Law – multiple choise tests

Law – multiple choise tests

1. Complete each blank with the right word:

Law, (1) of official rules and regulations, generally found in constitutions, legislation, judicial opinions, and the (2), that is used to govern a society and to control the behaviour of its members. In the most (3).. sense, there are two kinds of law: natural law and positive law. Natural law has (4). recognized since the ancient world to be a general body of rules of right conduct and justice common to all mankind. This concept grew from the observation of the (5). of the laws of nature and their uniformity. Positive law, on the other hand, consists of regulations formulated by the heads of a country or society. In many cases, natural laws have been written (6) positive laws by governments. The prohibition (7) killing, for example, is common to virtually all of mankind, and most nations have enacted laws against it. The nature and functions of law have varied throughout history. In modern societies, some authorized body such as a legislature or a court (8).. the law. It is backed by the (9) power of the state, which enforces the law by means of appropriate penalties or remedies. Law (10).. a variety of functions. Laws against crimes, for example, help to maintain a peaceful, orderly, (11) stable society. Courts contribute to social stability by (12).. disputes in a civilized fashion. Property and contract laws facilitate business (13) and private planning. Laws limiting the powers of government help to provide some degree of freedom that would not otherwise be possible. Law has also been used (14).. a mechanism for social change; for instance, at various times laws have been (15).. to inhibit social discrimination and to improve the quality of individual life in matters of health, education, and welfare.

1. a. organism                        b. forum c. institution d. body

2.a. like b. same c. similar d. such

3. a. general b. generic c. generous d. large

4. a. be b. been c. being d. was

5. a. operating b. operation c. function d. functioning

6.a. in b. inside c. into d. within

7.a. of b. against c. for d. about

8.a. provides b. provide c. make d. makes

9.a. coercitive            b. coercive c. coersive d. obligatory

10.a. deserves                        b. illustrate c. serves d. applies

11.a. relative b. approximate c. relatively d. approximately

12.a. resolving           b. helping c. providing d. closing

13.a. action b. environment c. status d. activity

14.a. as b. for c. against d. such

15.a. resumed                        b. made c. proposed d. passed

2. Read and translate the following text:

Natural Law

Law is not completely a matter of human enactment; it also includes natural law. The best-known version of this view, that God's law is supreme, has had considerable influence in many Western societies. The civil rights movement, for example, was at least partially inspired by the belief in natural law. Such a belief seems implicit in the view that law should serve to promote human dignity, as for instance by the enforcement of equal rights for all.

Natural Law, in ethical philosophy, theology, law, and social theory, is a set of principles, based on what are assumed to be the permanent characteristics of human nature, that can serve as a standard for evaluating conduct and civil laws. Natural law is considered fundamentally unchanging and universally applicable. Thus, natural law may be considered an ideal to which humanity aspires or a general fact, the way human beings usually act. Natural law is contrasted with positive law, the enactments of civil society.

Probably the most famous of the ancient God-giving code, however, is that found in the first five books of the Bible, the laws of Moses. The heart of this code is the Ten Commandments presented by Moses to the people of Israel. These commandments are the basic summary of all moral law designed to regulate the behavior of individuals with regard to each other.

3. Make up question for the following answers:

a. .?

No, it’s not, it also includes natural law.

b. ………………………………………………………………..?

That God’s law is supreme.

c………………………………………………………………….?

To promote human dignity.

d. ………………………………………………………………..?

A standard for evaluating conduct and civil laws.

e…………………………………………………………………..?

Unchanging and applicable everywhere.

f. ………………………………………………………………….?

Positive law.

g……………………………………………………………………?

The laws of Moses.

h. …………………………………………………………………..?

To regulate the behaviour of individuals among themselves.

4. Complete the text with words from the following:

named, valid, between, means, spoke, theory, on, Romans, doctrine, from, erradicate, under

The Ten Commandments

The ancient Greek philosophers were the first to elaborate a (1)of natural law. In the 6th century BC, Heraclitus (2). of a common wisdom that pervades the whole universe, “for all human laws are nourished by one, the divine”. Aristotle distinguished (3).. two kinds of justice: “A rule of justice is natural that has the same validity everywhere, and does not depend (4). our accepting it or not; a rule is legal [conventional] that in the first instance may be settled in one way or the other indifferently.” The Stoics, especially the philosopher Chrysippus of Soli, constructed a systematic natural law (5). According to Stoicism, the whole cosmos is rationally ordered by an active principle, the Logos, variously (6).. God, mind, or fate. Every individual nature is part of the cosmos. To live virtuously (7). to live in accord with one's nature, to live according to reason. Because passion and emotion are considered irrational movements of the soul, the wise individual seeks to (8). the passions and consciously embrace the rational life. This doctrine was popularized among the (9).. by the 1st-century BC orator Cicero, who gave a famous definition of natural law in his De Republica: “True law is right reason in agreement with Nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts (10).. wrongdoing by its prohibitions. There will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable law will be (11) for all nations and for all times.” In the Corpus Juris Civilis a compilation and codification of Roman legal material prepared in 534 (12).. Emperor Justinian I, a jus naturale is acknowledged.

5. Complete the following with the following phrases:

the first to hold a chair of natural law, a higher standard than, it was largely replaced in legal theory by utilitarianism, what the law requires, to those actions and aims compatible with their beliefs, combined this theory, the phrase of the English jurist.

Christian Conceptions

Christians found the natural law doctrine of the Stoics quite (1).. . St Paul spoke of Gentiles who do not have the Mosaic law doing “by nature (2)” (Romans 2:14).

The teaching of St Thomas Aquinas on the natural law is the most widely known. In his Summa Theologiae (Summary Treatise of Theology, 1265-1273) Aquinas called the rational guidance of creation by God the “Eternal Law”. The Eternal Law gives all beings the inclination (3).that are proper to them. Thus, according to Aquinas, it is possible to distinguish good from evil by the natural light of reason.

Modern Theories

The Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius is considered the founder of the modern theory of natural law. The German jurist Samuel von Pufendorf, (4)..in a German university, more fully developed the concept of a law of nature. The 17th-century English philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke proposed an original state of nature from which a social contract arose and (5) with that of natural law. Locke's doctrine that nature had endowed human beings with certain inalienable rights that could not be violated by any governing authority was incorporated in the American Declaration of Independence.

In the 19th century a critical spirit dominated discussions of natural law. The existence of a natural law was generally regarded as unprovable, and (6)., formulated by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham as “the greatest happiness of the greatest number”, and by legal positivism, according to which law is based simply on “the command of the ruler”, in (7). John Austin.

The atrocities committed by Nazi Germany during World War II revived interest in (8) positive law. The United Nations (UN) Charter declared the “faith” of that organization in human rights, and on December 10, 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which, however, is more a moral pronouncement than a legally enforceable treaty.

6. Read and translate the following text:

Ancient Codes

Some historians include among early codes the Book of the Covenant and the Book of the Law of the Old Testament. The heart of this code is the Ten Commandments presented by

Moses to the people of Israel. These commandments are the basic summary of all moral law designed to regulate the behavior of individuals with regard to each other.

One of the best known of the early codes, or collections of written laws, is that of the Babylonian cuneiform Code of Hammurabi, king of Babylon, who lived about 1800 BC. Four fragments of an earlier Babylonian cuneiform code, known as the Code of Lipit-Ishtar, were discovered in about 1900 and deciphered in 1948. The Code of Hammurabi is the most complete remnant of Babylonian law. The background to the code is the body of Sumerian law under which city-states had lived for centuries. The code itself was advanced far beyond ancient tribal customs. The stella on which the code is inscribed originally stood in Babylon's temple of Marduk, the national god. It was discovered at the site of ancient Susa in 1901 by the French archaeologist Jean-Vincent Scheil. He presented it to the Louvre. The code consists of 282 case laws, or judicial decisions, collected toward the end of Hammurabi's reign. The decisions deal with such matters as family, marriage, and divorce; tariffs; trade and commerce; prices; and criminal and civil law. In criminal law the ruling principle for punishment was the ancient lex talionis, or law of retaliation. Penalties were calculated according to the nature of the offense. Capital punishment was common, and the various means of execution were prescribed, depending on the nature of the crime. Neither imprisonment nor forced labor is mentioned in the code. Unintended manslaughter was punished by a fine. Willful murder was not mentioned. Carelessness and neglect in the performance of work was severely punished. In general, the penalties prescribed were an improvement over the brutality of previous Assyrian law.

The ancient Greek city-states began codifying laws in the 7th century BC. The Laws of Gortyn, named after the ancient town of Gortyna, Crete, are regarded as the closest to a systematic statement of ancient Hellenic law.

The Twelve Tables of ancient Roman law are often cited as a classic example of an early code. It was formalized in 451-450 BC from existing oral law by ten magistrates, called decemvirs, and inscribed on tablets of bronze or wood, which were posted in the principal Roman Forum. According to tradition, the code was drawn up to appease the plebs, who maintained that their liberties were not adequately protected by the unwritten law as interpreted by patrician judges. Originally, ten tablets of laws were inscribed; two more were added the following year. The tablets were destroyed in the sack of Rome by the Gauls in 390 BC, but a number of the laws are known through references in later Latin literature. The Twelve Tables covered all categories of the law and also included specific penalties for various infractions. . They were largely a declaration of existing customs concerning such matters as property, payment of debts, and appropriate compensation or other remedies for damage to people. The code underwent frequent changes but remained in effect for nearly a thousand years.

The Twelve Tables serve as a historical basis for the widespread modern belief that fairness in law demands that it be in written form. These tables and their Roman successors, including the Justinian Code, led to civil law codes that provide the main source of law in much of modern Europe, South America, and elsewhere.

Other compilations of law include the Hindu Code of Manu, believed to date from about AD 400, and the code of the Chinese Tang dynasty, issued in AD 630. All other societies in the ancient world devised sets of laws. In the 7th century BC, a lawgiver named Draco drew up a very harsh code that punished offenses, no matter how trivial, with death. Not many years later, another Greek lawgiver, Solon, repealed all but the laws dealing with murder. In the Greek city-state of Sparta, there was a legendary lawgiver named Lycurgus who, after giving the Spartans a code of law, left the city with the instruction that the laws were not to be changed until he returned. He never did return.

7. Answer the followingquestions based on the previous text:

a. Why is the Old Testament considered one of the early codes?

b. Who was Hammurabi?

c. When was the Code of Lipit-Ishtar deciphered?

d. Where did the stells inscribed with the code originally stand?

e. What does the code consist of?

f. What do its decisions deal with?

g. What does lex talionis mean?

h. How were penalties calculated?

i. What offences are not mentioned in the code?

j. When did the Greek city-states begin writing law codes?

k. When were the 12 Tables of ancient Roman law formalised?

l. Who were the decemvirs?

m. Why was this code drawn up?

n. When were the tablets destroyed?

o. What were they concerned with?

p. Why is Draco renowned in legal history?

q. What did Solon do?

r. Who was Lycurgus?

8.Complete the following with one word from the list:

When a crime is (1)________, the police will (2)______ the (3)_______ as soon as possible. Following the arrest the (4)________ must be read to the suspect straightaway. Then the suspect must be conveyed to the police station for questioning. The suspect is entitled to (5) _________ by a lawyer during the interview. He or she may be held for up to 24 hours in the first instance, and this period may only be extended on application to the magistrates court. At the expiration of this period the suspect must either be formally (7)________ with an offence or (8)_______. If charged, the suspect may either be released on (8)________, or he or she may be (9)________ if the offence is serious enough. If the latter occurs, his lawyer is entitled to make an (10)______ before the magistrates court. If this application is successful, conditional or unconditional bail may be granted. Examples of conditional bail might be that the accused must reside at a particular address (such as a bail hostel) or submit to a (11)__________. Typically, the (12)________ will involve several court hearings before final trial of the matter. At one of these preliminary hearings, the defendant will be required to (13)______. If he or she pleads guilty then his or her (14) ____________ will make a (15)________ to assist the court in deciding about (16)________. If the defendant maintains his or her innocence there will be a trial. At the trial, the (17)_________ will first be (18)___________. After that, prosecution counsel will open the case and evidence will then be heard from (19)_______. Once all the evidence has been heard, both counsel will have the opportunity to make closing speeches to the court. The judge will then direct the jury to retire to consider their (20) ________.

a) jury

b) charged

c) remanded in custody

d) curfew

e) verdict

f) sentencing

g) enter a plea

h) application for bail

i) released

j) plea in mitigation

k) prime suspect

l) arrest

m) sworn in

n) proceedings

o) caution

p) legal representation

r) committed

s) witnesses

t) police bail

u) counsel

9. Many words which are used in everyday language can have a different meaning when they are used in legal contexts. Use the items in italics in sentences (1) to (10) below (where they are used in their everyday context) to fill the gaps in the legal context sentences (a) to (j) which follow.

1) Most citizens prefer to live peacefully.

2) The hotel provides only bed and breakfast.

3) The barrister stood up and addressed the jury.

4) The letter was sent by express mail.

5) The police found new evidence.

6) I am afraid we only have instant coffee.

7) The Roman Emperors ruled a large part of Europe for several centuries.

8) It was a great relief to the parents when their daughter returned home safely.

9) He held his knife in his left hand.

10) The trousers are alright but the jacket does not fit.

a) The problem of long delays in hearing cases will have to be _________.

b) The prosecutor decided to _________ charges against the suspect.

c) The judge ___________ that the evidence was inadmissible.

d) The Court of Appeal __________ that the defendant was liable.

e) The magistrates saw __________ to punish the defendant with imprisonment.

f) The judge decided that the precedent did not apply in the __________ case.

g) The statute ________ for the compulsory wearing of seat-belts in cars.

h) The defendant gave ___________ instructions to his lawyer.

i) A majority of the Court of Appeal __________ for the appellant.

j) The judge refused to grant __________ to the plaintiff.

10. Are the statements set out below true or false?

1) The police are only allowed to hold a suspect for 24 hours without charging him or her. (true/false)

(2) The police have final word over whether bail is granted to a suspect. (true/false)

(3) Bail can be granted without a curfew attached as a condition. (true/false)

(4) The first thing that happens at trial is that the jury are sworn in. (true/false)

(5) The witnesses are heard after the closing speeches. (true/false)

11. The sentences below all contain certain words or phrases that are incorrect in the context and should be replaced by a different word or phrase. Locate these words and phrases and substitute the correct terminology. Note that there is only one correct alternative in each sentence.

1) There were three defendants in court, all of who were charged with serious offences.

2) The company, that was based in Birmingham, became insolvent due to the managing director’s fraudulent dealings.

3) The accused claimed that he did not break into the house – he said that the door was non-locked, and he merely pushed it open and wandered in.

4) The judge is entitled to send you to prison for this offence, and it is quite likely that she can do so.

5) In accordance with the witness, the accused was not in the area when the crime was committed.

6) The defendant was shown to have lied to almost everyone – specially his lawyer.

7) This legal principle derives solely from common law, and is therefore unstatutory.

8) We implied from the judge’s words that she did not believe the evidence given by the witness.

9) There were less people in the public gallery on the second day of the trial than there had been on the first.

10) The witness alleged that the defendant was the man what she saw outside the building that night.

12. Read the following extract from a reference book on criminal law. Choose the best word or phrase to fill each gap from A, B, C or D below.

In Callow v Tillstone (1900) a negligent (1) _____________ of a (2) ___________ by a veterinary surgeon had (3) _________ in a butcher selling meat which was (4) _______ for human consumption. The butcher had (5) _______ the veterinary surgeon’s certificate and would have had no reason to believe that he was in breach of the law. He was convicted on the basis that the (6) _________ was one of strict liability. In other words, his knowledge of the condition of the meat and his (7)____________ about its sale were held to be (8) __________ – he had in fact sold meat which was unfit for human consumption. The veterinary surgeon was charged with aiding and abetting the offence. To add to the butcher’s misery, the veterinary surgeon who had certified that the meat was (9) ________ had his conviction for aiding and abetting quashed because aiding and abetting required knowledge of the facts and an intention to encourage. Although he had been negligent in his examination of the animal it could not be (10) ___________ that he knew the meat was unsound. (1)

(1) a) examination b) study c) check d) registration

(2) a) piece of meat b) corpse c) cadaver d) carcass

(3) a) resulted b) ended c) eventuated d) concluded

(4) a) bad                               b) unfit c) unsuitable d) dangerous

(5) a) depended on b) trusted in c) relied on d) faith in

(6) a) crime                            b) misdemeanour c) offence d) penalty

(7) a) beliefs b) plans c) intentions d) insights

(8) a) unpersuasive b) of no legal effect c) inadmissible d) irrelevant

(9) a) sound b) fresh c) edible d) safe

(10) a) demonstrated b) certain c) proved d) shown

13. Consider the scenario outlined below in the light of the Criminal Damage Act 1971. What points would tend to incriminate Cyril and what points can be made in his defence? Write a brief memo outlining the pros and cons of Cyril’s position.

Cyril goes to his local shop to buy a packet of cigarettes. As he leaves the shop he meets a friend and stops to talk to her. While doing so he lights a cigarette and throws the match away. After his friend leaves, Cyril notices that match has set light to some papers in the doorway of the shop. The shop is now closed so Cyril walks away. The fire spreads and causes considerable damage to the shop. Cyril has been charged under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 for ‘damaging by fire a house intending to do damage to such property or recklessly as to whether such property was damaged’.

14. Tort law is the name given to a body of law that addresses, and provides remedies for, civil wrongs not arising out of contractual obligations. A person who suffers legal damages may be able to use tort law to receive compensation from someone who is legally responsible, or 'liable,' for those injuries. Generally speaking, tort law defines what constitutes a legal injury and establishes the circumstances under which one person may be held liable for another's injury. Torts cover intentional acts and accidents.

For instance, Alice throws a ball and accidentally hits Brenda in the eye. Brenda may sue Alice for losses occasioned by the accident (e.g., costs of medical treatment, lost income during time off work, pain and suffering, etc.). Whether or not Brenda wins her suit depends on if she can prove Alice engaged in tortious conduct. Here, Brenda would attempt to prove Alice had a duty and failed to exercise the standard of care which a reasonable person would render in throwing the ball.

One of the main topics of the substance of tort law is determining the 'standard of care' - a legal phrase that means distinguishing between when conduct is or is not tortious. Put another way, the big issue is whether a person suffers the loss from his own injury, or whether it gets transferred to someone else.

Going back to the example above, if Alice threw the ball at Brenda on purpose, Brenda could sue for the intentional tort of battery. If it was an accident, Brenda must prove negligence. To do this, Brenda must show that her injury was reasonably foreseeable, that Alice owed Brenda a duty of care not to hit her with the ball, and that Alice failed to meet the standard of care required.

In much of the western world, the touchstone of tort liability is negligence. If the injured party cannot prove that the person believed to have caused the injury acted with negligence, at the very least, tort law will not compensate them. Tort law also recognizes intentional torts and strict liability, which apply to defendants who engage in certain actions.

In tort law, injury is defined broadly. Injury does not just mean a physical injury, such as where Brenda was struck by a ball. Injuries in tort law reflect any invasion of any number of individual 'interests.' This includes interests recognized in other areas of law, such as property rights. Actions for nuisance and trespass to land can arise from interfering with rights in real property. Conversion and trespass to chattels can protect interference with movable property. Interests in prospective economic advantages from contracts can also be injured and become the subject of tort actions. A number of situations caused by parties in a contractual relationship may nevertheless be tort rather than contract claims, such as breach of fiduciary duty.

Tort law may also be used to compensate for injuries to a number of other individual interests that are not recognized in property or contract law, and are intangible. This includes an interest in freedom from emotional distress, privacy interests, and reputation. These are protected by a number of torts such as infliction, privacy torts, and defamation. Defamation and privacy torts may, for example, allow a celebrity to sue a newspaper for publishing an untrue and harmful statement about him. Other protected interests include freedom of movement, protected by the intentional tort of false imprisonment.

The equivalent of tort in civil law jurisdictions is delict. The law of torts can be categorised as part of the law of obligations, but unlike voluntarily assumed obligations (such as those of contract, or trust), the duties imposed by the law of torts apply to all those subject to the relevant jurisdiction. To behave in 'tortious' manner is to harm another's body, property, or legal rights, or possibly, to breach a duty owed under statute. One who commits a tortious act is called a 'tortfeasor'. Torts is one of the American Bar Association mandatory first year law school courses. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tort )

15. Answer the questions:

1. What is tort law?

2. What does ”liable” mean?

3. What does tort cover?

4. What does ”standard of care” mean?

5. What is the touchstone of tort liability?

16. Ask questions for the following answers:

If the injured party cannot prove the defendant acted with negligence.

No, it doesn’t only refer to physical injury.

Any invasion of individual rights.

Interfering with rights in real property.

Defamation and privacy torts.

Anyone who commits a tortious act.

17. Complete the following with the right word from the text:

1. It is …………… that you should wear a uniform at school.
2. It is a …………… act to deliberately slap someone’s face.
3. He sells houses, he’s a ……………… estate agent.
4. Breach of contract can become the …………. of tort actions.
5. They …………. her for trespass.
6. The TV star won a suit against The Sun for ………………
7. In civil law jurisdictions, tort is equivalent to ………………..
8. The ……………… duty obligates a fiduciary (as an agent or trustee) to act with loyalty and honesty and in a manner consistent with the best interests of the beneficiary of the fiduciary relationship (as a principal or trust beneficiary).
9. The tort of intentionally or negligently causing emotional distress is also called ……………….. of mental distress.
10. If a neighbour interferes with a tenant’s quiet enjoyment of their property, either by creating smells, sounds, pollution or any other hazard that extends past the boundaries of the property, the affected party may make a claim in ……………….
11. ……. is a concept of civil law in which a willful wrong or an act of negligence gives rise to a legal obligation between parties even though there has been no contract between the parties.
12. An action taken by a court of law to enforce a right, impose a penalty, or make some other court order to the purpose of resolving a dispute is called a judicial ……………

18. Translate into English:

1. A fost condamnat la plata de daune pentru ξncalcarea proprietații vecinului sau.

2. Chiriașul a pretins daune ξn justiție pentru ξncalcarea contractului de ξnchiriere.

3. Tocmai s-au adaugat ξn contract doua clauze referitoare la prejudicii.

4. A fost gasit responsabil pentru vatamarea corporala a colegului sau.

5. Deși ranirea lor nu era complet previzibila, a fost acționat ξn judecata pentru prejudicii aduse persoanelor implicate ξn accidentul de ski.

19.  Complete the following with words from the list:

prohibited; solitary; composed; corporal; on; imposed; property; supervision; failure; parole

Criminal law is distinctive for the uniquely serious potential consequences or sanctions for (1)…………… to abide by its rules. Every crime is (2)……………..of criminal elements. Capital punishment may be (3)………………. in some jurisdictions for the most serious crimes. Physical or (4)………….. punishment may be imposed such as whipping or caning, although these punishments are (5)……………….. in much of the world. Individuals may be incarcerated in prison or jail in a variety of conditions depending (6)……………… the jurisdiction. Confinement may be (7)……………… . The length of incarceration may vary from a day to life. Government (8)……………. may be imposed, including house arrest, and convicts may be required to conform to particularized guidelines as part of a (9)…………….. or probation regimen. Fines also may be imposed, seizing money or (10)…………………. from a person convicted of a crime.

6. Five objectives are widely accepted for enforcement of the criminal law by punishments: rehabilitation and restitution. Jurisdictions differ on the value to be placed on each.

• Retribution - Criminals ought to suffer in some way. This is the most widely seen goal. Criminals have taken improper advantage, or inflicted unfair detriment, upon others and consequently, the criminal law will put criminals at some unpleasant disadvantage to 'balance the scales.' People submit to the law to receive the right not to be murdered and if people contravene these laws, they surrender the rights granted to them by the law. Thus, one who murders may be murdered himself. A related theory includes the idea of 'righting the balance.'
• Deterrence - Individual deterrence is aimed toward the specific offender. The aim is to impose a sufficient penalty to discourage the offender from criminal behavior. General deterrence aims at society at large. By imposing a penalty on those who commit offences, other individuals are discouraged from committing those offences.
• Incapacitation - Designed simply to keep criminals away from society so that the public is protected from their misconduct. This is often achieved through prison sentences today. The death penalty or banishment have served the same purpose.
• Rehabilitation - Aims at transforming an offender into a valuable member of society. Its primary goal is to prevent further offence by convincing the offender that their conduct was wrong.
• Restitution - This is a victim-oriented theory of punishment. The goal is to repair, through state authority, any hurt inflicted on the victim by the offender. For example, one who embezzles will be required to repay the amount improperly acquired. Restitution is commonly combined with other main goals of criminal justice and is closely related to concepts in the civil law.

20. Derive verbs from the following nouns: rehabilitation, deterrence, restitution, penalty, banishment, offence.

21. Derive nouns from the following verbs: prevent, convince, relate, inflict, repay, serve, embezzle, commit, transform, require, acquire, discourage, submit, contravene.

22. Employment law

1.1 Overview of employment law

Employment law governs the relations between the employer and the employee and the conditions under which work occurs. In the UK and the US, labour relations are not as heavily regulated as in, for example, most continental European countries. Therefore, the relationship between the employer and the employee is governed to a great extent by the terms of the employment contract which the parties have agreed. However, the following principles are generally accepted in most spheres of employment:

- Discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy or membership of a trade union is not permitted (although there are sometimes certain exceptions to some of these).

- All employees have certain statutory rights, including entitlement to at least the national minimum wage (if applicable), equal opportunities, itemised pay statements, equal pay for like work, maternity rights and benefits, notice of termination of employment, a healthy and safe working environment, statutory sick pay, time off (vacation, public duties, maternity/paternity leave, trade union activities etc), protected rights on transfer of a business, written statement of terms and conditions of employment.

1.2 Employment contracts

Employment contracts may either be concluded for an indefinite period or on a fixed-term, short-term or part-time basis. In most cases, employers that employ staff on fixed term contracts are obliged to:

- Pay the same hourly and overtime rate as for permanent staff.

- Ensure that fixed-term employees are not treated less favourably than permanent staff (with regard to sick or maternity pay, holiday and bonus entitlement etc).

- Avoid discrimination over access to pension schemes.

- Avoid excluding fixed-term employees from training.

- Advise fixed-term employees of any available permanent positions within the business.

A typical employment contract will contain clauses dealing with the following:

- Commencement and job title

- Salary

- Deductions

- Hours of employment

- Holiday

- Sickness

- Collective agreements

- Pension

- Termination

- Confidentiality

- Anti-competition

- Disciplinary procedures

- Notices

- Staff Handbook

- Governing law

- Data protection.

1.3 Termination of employment contracts

Fixed-term contracts of employment expire without notice once the agreed period has finished. An employment contract for an indefinite period can be terminated by either party on giving the required period of notice. The notice period will usually be specified in the employment contract.

Prior to giving notice to an employee in a redundancy situation, the employer must consider whether the employee can be employed in another capacity in the organisation, or whether he or she can be practicably retrained to fill another position. In all cases the employee must be informed as soon as possible about the impending redundancy and must be allowed to take time off to look for other employment.

An employee may be dismissed without notice if he or she is guilty of gross misconduct. What constitutes gross misconduct will vary from case to case, but typical examples include theft, damage to the employer’s property, incapacity for work due to being under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs, physical assault, and gross insubordination.

1.4 Wrongful dismissal

Wrongful dismissal refers to a situation where the employer has dismissed the employee in such a way as to breach the employment contract. It should be differentiated from unfair dismissal.

1.5 Unfair dismissal

Unfair dismissal can be described as dismissal which is technically not in breach of the employment contract but which is illegal because it breaches the employee’s statutory right not to be unfairly dismissed from work. Note that generally speaking, unfair dismissal is regarded by employment tribunals as more serious than wrongful dismissal, and claimants are accordingly often awarded higher sums of money for unfair dismissal claims than for those in respect of wrongful dismissal. However, an employee must be employed for at least one year to qualify for the right to claim unfair dismissal, although rights do arise where dismissal is for sex, race or disability discrimination.

1.6 Transfer of undertakings

Prior to the introduction of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 (commonly known as ‘TUPE’), the general position under UK law was that the transfer of a business from one owner to another caused the termination of the employment contracts of all employees.

This is no longer the case, since TUPE provides that a ‘relevant transfer’ shall not terminate a person’s contract of employment and the contract continues after the transfer as if it had been made between the employee and the transferee of the business.

A ‘relevant transfer’ is defined as ‘a transfer from one person to another of an undertaking situated immediately before the transfer in the United Kingdom or a part of one which is so situated’.

(http://www.forum-legal.com/Employment_TOC.pdf)

23.Find the equivalents for: concediere abuziva, drepturi legale, angajat temporar, concediu de odihna, concediu de boala, contract de munca, regulament pentru personal, sindicat, stare civila, aviz de concediere, salariu minim, concediu de maternitate/ paternitate, angajat, angajator, jumatate de norma, prima, schema de pensie, angajare pe o perioada nedeterminata, clauza anti-concurența, proprietar, reclamant, disponibilizare, conduita necorespunzatoare, ξncalcare a contractului, a ocupa un post.

24.Answer the following questions:

1. What does employment law govern?

2. What statutory rights do all employees have?

3. How may employment contracts be concluded?

4. Which clauses does a typical contract contain?

5. How can an  employment contract for an indefinite period be terminated?

6. How long should an employee be employed before he can claim unfair dismissal?

7. What is a ”relevant transfer”?

25.Translate into English:

1. Angajata a solicitat concediul de maternitate de doi ani la care avea dreptul legal prin contractul de munca.

2. Este de datoria angajatorului de a se asigura ca angajații temporari sunt tratați ξn același mod ca și angajații permanenți.

3. Ξnainte de a fi disponibilizați, angajații companiei au primit un preaviz.

4. Deși aveau dreptul la plata orelor suplimentare, angajaților nu au primit drepturile cuvenite si au declanșat greva.

5.     Contractul de munca poate fi ξncheiat de oricare dintre parți dupa expirarea perioadei legale de preaviz.

1. Make up sentences to which the underlined words are the answers:

The Romanian legal system is based on the Napoleonic Code. The judiciary is to be independent, and judges appointed by the president are not removable. The president and other judges of the Supreme Court are appointed for a term of 6 years and may serve consecutive terms. Proceedings are public, except in special circumstances provided for by law. The Constitutional Court adjudicates the constitutionality of challenged laws, and decides on appeals from the regular court system concerning the unconstitutionality of laws and decrees. The court consists of nine judges, appointed for a term of 9 years. Three judges are appointed by the Chamber of Deputies, three by the Senate, and three by the president of Romania.

2. Fill in with the appropriate word:

terms two state to system armed confirmed elected market framework who proclaims human protect with

Romania's 1991 constitution (1)… Romania a democracy and (2)… economy, in which human dignity, civic rights and freedoms, the unhindered development of (3)… personality, justice, and political pluralism are supreme and guaranteed values. The constitution directs the state to implement free trade, (4)… the principle of competition, and provide a favorable (5)… for production. The constitution provides for a President, a Parliament, a Constitutional Court and a separate (6)… of lower courts that includes a Supreme Court. The (7)… -chamber Parliament, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, is the law-making authority. Deputies and senators are (8)… for 4-year terms by universal suffrage. The president is elected by popular vote for a maximum of two 4-year (9)…. He is the Chief of State, charged (10)… safeguarding the constitution, foreign affairs, and the proper functioning of public authorities. He is supreme commander of the (11)… forces and chairman of the Supreme Defense Council. According (12)… the constitution, he acts as mediator among the power centers within the state, as well as between the (13)… and society. The president nominates the prime minister, (14)… in turn appoints the government, which must be (15)… by a vote of confidence from Parliament. (Source: U.S. Department of State)

3. In each line of the following text there is an extra word (some lines are correct!):

……….A Romanian lawyer is an 'avocat.' There are no private law firms in the ……….Romania; every avocat is works in an avocat's office, and a group of from two ……….to six such offices forms a barou (from the French barreau). There are in total ……….all about 4,500 advocates, grouped in 41 barous (one for each district and one ……….for the city of Bucharest), which form, together, Uniunea Avocatilor din ……….Romania (The Advocates' Union of Romania). Candidates for the bar must to ……….obtain an approved law degree; the course lasts four years. Graduates must ……….then complete two years of the supervised practical training leading to a Bar ……….Examination. Applicants are then fully qualified. (Source: Kime's Directory

4. Translate into English:

a. Toti candidatii la Facultatea de Drept trebuie sa sustina un examen.

b. Presedintele tarii este ales prin vot universal pentru o perioada de patru ani.

c. Pentru a-si desavβrsi pregatirea, un medic trebuie sa treaca printr-o perioada de rezidentiat.

d. Acest angajat este responsabil de bunul mers al activitatilor din acest departament.

e. Cazul a fost adus ξn fata curtii supreme, dar a fost retrimis la tribunalul inferior din cauza unui viciu de procedura.

1 Legal Notes

1.1 What is crime?

Here are two definitions of crime used in English law: ‘An act (or sometimes a failure to act) that is deemed by statute or by the common law to be a public wrong and is therefore punishable by the state in criminal proceedings.’ (Oxford Dictionary of Law)

‘It is not simply anything which the legislature chooses to call a “crime”. It is not simply anti-social conduct which public officers are given a responsibility to suppress. It is not simply any conduct to which a legislature chooses to attach a 'criminal' penalty. It is conduct which, if duly shown to have taken Forum Legal English by lawyers for lawyers 5 place, will incur a formal and solemn pronouncement of the moral condemnation of the community.’ Smith and Hogan, Criminal Law (Butterworths 1988) pp. 22-24

1.2 What makes a criminal offence?

The basic maxim applicable to criminal law is actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea = an act does not make a person guilty of a crime unless that person's mind is also guilty. In other words, in most cases, crime requires an element of intention to do the act which constitutes the crime. Each crime is therefore made up of a mental element known as mens rea and a physical element known as actus reus.

1.3 Actus reus

Actus reus is the unlawful act or behaviour, but includes other factors (e.g. an omission to fulfil a legal duty may constitute an actus reus). The actus reus of an offence may accordingly be defined as:

(i) the CONDUCT which is the central feature of the crime;

(ii) the surrounding material CIRCUMSTANCES

(iii) the result/CONSEQUENCES of the defendant's actions.

An unlawful intention may be established by itself, but this is not per se punishable. An actus reus must be established in each case. As noted above, in certain cases omission to act can constitute an actus reus. For example, in the case of R v Instan the defendant neglected to give food to P, a helpless invalid in his care, who as a result died of malnutrition. The court held that the defendant had breached his common law duty to care for P. Another example of a crime of omission is provided by the case of R v Miller [1983] 2 AC 161: The defendant was a vagrant who was squatting in an unoccupied house. One night he lit a cigarette before falling asleep and later woke to find that the cigarette had set fire to the mattress. He did nothing to extinguish the fire but moved to another room where he again fell asleep. The fire caused considerable damage to the house. Miller was convicted of arson. His appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal and he appealed to the House of Lords. Lord Diplock stated: ‘I see no rational ground for excluding from conduct capable of giving rise to criminal liability, conduct which consists of failing to take measures that lie within one's power to counteract a danger that one has oneself created, if at the time of such conduct one's state of mind is such as constitutes a necessary ingredient of the offence.’

1.4 Voluntariness

It is an essential element of an crime that the defendant controlled his or her actions – that these actions were willed. In certain cases, however, the defence of automatism can be raised. This refers to unconscious involuntary conduct caused by some external factor. Examples include sleepwalking, hypnotic trance or the acts of a diabetic suffering a hypoglycaemic episode. It is not a defence if this state is self-induced (e.g. by taking excessive drink or drugs). Duress is also a complete defence – the essence of duress is that the defendant's actions were involuntary because his or her will to act was overborne by threats of immediate death or serious injury. The defence of provocation is a mitigatory defence which only applies in cases of murder. Provocation refers to the situation where the defendant alleges that he or she totally lost control as a response to another's provocative conduct. If accepted by the court, provocation is sufficient to convert what would otherwise have been murder into the lesser offence of manslaughter. In the case of R v Duffy (1949), Devlin J stated that, ‘provocation is some act, or series of acts, done by the dead man to the accused, which would cause in any reasonable person, and actually causes in the accused, a sudden and temporary loss of self-control, rendering the accused so subject to passion as to make him or her for the moment not master of his mind’.

1.5 Mens rea

The term refers to the mental element of a crime, literally a ‘guilty mind’. However, different categories of crime require different levels of mental intention. Certain offences (e.g. minor traffic offences) are described as strict liability offences – meaning that liability may be imposed upon the defendant without the need to prove intent on the part of the defendant. Of those crimes that do require some level of mens rea intent, three categories may be distinguished:

(1) offences requiring intention/knowledge (= an intention to bring about an event together with foresight that that event will ensue from the conduct used).

(2) offences requiring a reckless state of mind (= where the risk of the consequences of the defendant's action occurring would be obvious to a reasonable person, but the defendant closes his or her mind to this obvious risk).

(3) offences requiring a ‘special mental state’, e.g. dishonesty in the crime of theft.

1.6 The coincidence of actus reus and mens rea

We have seen that in most cases there are two elements to criminal liability – actus reus and mens rea. In addition to proving these elements the prosecution must also prove that these elements were concurrent. In most cases these elements will coincide in the sense that at the time the consequence occurred the accused possessed the requisite mental element. However, in certain offences involving series of acts or transactions the position is more complicated. Here are two cases that illustrate this point.

Thabo Meli

In Thabo Meli (1954) the appellants acting in concert lured a man into a hut, attacked him, and, believing him to be dead, took his body to a cliff and rolled it over the edge in the hope of making the death look like an accident. It transpired that at the time he was pushed over the cliff he was actually still alive and later died from exposure whilst lying unconscious at the foot of the cliff.

It was argued for the appellants that two acts had been carried out, the attack in the hut where there was clear intent to kill and the second in pushing the victim over the cliff where there was no intent to kill as they believed him already to be dead. It was maintained that the first act did not cause death, and that the second which did, was not accompanied by the mens rea of murder, although they could be guilty of manslaughter. The court refused to divide up what was in reality one transaction. The second act was dependent upon the first which in turn was carried out as a result of the prior planning.

Church

In Church (1966) similar reasoning was applied, although there was no antecedent plan. The appellant had taken a woman to his van for sexual purposes. He was apparently unable to satisfy her and she slapped his face. A fight ensued and he rendered her unconscious. He attempted to revive her for approximately 30 minutes but failed. He then panicked and threw her body into a nearby river. It was proved that she had actually died of drowning.

The court applied the reasoning in Thabo Meli and held that there had been a series of acts culminating in the death of the victim - and held that the accused was guilty of reckless manslaughter.

2 Language Exercises

2.1 Criminal law terminology

Read the passage below and then do the exercises based on it.

When a crime is (1)________, the police will (2)______ the (3)_______ as soon as possible. Following the arrest the (4)________ must be read to the suspect straightaway. Then the suspect must be conveyed to the police station for questioning. The suspect is entitled to (5) _________ by a lawyer during the interview. He or she may be held for up to 24 hours in the first instance, and this period may only be extended on application to the magistrates court. At the expiration of this period the suspect must either be formally (7)________ with an offence or (8)_______. If charged, the suspect may either be released on (8)________, or he or she may be (9)________ if the offence is serious enough. If the latter occurs, his lawyer is entitled to make an (10)______ before the magistrates court. If this application is successful, conditional or unconditional bail may be granted. Examples of conditional bail might be that the accused must reside at a particular address (such as a bail hostel) or submit to a (11)__________. Typically, the (12)________ will involve several court hearings before final trial of the matter. At one of these preliminary hearings, the defendant will be required to (13)______. If he or she pleads guilty then his or her (14) ____________ will make a (15)________ to assist the court in deciding about (16)________. If the defendant maintains his or her innocence there will be a trial. At the trial, the (17)_________ will first be (18)___________. After that, prosecution counsel will open the case and evidence will then be heard from (19)_______. Once all the evidence has been heard, both counsel will have the opportunity to make closing speeches to the court. The judge will then direct the jury to retire to consider their (20) ________. Exercise 1: criminal law terminology Insert the terminology below in the correct places in the text above:

a) jury

b) charged

c) remanded in custody

d) curfew

e) verdict

f) sentencing

g) enter a plea

h) application for bail

i) released

j) plea in mitigation

k) prime suspect

l) arrest

m) sworn in

n) proceedings

o) caution

p) remanded in custody

q) legal representation

r) committed

s) witnesses

t) police bail

u) counsel

Exercise 2: Words in legal contexts

Many words which are used in everyday language can have a different meaning when they are used in legal contexts. Use the items in italics in sentences (1) to (10) below (where they are used in their everyday context) to fill the gaps in the legal context sentences (a) to (j) which follow.

1) Most citizens prefer to live peacefully.

2) The hotel provides only bed and breakfast.

3) The barrister stood up and addressed the jury.

4) The letter was sent by express mail.

5) The police found new evidence.

6) I am afraid we only have instant coffee.

7) The Roman Emperors ruled a large part of Europe for several centuries.

8) It was a great relief to the parents when their daughter returned home safely.

9) He held his knife in his left hand.

10) The trousers are alright but the jacket does not fit.

a) The problem of long delays in hearing cases will have to be _________.

b) The prosecutor decided to _________ charges against the suspect.

c) The judge ___________ that the evidence was inadmissible.

d) The Court of Appeal __________ that the defendant was liable.

e) The magistrates saw __________ to punish the defendant with imprisonment.

f) The judge decided that the precedent did not apply in the __________ case.

g) The statute ________ for the compulsory wearing of seat-belts in cars.

h) The defendant gave ___________ instructions to his lawyer.

i) A majority of the Court of Appeal __________ for the appellant.

j) The judge refused to grant __________ to the plaintiff.

Exercise 3: true or false?

Are the statements set out below true or false?

(1) The police are only allowed to hold a suspect for 24 hours without charging him or her. (true/false)

(2) The police have final word over whether bail is granted to a suspect. (true/false)

(3) Bail can be granted without a curfew attached as a condition. (true/false)

(4) The first thing that happens at trial is that the jury are sworn in. (true/false)

(5) The witnesses are heard after the closing speeches. (true/false)

2.2 Problem words and phrases

The sentences below all contain certain words or phrases that are incorrect in the context and should be replaced by a different word or phrase. Locate these words and phrases and substitute the correct terminology. Note that there is only one correct alternative in each sentence.

1) There were three defendants in court, all of who were charged with serious offences.

2) The company, that was based in Birmingham, became insolvent due to the managing director’s fraudulent dealings.

3) The accused claimed that he did not break into the house – he said that the door was non-locked, and he merely pushed it open and wandered in.

4) The judge is entitled to send you to prison for this offence, and it is quite likely that she can do so.

5) In accordance with the witness, the accused was not in the area when the crime was committed.

6) The defendant was shown to have lied to almost everyone – specially his lawyer.

7) This legal principle derives solely from common law, and is therefore unstatutory.

8) We implied from the judge’s words that she did not believe the evidence given by the witness.

9) There were less people in the public gallery on the second day of the trial than there had been on the first.

10) The witness alleged that the defendant was the man what she saw outside the building that night.

2.3 Vocabulary

Read the following extract from a reference book on criminal law. Choose the best word or phrase to fill each gap from A, B, C or D below. In Callow v Tillstone (1900) a negligent (1) _____________ of a (2) ___________ by a veterinary surgeon had (3) _________ in a butcher selling meat which was (4) _______ for human consumption. The butcher had (5) _______ the veterinary surgeon’s certificate and would have had no reason to believe that he was in breach of the law. He was convicted on the basis that the (6) _________ was one of strict liability. In other words, his knowledge of the condition of the meat and his (7)____________ about its sale were held to be (8) __________ – he had in fact sold meat which was unfit for human consumption. The veterinary surgeon was charged with aiding and abetting the offence. To add to the butcher’s misery, the veterinary surgeon who had certified that the meat was (9) ________ had his conviction for aiding and abetting quashed because aiding and abetting required knowledge of the facts and an intention to encourage. Although he had been negligent in his examination of the animal it could not be (10) ___________ that he knew the meat was unsound. (1)

a) examination

b) study

c) check

d) registration

(2)

a) piece of meat

b) corpse

c) cadaver

d) carcass

(3)

a) resulted

b) ended

c) eventuated

d) concluded

(4)

a) bad

b) unfit

c) unsuitable

d) dangerous

(5)

a) depended on

b) trusted in

c) relied on

d) faith in

(6)

a) crime

b) misdemeanour

c) offence

d) penalty

(7)

a) beliefs

b) plans

c) intentions

d) insights

(8)

a) unpersuasive

b) of no legal effect

c) inadmissible

d) irrelevant

(9)

a) sound

b) fresh

c) edible

d) safe

(10)

a) demonstrated

b) certain

c) proved

d) shown

1. Complete the following with:

panel predicted announced estate jury critical Forewoman opportunity witnesses curb intercom contended reached testimony form

After deliberating for less than four hours, the jury announced that it has (1)………………a verdict.

The quick verdict surprised many legal analysts, who had (2)it would take anywhere from two days to two months.

When Judge Lance Ito called the (3)of 10 women and two men back into court, he said: 'You buzzed three times and indicated that after receiving the verdict (4)..that you have reached a verdict in this case. Is that correct, Madam (5)?'

'Yes,' replied the 51-year-old black woman who was elected by the jurors to lead the (6)..

Earlier in the day, jurors asked to re-hear (7).from the limousine driver who drove Simpson to the airport shortly after the murders.

The request for a readback of Allan Park's testimony suggested the jurors were looking at the (8)issue of whether Simpson had enough time to kill Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

Park, who picked Simpson up for a trip to the airport, was considered one of the most important time-line (9), joining houseguest Brian 'Kato' Kaelin, the last person known to see Simpson before the murders. Their testimony created a 78-minute window of (10)..for Simpson to commit the murders.

Simpson (11).he was at home preparing for a trip to Chicago, but he presented no alibi testimony.

Park said he arrived at Simpson's house at 10:22 pm the night of the murders and didn't see Simpson's Bronco parked outside when he was searching the (12).for street numbers. Park testified that at 10:55 pm he saw a large, shadowy figure of an African-American person at the front door of Simpson's Rockingham (13) Moments later, Simpson answered the (14)..that Park had been sounding for 15 minutes.. On October 3, the verdict is (15). — not guilty. (http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/24.html)

2. Translate:

A day after the prosecution rested its case, Judge Lance Ito dealt with several important evidentiary matters.

During arguments over the formal introduction into evidence of crime scene photographs, the prosecution revealed that Nicole Brown Simpson may have armed herself with a butcher knife after hearing suspicious noises outside her condominium moments before the killings.

After the defense objected to the introduction of pictures showing the knife lying on a kitchen counter, prosecutor Marcia Clark argued that a fearful Nicole Brown Simpson possibly retrieved the knife and only placed it on the counter upon Ronald Goldman's arrival. Clark said the photos were relevant to show that other than the knife on the counter, the kitchen was clean.

Judge Ito ruled the photos relevant because they showed an orderly, clean kitchen. This, the judge said, went to the issue of whether there was any intruder or assault inside the house.

The judge also ruled that during deliberations the jurors could see the knives used for demonstration purposes during the state's case. He said they were useful because the exhibit boards displaying the knives were two-dimensional whereas the knives are three-dimensional.

And, to no one's surprise, the judge rejected a defense motion to dismiss the case. (http://www.courttv.com/trials/ojsimpson/weekly/24.html)

1. Translate into English:

Ξmbratisβnd opinia ca obiectul sintetic al criminologiei ξl reprezinta criminalitatea ca fenomen social, consideram ca, pentru a transforma aceasta notiune ξntr-un concept operational care sa permita explicarea fenomenului studiat, este necesara adoptarea unui model sistemic de analiza. Astfel, ca orice fenomen social, criminalitatea reprezinta un sistem cu proprietati si functii proprii, distincte calitativ de cele ale elementelor componente. Prin aceasta, modelul nostru de analiza evita considerarea criminalitatii ca o totalitate a infractiunilor savβrsite pe un anumit teritoriu, ξntr-o perioada de timp data, pozitie care subliniaza doar latura cantitativa a fenomenului studiat. Analiza opereaza, de asemenea, o distinctie ξntre criminalitatea reala, aparenta si legala. Criminalitatea reala este un concept cantitativ care presupune totalitatea faptelor penale savβrsite pe un anumit teritoriu, ξntr-o perioada de timp determinata. Criminalitatea aparenta cuprinde totalitatea infractiunilor semnalate sistemului justitiei penale si ξnregistrate ca atare. Criminalitatea legala reprezinta totalitatea faptelor penale pentru care s-au pronuntat hotarβri de condamnare ramase definitive.

2. Translate into Romanian:

Law is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as the foremost social mediator in relations between people. Writing in 350 BC, the Greek philosopher Aristotle declared, 'The rule of law is better than the rule of any individual.'

Law governs a wide variety of social activities. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus ticket to trading on derivatives markets. Property law defines rights and obligations related to the transfer and title of personal and real property. Trust law applies to assets held for investment and financial security, while Tort law allows claims for compensation if an individual or their property is injured or harmed. If the harm is criminalised in penal code, criminal law offers means by which the state can prosecute the perpetrator. Constitutional law provides a framework for the creation of law, the protection of human rights and the election of political representatives. Administrative law regulates the activities the administrative agencies of government, while International law governs affairs between sovereign nation states in activities ranging from trade, environmental regulation or military action.

Legal systems elaborate rights and responsibilities in a variety of ways. A basic distinction is generally made between civil law jurisdictions and systems using common law. In some countries, religion informs the law. Scholars investigate the nature of law through many perspectives, including legal history and philosophy, or social sciences such as economics and sociology. The study of law raises important and complex issues concerning equality, fairness, liberty and justice. 'In its majestic equality', said the author Anatole France in 1894, 'the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread.' The central institutions for interpreting and creating law are the three main branches of government, namely an impartial judiciary, a democratic legislature, and an accountable executive. To implement and enforce the law and provide services to the public, a government's bureaucracy, the military and police are vital. While all these organs of the state are creatures created and bound by law, an independent legal profession and a vibrant civil society inform and support their progress.

2. Complete with the right word:

When the Byzantine (1).. Justinian I assumed rule in ad 527, he found the law of the Roman Empire in a state of great confusion. It consisted (2) two masses that were usually distinguished (3). old law and new law.

The old law comprised all of the statutes passed under the republic and early empire that had not (4) obsolete; the decrees of the Senate passed at the end of the republic and during the first two centuries of the empire; and the writings of jurists and, more particularly, of those jurists to (5).. the emperors had given the right of declaring the law with their authority. These jurists, in (6).. commentaries, had incorporated practically all that was (7). importance. Of these numerous records and writings of old law, many had become scarce or had (8) lost altogether, and some were of doubtful authenticity. The entire mass of work was so costly to produce that even the public libraries did (9) contain complete collections. Moreover, these writings (10) many inconsistencies.

4. Translate into Romanian:

Mens rea is a Latin phrase, meaning 'guilty mind.' A guilty mind means an intention to commit some wrongful act. Intention under criminal law is separate from a person's motive. If Mr. Hood robs from rich Mr. Nottingham because his motive is to give the money to poor Mrs. Marion, his 'good intentions' do not change his criminal intention to commit robbery.

A lower threshold of mens rea is satisfied when a defendant recognises an act is dangerous but decides to commit it anyway. This is recklessness. For instance, if C tears a gas meter from a wall to get the money inside, and knows this will let flammable gas escape into a neighbour's house, he could be liable for poisoning. Courts often consider whether the actor did recognize the danger, or alternatively ought to have recognised a risk. Of course, a requirement only that one ought to have recognized a danger (though he did not) is tantamount to erasing intent as a requirement. In this way, the importance of mens rea has been reduced in some areas of the criminal law.

Wrongfulness of intent also may vary the seriousness of an offense. A killing committed with specific intent to kill or with conscious recognition that death or serious bodily harm will result, would be murder, whereas a killing effected by reckless acts lacking such a consciousness could be manslaughter. On the other hand, it matters not who is actually harmed through a defendant's actions. The doctrine of transferred malice means, for instance, that if a man intends to strike a person with his belt, but the belt bounces off and hits another, mens rea is transferred from the intended target to the person who actually was struck

5. Aswer the following questions:

a. What is the difference between murder and manslaughter?

b. What is the doctrine of transferred malice?

c. What do courts often consider when judging the seriousness of offense?

d. What is the difference between intention and motive?

e. Does it matter who the victim of the defendant is?

6. Give questions for the following answers:

a. It means guilty mind.

b. Yes, it is. It is separate from the person’s motive.

c. It is called recklessness.

d. Poisoning.

e. The seriousness of an offense.

f. Erasing intent.

7. Complete with the following phrases:

a willful disregard for the rights of others; are divided into two broad classes; where the actual monetary injury to plaintiff(s); a court can order a defendant to pay damages; are never awarded in a civil case; a losing defendant; incarceration in a jail or prison

One of the most fundamental distinctions between civil and criminal law is in the notion of punishment. In criminal law, a guilty defendant is punished by either (1) (a)………………….., (2) fine paid to the government, or, in exceptional cases, (3) execution of the defendant: the death penalty. Crimes (b)…………………….: felonies have a maximum possible sentence of more than one year incarceration, misdemeanors have a maximum possible sentence of less than one year incarceration. In contrast, a defendant in civil litigation is never incarcerated and never executed. In general, (c)………………in civil litigation only reimburses the plaintiff for losses caused by the defendant's behavior. So-called punitive damages (d)…………………………. under contract law. In a civil case under tort law, there is a possibility of punitive damages, if the defendant's conduct is egregious and had either (1) a malicious intent (i.e., desire to cause harm), (2) gross negligence (i.e., conscious indifference), or (3)  (e)……………….. The use of punitive damages makes a public example of the defendant and supposedly deters future wrongful conduct by others. Punitive damages are particularly important in torts involving dignitary harms (e.g., invasion of privacy) and civil rights, (f)………………………. may be small. One can purchase insurance that will pay damages and attorney's fees for tort claims. Such insurance coverage is a standard part of homeowner's insurance policies, automobile insurance, and insurance for businesses. In contrast, it is not possible for a defendant to purchase insurance to pay for his/her criminal acts. While (g)…………………….., the plaintiff may receive nothing if the defendant has no assets and no insurance, or if the defendant is skillful in concealing assets. In this way, large awards for plaintiffs in tort cases are often an illusion.

8. Translate into Romanian:

The Romanian legal system, like any other civil law system, does not recognize legal precedent as stare decisis. For example, although courts at every level are aware of the Constitutional Court's decisions holding laws unconstitutional, being officially published in Monitorul Oficial (Law No. 47 of 18 May 1992), they do not bind ordinary courts faced with similar cases.  Every time a court is confronted with an unconstitutional statute, it has to defer the matter to the Constitutional Court, and await its decision in every such case, before the matter at issue can be retried upon one party's request. Selected decisions of the Constitutional Court are available on-line. On the other hand, the Supreme Court's decisions (which, of course, are limited to statutory application and interpretation and do not address issues of constitutionality) are consciously followed by lower courts' judges in an effort to unify the law of the land.  Although there is no system of general publication of judicial decisions similar to that in the US (see the Atlantic Reporter, etc.); there are specialized collections of selected decisions heavily edited (and selected) by their academic authors, such as Drept civil: spete si solutii din practica judiciara, which contain summaries of legal decisions in civil law matters.