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Comprehension Questions

1.What way is the system of law in the Russia Federation presented by?

2.What is the essential part of the whole system of law?

3.What branches of law do Russian lawyers single out?

4.What branches of substantive law could you name?

5.What part of social and political life does Constitutional law regulate?

MODULE 2 CIVIL AND PUBLIC LAW

UNIT 4 MAIN CATEGORIES OF CIVIL AND PUBLIC LAW

Text 1 Civil and Public Law

arrangement – 1) приведение в порядок; 2) соглашение, договоренность to concern – иметь отношение, касаться чего-либо

benefit – выгода, польза, прибыль the well-being - благополучие

binding agreement - соглашение обязательное к исполнению whereby – посредством чего

inheritance – наследование, наследство tort – деликт, гражданское правонарушение to administrate – управлять, контролировать unjust - несправедливый

enrichment - обогащение entirely – полностью, всецело

legal remedy – средство защиты права, средство судебной защиты

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The important distinction made in all countries is between private (or civil) law and public law.

Civil law concerns disputes among citizens within a country, and public law concerns disputes between citizens and the state, or between one state and another. The main categories of English civil law are:

Contracts: binding agreements between people (or companies);

Torts: wrongs committed by one individual against another individual’s person property or reputation;

Trusts: arrangements whereby a person administrates property for another person’s benefit, rather than his own Land Law;

Probate: arrangements for dealing with property after the owner’s death;

Family Law

The main categories of public law are:

Crimes: wrongs which, even when committed against an individual are considered to harm the well-being of society in general;

Constitutional Law: regulation of how the law itself operates and of the relation between private citizen and government;

International Law: regulation of relations between governments and also between private citizens of one country and those of another.

In codified systems there are codes that correspond to these categories, for example, France’s Code Civil and Code Penal. Justinian’s Roman codes covered such areas of law as contracts, property, inheritance, torts, the family, unjust, enrichment, the law of persons, and legal remedies, but said little about criminal law. Consequently, most Continental criminal codes are entirely modern inventions.

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regulates the legal relationships between the state and individual people and bodies.

The first practical difference is seen in the parties to the legal action. A civil case will involve two (or more) individual people or bodies whilst the parties to a criminal case will be the state and an individual person or body. Later you will learn how this difference is reflected in the terminology and procedure of the law, but first let us look at an example of both criminal and civil law.

First, the Civil Law. Examples of this include the law of contract, tort (literally meaning “wrong”) and property. Consider the following situation. You decide to buy a radio from a local shop. You pay the correct price and take the radio away. You have entered into a contract with the owner of the shop. After two days the radio fails to work.

This is a common situation and usually the shopkeeper will replace the radio or return your money. If not, you may wish to take legal action to recover your loss. As the law of contract is part of the civil law the parties to the action will be you (an individual) and the owner of the shop (an individual person or body).

Now let’s look at some examples of the criminal law. This is the law by which the state regulates the conduct of its citizens. Criminal offences range from the petty (e.g. parking offences) to the very serious (e.g. murder, rape). Look at the following situations.

You are driving your car at 70 m.p.h. in an area which has a speed limit of 40 m.p.h. You are stopped by a police officer and subsequently a case is brought against you for dangerous driving.

This is a criminal offence. The parties to the action will therefore by the state (in the form of the prosecuting authority) and you (an individual).

The further point to make is that although the division between civil and criminal law is very clear, there are many actions which will constitute a criminal offence and a civil wrong. Let us look again at the situation where you are driving your car too fast. Suppose that while you were doing this you knocked over and

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injured an elderly lady. You will have committed a criminal offence (dangerous driving) and a civil wrong (negligence).

Comprehension questions

1.What is the simple distinction between the criminal law and the civil law?

2.Could you give one example of the criminal law and one example for a civil wrong?

3.What can you say about the parties to the civil action?

4.Who are the parties to a criminal case?

5.What’s wrong in the following situation and why?

“Michel has been charged with murder and is sued in the country court. The plaintiff is successful in the action and Michel is found liable. He is punished be being ordered to pay the plaintiff 15.000 dollars in damages”

Text 3 Criminal and Civil Procedure

pursue - преследовать

a defendant – обвиняемый, подзащитный prosecution – судебное преследование plaintiff - истец

comply – 1) исполнять 2) подчиняться

on the balance of probabilities – на грани вероятности disobeying – неподчинение, непослушание disobedient – непокорный, непослушный

liability – ответственность, обязательство relevant – уместный, относящийся к делу

Most countries make a rather clear distinction between civil and criminal procedures. For example, an English criminal court may force a defendant to pay a

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