувати суперечки 7. підтримувати упоряджене суспільство 8. закріплювати у законах 9. приймати закони

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