Лекция: LAW AS A SYSTEM

Civil law is contrasted against common law. Civil law is the law inspired by old Roman law. It developed out of the Roman law of Justinian’s Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law), the main feature of which is that laws were written into a collection, codified; and not determined, as is common law by judges. The principle of civil law is to provide all citizens with an accessible and written collection of the laws which apply to them and which judges must follow.

Common law is a judge-made law developed by custom (historical legal precedents) over hundreds of years. Because it is not written by elected politicians but, rather, by judges, it is also referred as “unwritten” law. Judges seek these principles out when they try a case and apply the precedents to the facts to come up with a judgment.

Common law countries are the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the UK there is no constitution but there are Acts of Parliament. In the USA there is the Constitution of the USA. But precedent, or case is the main source of law.

Упражнение 7. Прочтите текст В, пользуясь словарем.

Упражнение 8. Выделите в тексте ключевые слова и словосочетания.

Упражнение 9. Ответьте на следующие вопросы.

1. What was civil law inspired by?

2. What is the main feature of a civil law?

3. What was common law inspired by?

4. What is the main feature of common law?

5. What countries are common law countries?

6. Is Russia a common law country?

Упражнение 10. Закончите следующие предложения.

1. Civil law is contrasted ….

2. Civil law was inspired….