Unit 2. The First Laws: Laws of Babylon

CHAPTER 1 LAW WORLWIDE

Unit 1. The Need for Law

Text “Law and Society”

Task 2. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following words and expressions:

1. Самозащита – self-protection

2. Телохранитель - bodyguard

3. Общество- society

4. правила поведения - rules of behaviour

5. закон джунглей – the law of the jungle

6. несовершенные законы – imperfect laws

7. при свете дня – in broad daylight

8. причинять вред – to do harm

9. предусмотреть все возможности – to provide for all kind of possibilities

10. полагаться на кого-либо – to rely on smb.

11. Требовать – to require

Task 3.Translate the following passage into English.

Очевидно, что закон необходим в интересах всего общества. - It is obvious that the law is necessary in the interests of everyone.

Иначе людям пришлось бы жить по законам джунглей. – Otherwise men had to live by the law of the jungle.

К сожалению, создавать совершенные законы не просто. – Unfortunately, it is not easy to create perfect laws.

Следовательно, каждое сообщество пытается установить свои собственные правила поведения. – Therefore each community tries to establish own rules of behavior.

Однако, закон не может удовлетворить всех.- However the law can’t satisfy everyone.

В любом случае, несовершенные законы лучше беззакония.- Anyway imperfect laws are better than if we have none at all.

Task 5.Which parts of the text correspond to the following headings?

1. joke

2. historical background

3. considering possibilities

4. examples

5. conclusion

Unit 2. The First Laws: Laws of Babylon

Text “Birth of Law”

Task 1. Find in the text the words that mean the following:.

· The use of magic power, especially with the aid of evil spirits – witchcraft;

· A punishment imposed for a violation of law or rule – penalties;

· An accepted social custom or practice – rules and laws;

· Payment for damage or loss, restitution – compensation;

· One from whom a person is descended – an ancestor;

· Harm or damage done or suffered - injuries

Task 2. Answer the following questions.

1. It is difficult to judge about the earliest laws because our knowledge of laws is vague.

2. The first laws appeared before the invention of writing in about 3500 B.C. The earliest known legal text was written by Ur-Nammu, a king of the Mesopotamian city of Ur, in about 2100 D.C.

3. The early laws emphasise compensation for bodily injuries and the penalties for witchcraft and runaway slaves because these questions were actual in about 2100 B.C.

Task 3. Study all the meanings of the word “legal”. Mach the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents.

1.Legal activities – правомерная, законная деятельность;

2.legal address – юридический адрес;

3.legal advice – консультация юриста;

4.legal age – совершеннолетие;

5.legal costs – судебные издержки;

6.legal decision – решение суда;

7.legal document – правовой документ;

8. legal entity – юридическое лицо;

9.legal ethics – профессиональная этика юриста;

10.legal expert – юрисконсульт; юридический советник;

11. legal history – история права;

12. legal language – юридическая терминология;

13. legal owner – законный владелец;

14.legal procedure – судопроизводство;

15.legal protection – правовая защита;

16.legal rights – законные права;

17. legal status – правовой статус;

18. legal force – имеющий законную силу;

19.to enjoy one’s legal rights – использовать свое законное право;

20. to enter the legal profession – стать юристом.

Text “ Laws of Babylon”

Task 4. Read the text and write down Russian equivalents for the words and expressions in bold type.

· Most detailed ancient legal codes - Большинство подробных древних сводов законов

· Was carved into a great stone pillar - Был вырезан на большом каменном столбе

· More extensive than any that had gone before - Более обширные, чем какие-либо из существовавших прежде

· The cruel principle of revenge was observed - Наблюдался жестокий принцип мести

· To receive as punishment precisely those injuries and damages they had inflicted upon their victims - Получать в качестве наказания точно такие же раны и убытки, которые они причинили их жертвам

· Faced the death penalty – Грозила смертная казнь

· To lose the hand that struck the blow- Потерять руку, которая нанесла удар

· The code outlawed private blood feuds – Закон частной кровной мести вне закона

· Took account of the circumstances of the offender – Принимали во внимание обстоятельства преступника

· Lost a civil case – Проигранное гражданское дело

· Be awarded less if he won - Быть награжденным меньше, если он выиграл

· An advance on earlier tribal customs - Прогресс на более ранний племенной обычай

· The penalty could not be harder than the crime - Штраф не мог быть более жестким, чем преступление

Task 6.

1. Hammurabi decided to have his laws carved into a pillar so that it could be read by every citizen.

2. The pillar was set up in a temple because everyone went there regularly and could see the laws.

3. The following spheres of human life were covered by Hammurabi’s code: crime, divorce and marriage, the rights of slave owners and slaves, the settlement of debts, inheritance and property contracts, regulations about taxes and the prices of goods. These spheres were the most extensive than any that had gone before.

4. I understand the principle «an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth» - to receive as punishment precisely those injuries and damages they had inflicted upon their victims.

5. I think the punishment wasn’t always fair, I think it was cruel.

6. Different ranks were treated differently by Hammurabi’s code because this society was divided into ranks with various privileges and it concerned also system of punishments.

Task 7.

Hammurabi’s code

In 1901 the stone pillar was discovered by French archaeologists amid the ruins of the Persian city of Susa. The text carved into a pillar was the most ancient legal codes. It was drawn up by Hammurabi a king of Babylonia in about 1758 B.C.

Hammurabi’s code consists of 282 paragraphs. The legal codes pillar was set up in a temple to the Babylonia god Marduk so that it could serve justice and at the same time remind that every citizen has to know laws. The code covered all spheres of life. The code outlawed private blood feuds, crime and the tradition by which a man could kidnap the woman he wanted for his bride. Punishment under the coda were harsh.

The code was based on the principle of revenge: to receive as punishment precisely those injuries and damages they had inflicted upon their victims – «an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth». False accusers faced the death penalty.

The code covered questions of property and inheritance. Hammurabi established a fine considering the offense and a citizen ranking.