Civil and criminal law

Criminal law is concerned with the general well being and civil law with individual rights and duties. It might be wrong, however, to classify an individual act as being either a civil or a criminal wrong. Many acts are both. For example, if you take your coat to be cleaned and the cleaner steals it then, clearly, the crime of theft has been committed. Furthermore there is a breach of the contract to clean and a tort of conversion (denial of your right to your property) has also been committed. It is not the act itself that the distinction lies, but in the consequences which may follow from it. After you have been run over in a road accident the driver could be arrested and charged with the crime of reckless driving and he could be sued by you, the victim, in the tort of negligence. The act of driving so as to injure you was therefore a criminal offence and a civil wrong. This is sometimes called ‘dual liability’.

There have been attempts made at defining crime generally, but the criminal law really comprises nothing more than the total of those activities which those responsible for creating and developing the criminal law have seen fit to include.

The activities embraced by the criminal low extend from treason, murder and rape at one end to exporting antiques without a license, flying a kite near an airfield, failing to sign your driving license, sounding the car horn while the car is at rest and conversing with a bus driver at the other.

It should be understood that while the criminal law comprises most of what the average citizen imagines as the law (at least at first), the civil law is a vast thing – a thousand years old and still growing! The more important areas within its scope include contract law, which in its applied aspects includes the sale of goods and services, credit, hire – purchase, agency, contracts of employment and landlord and tenant agreements – to name but a few. The civil law also includes the low of tort – a term for actions in negligence, nuisance, defamation, trespass and others. Further, it includes property law, the law of succession, most of family law and the law of trusts.

New vocabulary:

well being – благосостояние

criminal wrong – уголовное правонарушение

heft – воровство

breach of the contract - нарушение контракта

tort of conversion – обращение вверенного имущества в свою пользу, присвоение имущества

consequences – последствия

charge with the crime – обвинить в совершении преступления

reckless driving – неосторожное вождение (автомобиля)

be sued – отвечать в суде

tort of negligence – преступление, совершенное по преступной неосторожности

criminal offence – уголовное преступление, правонарушение

dual liability – двойная ответственность

the criminal law have seen fit to include – зд. уголовное право рассматривает как подлежащий

contract law – договорное право

tenant agreement – договор жилищной аренды

name but a few – назвать лишь несколько

negligence – халатность

nuisance – вред

defamation - клевета

trespass – нарушение чужого право владения

property law – право собственности

law of succession – наследственное право

family law – семейное право

law of trust – трастовое право

Ответьте на вопросы:

1. What is characteristic of civil law system?

2. What do the codes contain?

3. Why the codes are not easily changed?

4. Speak on the importance of scholarly writing in civil law system.

5. How is the law of England and Wales classified by source?

6. What is common law comprised of?

7. How is common law distinguished from civil law?

8. Which body of law is called equity?

9. What is the legal system based on modified Roman law called?

10. How did Continental law appear?

11. How and where did the civil law spread?

12. Compare civil law and common law.

13. When did the scholarly study of law revive in Western Europe?

14. Was Justinian’s law still the laws of Western Europe?

15. What was the law syllabus in medieval Europe?

16. When did lawyers of the Western church begin to collect and study canons?

17. Was canon law a separate system? Why?

18. Outline the development of the civil law.

19. Who were made judges and advisers in Western Europe of the 15^th century?

20. What is the reception of Roman law?

21. When was Roman law sharply attacked and why?

22. When did a movement to replace Justinian’s books start in Europe? Why?

23. What is the criminal law concerned with?

24. What is civil law concerned with?

25. Give an example of wrong classified as being both civil and criminal.

26. What activities are embraced by the criminal law?

1.Откройте скобки и используйте правильную форму Past Simple:

1. Last night we (watch) a football match on TV.

2. Some years ago he (go) in for sport.

3. It (take) me half an hour to get home.

4. He (stay) at college after classes.

5. I (know) all the words very well.

6. She (write) the letter to her class mates.

7. My sister (leave) for England yesterday.

2.Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. Did skiing or skating last?

2. What did you do last evening?

3. Did your father come early from his work yesterday?

4. Did you get SMS from your friends?

5. Where did you have dinner?

6. What time did you go to bed last night?

7. Where did you go after classes?

8. What did your mother cook for supper yesterday?

9. Who did your home work?