Extensive than any that hadgone before. They covered crime, divorce and marriage, the rights of slave owners and slaves, the settlement of debts, inheritance and property contracts; there were even regulations about taxes and the prices of goods. Punishments under the code were often harsh. The cruel principle of revenge was observed: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, which meant that criminals had to receive as punishment precisely those injuries and damages they had inflicted upon their victims. Not only murderers but also thieves and false accusers faced the death penalty. And a child who hit Chapter I. Law Worldwide И his father could expect to lose the hand that struck the blow. The code outlawed private blood feuds and banned the tradition by which a man could kidnap and keep the woman he wanted for his bride. In addition, the new laws took account of the circumstances of the offender as well as of the offence- So a lower-ranking citizen who lost a civil case would be fined less than an aristocrat in the same position — though he would also he awarded less if he won. Nevertheless, Hammurabi's laws represented an advance on earlier tribal customs, because the penalty could not be harder than the crime. TASK 5. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following law-related words and expressions. What concepts bring these groups of words together? i
TASK 6. Answer the following questions: 1. Why do you think Hammurabi decided to have his laws carved into a pillar? 2. Why was the pillar set up in a temple? 3. What spheres of human life were covered by Hammurabi's code? Explain the choice. 4. How do you understand the principle " an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth"? 5. In your opinion, were punishments always fair? 6. Why do you think people of different ranks were treated differently by Hammurabi's code? Just English. Английский для юристов TASK 7. Translate the following passage into English paying special attention to the words and expressions in bold type: Кодекс Хаммурапи В 1901 году французские археологи обнаружили каменный столб среди руин персидского города Сузы. Текст, высеченный на столбе> был древнейший сводом законов. Он был составлен Хаммурапи, царем Вавилона, в XVIII столетии до н. а Кодекс Хаммурапи состоит из 282 статей. Выставленный в храме вавилонского бога Мардука, 'столб законов* должен был служить правосудию и одновременно напоминать: законы должны знать все, Кодекс охватывал все сферы жизни. Он ставил вне закона кровную месть, убийство, похищение невесты. Наказания за них были суровы. В основе Кодекса лежит идея талиона: наказание должно быть " равный'* преступлению — соко за око, зуб за зуб1. В соответствии с кодексом, если человек, обвинивший другого в краже, не мог привести свидетелей, под тв ер ж дающих его слова, ему грозила смерть как клеветнику. Кодекс также рассматривал вопросы имущества и наследства, Хаммурапи устанавливал денежный штраф, при назначении которого учитывалось как само правонарушение, так социальное положение граждан.
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