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PARTICIPANTS IN ATRIAL

The Parliament in Great Britain has the role of making the laws, which are interpreted by the law courts or the courts of justice. The British legal profession includes two members: the solicitor and the barrister.

The solicitor is consulted if a person needs the assistance of a law for a certain problem, like: a divorce, a fight with the neighbours, setting of a business, to make a will or to sell a property. The barrister is consulted if a person has a more serious and difficult problem, which need to be judged in a civil or criminal court of law. This will represent him in the court and will plead for his case. The barrister will take part in the trial as part of the Council for the Prosecution, as council for the plaintiff, or of the Council for the defence, as council for the defendant.

The main role in a trial is held by the judge, who is in charge of the following responsibilities: to conduct the proceedings, to point out the matters which have to be clarified, to ask questions to the parties and witnessesl to examine the documents and the evidence, to present the summary of the case to the jury, to interpret the laws and to pass the sentence. The jury is formed by twelve persons, called jurors, aged between 21 and 60 years old. The jury is always present in a criminal court and sometimes in a civil court and has the role of unanimously giving the verdict "Guilty" or "Not guilty" (if the jury can't reach an agreement, then a new jury has to rejudge the case).

In a criminal case, according to the English law, a person is considered innocent and is not accused of robbery or murder until his guilt is proved. For this, the two parties usually bring witnesses, who are called into the court by the barristers, in a witness box, where they are asked to swear on oath and then say what they saw, not what they heard from other persons.

The court system in the us is formed by the us Supreme Court and over eighteen thousand other American smaller courts, like the Trial courts, the Appellate courts and the District courts. Each state has a specific court system.

The lowest level of the court system is represented by the Trial courts, or lithe courts of first instance", possessing original jurisdictionl which is the power of being the first court to hear a case. The role of these courts is to take evidence, listen to witnesses and decide what is true and what is not, handling both with civil and criminal matters. The decisions in this court are made by a judge or by a jury, made up of citizens selected from the community. Most of the parties involved in a civil litigation demand a judge and not a jury to take part in a trial, because the decision is reached faster by the judge.

The Appellate courts are charged with the responsibility of reconsidering the decisions made by a Trial court, if the defendant requests it. It makes a review to ensure that there is no error in the interpretation of a law, by using only judges and not jury.

The District courts deal both with criminal and civil matters, the so called diversity cases, like suits between parties from different states, when the amount in controversy is over $50,000, the approval of passports, the solving of the federal prisoners' cases and the naturalization of the immigrants.

According to the American law, rooted in the Bill of Rights, the rights of persons accused of crimes are meant to protect the individual from the arbitrary use of police power. An accused person has the right to representation by a lawyer, who is compulsory provided by the state to those unable to afford one.

BASIC VOCABULARY

law = 1. body of enacted or customary rules recognized by a community as binding; 2. one of these rules; 3. their controlling influence, jurisprudence; law as a system (court of low) or science (to read law); 4. one of the branches of the study of law, the lows concerning specified deportment (commercial law)

member = 1. person belonging to a society; 2. MP (one formerly elected to toke part in proceedings), member of Parliament;

legal = 1. required or appointed by law; 2. based on, occupied with law barrister = is called to Bar and has the right to participate as advocate in superior courtssolicitor = member of the legal profession, competent to advise clients, instruct and

prepare causes for barristers, but not to appear as advocate except in certain lower courtsdispute = controversy, debate, difference of opinionwill = the declaration of a person's wishes regarding the disposal of his property after his

deathto set up a business = to start a businessto sue somebody = to bring somebody to court; to bring/enter an action against somebodyto plead = to address court as advocate on behalf of either partyto plead (not) guilty = to deny, confess liability or guilt liabilityto represent somebody = to act as embodiment for, to stand for, to be entitled to speak for

somebodyplaintiff = party who brings suit into court of law defendant = person sued in law-suitjudge = public officer appointed to hear and try causes in courts of justiceto preside = to exercise controlevidence = information, statement, proof (given personally or drawn from documents)

admissible as testimony in court to establish the factsto rule = to give judicial or authoritative decision; to keep under controljury = body of twelve persons who try final issues of fact in criminal or civil cases and

pronounce the verdictto make the summing-up = to make the review of evidence or argument (especially of

judge after both sides have been heard)to summon = to demand the presence of, to call upon, to appearto return a verdict = to communicate a verdictwitness = person whose existence, position, state, serves as testimony or proof and who

gives sworn testimony in low court to swear something on an oath = to state something by a solemn appeal to Godto hear = to listen judicially to hearsay = what one hears, but does not know to be true to pass a sentence = to give a sentence to agree on a verdict = to pronounce a verdict to reach agreement = to have on accordance in opinion

SYNONYMSdispute = controversy, debateto set up = to startto plead guilty = to confess guiltto plead not guilty = to deny guiltcounsellor = adviserto iudge = to tryproceeding = piece of conduct

eye-witness = bystandercase = couse, suitwitness-box = dock

ANTONYMSlegal - illegalplaintiff - defendantdefence - prosecutionstraightforward – indirect

1. Answer the questions:

1. When will a person consult a solicitor?2. When does a person appeal to the services of a barrister?3. Who are the participants in a criminal court?4. Who may a barrister represent in a court?5. Who presides over a court in England?6. What does a jury consist of ?7. What are the duties of a jury?8. How long is the accused person supposed innocent?9. What is the role of a witness?10. Where is the evidence given?11. What is "hearsay" evidence?12. Is "hearsay" evidence token into consideration in English law courts?13. Who posses the sentence on the accused?14. What is the role of the Bill of Rights in the US law (ourt?15. What kind of rights does it refer to?16. What is the structure of the court system in the US?17. What is the role of the Trial courts?18. What is the meaning of the "original jurisdiction"?19. Who takes decisions in a trial court?20. What is the role of an Appellate court?21. Why does an Appellate court not use a jury?22. What kind of matters do the District courts deal with?

2. Fill in the blanks with the missing words:

a) Civil cases are brought by a plaintiff against a ......... .b) The ......... consists of twelve people selected at random from the lists.c) First the council for the ......... presents the case.d) ......... plead his case in court.e) Under English low, a person is considered innocent until his ......... is proved.f) According to the court system in the US, each state has a ......... court system.g) The decisions in Trial court are made by a ......... or by a ......... .h) The Appellate courts ......... the decisions made by a Trial court.i) The District courts deal both with ......... and ......... matters.

3. Which of the following sentences are true and which are false? Correct the false ones:

a) Civil cases are brought by a plaintiff against a defendant and the lawyers, who act for each side, will hire solicitors 10 plead the case in court.

b) A jury consists of twenty people selected according to a special procedure.c) The judge may intervene at any point and ask questions to clarify matters.d) It is the judge's duty to conduct the proceedings, interpret the laws and give the verdict

of "Guilty" or "Not Guilty". e) The witness must not swear on oath on giving evidence before the jury. f) The decisions in a Trial court in America are always made by a judge and by a jury.g) The role of the Appellate courts is to take evidence, listen to witnesses and review the

written records of the lower courts.h) The Trial courts form the lowest level of the court system in the US.i) The Bill of Rights protects the individuals from the wrong use of police power.

4. Here are some expressions connected with a law court trial. Put them in the right order:

a) to bring somebody to court b) to accuse somebody of something c) to return a verdict d) to give evidence e) to pass a sentence f) to arrest on a charge of g) to plead guilty h) to commit a crime i) to prosecute j) to win a case k) to release on bail

5. What do you call a person who:

a) pleads a case in court b) undertakes legal business for ordinary people c) gives evidence in trial d) is summoned to court to give a verdict in a case e) presides over a magistrates' court f) is brought to the court on the initiatives of the parties

MAGNA CARTAAn island on the Thames between Staines and Windsor had been chosen as the place of

conference: the King encamped on one bank, while the barons covered the marshy flat, still known by the name of Runnymede, on the other. Their delegates met on the island between them, but the negotiations were a mere cloak to cover John's purpose of unconditioned submission. The Great charter was discussed, agreed to and signed in a single day (1215, June 16).

One copy of it still remains in the British Museum, injured by age and fire, but with the royal seal still hanging on the brown, shrivelled parchment. It is impossible to gaze without reference on the earliest monument of English freedom which we can see with our own eyes and touch with our own hands, the Great Charter to which from age to age patriots have looked back as the basis of English liberty. But in itself the Charter was no novelty, nor did it to

establish any new constitutional principles. The character of Henry the First formed the basis of the whole and the additions to it are for the most part formal recogni· tion of the judicial and administrative changes introduced by Henry the Second. But the vague expressions of the other characters were now changed for precise and elaborate provisions. The bounds of unwritten custom, which the older grants did little more then recognise, had proved too weak to hold the Angevins; and the baronage now threw them aside for the restraints of written law.

It is in this way that the Great Charter marks the transition from the age of traditional rights, preserved in the nation's memory and officially declared by the Primate, to the age of written legislation, of parliaments and statues, which was soon to come. The church had shown its power of self-defence in the struggle over the interdict, and the clause that recognised its rights alone retained the older and general form. But all vagueness ceases when the Charter passes on to deal with the rights of Englishmen at large, their right to justice, to security of person, to good government. "No freeman", run the memorable article that lies at the base of the whole judicial English system, "shall be siezed or imprisoned, or dispossessed, or outlawed, or in any way brought to ruin: we will not go against any man nor send against him, save by legal judgement of his peers or by the law of the land". "To no man will we sell", runs other, or "delay, right or justice".

Adapted from "A Short History of the English People", by J.R. Green

SOLICITORS AND BARRISTERS

The legal profession in England and Wales is divided into solicitors and barristers. The duty of the solicitor is to give advice and to lead the business of the client. He will also have a barrister to care of a specific matter of the client's business. The solicitors have the right to a brief council, who will be called in if the situation requires, in order to give specialist advice, to draft documents or to act as advocates in the higher courts. He is the one who will entitle the barrister to act as an advocate in the higher courts.

The solicitors have been usually considered the junior part of the legal profession, but have increasingly become the dominant part of it. They are only admitted for practice if they complete three stages of training: the academic stage, the vocational stage and the apprenticeship. The academic stage of training is satisfied by the completion of a qualifying law degree containing the six core subjects or by passing the Common Professional Examination. The six core subjects are Constitutional and Administrative Law, Contract, Tort, Criminal Law, Land Law and Equity and Trust. The last stage consists of a two years apprenticeship to an established solicitor and can be regarded as the clinical stage of training. In this stage, they learn various skills that are necessary for a solicitor, like managing an office, interviewing clients, writing letters, instructing counsel and handling money. Once admitted, the solicitor is required to maintain a practising certificate, for which a substantial annual fee is charged.

The governing bodies of the barristers are more complex then those of solicitors. First of alt in order to become a barrister, it is necessary to become a member of one of the Inns of Court, like the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn or Gray's Inn. Though admission to the Bar is still largely the domain of the individual Inns, the formal education of a trainee barrister is centralised through the Inns of Court School of Law. Another governing body for barristers is the Bar Council, which is the barristers' elected representative body.

Like in the case of solicitors, the training of barristers is divided into three stages: academic, vocational and apprenticeship. The requirements of the academic stage are the same with those of the solicitors. Barristers work in offices, in groups of between twelve and twenty sharing services notably of a derk, but also secretarial and other services. Each chamber is required to have at least one clerk, who performs the functions of office administrator and accountant, business manager and agent. After around ten to fifteen years in practice, a successful barrister can consider applying for promotion to Queen's Counsel known as "silk" from the material of which the Queen's Counsel formal gown is made.

The distinction between the two branches of the legal profession is an artificial one. In fact, there are no tasks exclusive to one branch. Solicitors regularly appear as advocates in the law courts and sometimes in Crown Courts, which are geographically remote from barristers' chambers. Equally, there are many barristers who very seldom appear in the court, spending their time on written opinions on the law. Over the years, there has been debate on the fusion of the two branches of the profession.

BASIC VOCABULARYfusion = the result of fusing; a coalition of ideas, conceptsl bronches, parties etc.advice = an opinion or recommendation offered as guide to action, conduct etc.to draft = to draw the outlines or plan of; to sketch; to drow up in written form, to

composecircumstance = a condition, detail, part or attribute, with respect to time, place, manner,

agent etc. which accompanies, determines, or modifies a fact or event; a modifying or influencing factor

senior = more advanced in age or older in standingl superior in age or standing to, of higher or highest degree

to carry out = to put (principles, instruction) in practicetask = piece of work imposedto handle = to manage (thing, person)(to) brief = 1. summary of facts and law points of a case drawn up for counsel; 2. to

instruct (barrister, solicitor) by brief, employ completion = the act of completing; fulfilmentapprenticeship = working for another in order to learn a trade, for instruction, trainingvocational stage = educational training that provides a student with practical experience

in a particular occupational fieldInns of court = a legal society occupying such a buildingsole = belonging or pertaining to one individual or group to the exclusion of all others;

exclusivepractitioner 1. one engaged in the practice of a profession, occupation; 2. one who

practices something specifiedclinical = extremely objective and realisticequity = 1. the application of the dictates of conscience or the principles of natural justice

to the settlement of controversies; 2. a system of jurisprudence or a body of doctrines and rules developed in England and followed in the United States, serving as supplement and remedy the limitations and the inflexibility of the common law

trust = a fiduciary relationship in which one person (the trustee) holds the title to property (the trust estate or trust property) for the benefit of the other (the beneficiary)

gown = official or uniform robe of various shapes worn by judge, lawyer, clergyman, college

tort = a wrongful act, not including a breach of contract or trust, which results in injury to another's person, property, reputation, or the like, and for which the injured party is entitled to compensation

SYNONYMSto divide = to separate occasion = opportunity to maintain = to keep up artificial = synthetic to spend =to disburseadvice = guidance

ANTONYMSincreasingly - decreasingly satisfied - unsatisfied subjective - objective to maintain - to discontinue simple - complex artificial - genuine to spend - to earn


1. What are the solicitors dealing with?2. Is there any difference between solicitors and barristers?

3. Which is the historical recognition regarding the two branches of the legal profession?4. Which is the final stage in the solicitor's education?5. Name some barrister's governing bodies.6. Which are the stages the solicitors and the barristers are supposed to pass through?7. What do the barristers deal with?8. When can a barrister consider applying for promotion to Queen's Counsel?9. Can the two legal professions interfere within each other?10. Which are the motives that can lead to a fusion of the branches of the legal

profession?

2. What part does each of the following take in a trial?

a) The judgeb) The solicitorc) The barrister

3. Which of the following statements are true and which are false? Correct the false ones.

a) The barrister gives advice and has the conduct of the business of the client from day to day.

b) The solicitor has the conduct of the business and he will retain another solicitor to carry out a specific task in handling the client's business.

c) Barristers are increasingly becoming the dominant branch of the profession.d) There are eight core subjects for the final stage of training of the solicitors.e) In order to become a solicitor it is necessary to become a member of the Inn's Court.f) After around ten years in practice, successful barristers can consider applying for

promotion the Oueen's Counsel.


a) The ........ , is currently alone entitled fo act as advocate in the low higher courts.b) The six core subjects are…………….....and ….c) Once admitted, the …………. is required to maintain a practising certificate.d) The ……….. of the academic stages are common to both branches of the profession.e) ………………….. are all sole proctitioners.f) ……….......... regularly appear as advocates in the low courts.

THE ROLE OF JUDGE AND JURY

There is a very subtle difference between the iudge and the iury: the judge deals with questions of law, while the jury deals with questions of fad. The difference between the questions of law and the questions of Fad is also a very subtle one. An example of a question of fact is the issue whether the defendant was at a particular place at a particular time. This issue is called by lawyers a question of primary fact. On the other hand, in a criminal trial, where the intention is relevant, a question of fact will require an evaluation of all the surrounding circumstances in coming to a conclusion about the defendant's state of mind. For example, in a shop lifting (the offence of theftL if the defendant was in a state of confusion resulted from the side effects of medication and he had no intention to steal goods, the jury would be called upon to elucidate these facts. This is no longer conclusive in the complex cases of fraud or deception, where these issues are more important than the primary facts. Moreover, the judge will have to deal with a question of law when defining the constituent elements of the offence of theft.

The role of the iudge in a court of law is a passive one. He has the role of the arbiter of the law, who controls the trial and directs the jury. The length of a trial may vary from a few hours to a month or more; the average length of a contested case is just under nine hours, which is about two days of court time. If there are points of law involving admissibility of evidence which are easy to decide upon without too much argue, the judge may exclude the jury. Otherwise, the jury will listen to and will form opinions about the veracity of witnesses. In this case, the judge will direct the iury to reach a verdict of guilt or innocence. The iudge will be required to direct the jury to give a verdict of "not guilty" if a conviction cannot, as a matter of law, be sustained in a case, during a trial. The judge cannot ignore such a direction, the resulting verdict being called a direct acquittal. The judge will also sum up the case for the jury, before it retires to consider a verdict. In the summing up, the judge will summarize the case, explain the legal issues in contention, comment on factors that lend weight to or cast doubt on certain evidence, from an independent and impartial standpoint. If the jury ignores the judge's explanation of the law when drawing a conclusion or if the jury returns a verdict suspect of coming against the weight of evidence, the verdict will be called perverse.

The jury is considered the arbiter of the fact, who deals with all the issues of fact, who deals with all the issues of fact. The jurors will secretly deliberate about whom they believe and disbelieve. They must form a collective viewpoint about the case, as close to reality as possible, resulted from the evidence beFore them. After determining whether the defendant's actions constitute the offence charged, the jury retires and is not allowed to interfere until a decision is reached. If the jurors cannot agree and if every effort of coming to a conclusion fails, a new jury will be called and the case will be retried. The old discharged jury is called a "hung" jury.

At first, the decision of the jury in a trial court had to be unanimous, although it was usually requiring a new trial of the same case. This problem was solved in 1967, when The Criminal Justice Act was adopted. It introduced the principle of majority in the decision reached by the jury. Nowadays, it is possible to acquit a convict if ten jurors agree on a verdict, even if the jury consists of eleven or twelve jurors, or if nine agree when the jury consists of ten jurors. If a member of a twelve parties jury dies during the course of a trial, the trial will go on, even if the decision will have to be reached by eleven jurors. It will stop if the number of jurors decreases below ten.

Usually, the decision of the jury cannot be changed by an appeal. The Court of Appeal will not reopen a case or reconsider the decision made by the jury, unless there had been a mistake in the use of the right procedure. If this happens, it means that the judge will fail to conduct the trial correctly and the case is retried by the Court of Appeal.

BASIC VOCABULARY

issue = a point in question or a matter that is in dispute as between contending parties in an action of law

to require = to call upon or oblige (a person) authoritatively; order or command; to demand someone to account for his actions

evaluation = determining or setting the value or amount of shoplifting = stealing goods from the shelves or displaying of a retail store while posing

as a customerside-effect = any effect of a drug, chemical or other medicine that is in addition to its

intended effect, especially an effect that is harmful or unpleasantfraud = 1. deceit, trickery, sharp practice or breach of confidence, used to gain some

unfair or dishonest advantage; 2. a particular instance of such deceit or trickerydeception = something that deceives or is intended to deceive; fraud; subterfuge; trickeryto contest = to call a witness (in a lawsuit); to testifyadmissibility = capability of being admittedveracity = conformity to truth or fact; accuracy to empanel = 1. to enter on a panel or list for jury duty; 2. to select (a jury) from the panel(to) convict = 1. to prove or declare guilty of an offence, especially after a legal trial; 2. a

person serving a prison sentencestandpoint = the mental position, attitude, from which one viewsn and judges thingscontention = struggle between opponents; dispute; controversyperverse = wilfully determined or disposed to go counter to what is expected or desired;

contraryto mitigate = to make less severeconfines = a boundary; border; frontierto acquit = to declare innocent; settle (a debt); behave oneselfaquittal = declaration of innocence in court

SYNONYMSto require = to demandshoplifting = theft fraud = deception to contest = to testify veracity = honesty contention =controversy

ANTONYMSto require – to forgo veracity - dishonesty partial - impartial contention - disagreement to believe - to disbelieve


1. What does the judge deal with?2. What do the jurors deal with?3. Give an example of a question of fact.4. Name a question of low.5. What are the relations between the judge and the jury?6. What happens when the jury cannot agree on the verdict?

7. How many jurors are needed to obtain an accepted verdict?8. When is the trial considered a failure by the trial judge?

2. Which of the following statements are true and which are false? Correct the false ones.

a) The judge deals with questions of fact and the jury deals with questions of law. b) The judge is the arbiter of the law. c) The judge cannot ever exclude the jury. d) The judge is required to direct the jury to return a verdict of "nof guilty" if during a

trial a conviction cannot be sustained in a case. e) Once the jury is refired, the judge delivers the sentence. f) Acquittal by a jury is sacred. The Courf of Appeal can reopen or reconsider the jury's

decision.


a) When the defendant committed a public offence under the effects of medication, the jury will be called upon to ......... the facts.

b) At all stages, the role of the…...........is passive.c) The ……........... has the last word before the ………......retires to consider a verdict

when he sums up the case for the jury.d) The verdict is called …..........when the jury ignores the judge's explanation of the law.e) ......... must debate in secret their deliberations about whom they believe and disbelieve.


a) Deals with questions of law b) Deals with questions of fad c) Is the arbiter of the law d) Is the arbiter of the foct

SELECTION OF THE JURYThe principle underlying the selection of the English jury is that of randomness. The

theory is that a jury chosen at random will be representative of the community. Any prejudices held by particular members of the jury are likely to be counteracted by the good sense of the other members of the jury. In marked contrast, the principle underlying the selection of the jury in the United States is that of securing a "neutral" jury which will try the case dispassionately according to the evidence. Potential jurors are subjected to detailed questioning either by the councilor by the judge to reveal any prejudices and to confirm neutrality.

The basic qualification for the jury service in England and Wales is the simple age and residence qualification. All persons aged between 18 and 70 registered as Parliamentary or local government electors who have been resident in the United Kingdom for at least five years since attaining the age of 13 are eligible for jury service. The advent of computerised databases means that today jury panels are selected genuinely at random from electoral lists using random selection computer programmes. Persons with certain criminal convictions are disqualified either for life or for ten years depending on the seriousness of the offence.

There is a group in the population who have a right to be excused if summoned; for them, service as jurors is optional. These include those over 65, members and officers of Parliament, the military and the medical profession, including veterinary practitioners. There are two

general grounds on which a juror has a right to claim to be excused of jury service: when the juror has attended court for jury service within the previous two years or when the juror has been excused jury service for a longer period which has not expired (to those who have served in long and complex trials). A juror who shows, or about whom it becomes apparent that he or she cannot efficiently be elected as a juror because of a physical disability or insufficient understanding of English, must be discharged.

From "The Administration of Justice", by Robin C. White

JUSTICE ON ANCIENT ROMANIAN LAND

The legislation of the Geto-Dacian stateBesides the unwritten law, expressed in the Geto-Dacian State, there was a law system.

Strabon, a Greek geographer and historian, as well as lordanes, a historian of the Goths, at the court of the Ostrogoths' kings, in Italy, stated that Geto-Dacians' laws were adopted during the ruling of Burebista, who sustained that the laws he imposed were inspired by gods.

The laws were transmitted from generation to generation, in written form and they have been kept untillordanes' times (the 6-th century O.E.). By the agency of these laws there have been introduced new standards -commandments of the king who resorted to the authority of religion in order to be taken into account by his people. There was the need of maintaining the fear of gods in order to be sure of the observance of the

Legal institutionsAt the same time with the extension of the slave-owning system, the difFerences of

wealth strengthened the great private extems property. In Dacia there were great landholders that used the labour of the slaves. Besides the private property, there existed the collective property of the territorial community.

Through the agency of information, recorded by Horatio, we know that the Geto-Dacians were great tillers.

Regarding the organization of the family, there are a lot of information recorded by Herodot, Ovid and Horatio. There was monogamy and the future husband had to bought his bride from her parents. On the other hand, the future wife had to bring to her new house a dowry consisting in money or goods.

Ovid affirmed that woman was on an inferior level compared to that of man. She worked hard and she was sentenced to death if she had committed adultery.

There is no recorded information about the existence of any standards regarding obligations and commercial contracts, but scientists consider that they existed (the argument was the intensification of trade and the large use of coin).

In the field of criminal law, the main disposals considered the defence of the state and of the private property. Generally speaking, the state was charged with the justice, but they still applied the system of the blood revenge.

The Dacian State was concerned with the organization of the legal system. The king Comosycus -as lordanes recorded -took care of the organization of the trial and the trial itself, but he was at the same time the great priest. Some historical texts certify the use of the judiciary combat in order to solve different litigation. As for the diplomatic activity of the Dacians, they used norms of international law, the priests using a certain ritual at the conclusion of the treaties.

BASIC VOCABULARYcustom = usual practice; (law) established usage having the force of a law generation = 1. whole body of persons born about the same lime; 2: procreation,

propagation of species, begetting or being begotten; 3. production by natural or artificial process; 4. overage time in which children are ready fo replace parents (reckoned at 30 years, as a time measure)

agency = active operation, action; instrumentality slave = person who is legol property of another and is bound to absolute obedienceat the same time = concurrentlywealth = welfare, prosperity, riches, large possessions, opulence, abundance collective = of, from, many individuals, common, by all, for the benefit of allprivate = individual, personal, not affecting the community

community = 1. joint ownership, fellowship; 2. body of people living in the same locality; 3. body of people having religion, profession in common

to strengthen = to become stronger, to make stronger tiller = ploughman, farmer, cultivator monogamy = practice, circumstance of being married to one at a time information = 1. informing, telling; 2. thing told, items of knowledge, news; 3.(low)

charge, complaint, lodged with court or magistrate (against) dowry = 1. property or money brought by wife to husband; 2. endowment, marriage

portion; 3. gift of nature, talent adultery = voluntary sexual intercourse of married person with one of the opposite sex,

other than his or her spousetrade = 1. exchange of commodities for money or other commodities, commerce; 2.

exportation or importation of goods from or to home countries, or exchange of commodities of different countries

to revenge = to satisfy oneselt to be satisfied with retaliation (for offence, upon, on the offender); to take vengeance

ritual = 1. prescribed order or performing religious service; 2. performance of religious acts

SYNONYMSconcurrently = simultaneouslywealth = fortuneto strengthen = to accentuatedisposal = disposition, measure; stipulationto attest = to certifycombat = duelconclusion = settlement

ANTONYMSwritten - unwritten difference - resemblance monogamy - polygamy private - collective equality - inequality


1.What did Strabon and lordanes say about the Geto-Dacians; laws?2.What was property in Dacia like?3.What is the information recorded by Horatio regarding the Geto-Dacians?4.What do we know about the family organization at that time?5.What do we know about the criminal law?6.Who was in charge with the organization and the trials?7.Did the Geto-Dacians use any norms of international law?

2. Translate into English:

a ) În epoca sclavagistă exista o accentuată inegalitate intre femei şi bărbaţi.b) Respectarea legilor statului asigura libertatea indivizilor.

c) Dezinformarea completului de judecată atrage după sine penalizarea celui in cauză.d) Unii oameni cred că au numai drepturi în societate.e) În ţara noastră nu este acceptată bigamia.f) Fiind adaptabil, omul a reuşit să reziste transformărilor naturale de-a lungul timpului.

3. Some of the following sentences are true and some are false. Correct the false ones:

1) Iordanes was a Greek historian and geographer. b) Burebista used the fear of gods in order fo impose the obedience of the law. e) In Dacia there were slaves who worked on the private properties as well as on the

collective ones.d) Dacians were polygamous. e) Geto-Dacians used the coin and made trade. f) They still applied the blood revenge.

4. Explain the following terms:

generationcommunityadulterytrade

6. Use the antonyms of the following words in sentences of your own:

resemblanceanycollectiveto strengthenpolygamy

BILL OF RIGHTS. COMMON LAWSThe first three amendments to the Constitution of the United States are generally referred

to as the National Bill of Rights. At the time Constitution was submitted to the people in 1787, there was much criticism of the document due to the fact that it did not contain a Bill of Rights. The explanation of this goes bock to the original English common low idea of government. According to this, individual rights exist themselves as inborn and inalienable. The Constitution and government are merely an added protection to those rights people already possess. This idea is today underlined by the government of Great Britain and the United States, by those of the self-governing British Commonwealth.

In contrast to this, the doctrine and belief that were and still are prevalent in other countries should be mentioned, such as the states of the Continental Europe, which are under what might be termed a prerogative type of government. Even the most free of these countries in their written constitutions make statements of individual rights that are based on the underlying thought that these rights are the gift of the state. Thus, we find the Constitution of Switzerland (Article 55): "The freedom of the press is guaranteed. However, the lows of the cantons shall enact the necessary provisions to avoid abuse; these provisions should be submitted to the approval of the Federal Counsel. The Confederation may also fix penalties in order to prevent abuses directed against itself or its authorities."

This provision is characteristic to the most enlightened European democracies and is in direct contrast to the British and American common-law idea of protection for already existing, inalienable rights.

Common-law, originally custom and usage, become the law 'common' to all the people of England by judicial enforcement. Thus it originated in England, but has come to consist in great part in the principles which have been declared and developed in the decisions of the courts when adducting upon the private law in the countries of Anglo-Saxon origin. It is usually not incorporated in the Constitution or written statutes of a country, but is the term generally used to describe that system of fundamental law, which is in force among the English-speaking peoples as contrasted, with Roman law and derivative systems based on an enacted code. The early settlers of the United States claimed and were in fact supposed, to have brought with them in America their inherent common-low rights of person and property. It is the English common-law, which thus is recognized throughout the United States as the common-law of the country and is the fundamental basis of the institutions of Government.

Primarily the Governments of each of the states and territories enforce the common-law. The Code Napoleon and its development in the State of Louisiana due to the original French settlement there have inAuenced it to some extent. It is, of course, subject to repeal or amendment by statute, but primarily the common-law has been developed and extended by the state and Federal Courts, past and present.

In those states where the common-law has been codified, these codes consist in large part of a restatement of the common-law doctrines and their later development up to the time of codification. In addition, the common-law rights of the individual, as generally accepted, have been stated to a greater or lesser extent at various times in American history. Among these statements is that in the Declaration of Independence, which says that all men "are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Also, the Bill of Rights or the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the various states constitutions are in whole or in large part made up of statements, common-law rights, which are inborn, inherent and inalienable and not granted by any Government, according to Anglo-Saxon and American theory. Thus, the American Governments, national or state, are merely added protection to the common-law rights, which the citizens already possess.

Adapted from "Concise Dictionary of American History"

CIVIL PROCEEDINGS

Understanding the English legal system must start with the distinction between civil and criminal proceedings. Civil and criminal proceedings require different courts and procedures, although some judges sit in both civil and criminal courts. The distinction between civil and criminal proceedings consists mainly in the legal consequences that follow a particular act.

The role of the civil law and civil proceedings is to determine the rights and obligations of individuals themselves, as well as in their relations with the others. Such civil acts could be: the determination of rights arising under a contract, the rights regarding property and succession, the obligations of paying damages for torts, like negligence, nuisance or defamation, questions of status, such as divorce, adoption and the custody of children. These rights belong to the area of private law, as they are of private nature; but there are also rights that belong to the public law, like questions of taxation, or questions of planning and compulsory purchase, which are of public nature.

In a civil proceeding, the person who begins the proceeding is the plaintiff and he sues or brings an action against a defendant. The plaintiff will be seeking a remedy, usually in the form of damages (money compensation), but possibly also in the form of an injunction (an order prohibiting the defendant from committing or continuing to commit a wrongful act). Most civil proceedings are heard by a judge sitting alone; in defamation cases, which are very rarel the judge will be helped by a jury in civil proceedings. The judge delivers a judgement after hearing the action. The terminology is not the same in all the civil proceedings. For instance, in divorce proceedings, the petitioner, who asks for the marriage to be dissolved, partitions for a decree against the respondent. If it is certain that the marriage has broken down irretrievably because of the respondent's adultery, the person with whom the respondent is alleged to have committed adultery must usually join the proceedings. This party is called co-respondent.

In civil proceedings, the plaintiff usually must prove the facts on which the claim is based. This means that the plaintiff has the burden of proof, which in the civil cases is said to be on the balance of probabilities. In other words, the plaintiff must satisfy the judge through admissible evidence, which is more reliable than his statements which he pretends to be true.

BASIC VOCABULARY. IDIOMSprocedure = 1. act or manner of proceeding in any action or process; conduct; 2. a

particular course or mode of action; 3. mode of conducting legal parliamentary, or other business, especially litigation and judicial proceedings

obligation = 1. an argument enforceable by law, originally applied to promises under seal; 2. a document containing such an agreement; 3. a bond containing a penolty with a condition annexed for payment of money, performance of covenance etc.; 4. any bond, note, bilt certificate, or the like, as of a government or a corporation, serving os evidence of indebtedness; 5. something by which a person is bound to do certaih things, and which arises out of a sense of duty or results from custom, low etc.;

succession = the descent or transmission of a throne, dignity, estate, or the like;nuisance = something offensive or annoying the individuals or to the community,

especially in violation of their legal rights;defamation = false or unjustified injury of the good reputation of another as by slander,

libel, calumnycompulsory = required without exception; mandatory; obligatory;

SYNONYMS

fundamental = essential consequence = effect obligation = (1) contract; (2) = responsibility compulsory = obligatory

ANTONYMOUSfundamental - secondary negligence - care private - public compulsory - voluntary


1. Is there any difference between civil and criminal proceedings?2. Which are the aims of the civil law and civil proceedings?3. Who is the person who begins the proceedings and what does he do?4. Which is the schedule of a civil proceeding?5. What about divorce?6. What does the burden of proof imply?

2. Complete the blank spaces with the missing words:

a) Different ......... and ......... are used for civil and criminal proceedings. b) Civil law and proceedings aim to determine the ......... and ......... of individuals as well

as between each other. c) Questions of taxation or questions concerning planning or compulsory purchaseare rights that belong to ......... low.d) Most civil proceedings are heard by a ......... sitting alone.e) In civil proceedings, the plaintiff usually has the ......... of proof.

3. What do you mean by:

-proceeding-procedure-case-burden of proof-litigation

4. Which of the following statements are false and which are true? Correct the false ones:

a) The distinction between civil and criminal proceedings is of no importance in understanding English legal system.

b) The questions of taxation are of private law nature.c) In most criminal proceedings the person beginning the proceedings is the plaintiff. d) Most civil proceedings are heard by a jury of 12 persons. e) The plaintiff must satisfy the judge through admissible evidence, which is nof as

reliable as his statements that he pretends to be true.

RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE

The English system of civil procedure is based upon the adversary principle: a series of statements of fact are put forward by one party to be attacked by the opposing party. The judge acts principally as umpire or referee and leaves it to the parties to put the case before him. The rules of civil procedure which govern the handling of cases are technical, complex and detailed. They are designed to regulate the conduct of the parties and their advocates in an adversary trial. They can be found in large volumes entitled The supreme Court Practice (known among lawyers as 'The White Book') and The County Court Practice (known among lawyers as 'The Green Book'). This mass of rules really has three objectives. The first objective is to ensure that the facts on which a claim is based are accurately found and appropriately arranged so that the issues between the parties can be identified. The second is to ensure that the correct and appropriate rule of law is found and applied. The third objective is to ensure that the remedy or remedies prescribed by that rule of law can adequately be enforced.

It is not necessary to dwell on the detail of the rules of procedure, since a broad outline of the process in action in contract and tort will serve for our enquiry.

Whether the rules actually achieve their objectives remains to be assessed, but there has been a succession of calls over the last 30 years for the redrafting of the rules in order to make High Court practice and procedure quicker, simpler and cheaper. Few of their recommendations have been implemented. The recommendations of the Civil Justice Review pick up some of these recommendations and their implementation will mark the start of a new era in the processing of civil disputes.

Adapted from "The Administration of Justice", by Robin C. White

TRUTH -THE PRINCIPLE OF THE JUDICIAL PLEADING

Truth is the accurate reflection of the objective reality in thinking, by comparing what exists with what really happens.

There are two kinds of truth: the objective and the relative truth.The objective truth reflects the existing reality, which is independent from the human

consciousness. The criterion and the source of truth are the socialhistorical experience of humankind, which makes the process of finding out the truth a continuous and unlimited in time one.

The relative truth is the reflection of reality, which is just, but approximate. For example, the scientific fact is a relative truth. Using the relative truth, the human consciousness permanently aims to the absolute truth.

The absolute truth includes all the relative truth in its progressive and infinite historical sequence. Any relative truth contains elements of absolute truth.

Along the history, all the conceptions, systems and schools were appreciated through their attitude towards the truth. Truth is the key to any lawsuit or juridical proceeding.

At the basis of all the branches of the studies of law lies the principle of absolute truth, especially in the procesuallaw, where complete concordance between the facts regarding the cause and the conclusion of the criminal lawsuit is demanded. A person who has to give evidence in a trial will have to swear on oath that he will tell the truth and nothing but the truth. He is required not to make a false statement or pass the truth over in silence.

What we mean by telling the truth is that a person says a true sentence and not a false one. As Aristotle said, "a true statement is the one by which you say that it is what it is and that it is not what it is not".

In the Middle Ages, philosophers sustained that truth is the accord between object and intellect. Legally speaking, we have the right to sustain that our opinions are true, but we must be able to motivate them, seriously and firmly.

BASIC VOCABULARY. IDIOMSaccurate = careful in exact conformity with a standard or with a truthreally = in fact, in reality, positively reality = property of being realobjective = belonging not to the consciousness or the perceiving or thinking subject, but

to what is presented to this, external to the mind, realrelative = pertinent, relevant, related to the subjectabsolute = complete, pure, mere; real, unconditionat self-existent and conceivable without

relation to other thingstruth = quality or state of being true or accurate; honest; sincere; loyal; accurately shaped;

adjustedirrespective of = not taking into account; without reference to motive = what induces a person to act consciousness = totality of a person's thoughts and feelings criterion = principle, standard a thing is judged byhumankind = mankind, human speciessource = origin, places where things come frompermanent = intended to lost indefinitelyopinion = judgement or belief not founded on certainty or proof; view held as probableconception = thing conceived, idealie = intentional false statementconclusion = final result

statement = stating, expression in wordsintellect= faculty of knowing and reasoning

SYNONYMSto assert = to declareaccurate = precise really = indeedabsolute = perfectrelative = pertinentcriterion = principlehumankind = mankindsource = originpermanent = lasting

ANTONYMStruth - lieaccurate - inaccuratereality - fictionrespective - irrespectivefalse - true


1.What is truth?2. What kinds of truth did you read about?3. What does objective truth deal with?4. What about the relative one?5. What is the absolute truth?6. What are the words a person has to soy before giving evidence?7. What is a true statement in Aristotle's way of thinking?8. How did philosophers in the Middle Ages define the truth?

2. Fill in the blank spaces with the missing words:

a ) Truth demands the complete ......... of facts.b) The relative truth is the ........., but ......... reflection of reality.c) To say a truth means to say a ......... sentence, not a false one.d) The scientific fact is a ......... truth.e) The process of finding out truth is ......... and ......... in time.f) Before giving evidence in a trial, the witness must say the .................., the whole .........

and nothing but the ......... .

3. Make sentences using the antonyms of the following words:

limited, silence, truel serious, permanent, relative

4. Use the following expressions in sentences:

- to give evidence- to tell the truth- to pass something over in silence- judidal proceedings

5. How many meanings can you find to these words?

-sentence-firm

6. Write a paragraph composition using the following:

lawyer, pleading, justice court, to lie at the basis, truth, accord, fact, exact, regarding, reality

CHARTISM AND THE NEW POOR LAWThe history of the chartist movement (1838 -1848) is really an illustration of this. It is

usual to point out that, when payment of MP's was authorised in 1911, all the six political points of the Charter had been in principle conceded, except the not very sensible proposal for general elections to be held annually. But William Lovett and Feargus O'Connor, the two principal leaders -both of whom were sent to prison during the period of agitation -and the bulk of their followers wanted something more than manhood suffrage, vote by ballot and other changes in electoral procedure. They aimed at getting a different kind of MP, the sort of member who had first experience of sufferings of the being completed in 1911, the Chartist demands in this sense only began to be considered after 1906, the year in which Members of Parliament of a new social type first appear in significant numbers.

The social reform which the Chartists advocated, were often vaguely described as impracticable and inconsistent with each other. But they were certainly united in their outcry against the new poor relief system of 1834. Joseph Naylor Stephens, a Wesleyan minister turned into a Chartist agitator called it "this damnable law", which violates all the laws of God". Yet the law which bore more hardly upon the lives of the workers was left unaltered throughout the Queen's reign.

The Poor law of 1834 stopped the Speenhamland systems of rates in aid of the wages by trying to abolish outdoor relief. If the poor needed help, they were let to come to the workhouse for it. If they came to the workhouse, they found that the help they got -food and shelter for themselves and their families -was administered in such a strict, mean and humiliating fashion that people would rather die than become paupers. If they would not become paupers, than they must either find a job, however hard and poorly paid, or emigrate, or die. In spite of Dickens' "Oliver Twist" and in spite of Chartist agitation, the grim new workhouses remained the typical buildings of Victorian England.

Outdoor relief was never wholly abolished, especially in the case of the aged, and after about 1870 the principle of abolition survived chiefly in rural areas. Some relieving officers and workhouse masters administered the law in a kindlier spirit than others, and the workhouse infirmary, where the sick law, gradually took on more the character of a hospital than a place of punishment. But the fear of the workhouse remained one of the biggest factors in creating and maintaining the habits of hard work, thrift and adaptability. Whole families would move about the country, on foot if necessary, in search of employment -which made what the books call our Labour Force so efficient an instrument for creating wealth.

The supervision of the Poor Law, at first entrusted the commissioners, was the main task of a new government department set up in 1871. This was the local Government Board, having as its other work the control of the town councils, which had been reformed and put on an entirely new basis in 1835. Local government was a second point at which the law affected the life of the workers, especially in the new industrial towns, for the law intervened to restrict within narrow limits the improvements which a council could provide for the town it served.

Adapted from "British Life and Civilization", by Livia Deac, Adrian Nicolescu

ELOQUENCE

Eloquence is the art of beautifully, enthusiastically, thrilling and convincing speaking.

Judicial eloquenceIn trials or instances regarding the commitment of serious offences, speeches or orations

must be distinguished by very serious argumentation. In order to obtain the forgiveness of the judge, the accused must attract the attention of the audience and generate powerful emotions. We call a good speech that which connects the public speaker and the listener. This masterstroke consists of various ways of persuasion, remarks, comments upon rules, the staving off the hypothetical impediments and bewilderment. In fact, the whole pleading with a logical background has a subtle and touching demonstration.

Demonstrative eloquenceThere are many cases in which the demonstrative speech is expressed. Isocrate, the

founder of a school of rhetoric in Ancient Greece, distinguished himself by his speeches, which represented real masterpieces. Panagiric and About Panatheene celebrations would be some examples of these. He used a very delicate style, a juicy and nonpretentious vocabulary, harmonious sentences with figures of speech, an equal and eloquent rhythm and a poetry of words loaded with maximum emotional value.

Latin eloquenceThe Romans created an original rhetoric, whose outlines were represented by the

orientation to pragmatism and Stoic philosophy, as they had roots and developed the presocratic and isocratic tradition.

Another outstanding figure of Roman culture and civilisation was Cicero, famous for his rare qualities of the perfect orator. As he stated, "an orator must have the logician's sharpness of mind, the thinking of the philosopher, the poet's way of expressing his thoughts, the jurist's memory, the tragedian's voice and, above all, the gesture of a famous actor".

Quintilian the greatest rhetor master and expert, defined oratory as the art of eloquence and the orator was "a good man speaking". His lectures about rhetoric were well known and highly appreciated at that time. In Quintilian's work we can find out the basic features of the ideal advocate: sincerity, sensibility, morality, modesty. He has to be kind, but not familiar; he has to give the proper advice knowing what was all aboutJnot to be passionate, not to get angry, but to be calmJto keep his interior equilibrium and, moreJ to be impartial.

BASIC VOCABULARY. IDIOMSeloquence = fluent, forcible and apt use of languagespeech = public addressargumentation = methodical reasoningoration = a formal public declaration or speech; discourseorator = eloquent public speaker; the person who makes a good speechaudience = persons within hearing; assembly of listenersto generate = to bring into existencemasterstroke = surpassingly skillful octmasterpiece = consummate piece of workmanshippersuasion = persuading, persuasivenesst convictionremark = a written or spoken comment, anything saidto stave off = to avert, to ward offbewilderment = perplexity

demonstration = outward exhibition of feelings, of opinion, logically proveddemonstrative = serving to point out or to exhibitfounder = one who founds institutionsrhetoric = the art of persuasive and impressive speakingrhetor = Ancient Greek or Roman feacher or professor of rhetoric; rare, oratortradition = fact handed down from ancestors to posterityoriginal = innate, initial; that has served as patternoutlines = main featurespragmatism = doctrine that estimates any assertion solely by its practical bearing upon

human interestsstoic philosophy = making virtue the highest good, concentrating attention on ethics and

inculcating control of the passions and indifference to pleasure or pain (school founded in Athens, 308 BC by Zeno)

feature = distinctive or characteristic port of something or somebodyequilibrium = stote of balance; neutrality of judgementimpartial = unprejudiced

SYNONYMSorator = public speakeroration = discourseto generate = to produceclemency = mercymaster = teacherto stave off = to avert, to ward off, to deferimpediment = obstructionbewilderment = confusionideal = perfectimpartial = fair

ANTONYMSwell - bad favourable - unfavourable, disadvantageous pretentious - nonpretentious equal - unequal rare - numerous famous - unknown calm - anxious interior - exterior impartial - prejudiced


1. What do the orators try to do during their speech?2. How do they succeed in doing this?3. What was Isocrate's style like?4. What are the characteristics of latin eloquence?5. Describe the perfect orator in (icero's version.6. How is Quintilian's vision different from thot of Cicero?


a) An ......... must have the logician's sharpness of mind, the thinking of a ........., the ......... 's way of expressing his thoughts, the ......... 's memory, the ......... 's voice and, above all, the gesture of a famous ..................

b) A good .........……. must connect the public speaker and the ..................c) ................. was the founder of a school of rhetoric in Ancient Greece.d) ..................defined the orator as "a good man speaking well".


a) Cicero a fost o personalitate a retoricii romane.b) Pledoaria avocatului a fost perfecta şi la obiect.c) Procurorul s-a dovedit a fi foarte inteligent.d) Discursul judiciar trebuie bine pregătit.e) Avocatul trebuie să fie bine informat pentru apararea inculpatului.f) Prietenii comentează verdictul. Au spus că judecata nu a fost corectă.

4. Use the following words in sentences of your own:

eloquent; clemency; thrilling; founder; favour; persuasion; impediment; support; famous; impartial; to get angry; quality

ANGLO-SAXON GOVERNMENTThe corner-stone of Government in the Saxon society was the king.Although there were certain reins of his power controlled by the Witan full Witenagemot,

a council of 'wise men' chosen from the aristocracy), this council should not be seen as any sort of democratic Parliament. True, it was responsible for the election of the king -qualification for kingship of the royal family and the Witan chose from within that membership the most suitable successor, not necessarily the son of the previous king -and also advised him on matters of government, but in the long run the king, once elected, was free to act much as he chose.

Successful rule, then, depended greatly on the personality of the king, who, to begin with, had no fixed court, but travelled around with his followers, mainly in order to collect his rents, which, being paid in food, had to be eaten on the spot. A king of no fixed abode, he could summon his Witan when he required it (to approve new laws, for example) to whichever real estate he happened to be occupying at the time.

Later, as kingdoms became bigger, royal representatives were created to administer local justice. These, earldormen attended and supervised the meetings of the local court and the process whereby the handling of regional affairs passed from the freemen to the king, was under way.

By the time of the Norman Conquest this process was so complete and efficient for royal purposes that William made little attempt to change it, so well did it to strengthen his hold of the country as a whole and enable him to establish a firm feudal superstructure on society.

The old popular assemblies remained in existence -the 'hundred' (most likely, to begin with any rate, meetings of groups of a hundred families); above this, the 'shire-moot'; and above this still, the 'folk-moot' -but these moots or courts, were now controlled by the king's officers. The shire-reeve (the origin of the present-day sheriff) was one of the most vital figures in the system, personifying royal authority to lord and peasant alike, delivering the king's writ and ensuring his wishes were carried out in the area.

This process of change in local government was a slow gradual one, only dearing in outline in the 10-th and ll-th centuries, when the Danish invasions undoubtedly added impetus to it, hustling the development of this near feudal state by forcing the poor into the hands of the lord. In addition, many of the institutions of government were most likely Danish innovations. We have already noted the 'husting'; it may be that the 'hundred' (in Danish areas, the 'wapentake') was likewise a Danish introduction, or at least a refinement of an earlier Saxon idea.

In London, by the end of the Saxon period, local government was much more complex, with a larger number of courts, one for each of the wards into which the city had been divided. There were also the 'sokes' privileged areas that came under private iurisdiction. But public authority was the general rule, and the court of highest authority remained the folk-moot, which met three times a year, attended by every citizen (in theory, at leastL in the open air on the highest ground in the city -beside St. Paull s Cathedral.

LAW AND ORDEROn the basis there is the Saxon law of compensation to the injured party by payment of

his 'wergild' to his kinsfolk. Some crimes were considered, of course, beyond compensation -witchcraft, arson and predictably, treachery to one's lord or king. The punishment for this was hanging. But in the crimes of the first category it was legal for the kindred 10 refuse payment of the wergild and take revenge into their own hands. This meant of course, retaliation of the kindred of the original criminal and the blood feud thus embarked on could continue for many years.

Later kings tried to stamp out his practice with his inherent danger that a kindred might grow too powerful and set itself above the law. But passing laws is one thing ensuring they are observed is another, especially in an age when a police source as we know it was non-existent. Maintenance of law and order was in the hands of people themselves. That it worked at all shows the genius for cooperation that the Saxons possessed. When a crime was committed there followed a 'hue and cry' - all freemen were called out to pursue and catch the criminal.

Once captured, the criminal was brought to trial - a trial that bore little resemblance to the court procedures today. It was, in fact, a Trial by Ordeal, provided, this is, the accused failed to get through the early stages which consisted in swearing on oath -'By the Lord, I am not guilty of the act or pact in the crime with which I am charged -backed by his helpers' who swore, 'By the Lord, the defendant'soath is true and not false'. This was preceded by an oath made by the accuser, swearing that he was justified in bringing the charge. If this was successful and the defendant's was not, the Trial by Ordeal commenced.

In the ordeal by fire, the accused took a bar of red-hot iron in his hand and walked for a fixed distance, or he walked over red-hot ploughshares set unequally apart. In the ordeal by water, he plunged his hand into boiling water to draw out a stone. The part affected was wrapped in linen (in Christian times, by a priest) and if on removal after three days the wound was healed, the accused was found not guilty. The idea behind the Ordeal was that in heaven might intervene the pass-judgement. Maintenance of law and order remained for a long time the task of the people themselves, co-operative but unorganised. The first appearance of anything resembling a police force seems to have been made in London in the early 10-th century where a peace-gild was formed. Composed of groups of ten men, combining to form groups of one hundred under a headman, its aim was not only to create more organised action against criminals, but also to make available out of the common property of the gild money to compensate the iniured party. It was a police 'force', then, but it remained a voluntary organisation run by the people, not a state-run institution.

From ''The Conqueror's London", by Derek Brechin

METHODS OF JURIDICAL INQUIRY

The methods of inquiry used for juridical sciences are adapted and taken over from other sciences about society. Some of these are: the logical method, the method of sociological inquiry, the quantitative method, the method of the experiment, the systemical method and the structural and functional method.

Speaking about the logical method, we can say that it represents the summing-up of all the methodological proceedings and operations which make possible the cognition of the structure, and of the dynamics of the relations between the various components of the judicial system in society. There is a system of elements, rules and types of general formal logic needed in order to explain the law. Among these we can mention: the inductive arguments, the deductive arguments, syllogisms, the demonstrative elements, the analysis, the synthesis.

The comparative method is used in studying law by the simultaneous approach of the same kind of juridical institutions that exist at the same time or successively within the same or different societies or law systems. The essence of this method consists in comparing some phenomena, like the institution of property, marriage, family, punishment, in order to reveal the similitude, and much more, the difference of substance and contents between the compared factors. The comparative study of some contemporary juridical institutions allows the sharing of legislative experience within the way of settlement of social relations (commercial societies, tariff system, juridical protection, human rights).

The historical method consists in the progressive analysis of the juridical phenomena, in time and space, in their historical development and, of course, connected to the socio-political moment. It reveals the causes and the circumstances in which some juridical institutions appeared or vanished (take for example a type of law, like the Roman private law).

The method of sociological inquiry consists in making direct investigations, by the agency of sociological inquests (descriptions, interviews, questionnaires) in order to achieve a better cognition of the juridical phenomena. The use of this method enables us to formulate conclusions and assessments regarding the utility and the social efficiency of the juridical institutions and the juridical regulations.

The quantitative method is used to analyse some commensurable juridical phenomena (the frequency and the repartition of the criminal phenomena) in order to formulate observations and conclusions regarding the causes and tendencies of the respective manifestations of the phenomena. The statistical methods are frequently used in law; moreover, they determine the appearance of computer sciencies in the juridical systems.

The method of the experiment has a larger and larger applicability in the field of economic organisation, of retribution, of establishing prices, or taxation on turnover.

The systemic and functional method is based on the fact that the juridical phenomena represent assemblies of systems and complex actions, as well as stable and organised actions, forming part of the socio-political environment.

BASIC VOCABULARY. IDIOMSmethod = a particular way of doing something; orderly arrangement of ideas; scheme of

classificationscience = study of the nature and behaviour of natural things and the knowledge that we

obtain about them through observation and experimentsociety = 1. people’s way of life the customs and organization of a civilized nation; 2. the

upper classes of a community, whose doings are socially distinguished and well-to-do; 3. association of persons united by a common aim, interests or principles

logical = 1. of logic or formal argument; 2. not contravening the laws of thought, correctly reasoned; 3. reasonably to be believed or done; 4. capable of correct reasoning

experiment = 1. test, trial; 2. trying out of a new idea or method in order to see what it is like and what effect if has

structure = the way in which a thing, a building, an organisation or other complete whole is constructed, supporting framework, or whole of the essential parts of something

cognition = action or faculty of knowing, perceiving, conceiving, as opposed to emotion or volition

dynamics = moving forces, physical or moral, in any spherecomponent = contributing to the composition of a whole based on inductionto analyse = to examine minutelysimultaneous = occurring or operating at the some timeprogressive = moving forwardto reveal = to make known, to divulgeto asses = to estimate valuesyllogism = form of reasoning in which from two given or assumed propositions called

the premisses, that have a (ammon or middle ferm, a third is deduced, called the conclusion, from which the middle term is absent

synthesis = combination, composition, putting together, building up of separate elements, especially of propositions, facts or conceptions, into a connected whole, especially a theory or a system

SYNONYMSinquiry – investigationlogical – deducibleexperiment – testtendency – inclinationcomponent – partsimilitude – likenessto reveal – to let appear

ANTONYMSanalysis - synthesislogical - illogical possible - impossible inductive - deductive progressive - regressive to appeor - to vanish stable - unstable


1. Can you give examples of methods of inquiry?2. What can we use the logical method for?3. What is the comparative method used like?4. How can the historical method help us?5. Make a difference between the method of the experiment and the method of

sociological inquiry.6. What is the quantitative method used for?


a) In order to explain the law are needed all the ........., the ......... and the ......... of general formal logic.

b) The comparative method presumes the ......... of some phenomena.c) The historical method reveals the ......... and the ......... in whichsome juridical institutions appeared or vanished. d) The quantitative method is used to analyse some ......... juridical phenomena.

3. Explain the following terms: syllogism, analysis, cognition and synthesis.

4. Use the following words in sentences of your own: science, cognition, inductive, deductive, to reveal.

5. Form sentences with the two meanings of the word 'trial'.

APPEALS FROM COLONIAL COURTS (USA)In the latter part of the 17-th century the new colonial charters propietary and royal,

reserved for the king in council the right to hear cases on appeal from provincial courts where the sum litigated exceeded 300 sterling. In the New England colonies particularly the appellate authority was at best grudgingly conceded, as the Connecticut Rhode Island charters made no provision for judicial review. At times, as in the case Frost v. Veighton (1739) an order of the Privy Council was deliberately ignored by the Massachusetts authorities. Pending appeals, executions of the colonial courts were suspended. Such appeals were both costly and protracted.

Through this appellate procedure the Privy Council sought to bring the legal systems of the colonies into conformity with that of England, particularly in such matters as the rules of evidence and jury system. Major issues on colonial policy were reviewed in litigation brought on appeal, notably Indian relations, the colonial currency lawsand interstate succession. Currency practices in the colonies were more generally dealt with by the Privy Council under its authority to disallow colonial legislation or by Parliament. In the suit of the Virginia clergy instituted to recover back salaries resulting from the disallowance of the 'two penny act', the Council, in view of the constitutional storms raised by the Stamp Act, was prompted by the political considerations to dismiss the appeal on a technicality. In the notable case of Winthrop v. Lechmere the Council held the Connecticut custom of divisible descent of the estates invalid as contrary to the common law, but reversed itself in Clark v. Tousey and in the Massachusetts case of Philips v. Savage, a great victory for egalitarian property concepts in New England.


THE LAW

Generally speaking, by law we understand any normative act issued by a legislative body of a state, following a pre-established procedure. But, what we understand by law is only the normative act passed in Parliament, following, of course, a pre-established procedure.

Constitution makes provision for three types of laws: constitutional laws, organic laws and ordinary laws.

The constitutional laws establish the organisation of the political powers and the principles of government of one state, regulate the rules, the fundamental civil liberties and some important social relations, which are the juridical basis of the other laws.

The constitutional law has to be adopted with a majority of at least two thirds from the total number of the members of the Parliament and it is approved by referendum.

The constitution is the fundamental law of a state, consisting of a system of juridical standards invested with a superior juridical force. The Constitution is the mirror of the economic structures, of the forms of property, of the organization of a state.

The organic laws have the second juridical force after Constitution and after the constitutional laws. These two establish: the electoral system, the organization of the government, the organization of the Supreme Council of Defence and of the political parties, of the referendum and of the local administration, of the education and of the culture. These laws deal with the statute of the civil servants, the administrative disputed claims office, the criminal actions, the punishment and its execution, the conciliation on amnesty and the collective pardon, too. The organic laws are adopted with the absolute majority of the members of the two Houses of Parliament.

The ordinary laws are adopted with the absolute majority of the members who are present in each House of Parliament. The ordinary laws represent the development of the principles formulated in the constitutional laws and cannot confute or cannot limit these principles. They establish the most various social relations.

The law has three major characteristics: it is general, compulsory and permanent. The law is a conscious act of will, which is made to reach some aims and to realise some social ideals. It is general because it is valid for all the members of a society (an exception is represented by the ind ividuallaws, which are adopted for certain specific acts). The law is compulsory because its observance does not depend on the option of those asked to conform themselves to its disposals. As a rule, the law is permanent; itis in operation until it is -if it is abrogated. The only exception is represented by the temporary laws, which are in operation up to a certain established date or an event foreseen by that law itself.

WORD STUDYto issue = to emerge from a condition; to result, to be derived (from); to end, to result (in);

to come out; to be publishedconstitution = body of fundamental principles according to which a state is governedorganic = inherent, fundamental, structuralto regulate = to control by rule, to adapt to requirements, to moderateliberty = being free from captivity, imprisonment, slavery or despotic controlliberties = privileges, immunities or rightscivil = people or things in a country that are not connected to its armed forcescivil law = the law of a state related to private and civilian affairsto approve = to confirm, to sanction, to pronounce satisfactory, to acceptreferendum = a vote in which the people in a particular country are all asked to say

whether they agree or disagree with a particular policy

will = a document in which you declare what you want to happen to your money and property after you die

valid = legally acceptable, having legal force, effective, executed with proper formalitiesinvalid = having no legal force disposal = disposing of, getting rid of, settling, dealing with, assignment; control;

disposition, arrangementto foresee = to see beforehand, to predict, to exercise foresightproperty = owning, thing owned, possessionto claim = to demand as being due or as one's property; to assert as a fact, maintain

against denialto conciliate = to overcome the hostility of; placate; win over; to win or gain, especially

by making friendly overturesconciliation = the act or process of conciliating, especially the involvement of a third

party in an industrial dispute to assist the parties in reaching a settlementamnesty = intentional overlooking; a general pardon, especially for offences against a

governmentto confute = to prove (a person or thing) wrong, invalid or mistaken; disprovecompulsory = enforced, compelling, mandatoryto abrogate = to cancel a law or customaim = purpose, object, design

SYNONYMScommon = ordinary to regulate = to moderate aim = purpose compulsory = enforced liberty = freedom to approve = to confirm conscious = aware property = possession liberties = privileges

ANTONYMS general - special permanent - temporary valid - invalid conscious - unconscious majority - minority superior -inferior


1. What do we understand by law?2. Which are the three 1ypes of laws?3. What are the constitutional laws?4. What is the Constitution?5. Who votes the ordinary laws?6. Talk about the characteristics of the law.

2. Form sentences with different meanings of the following words: will, property, disposat claim, liberty, conscious, to issue


a) A law passes in Parliament following a ......... procedure. b) There are three types of laws: ......... laws, ......... laws and ......... laws. c) Constitution is the ......... law of a statel is the ......... of the organisation of a state. d) The ordinary laws ore adopted with the ......... majority of the members ......... in each

House of Parliament.e) The law is the conscious act of ........ ..f) The law is valid for all the members of the ........ ..

4. Explain the following terms: referendum, wilt to foresee, amnesty

5. What do you call the laws which:

a) establish the organisation of the political powers?b) establish the referendum? c) represent the development of the principles of the constitutional laws, but cannot

confute them?

6. Use the following words in sentences: to regulate, liberties, conscious, disposal to claim, amnes1y

ADMIRALTY IN LAW AND COURTS IN THE USAIn the 17-th century American colonies, admiralty iurisdiction was generally exercised by

the ordinary common law courts, although governors had the right to commission courts of vice admiralty; but by the end of the century, royal patents were being issued for the establishment of vice admiralty courts, beginning in New York in 1696.

In addition to the English jurisdiction of the English admiralty courts over such matters as prize, wreck, salvage, insurance, freight and passenger contracts, bottomry charter parties and seamen's wages, the colonial vice admiralty courts enforced the Acts of Trade. Piracy, which originally was under the jurisdiction of the admiralty, was in the colonies normally dealt with by courts specially commissioned by the crown to deal with particular cases. Procedure in vice admiralty was in rem rather than in personam. As the vice admiralty courts exercised summary jurisdiction and did not have trial by jury, they attained a considerable degree of unpopularity among that element in the colonies opposed to the Acts of Trade, and in some colonies writs of prohibition were frequently issued by the common law courts again on the vice admiralty on the ground that the latter court was incompetent to act in particular litigation. As a rule, such writs were obeyed. Common law courts throughout the colonial period, as, for example, the Mayor's Court of New York City, continued to exercise a good deal of admirality jurisdiction.

After the Revolution, most of the states erected their own courts of admiralty, really continuing the provincial courts, but the Federal Convention gave to the federal courts "all the cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction". Among the anachronisms surviving to the 20-th century in American admiralty law had been the privilege of the shipowner to limit liability after a disaster to whatever the value of the vessel or wreckage may be after the occurrence of the act.

The Titanic and the Marro Castel are two notorious examples of the application of this rule. The evolution of the doctrine of the continuous voyage by the federal courts during the Civil War provided Great Britain during World War I with a convenient precedent to justify the seizure of the ships bound for neutral ports on the ground that their ultimate destination was Germany.

ABOLITION MOVEMENTThe first recorded vote against slavery in the United States was that on February 18-th,

1688, by the Monthly Meeting of the Germantown, Pa., Society of Friends. Long before that, even in 1624, protests were heard against slavery in the colonies, both in the South and in the North. When the Revolution came, it was plain to increasing number that slavery was inconsistent with the sentiments of the Declaration of Independence. In Jefferson's first draft of the document, the slave trade was described as a "cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty". Negroes were freed on enlisting in the Continental armies, in which many of them served.

The early Formation of the antislavery societies during and immediately after the Revolution showed the strength of the opposition to slavery which waxed until the invention of Eli Whitney's cotton gin in 1793 enthroned King Cotton, made slaves valuable and, together with the Missouri Compromise, caused the dying out of antislavery sentiment. With each year of cotton prosperity, the bitterness against all who attacked the human property of the South rose.

For the corresponding appearance in the North by 1830 of a militant antislavery movement there were various reasons, like the general awakening of a more humanitarian spirit as shown by the reforming of the jails, hospitals and orphanages, the growth of the temperance movement and the beginning of the agitation for women's rights and suffrage. At this time there appeared a number of leaders and agitators. William Lloyd Garrison was the founder of the 'Liberato' with his determined announcement: "I will be as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as justice... ". Within a year the legislature of Georgia offered a reward of 5,000 for Garrison's "arrest and conviction".

The Garrison wing was uncompromisingly for immediate emancipation, it refused to act politically, violently denounced all who disregarded his policies, had little to do with the Middle Western and political movements and was as offensive to the moderate wing as to the slaveholders. At first, the Church was against the Abolitionists from North. But gradually, there appeared a group of great preachers to expose the cause of the slaves. Other outstanding leaders (John Quincy Adams) refused to ally directly to the Abolition Movement. Soon, Abolitionists entered Northern state legislatures and congress, in which, prior 1835, there was only one William Slade of Vermont.

Thereafter, Abolition was in politics to dominate everything until Emancipation. To this end the annexation of Texas, the war with Mexico, the Fugitive Slave Law, the Kansas -Nebraska Ad, the "Bleeding Kansas", the determination of the slaveholders to extent their "peculiar system", all contributed and gave the Abolitionists their opportunity to appeal to the conscience of the nation and keep the country in a turmoil. To this, two books contributed enormously, Harriet Beecher Stowe's 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' and Hinton Rowan Helper's 'The impeding Crisis of the South'. From 1850 on, the history of Abolition is the history of nation.


THE CIVIL LAW

The civil law is the branch of the law system that establishes some patrimonial relations, in which the parts are subjects equal in rights and some nonpatrimonial individual relations, connected with the person's individuality. It also establishes the juridical terms of the physical persons and of other collective subjects in their quality as parts in the juridical civil relations. The civil law contains all the juridical standards, having the roots in the code of Civil law.

The patrimonial relations deal with the real relations (the right of property and other real rights) and with the law of contract (the law of credence). The non-patrimonial relations contain: the relations regarding the existence and the integrity of the subjects of the civil law (the right to life, to health, to reputation); the relations regarding identification (the right to a name, to a residence); the relations generated by the intellectual creation (the copyright).

The institutions of the civil lawThe civil juridical relation is a social relation established by the norms of civil law; it

turns the parts into holders of rights and of legal obligations. The premises of the arising of the civil juridical relations are: the existence of a standard of the civil law, the existence of the parts (subjects of law) and the existence of a juridical fact.

The elements of this relation are: the subjects (physical or juridical persons) the contents (the subjective rights of the active subject), the object (actions or abstentions of committing certain facts connected with the subjective rights and with the parts' obligations in the juridical relation).

The juridical facts: events and actions (licit or illicit); among the licit actions, the juridical act has an important place.

The juridical act -is that licit action committed in order to create, to assign, to modify or to cancel a juridical relation. The juridical acts have power of law between the parts that concluded them.

The prescription a) the extinctive prescription - which has the effect of losing the possibility of obtaining

certain rights by coercion.b) the acquisitive prescription - which has the effect of acquiring certain rights on

immovable property (landed property) by performing the possession over that estate, during a period of time established by law.

The major real rights establish the right of property in its various forms (private and public) and the dismemberments of the right of property (the usage, the usufruct, the occupancy, the easement).

The civil obligations have the following sources: the contract, the unilateral act of will, the illicit and injurious act, the enrichment without fair ground. The right over the intellectual creation: the right of the author and the right of the inventor, the right of the innovator. The successions (the succession bestowed by will) with two categories: the legal successional devolution and the testamentary successional devolution.

The civil law is the general guarantee of a fair juridical consciousness, of the observance of the civil ethics, of the protection of the patrimonial and nonpatrimonial values.

BASIC VOCABULARY

relation = 1. laying of information before Attorney - General for him to take action upon what one person or thing has to do with another; 2. way in which one stands or is related to

another; 3. kind of connection, correspondence or feeling that prevails between persons or things

individuality = separate existence, individual character, especially when strongly marked.to establish = 1. to set up (Government, houses of business) on permanent basis; 2. to

make legally national; 3. to secure permanent acceptance for somethingstandard = 1. measure to which other conform or by which the accuracy of others is

judged; 2. thing serving as base of comparisoncode = body of laws so arranged as to avoid inconsistency and overlappingcopyright = exclusive right given by law for term of years to author, designer or his

assignee to print, publish, sell copies of his original work.identification = establishing identity ofholder = owner, tenant of (property, stocks, land)premise = the aforesaid, the foregoingcorrelative = having a mutual relation, analoguousabstention = keeping oft especially not using one's voteillicit = unlawful, forbiddento cancel = to obliterate, to cross out, to annut to abolish, to neutralizeprescription = positive: uninterrupted use or possession from time immemorial or for the

period fixed by law as giving title or right; negative: limitation of the time within which action or claim can be raised; fig. ancient custom viewed as authoritative, claim founded on long use

immovable = 1. that cannot be moved; motionless; not subject to change; 2. (law) consisting of land, houses

estate = 1. person's interest in landed property (real estate) of movable property (personal estate); 2. one's collective assets and liabilities

usage = habitual but not necessarily immemorial practiceusufrut = right of enjoying the use and advantages of another's property, provided the

property itself remains undiminished and uninjured in any wayeasement = right of way or similar right over another's ground; supplementary buildingsuccession = 1. right of succeeding to the throne or any office of inheritance set or order

of persons having such right; 2. law of succession: regulating inheritance especially in cases of interstate decease

to bestow = to deposit, to provide with lodging devolution = descent of property by due succession lapse of unexercised right to ultimate

ownerethics = science of morals, treaties on these moral principles, rules of conduct, whole field

of moral science

SYNONYMSstandard = illegalto cancel = to annulfair = honest

ANTONYMSprivate - public evolution - devolution active - passive to lose - to obtain rich - poor


1. What does the civil law establish?2. Enumerate the institutions of the civil law.3. Which are the juridical facts?4. Give the definition of the juridical act.5. Which are the two kinds of prescriptions and what do they deal with?6. Which are the sources of the civil obligations?


a) The patrimonial relations deal with the ......... relations. b) The relations regarding the ......... and the ......... of the subjects of the civil low are non-

patrimonial relations. c) The right of properly belongs to the ......... relations. d) The elements of the civil juridical relation are: the .........f the ......... and the .........e) The ......... prescription has the effect of acquiring certain rights on immovable

property. f) The right of property can be ......... and ........ ..

3. Group the following under two headings: - patrimonial relations and non-patrimonial relations:

a) the right of private property b) the right to health c) the right to reputation d) the right of public property e) the right to life f) the low of credence g) the copyright h) the right to a name

4. Which of the following sentences are true and which are false? Correct the false ones.

a) The juridicalacl is that illicit action committed in order to cancel a juridical relation.b) The acquisitive prescription has the effect of acquiring certain rights on immovable

property by coercion. c) The usage, the usufruct, the occupancy are established by the non-patrimonial

relations. d) The juridical facts are events and actions (licit or illicit). e) The civil obligations have as sources the contract, the unilateral oct of will, the licit act,

the enrichment without a fair ground.

5. Explain the following terms: code, prescription, succession, usufruct

6. Use the following words in sentences of your own: devolution, to bestow, estate, copyright.

THE JUDICIARY IN THE UNITED STATES (Part one)The judiciary of the United States has its historical background in the legal and political

institutions of England. The tribunals set up in the colonies were similar to those of the mother

country and acts of Parliament and the principles of the common law and equity were enforced in the new country as the old, with the added responsibility on colonial courts of enforcing the enactments of colonial assemblies. The office of justice and peace, for dealing with minor civil matters and minor offences, was well established. Above this office was the court usually known as the country court, having original jurisdiction in more important matters. A right of appeal to the colonial assembly existed in some colonies, analogous to the House of Lords in England. There was in some cases a right of appeal from colonial courts to the judicial committee of the Privy Council in England.

After the colonies became independent states, the courts remained fundamentally the same, except for the development of courts of appeals full-time professional judges. Constitutions prescribed the governments of the states, pursuant to which state laws were made and enforced. The application of the common law and equity principles was continued.

No provision for an adequate Federal judiciary was included in the Articles of the Confederation. Congress was given the power, however, to set up commissions to settle disputes among the states. This power was infrequently exercised, but the Confederation Congress did set up a court of appeals to decide cases appealed from state courts involving prizes of war and piracies and felonies on the high seas. The lack of an adequate judiciary was one of the maior defects of the confederation. All the proposed plans of government submitted to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 provided for a national judiciary, distinct from the judicial system of the states.

The first three articles of the constitution provided respectively for the establishment of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the Government. The judiciary article provided that the judicial power of the United States should be vested in a Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as Congress might ordain and establish. All federal judges were to hold office during good behaviour, and their salaries were not to be diminished during their continuance in the office. By article II, dealing with the executive, the President was authorised to nominate, and, by end with the advise and consent of the Senate, to appoint Supreme Court judges and certain specified officers. It also defined the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and prescribed the content of Federal judicial power. The jurisdiction of particular Federal courts, however, was left to congressional determination. The sixth article established a basis for review by the Federal judiciary of state court decisions involving the Federal Constitution, laws or treaties by providing that state judges should be bound by them, not with standing any contrary provisions in the constitutions and laws of the states. The first ten amendments, added in 1791 to meet criticism voiced in the ratifying conventions, included additional prescriptions with respect to the court. Among them, suits at common law involving more than twenty dollars were to be tried by jury; criminal trials, with certain exceptions, were to be presided by indictment by great jury; the resort to excessive bail, excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishments was prohibited.

The judiciary provisions of the Constitution were given effect in the Judiciary Act, 1789, enacted after eleven states ratified the Constitution. The judicial system was headed by a Supreme Court consisting of a Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. Below the Supreme Court were three circuit courts which had no judges of their own, but were conducted by two Supreme Court judges and a district judge. Below the circuit courts were thirteen district courts, for each of which a district judge was to be appointed by the President in the same manner as Supreme Court judges.


TAX EVASION. BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION

The evasionBusiness organizations have the same motivation to avoid paying their taxes as individual

citizens. But there is one essential difference between individual and corporate tax payers: because the latter have vastly more political influence, they are able to obtain specific industry -by industry tax breaks and loopholes to make most corporate tax avoidance completely legal. The bewildering complexity of the tax laws is a major ally of corporate tax dodgers. It often takes years of litigation to determine if a new corporate tax strategy is legal or not. As a result, most corporations are shielded from criminal prosecution even when their actions are apparently intended to defend the Government.

Bribery and corruptionBribery is a universal phenomenon with roots that stretch far back into human history.

The code of Hammurabi, created by the king who founded the first Babylonian empire, held that if a man was bribed to give false witness against another, he must bear the penalty imposed in the case. An edict by one Egyptian Pharaoh proclaimed the performance of his judicial duties. References in Greek and Roman laws, as well as in the Bible, show that bribery was condemned with harsh penalties in other ancient societies as well.

Many criminologists classify individual bribery case on the basis of the intended target. Thus, they distinguish bribery directed at private firms and individuals from bribery directed at government employees. From a sociological standpoint, however, it makes more sense to include in bribery the payoffs made to win private business, for the motivations and modus operandi of the offenders are often identical. Accordingly, we will distinguish between commercial bribery intended to promote sales or obtain confidential business information, and political bribery, intended to influence government policy.

The concept of commercial bribery is a more recent legal development. And although it is often condemned, many more people are willing to brush it off as a normal business practice that causes little real harm. Supporters of this position argue that the total amount of money paid out in bribery cases is relatively small and has little effect on the average consumer. Critics charged that even if the total amount of money involved in commercial bribery is small, the practice creates a climate of corruption and disrespect for the law and gives. major corporations with vast financial resources an unfair advantage over their smaller competitors in the USA. When firms attempt to buy sales for their products, their first targets are oftem the purchasing agents who are paid to make such decisions. Corporate payoffs are often made through dummy firms set up specifically to act as conduits for illegal transactions. Under this arrangement, the parent corporation can write off bribe money as a legitimate business expense and claim it knew nothing about the payoffs.

Sometimes, businesses distribute payoff money through sale agents. Because many multinational corporations find it difficult and expensive to set up an office in every country in which they do business, they often employ local sales agents who know the people involved in making major purchases. Such agents also provide an excellent conduit for the distribution of bribe money, as they know who is likely to accept bribes and what kind of inducements they prefer. In addition, the use of local sale agents allows foreign multinationals to avoid direct involvement in the illicit payments.

Regarding political bribery and corruption, there are special-interest groups that use a host of different techniques to bend the government's actions to their ends. Despite their corrosive effects upon the democratic process, many of those techniques are completely legal. The most popular legal method of purchasing political influence is still through campaign

contributions. Recent restrictions on direct corporate contributions to political candidates have created some problems and led to many illegal attempts to skirt the law.

Corporations sometimes provide free services directly to sympathetic candidates, in the hope that such assistance will be less obvious than illegal monetary contributions. Other corporations make large loans to candidates that mayor may not be paid back, or secretly pay campaign expenses by shifting part of a candidate's advertising bills to their own accounts.

Corporations have not always been content to operate through such indirect methods, and there have been numerous relations of direct corporate payments to finance election campaign.

BASIC VOCABULARYtax payer = 1. a person who pays a tax or is subject to taxation; 2. a temporary building

that yields rent suffident only to pay the taxes on the property on which it standsdodger = 1. a person who changes position suddenly as to avoid a blow or get behind

something; 2. a shifty person, especiolly one who persistently evades a specific responsibility (taxdodgers)

loophole = 1. a small or narrow opening, for looking through; 2. a means of escape or evasion, a means of evading a rule, law

to shield = 1. to protect (someone or something) with or as with a shield; 2. to serve as a protection for; 3. to hide or conceal; to protect by hiding

payoff = the poyment of a salary, debt, wage corruption = 1. the act or state of corrupting or being corrupted; 2. perversion of integrity;

3. dishonest proceedings(to) purchase = 1. to acquire by the payment of money or its equivalent; to buy; 2. to

influence by a bribe; 3. acquisition by the payment of money or its equivalent; buying, or a simple act of buying

dummy = a representation or copy of something, as for displaying to indicate oppearance; counterfeit, fictitious

inducement = 1. act of leading or moving by persuosion or influence a stote of mind, aelion; 2. something that induces, motivotes, persuades

fo skirt = to avoid, to go around the edge of, or keep distant from

SYNONYMSmotivation = incitement to shield = to ovoid dummy = fictitious inducement = incentement employee =worker obvious = plain

ANTONYMScorruption - honesty complete - incomplete sympathetic - repugnant secret - well-known obvious - hidden employee - employer


1. What is the difference between individual and corporate tax-payers?

2. What is the result if you try to determine if a new corporate tax strategy is legal or not?

3. What do you mean by bribery? 4. Which are the roots of bribery? 5. Is there any difference between individual bribery and private firms bribery? 6. Is the commercial bribery a normal business practice? 7. Which is the critics' opinion on bribery? 8. What can you tell about political bribery and corruption? 9. Do the elections have a special place in the bribe problem?


a) The ......... have vastly more politital influence. b) The bewildering complexity of the tax laws is a major ally of corporate .......... c) Bribery is a ......... phenomenon. d) Many ......... classify individual bribery case on the basis of the intended target.e) The concept of ......... is a more recent legal development.f) Sometimes, business distribute payoff money through ..........g) Corporations sometimes provide free services directly to ......... candidates.

3. Which of the following statements are false and which are true. Correct the false ones:

a) Business organizations have the same reasons to ovoid paying their faxes as individual citizens.

b) It often takes months of litigation to determine if a new corporate strategy is legal or not.

c) An edict of one Greek emperor proclaimed the performance of his judicial duties.d) The criminologists distinguished bribery directed at individuals.e) Critics charged that even if the total amount of money involved in the commercial

bribery is small, the theory creates a climate of corruption. f) Sometimes, businesses send payoff money through sale agents.


a) multinational corporationsb) commercial briberyc) corruptiond) payoffse) paymentf) paymentg) campaign

BRIBERY SCANDALSThe international bribery scandals of the 1970s revealed numerous incidents in which sale

agents made large payments to encourage the purchase oftheir employers' aircraft. The Grumman Corporation used sales agents to negotiate its deals in Iran. In internal company correspondence, at least one Grumman executive referred to these sales agents as "bagmen" and the agents

described themselves as "errand boys" for high officials in the Iranian military. In 1975, Grumman paid its sales agents $ 2.9 million, most of which was given out to various officials in the Iranian Airforce. But Grumman was not the only corporation involved in Iranian bribery. At least seven different American companies are known to have paid large "fees" to the Air Taxi Company, a Teheran sales agency that was partially owned by the commanding general of the Iranian Airforce.

The first of the international bribery scandals and the one that offered some of the most spectacular revelations, involved the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, involving the $ 25 million that Lockheed admitted giving out in "questionable payments". But no other firm seemed to have fostered corruption in such high circles as Lockheed. Among those named in bribery charges were former Prime Minister of Japan -Kakuei Tanaka and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. The CIA personnel checked out the matter and found the sales agent of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, to be well connected with the new regime in Indonesia. Other documents show that Lockheed's bribes may have reached all the way to Sukarno himself, and later to his successor, President Subarto. Lockheed memos show that the company tried to convince the officers of the need to take the bribes through agents because of the "significant protection provided for them as well as for us". Officials in Iran, the Philippines, Italy, West Germany, Turkey, Mexico, Columbia and Venezuela also received bribe money. But the biggest scandals involved Lockheed's illegal activities in Netherlands and Japan. Although an investigative committee appointed by the Dutch government did not find sufficient grounds for a criminal indictment, numerous serious charges were made. Lockheed's criminal activities in Japan involved much larger sums of money and a wider network of corruption which led to the arrest of Tanaka, his secretary and two top executives of the Marubeni Trading Corporation (Lockheed's national trading agent) for accepting bribes.

Adapted from "The Sociology of White Collar Crime", by J. W Coleman

FALSE ADVERTISING AND FRAUD

Few events have had a more profound effect upon the pattern of modern life than the growth of bureaucracy. The unprecedented size and complexity of the modern state and the enormous number of tasks it has assumed have wrousht profound changes in our social structure. But the most revolutionary transformation has come in economic organization. Even democracy itself has a different meaning in a society in which public opinion is shaped by the bureaucracies of mass communication and the growth of economic concentration has placed so much power in the hands of the few.

No matter how skeptical they may be about the reasons of big business, few see corporate executives and managers as violent criminals. It is easy to believe that a vast reservoir of violence lies behind the defiant visages of the young blacks trapped in the ghettos or the haggard features of heroine addicts, but corporate executives would seem to be another story entirely. But the differences between the criminals of the upper world and those of the underworld are as much matters of form as of substance. Although the techniques may be different, the results are often the same. The young robber, who accidentally kills a store clerk displays the same disregard for human life as shown byengineers who falsify test results to conceal a deadly Aaw in an automobile or airplane manufactured by their employer.

The legal response to this organisational revolution has been slow and ineffectual. Traditionally, the law has been based upon the principle that criminal responsibility rests with autonomous individual actors. But in many ways the organisations themselves are the real perpetrators of organisational crimes.

False advertisingIt represents one of the best known forms of fraud and deception. Who hasn't seen an

advertisement that seems patently false or bought a product whose performance fell far short of the claims of its promoters? Although common sense would tell us that false advertising consists of the use of untrue statements in advertising, the law uses a different standard. It is not falsity, but deception in advertising that is illegal. According to Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, deceptive advertisements are those that are "misleading in material respect", which has been interpreted by the courts to mean that the deceptive advertisements must somehow affect the purchasing decisions of the customer. Although there often is little doubt about what makes a statement true or false, determining whether or not a statement is deceptive this is a much more complex business, because one must not only examine the nature of the statement, but also judge its potential effect upon the listener. You think some product is extraordinary, but it isn't. Such deceptions can be devastating to small competitors who cannot afford major advertising campaigns of their own, but the vast majority of the victims are consumers deceived into thinking that an expensive brand name product is better than less-expensive substitutes.

FraudIn contrast to false advertising, more blatant frauds are usually handled as criminal

offences, but the severity of the punishment varies greatly with the type of offence and the size and influence of the company involved.

The "commercial underworld" - small and medium-sized firms that operate on the fringes of the law, typically prey on the poor and on minorities through door-fo-door sales schemes, high·pressure credit sales and other marginal ventures. One typical approach involves the sale of cheap merchandise or promised home repairs on "easy credit" terms to low-income buyers. The loans then are quickly sold at a discount to finance companies and by the time the customers realise that they have not got their money's worth, it is too late. According to the law,

"a holder in due course" of a note is entitled to collect on it, even if the original holder did not keep up his agreement with the borrower.

But those with low incomes and little education are not the only victims of the commercial underworld. Land fraud schemes, for example, prey on more affluent victims. These schemes typically involve high-pressure sales of retirement or vacation lots that are described in lavish brochures as having all utilities and being set in beautiful locations. Unsuspecting customers are often persuaded to buy the property sight unseen, and when they finally visit their property, they find barren desert or swampy marshland.

BASIC VOCABULARYdemocracy = government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme

power is held by the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system

skeptical = inclined to skepticism; having (showing) doubtdefiant = characterised by a daring or bold resistance to authority or to any opposing

force, or by antagonismvisage = aspect, appearance ghettos = a section of a city, especially a thickly populated slum area, inhabited

predominantly by Negroesl Puerto Ricans, or any other minority group, often as a result of social or economic restrictions

haggard = wild-looking; having a wasted or exhausted appearance, as from prolonged suffering, exertion, anxiety

(to) addict = a person who is addicted to a practice or habit; to give (oneself) over, as to a habit or pursuit

disregard = lack of due or respectful regardto conceal = to hide; to withdraw or remove from observation; to cover or keep from

sight; to keep secret; to prevent or avoid divulgingpromoter = a person who initiates or takes part in the organising of 0 company,

developing a project; one who presents (o product) for consumer acceptance, especially through advertising

perpetrator = the one who performs, commits or executes a crime, wrongto mislead = to lead or guide wrongly; to lead into error of condud, thought or judgementblatant = obtrusive; brazenly obviousretirement = withdrawal into privacy and seclusion

SYNONYMSenormous = prodigious wrought = elaborated skeptical = doubtful defiant =refractory haggard =drawn disregard = disrespect ineffectual = pointless

ANTONYMSdefiant -obedienthaggard - robustdisregard - regardto conceal - to divulgeineffectual – useful


1. Which are the effects of the growth of bureaucracy?2. How has the demouacy been changing in the new society?3. Can the corporate executives and managers be violent criminals?4. How do the differences between the upperworld and the underworld affed the rate of

criminality?5. What do you understand by false advertising?6. Does false advertising have any effect upon the small competitors?7. What about the buyers?8. What are the effects of the "cheap merchandise" or promised home repairs?

2. What is the difference hetween false advertising and fraud?

3. Fill in the hlank spaces with the missing words:

a) Even ......... itself has a different meaning in a society in which public opinion is shaped by the ......... of moss communication.

b) But the ......... between the criminals of the upperworld and those of the underworld are as much matters of form as of substance.

c) The false advertising is one of the best known forms of fraud and ........ .. d) In contrast to ........., more blatant ......... are usually handled as criminaloffences. e) The ......... are quickly sold at a discount to finance companies. f) According to the low, "......... in due course" of a note is entitled to collect on it.


- criminal- underworld- upperworld- disregard- misleading- advertising

VIOLATIONS OF CIVIL LIBERTIESAssaults on individual liberty take many forms. In authoritarian regimes, they involve

direct and often violent repression of dissenting views. In the liberal democracies, political repression assumes more subtle guises. Corporations commonly hire investigators and informants to spy on their political opponents. Government agents work behind the scenes and out of public view, often violating the laws and claiming to be obeying them. This paradox is a reflection of the fact that the ruling elite in most contemporary industrial societies do not have unlimited power to control the legal definition of criminal behaviour. The strength of tradition, public opinion and opposing political groups has been sufficient to define many of the abuses committed in the interest of the powerful, as criminal offences.

The mere concentration of economic control has transformed some long·standing business practices into new threats of civil liberties. While uncovering information about corporate violations of civil liberties is no easy matter, the problem is vastly more difficult where the Government is concerned. The Government Agencies involved in domestic spying wrap themselves in a cloak of secrecy and often claim that "national security" is being

threatened whenever attempts are made to strip away their cover. It is clearly illegal for the Government to engage in any sort of political harassment or of dirty tricks against its citizens.

Adapted from "The Sociology of White Collar Crime", by J.W. Coleman

THE COERCIVE LAW

The coercive law is a branch of the system of laws consisting of all the legal standards which establish the action highly dangerous for the society called penal offences and, of course, the penalties for the persons who did such actions, called offenders.

The object of the coercive law stands in the social relations regarding the activity of coercion ('penal repression') and, on the other hand, in the activity of prevention of the infractional phenomenon. These relations exist between the members of a society and derive from the necessity of defending the essential values of the society and their safe development, as an indispensable condition for the existence and for the normal evolution of a society.

By the concrete regulation of this process of social defence, there are created the juridical coercive relations, having a separate speciffic character.

The members of a society have the duty not to harm or to endanger by their acts the social values of a society or the other members who are title holders of these. On the other hand, they have the right to receive the same attitude from the other members of the society, towards the values they themselves are titulars of.

The necessity of the coercive lawsThe social life, with its various phenomena and causal actions, cannot exist if there is not

a system of defence against the acts determined by individual motives and purposes, that put it in danger.

The totality of the acts of antisocial conduct, of the criminal acts (offences) is a social phenomenon with serious and grave implications in the evolution of the society, called criminality or infractional phenomenon.

Criminality is the object of study for criminology as a science. It studies the causes of the infractional phenomenon, the conditions that lead to offences, the structure and its legislation. Beside the characteristic methods, criminology resorts to the methods used by socio-humanistic sciences in order to reveal the character of criminality, often very complex.

In order to put into practice the duties of the coercive law, there are: the criminal processuallaw, which regulates the coercive action, the trial and the punitive sanctions; the criminal execution of the coercive penalties, as well as their application, according to the norms of penal procedure.

VOCABULARY PRACTICE

offence = aggressive action, attacking; transgression, misdemeanour, illegal oct infraction, breaking / infringement of the law

offender = infringer of the low, delinquent penal = of punishment, concerned with inflicting thispenal law = punishable by lawpenalty = punishment, for breach of low, rule of contractcoercion = constraint, compulsion, restraintduty = moral or legal obligation, what one is bound or ought to do; binding force of what

is right attitude = settled behaviour, as indicating opinionto endanger = to couse danger to, to imperil, to put in danger, to jeopardiseimplication = involving innecessity = constraint or compulsion regarded as a low prevailing through material

universe and governing all human action; constraining power of circumstances, state of things compelling to certain course

motive = what induces a person to oct, reason, incentive, cause, groundaim = direction of a missle at an object, design, purpose, goalconduct = manner of life, behavioursanction = 1. law decree; 2. penalty (also vindictive or punitive) or reword for

(dis)obedience attached to a low, douse containing this; 3. confirmation or ratification of law by supreme authority

SYNONYMScoercive = criminaloffence =infractionoffender = delinquentcoercion =constraint to endanger = to imperil necessity = need motive = reason aim = purpose

ANTONYMShigh -low normal- abnormal to reveal - to cover punitive -vindictive complex -simple often -seldom


1 What does coercive low deal with?2. How can you describe the object of the coercive law?3. Define criminality.4. What does criminality study?5. What does the criminal processuallaw and the criminal executory law regulate?

2. Try to define in your own words the coercive law.


a) Între două state vecine a izbucnit un conflict puternic.b) Procesul dintre soț și soție a durat două luni.c) Este mai important să se urmărească prevenirea accidentului decât să fie pedepsiți cei

vinovati. d) Securitatea socială este pusă în pericol din cauza creșterii criminalității. e) Pentru că nu s-a oprit la somația polițistului, hoțul a fost impușcat. f) Viața socială, cu diversele sale fenomene și acțiuni cauzale, nu poote exista dacă nu se

instituie un sistem de apărare impotriva manifestărilor determinate de motive și scopuri individuale care o pun în pericol.

THE JUDICIARY IN THE UNITED STATES (Part two)The district courts were given original jurisdiction in minor offences against Federal laws

and in a wide range of admiralty cases, the latter making up the burden of their work in early years. In some cases, right of appeal lay to the circuit courts. The circuit courts had original jurisdiction in cases involving larger amounts and more serious offences. The major portion of their work in earlier years was with cases involving state laws in which Federal jurisdiction depended on the fact that the parties were citizens of different states. The Suo preme Court was given the jurisdiction allotted to it by the Constitution and to appellate jurisdiction in certain cases from decisions of the circuit courts and the highest state courts.

The history of the Federal judiciary has been the history of the steady expansion of business and the consequence of this expansion. The expansion has been one of territory, an increase in the settled area requiring judicial service. It has been one of population, in that growth of population within given areas has added to the work of the courts. It has been one of legislation, in that the bulk of Federal legislation to be applied by the courts has grown with the growth of the country and the increasing complexity of the conditions of liVing.

Although the district courts survived and increased in number, they underwent drastic jurisdictional changes by which they were crowded into the field originally occupied by the circuit courts. The circuit courts had a more difficult task of survival. Modified early in 1801 by on oct of Congress creating a number of circuit judgeships and abolishing the requirement that Supreme Court judges ride circuit, the old circuit court system was restored within a few months. In 1869, Congress provided for the appointment of nine circuit judges for the circuits, thereby relieving the judges of the Supreme Court of port of their circuit responsibilities. The increase in the appellate work of the Supreme Court led to demand for future relief. Congress responded with a new measure in 1891. This measure added a new circuit judge to each circuit, withdrew all appellate jurisdictions from the circuit courts and by implication relieved Supreme Court judges of the obligation to ride circuit. The some oct provided for the creation of a circuit court of appeals in each circuit. Upon these courts was conferred the appellate jurisdiction hitherto exercised by the Supreme Court. The circuit courts were finally abolished in 1911 because of the extent to which their work overlapped with that of the district courts.

The Federal juridical system, therefore consists now of the district courts, the circuit courts of appeal and the Supreme Court. The Federal district courts are the bottoms of the regular judicial hierarchy. Between the district courts and the Supreme Court there is a court of appeal in each of the eleven circuits into which the United States is divided. By an act of Congress of 1948, the former circuit courts of appeals were renamed United States Courts of Appeal and the District of Columbia was recognized as constituting one of the eleven circuits).

Provisions with respect to appellate jurisdiction of the Federal courts are exceedingly complex. For example, some cases are taken directly from the district courts to the Supreme Court. Some go from the district courts to the courts of appeals and thence to the Supreme Court. Some cannot go beyond the courts of appeals. The purpose of Congress in prescribing the appellate jurisdiction of the several courts is to provide for the expeditious appeal to the highest court of cases of greatest importance, while limiting or cutting off altogether the right of appeal in those of lesser importance.

The appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is almost entirely discretionary. By the Judiciary Act of 1925, the court itself was constituted by the judge, with only a few exceptions, of what cases it will hear on appeal.

The Federal judiciary, in a narrow sense consists only of these several courts, which are created pursuant to the provisions of the third article of the Constitution. In the exercise of the other powers conferred upon it, however, such as the powers as the govern territories, to grant patents, and to appropriate money to pay claims against the United States. Congress may create other tribunals to exercise judicial functions. These are known as legislative courts, in contrast

with the so-called constitutional courts organized under Article Among them are the courts established in the territories of the United States, the Court of Claims and the Court of Customs and Potent Appeals. Bearing some resemblance to legislative courts, there are independent agencies such as the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Notional Labour Relations Boord and other agencies within some of the departments of the Government, which exercise iudicial functions, but which are not usually classified as iudicial tribunals.


THE PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW

The public international law of conflicts is the totality of the standards and principles that regulates the relations between subjects of the international law -the states and the intergovernmental organizations. In this system governed by the standards of international law of conflicts, the interstate relations have to be ones in which the states are titular of their sovereign rights.

The fundamental principles of the international law contain general rules of conduct, whose observance is essential to the development and co-operation between states, to the maintaining of the international peace and security.

In the Chart of the United Nations, adopted in 1970, there are seven principles:1) not to resort to force and to threat by force;2) the settlement of the international conflicts by peaceful means;3) not to intervene in the internal affairs of one state;4) international co-operation;5) equality of rights for all the nations and the right of nations to selFdetermination; 6) sovereign equality of states; 7) the good faith accomplishment of the assumed duties. To these principles, there were other three more added at the Conference for security and

co-operation held at Helsinki, in 1975:1) the inviolability of the frontiers;2) the territorial integrity of states;3} the observance of the human rights and of the Fundamental liberties.These fundamental principles are the peremptory norms of the internationallaw. The

states cannot depart from these principles in their agreements, in their local or bilateral relations. This proves the importance that all the states confer to these principles in the settlement of their relations.

The fundamental principles have no absolute character. They establish some of the limits of the actions and of the rights of the states. In their co-operation, the states take upon themselves new mutual obligations. Every principle has to be understood properly and has to be applied in connection with the other principles.

There are some standards which aim at rights concerning all the states, but which are not the object of their sovereignty (the liberty of seas, the interdiction of piracy); there are also some other humanitarian standards, considered by all states indispensable in order to guarantee the respecting of the elementary rights of life and of human dignity (the interdiction of genocide and of slavery, the rules and the manners of the war).

VQCABULARY. IDIOMS

public = concerning the people as a whole; done by or for, representing the people international = existing, carried on between different nations conflict = fight, struggle, collision; dashing (of opposed principles)inter = express mutual or reciprocal action or relation, or with sense 'among', 'between' organization = organized body, system or society to govern = 1. to rule with authority, to conduct the policy actions and affairs of state,

subject, despotically or constitutionally, to regulate proceedings of; 2. to rule, to influence, to regulate, to determine (a person, his acts, course or issue of events), to be the predominating influence; 3. to conduct oneself in some way; 4. to constitute a low, rule, standard or principle, to serve to decide

security = 1. thing that guards or guarantees; 2. organization for preventing leakage of information to enemy

co-operation = working together to the some end, to concur in producing an effect threat = 1. declaration of intention to punish or hurt; 2. such menace of bodily hurt or

injury to reputation or property as may restrain person's freedom of action; 3. indication of coming evil

affair 1. thing to be done; concern, business, matter 2. pl. ordinary pursuits of life self-determination = a nation's right to determine its own policy accomplishment = 1. fulfilment, completion; 2. thing done or attained, achievement inviolable = 1. not to be violated; 2. (of laws, persons, places): to be kept sacred from

infraction, profanation to confer = 1. to grant to bestow; 2. to afford, to accord, fo give integrity = wholeness, uprightness, honesty peremptory = imperious, final, imperative, absolutely fixed, dogmatic, dictatorial agreement = 1. mutual understanding, covenant, treaty; 2. contract legally binding on

parties; 3. accordance in opinion to interdict = to prohibit (action); to forbid use of; to restrain (person from doing) interdict = injunction piracy = sea-robbery, sea roving genocide = extermination of a race

SYNONYMSmutual = reciprocal in connection with = in conjunction with interdiction = prohibition manner = habit settlement = regulation conference = congress, meeting observance = respecting indispensable = essential co-operation = concurrence-assistance to assume = to take upon oneself

ANTONYMSinternal - external prohibited - free agreement - disagreement essential - trivial, worthless, unimportant absolute - relativeto affirm - to denyto consider - not to considerfaithful - unfaithfulnational - internationalpeace -war


1. Define the public international law.2. Which are the fundamental principles adopted in 1970?3. Which are the added principles from Helsinki Conference?4. Which of the standards are essential in the relations between states?

5. What do the interstate relations have to be?


a) Dreptul fiecărei ţări este să fie suverană.b) Principiile dreptului international asigură relaţiile bilaterale şi cooperarea între state.c) Aceste principii constituie normele fundamentale ale dreptului international.d) Procuratura a trimis probele la laborator pentru a fi analizate.

3. Explain the following terms:

-international-threat-agreement-to govern-self-determination

4. Use the antonyms of the following words in sentences of your own: external, relative, to consider, war, peace, national.


In the ......... of the United Nations there are ......... principles:1. not to resort to ......... and to threat by ..........2. ......... of rights and the right of nations to ........ .3. sovereign ......... of states4. the good faith accomplishment of the ......... duties5. international ........ .6. nof to ......... in the internal affairs of one state7. the settlement of the international ......... by peaceful means

THE JUDICIARY OF THE UNITED STATES (Part three)Since the business of the Federal courts is clearly deFined, like the Constitution and the

acts of Congress, state and local courts handle most law cases in the United States. In every state the courts are organized in a progressive series. At the bottom of the scale is the justice of the peace, an office of ancient origin which was early established in the United States and which has persisted to the present day. The jurisdiction of the court of justice of the peace is confined to petty civil disputes and breaches of the peace. In cities, this jurisdiction is exercised by police courts and municipal civil courts rather then justice of the peace. Above the petty courts are the trial courts, which hear most of the civil and criminal cases, arising in the states. These intermediate courts are variously called "county courts" (usually of limited jurisdiction), "superior courts" and"circuit courts". At the head of the juridical system of every state there is a court of last resort (known as Supreme Court or Court of Appeals) for all cases arising under the state Constitution and laws. The states, finally, usually have special tribunals for particular purposes. There are, for example, probate courts, small claim courts, children's courts, chancery courts, administrative courts, such as industrial commissions.

The state judicial systems differ greatly among themselves and from the Federal system in matters of appointment and tenure. In the early years, the

selection of judges was made largely by the legislature or indirectly under its control. The Jacksonian period saw a movement toward popular election, particularly in the newer states. In some of the states, including a number of the original thirteen and other older states, judges of appellate courts and courts of general jurisdiction are selected by legislatures or governors or by co-operation between governors and legislatures or senates. The other states resort to election by the people, in more than one half the states on a partisan ballot. The latest method is generally regarded as defective as it involves the judiciary in politics and often fails to result result in the best selection of the personnel.

Tenure varies greatly from state to state and from court to court. The term is usually shortest in the lower courts and longest in those of higher rank. In a few states (Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New HampshireL judges of the higher courts have long terms that often are tantamount to life tenure. Removal of a judge before the expiration of a term is difficult. The machinery of impeachment is available, but is cumbersome and hard to use. A few states authorize removal by the governor on address of both houses of the legislature without resorting to impeachment procedure.

Complexities of procedure have embarrassed the states, as well as the Federal Government. In the middle of the 19-th century, a movement was started for the codification of the procedure with the elimination of the unnecessary technicalities. It was carried forward under the leadership of David Field, of New York, and spread to many other states. A similar movement was started for the codification of the substantive law. Codes were adopted in a number of states and have been satisfactory in part, but they have never entirely fulfilled their intended purpose. More recently, the American Law Institute has attempted to achieve simplification by a restatement of law in the several fields.

Although there is no complete separation of powers in any state or in the Federal Government, the several judiciaries have maintained their strength against legislative and executive departments.

There has been little interFerence with the personnel on the bench, once the personnel have been chosen. There has been little interference with the work of the courts through the alteration of their jurisdiction. On the other hand, the courts have strengthened their position down through the years by resort to judicial review, making themselves final authorities as to the meaning of state and Federal Constitutions. By keeping their interpretations in harmony with conservative sentiments of the times they maintained a prestige which has given added authority to their interpretations. There have been popular outbursts against particular courts at particular times, but seldom against the courts as institutions.

Adapted from 'The Concise Dictionary of American History"

THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT

The Parliament is the legislative body in any country's political system. In Britain, the Parliament consists of two Houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The House of Lords is the highest Court of Appeal in Britain and it is lead by the Lord Chancellor, who is also the head of the judiciary. The House of Commons is lead by the Speaker, who has the role of announcing the members of parliament who want to make a speech with the phrase: "I call upon the honourable member for ... ", naming the constituency for which the man is a member.

The number of parliamentary constituencies in Britain is 640 and each of these contains between 60.000 and 100.000 electors. People are allowed to vote in Britain over the age of 18.

The job of the members of Parliament in Britain is to take care of the general running of the country as a whole. A member of Parliament (M.P.) is also directly responsible to his constituents, who are usually helped by them in problems of bureaucracy and injustice at a local government or even at ministerial level. The link between the member of Parliament and his constituents is very close, meaning that a well-liked candidate from the area may take away votes from his opponent, even though the latter belongs to the party which has the greatest support. This situation is even more relevant at the by-elections, caused by the resignation or death of a member, than in the case of general elections, where everybody wants his party to win as many seats as possible, so that it might form the basis of the next government.

The general elections in Britain are held every five years, except the cases when the Prime Minister wants to make the elections sooner.

The main role of the Parliament is to make laws and this is done in the following way: the Government and the opposition send bills before the Houses of Parliament, which debate them and reach a decision, in favour or against that bill. Usually, the bill is improved by the Houses of Parliament and passed on to the Queen. The bill only becomes a law when the Queen agrees on it and gives the Royal Assent to it.

In Britain, the members of Parliament have also posts in the Government and in various departments and Ministries. So, they also have the power in the administration of the country, besides that of making and approving laws in the Parliament. The most important one is the Cabinet, which is a committee of advice for the British Prime Minister.

The Parliament is also the place where the administration can be criticised, or the Government policies can be challenged. The ministries can be asked embarrassing questions by the opposition, about specific shortcomings or injustices. This is called a motion of censure on Government.

The Parliament has always been described as "the finest debating club in the world", because it is flexible at allowing time for discussions of immediately important issues, but it is obvious that it is much more than that.

BASIC VOCABULARYParliament = counsel forming with the Sovereign the supreme legislative of the United

Kingdom, consisting of House of lords and House of Commons judiciary = the judges of a state collectively chairman = person chosen fo preside meeting, permanent president of a committee Court of Appeal = courf hearing cases previously tried in inferior courts government = 1. the state as an administration or ministry; 2. body or successive bodies

of persons governing a state Cabinet = 1. council room of inner circle of ministers controlling Government policy; 2.

those ministers collectively

shadow cabinet = formed by opposition leaders from prospective hold-the oppositioners of portfolios

the opposition = parliamentary party opposed to that in office to elect = to choose a person by vote general elections choosing, especially by vote of representatives, by-elections = choosing of M.P. to fill vacancy elector = one who has right of election constituent member of a constituency constituency = body of voters who elect a representative M.P. appointment = naming somebody in a certain position resignation = giving up a job, to retire, to concel bill = draft of proposed Act of Parliament bureaucracy = officialism Royal Assent = sanction to sovereign to bill passed by Parliament issue = point in question between contending parties in action shortcoming = defect, imperfection speaker = president officer in House of Commons charged with preservation of order and

having casting vote in case of equal division, similar officer in US' House of RepresentativeLord Chancellor = lord presiding in House of lords and in Court of Appeal

SYNONYMSconstituency = electoral districtelector = voterregister of electors = electoral roleiniustice = unfairnessjustice = fairnessto describe = to set forth in wordsmember = part

ANTONYMSjustice - injusticeappointment - resignationto criticise - to praisedirect - indirectover - underhighest - lowestto ask - to answer


1. What is the British Parliament?2. What does it consist of?3. What is the Lord Chancellor?4. What are the duties of the Speaker?5. How many constituencies is Britain divided into?6. What are the duties of an M.P.?7. How often are general elections held?8. When are by-elections called?9. Who has the right to bring bills before the House?

10. What are the stages the bill passes through?11. When does a bill become a law?12. Who is responsible for the administration of the country?


a) is in charge of the House of lordsb) calls upon M.P.-s who are eager to speakc) is able to voted) is directly responsible to his constituents

3. What is the difference between:

the government - the oppositiona general election - a by-electiona bill - a law

4. Explain the terms:

-legislative body-constituency-opponent-judiciary


a) The chairman of the House of Commons is called the ........ …….b) Britain is divided into 640 parliamentary .... ……. each containing between 60,000 and

100,000 ..........c) A candidate well-liked in the area may take votes from his ..........d) .................must be held every five years.e) After the Queen gives the Royal Assent, the ......... becomes ......... .f) Both the ......... and the ......... bring bills before the House of Commons.

THE PARLIAMENT DURING THE REIGN OF CHARLES ICharles I, who inherited the financial diFficulties which started during his father's reign,

James I, tried to overcome them by summoning Parliament in three instances in order to vote new taxes and loans as well as the levying of tonnage and poundage.

Charles, a weak monarch and politician, provoked and faced the op-. position of Parliament in the form of Petition of Right denying him the right to levy taxes. The religious policy alike proved a matter of debate between King and Parliament.

In 1640, Charles, finding no other way to raise funds, called the Parliament, but when it met, the Commons refused to grant supplies until the King has abandoned all his parliamentary devices for raising money. After three weeks it was dissolved to be called again.

The Long Parliament unaware of the revolutionary meaning of the decisions declared illegal all the financial devices of Charles and abolished most of Tudor's machinery which had been built to control state and church. The Parliament started to impose its own conditions as far as to demand a reform of the church in a Puritan direction. Moreover, the Parliament took the right of appointing the lord lieutenant who controlled the militia.

The King gathered support from among the cavaliers and heads of leading families. The ensuing Civil Wars, one from 1642 to 1646, the second from 1646 to 1651, divided the country into two camps on religious grounds, the Puritans siding with Parliament, the Catholics helping the King. The main support for Parliament came from the commercial classes and the fleet which dealt CI heavy blow to royalty.

During the clashes, the personality of Oliver Cromwell decided the fate of the battles at Marston Moor (1644) and at Naseby (1645) with the help of the New Model Army.

The army's demands that Charles should be executed were not unanimously accepted to the trial which was held in Westminster Hall, on January 3D, 1649; Charles was led forth to his execution outside the Royal Palace, which put an end to one of the most violent conflicts between an English King and Parliament, between two religious forces.

Adapted from "British Life and Civilization" by Livia Deac, Adrian Nicolescu

THE COMMERCIAL LAW

The commercial law consists of the totality of the juridical standards regarding the interposing and the circulation of the merchandise, from the producers to the consumers. It consists of all the operations of producing the goods by transforming the raw materials into more valuable products, activity developed by the makers.

From the juridical point of view, the commercial law establishes not only the production (the industry), but also the circulation (distribution) of the wares.

The AntiquityIn ancient times, the first manifestations of exchange appeared at the same time with the

emerging of the idea of property. In order to satisfy the existential necessities, people started to exchange their products between themselves. This way appeared the barter, a primitive form of exchange.

The continuous increase of the peoples' needs and the magnifying of their relationships determined certain forms of organization, in which they assured the conditions for a great number of people to meet in certain periods of time and in places already established. This way appeared the markets. The Greeks were the first who established rules regarding traders' activity. In the good years of Rome, there were juridical institutions, some of them consisting of the basis of the commerce by representatives ('actio institoria' and 'actio exercitoria').

The Middle AgesIn this period of time, the collapse of the Roman Empire determined the division of the

political power and instead of a uniform law, there appeared the speciffic law for the different state that resulted. In order to defend their rights, the tradesmen had begun to organize themselves in corporations ('universitaria'), which gradually obtained the administrative, juridical and even legislative aUtonomy. A corporation consisted of all the commercial men and handicraftsmen from the same field and the leader was a consul, helped around by councillors. The consul issued internal standards, based on customs, in order to solve the litigations between the members of a corporation.

There was a law of the markets with regulations for all the participants, no matter of their origin and a special procedure of solving the litigation between merchants.

The Modern PeriodIt was the period when the written law of commerce appeared. The first country that

passed from the common-law to the written law for the whole territory was France, starting with Carol IX's edict in 1563. In 1807, the French Commercial Code was adopted; for the first time the dualism of the private law (civil and commercial law) was considered legal.

By the influence of the French Revolution, a great number of countries (Italy, Holland, Spain, Brazil, Belgium, Egypt) took over the French Commercial Code as their own. This Code was the model that helped at the drawing uo of the Romanian Commercial Code, in 1887.

In England and the United States, the common·law is used, establishing rules both for commercial men and non-commercial men.

BASIC VOCABULARY. IDIOMS

commerce = exchange of merchandisemerchandise = commodities for commerce, goods for sale, waresproducer = one who produces articles of consumption

product = thing produced by natural process or manufactureconsumer = user of an articleconsumer’s goods = things which directly satisfy human wants or desires (e.g. food or

clothing)circulation = transmission, distribution (of things, news, coins, books)Antiquity = ancientness, old times, time before Middle Ages, ancient times exchange = act, process of exchanging (of goods, prisoners of war, words)to exchange = to give, to receive (one thing) in place for another; to interchange; to be

received as equivalent forto satisfy = 1. to meet the desires or expectations of, to come up to; 2. to give satisfaction,

to leave nothing to be desired; 3. to be content or pleased with; 4. to demand no more than, to consider enough to do

necessity = constraint or compulsion regarded as a law prevailing through the material universe and governing all human action, needs

barter = exchange of goods or immaterial things for other goodsto assure = to make certain, to ensure the happening of, to ensure, to secure, to make safetrader = dealer, commercial man, tradesman, merchant autonomy = right of self-government, personal freedom, freedom of the will (in Kantian

doctrine), a self governing communityhandicraft = manual skill, art or trade or occupationhandicraftsman = man skilled in a handicraft corporation = united body of persons, especially by one authorized to work as an

individualstatute = 1. a written low of a legislative body; 2. ordinance of a corporation, founder,

intended to be permanentorigin = derivation, beginning of rising from something, person's extraction, source,

starting point, birth, descentedict = order proclaimed by authority, decree

SYNONYMSmerchandise = commodities antiquity = ancientness circulation = distribution needs = necessities barter = truck magnifying = amplification to assure = to ensure to issue = to emit

ANTONYMSproducer - consumerthis - thatthese - thoseto receive - to sendthe first - the lastexistential - non-existentialcommercial - non-commercial


1. What is the commercial law?2. How did the commercial law appear in the ancient times?3. Which were the first organizations of the tradesmen in the Middle Ages?4. When and where was the first Commercial Code adopted?5. Is there any difference between the Commercial Codes of the states?


a) The commercial law establishes not only the, .... …., but also the ..... …of the goods. b) A primitive form of exchange was the ………..c) The……….. were the first who established rules for traders. d) In the Middle Ages the traders had begun to organize themselves in ... ………having

a ......... as leader, helped around by .. ...........e) The French Commercial Code was adopted in ……….. f) In England and the United States, the …………. law is used.

3. Explain the terms 'producer' and 'consumer'; what is the difference between them?

4. Use at least two synonyms for the following words in sentences of your own:

- merchandise - trader- distribution - descent- ancientness - to ensure- to satisfy

TYPES OF TRADE

Wholesale TradeThe wholesaler is an intermediary between the producer and the retailer. His main

functions are: - the breaking of bulk, that is buying in large quantities from the producer and selling in

smaller quantities to the retailer; - warehousing, that is holding stocks to meet fluctuations of demand; - helping to finance distribution by allowing credits to retailers, although paying his own

suppliers promptly; - sometimes preparing a commodity for sale by grading, packing and branding the goods.Since wholesaling is an essential part of the work of distribution, the elimination of the

wholesaler simply means that the work of wholesaling must be undertaken by someone else -the manufacturer or the retailer. Large scale retailers generally buy directly from the manufacturers, but in the case of the multiple shop organizations this merely means that they themselves must then undertake the business of warehousing and distribution of their stock to their branches. Manufacturers of many brandy goods, too, prefer to undertake the distribution of their products to retailers to ensure that they reach the maximum number of retail outlets.

Retail TradeIncreased division of labour and an expanding rage of consumer's goods have led to a

great expansion of the retail trade, which forms the final stage of distribution - the selling of goods to the people who actually wish to use them. The most common retail outlet is the shop. In addition, there are street traders, peddlers, hawkers, market smallholders and the expanding

mail-order business. Most shops are small, but an increasing proportion of retailing is in the hands of large-scale retailers -department stores, multiple shops and societies. A recent development has been the establishment of supermarkets and self-service stores. The main service of the retailer is to ensure that the consumers are offered the things in the form and the quantities they want. He should therefore carry a varied stock. Hire purchase has brought about a large increase in the sale of the more expansive durable consumers' goods.

AuctionWhen a commodity is sold by auction, prospective buyers make bids, the commodity

being sold to the person making the highest bid. This is the usual method of sale on organized commodity markets or produce exchanges, as those for wool, tea or fish, where the commodity cannot easily be graded. The bids of the buyers are influenced by their own personal estimation of the quality of the commodity offered for sale. Commodities that can be fairly accurately graded, such as wheat and cotton, are more usually sold by private treaty. Auctions are not so common at the retail stage, though rare consumers' goods, such as work of art and antiques, are frequently sold by auction. Valuable paintings, jewelry and antiques are sold at well-known auctions.

Essential Elements of a Sales ContractA contract is a mutual bilateral transaction, establishing, modifying or making cease the

right and obligations to it.As a rule, the object of a sales-contract is the transfer of property over certain goods from

the seller to the buyer, for an amount of money, called the price.Under a contract, the vendor is obliged to deliver the goods and transfer his ownership

over them to the buyer; the buyer is obliged to take delivery and pay For the goods he has received. The vendor has the right of cashing the price of the goods he has delivered, the buyer -that of getting a merchandise of the quality and in the quantity agreed upon, with concomitant observance of all other contract stipulations.

The essential elements of a contract are the following: - number of the contract, place and date of conclusion, name of the parties and their legal

address; - denomination of the goods that form the object of the contract; - quantity, quality; - packing and marking;- price;- means and methods of payment;- terms of delivery (place, time); reception;- transport, insurance;- contingencies; claims and penalties; arbitration; jurisdiction;-other clauses (experimental operations, guarantees, technical documentation, taxes and

customs duties, amendments and cancellation);- signatures. The general conditions of sale are very often printed on the reverse side of the contract

and form an integral part thereof.

CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Criminal law and criminal proceedings are concerned with wrongs regarded as committed by the individual against society for which guilty individuals must be punished. In some circumstances, even companies can commit criminal offences. As the objective of civil proceedings is to provide a remedy for the person wronged, usually in the form of damages, the objective of criminal proceedings is to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused person and, if that person is found to be guilty, to punish the wrongdoer and to protect the society.

Part of the purpose of the penalty is also seen as seeking to rehabilitate the wrongdoer. In criminal proceedings a prosecutor, usually the police, institutes a prosecution against the defendant or accused person (sometimes referred to as the accused). The outcome is a determination of guilt or innocence (by verdict if trial is by jury). A finding that the accused person is not guilty is termed on acquittal. If the offence is proved, the court imposes a sentence (usually a fine or a term of imprisonment) or makes some other order (such as a probation or community service order).

In criminal proceedings the prosecutor almost invariably has the burden of proof, which is said to be beyond all the reasonable doubt. The prosecutor must adduce admissible evidence to prove that there is no reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the offence charged. This involves satisfying the tribunal of fact (magistrates or iury) that every essential element of the offence is proved and that the acts of the defendant were done with the requisite intent. When certain defences are raised, such as insanity, the defendant has the burden of proof on the balance of probabilities. In other words, if insanity is raised as a defence, the prosecutor does not have to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the defendant was sane, but rather the defendant must prove that on the balance of probabilities he or she is insane within the legal definition of that term.

The same set of facts may give rise to both civil and criminal proceedings. The most common example is the motor accident where someone is injured because of a driver's bad driving. A civil action by the injured person often follows as well as a prosecution for a driving offence. Another example of overlap might occur in the case of persons who sell dishonesty goods, which tion of law or rule are in their possession for repair. Such action amounts to breach of contrad (a civil wrong) or theft (a crime).

When both civil and criminal cases go on appeal, the terminology again changes. The party appealing is called the appellant and the other party who responds to the appeal is called the respondent. Appeals serve a variety of purposes and can be divided into those concerned with the merits of the decision under appeal and those concerned with the legality of the process by which that decision was reached. A litigant is entitled not only to a fair and proper decision on the merits, but also to a decision arrived at by due process of law.

BASIC VOCABULARY

aquittal = judicial deliverance from a criminal change on a verdict or finding of not guillyto adduce = to bring forward in argument or as evidencerequisite = required or necessary for a particular purpose/ position; indispensableintent = the state of a person's mind which directs his actions toward a specific objectinsanity = such unsoundness of mind as affects legal responsibilily or capacityto overlap = to coincide in port withto have in common withappeal = 1. an application or proceeding for review for a higher tribunal; 2. a forward

question as to the correctness of a ruling by a presiding officer;

3. a formal charge or accusationproceedings = 1. the instituting or carrying on of an action at law; 2. a legal step or

measure wrong = 1. not in accordance with what is morally right or good; 2. deviating from truth

or fact, erroneous; 3. not correct in action, judgement, opinion, method; 4. an invasion of another's right, to this damage; a tort

wrongdoer = one who does wrong, especially a sinner or transgressorwrongdoing = 1. behaviour or action that is wrong, evil or blameworthy; 2. an act that is

wrong, evilpunishment = 1. act of punishing; 2. fact of being punished, as for an offence or fault; 3. a

penalty inflicted for an offence; 4. severe handling or treatmentto provide = to arrange for, to stipulate beforehand, as by a provisiondamage = the estimated money equivalent for detriment or injury sustained

SYNONYMSwrongdoing = misdeed damage =mischief to adduce = to bring into requisite =needed intent = intention insanity =dementia

ANTONYMSdamage - improvement requisite - dispensable insane - sane appellant -respondent


1.What are the criminal low and criminal proceedings concerned with? 2.What is the objective of civil proceedings? 3. What is the objective of criminal rroceedings? 4. What is the schedule of a uimina case? 5.What is the task of the prosecutor in criminal proceedings? 6.Comment on insanity and the burden of proof. 7. What happens when civil and uiminal cases go on appeal?


a) Even companies can commit ......... offences. b) In criminal proceedings a prosecutor institutes a prosecution against a ………..c) The ......... is a determination of guilt or innocence. d) If the ......... is proved, the court imposes a sentence. e) The party ......... is called the appellant and the other party who responds to the appeal is

called the .......... f) ......... serve a variety of purposes. g) A ................. is entitled to a decision arrived at by due process of law.

3. Make sentences of your own with the following words:

- individual - to commit - wrongdoer - probation - breach of contract

4. Which of the following sentences are false and which are true? Correct the false ones:

a) The objective of criminal proceedings is to provide a remedy for the person wronged. b) Another objective of criminal proceedings is to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused person. c) In criminal proceedings the prosecutor has the burden of proof. d) When certain defences are raised, such as insanity, the plaintiff has the burden of proof or the balance of the probabilities. e) In civil an criminal cases, which go on appeal, the terminology doesn't change. f) A defendant is entitled to a fair and proper decision.

PLEADINGS Pleadings are opened by the preparation on behalf of the plaintiff of the statement, or

particulars, of claim. This document is in practice drafted by the plaintiff's solicitor. The statement is a brief account of the material facts upon which the plaintiff relies for the claim. It does not set out the evidence to be adduced in support of the allegations and it contains no argument on the law. Again in practice the statement will be drafted by reference to a standard form precedent for such claims; counsel will suck to leave open every avenue of attack against the defendant.

Typical personal injury statements are divided in four parts: - a statement of the date, time and place of the accident and the persons involved - an allegation of negligence against the defendant following a ritual formula details of the

injuries suffered by the plaintiff and of any damage to the property of the plaintiff and of his actual loss of earnings

- a formal claim for damages The plaintiff claiming personal injuries must also provide a medical report setting out the

nature of the injuries together with a schedule of special damages, to date and to estimate any future expenses and losses, including earnings and possession rights, unless the court has given leave for these to be filed at a later date. If there is any change in the plaintiff's medical condition requiring an additional medical report, a copy of that report must be served on the defendant together with an up-dated schedule of special damages.

On receiving the statement, the defendant must formulate a strategy for response. If some part of the statement of claim is unclear, further and better particulars of the claim can be requested. The Rules of the Supreme Court provide that any allegation of fad is domed to be admitted unless it is specifically denied. If the defendant does not file a defence, then the plaintiff can obtain judgement by default.

Adapted from "The Administration of Justice", by Robin C. White

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