Lesson 01 - Introduction to Law and Sources of Law

• (the law) informal the police: he’d never been in trouble with the law in his life

2 a rule defining correct procedure or behaviour in a sport: the laws of the game

3 a statement of fact, deduced from observation, to the effect that a particular natural or scientific phenomenon always occurs if certain conditions are present: the second law of thermodynamics

7. Language practice

7 .1 Be careful about the Czech term “právo”. It is translated into English in two different ways depending on its nature:

• “objektivní právo”, e.g. “právo této země” is translated as “_______________”

• “subjektivní právo”, e.g. “má právo volit” is translated as “_______________”

7.2 Translate the sentences into English:

a) Právo je živý a dynamický systém.

b) Právo na život je základním lidským právem.

c) Přečetl si práva a povinnosti pacienta.

d) Právo je závazné a vynutitelné.

7.3 Adjectives and adverbs. A positive adjective derived from the word “law” is “legal or lawful”. What are negative adjectives? Make adverbs as well.

legal X _____________ → adverbs: legally X _____________

lawful X _____________ → adverbs: _____________ X _____________

NOTE: The use of “legal” or “lawful” depends on the context. Sometimes, both are possible.

7.4 Fill in the gaps with suitable expressions: (il)legal, (il)legally, (un)lawful, (un)lawfully:

a) He asked for ___________ advice.

b) Their activities were unethical and ___________.

c) The man was ___________ killed.

d) What makes people cross the border ___________?

e) There’s nothing wrong with my behavior, it’s perfectly ___________.

7.5 Which collocations or phrases with “law” and “legal” do you remember? Classify them according to the following pattern and examples:

adjective/noun + law

…… law

natural law,

noun + noun

law ……

law theory,

adjective + noun

legal ……

legal education,

verb + noun

to …… law

to make the law,

noun + verb

law ……

the law regulates,

noun of + noun

law of ……

the law of a community,

noun +of noun

…… of law

philosophy of law, preposition phrases within the law,

II. Sources of law: Common Law and Civil Law

Sources of law refer to the origins from which rules of human conduct come into existence and derive their legal force. Originally, they included customs which were then developed and transformed into precedents, legislation and interpretations of both. How much precedents or legislation are used in particular legal systems distinguishes two main legal traditions in the world, the Anglo-American common law and the civil law based on Roman law. Most countries in the world follow one or the other, except for various Islamic countries with their own Sharia law.

1. Are the following features typical of common or civil law systems (or both)?

precedent codes unwritten law enacted law statutes

judges are investigators judges make law jury court ruling

2. Read the text and fill in the table below.

Common law is a peculiarly English development. Before the Norman conquest, different rules and customs applied in different regions of the country. But after 1066 monarchs began to unite both the country and its laws using the king’s court. Judges created a common law by drawing on customs across the country and rulings by monarchs. These rules developed organically and were rarely written down. By contrast, European rulers drew on Roman law, and in particular a compilation of rules issued by the emperor Justinian in the 6th century that was rediscovered in 11th-century Italy. With the Enlightenment of the 18th century, rulers in various continental countries sought to produce comprehensive legal codes.