SOCIAL MORALITY, RULES AND LAW

The English word "law" (Scandinavian borrowing) refers to limits upon various forms of behavior. Some laws are descriptive - they simply describe how people usually behave. Other laws are prescriptive - they prescribe how people ought to behave.

In all societies, relations between people are regulated by prescriptive laws. Some of them are customs, that is, informal rules of social and moral behavior. Some are rules we accept if we belong to particular social institutions, such as religious, educational and cultural group. And some are precise laws made by nations and enforced against all citizens within their power.

Customs need not be made by governments, and they need not be written down. We learn how we should behave in society through the instruction of family and teachers, the advice of friends, and our own experiences. The rules of social institutions tend to be more formal than customs. Governments often consider anti-social behavior not simply as a matter between two individuals but as a danger to the well-being and order of society as a whole. The laws made by the government of one country are often very different from the laws of another country. Law today is, to a large extent, a complex of different and relatively independent national systems.

 

Task 1. Practice to pronounce the words given below:

Scandinavian, borrowing, custom, behavior, society, religious, precise, enforce, government, experience, individual, extent, independent

 

Task 2. Find the English equivalents to the following words and phrases:

заимствование, описательный закон, предписывающий закон, отношения, жизненный опыт, социальное и этическое поведение, ограничение форм поведения, социальные институты, личность, благосостояние и правопорядок в обществе

 

Task 3. Match the English words and word combinations with their Russian equivalents.

1) различные формы поведения	a) to enforce the laws
2) определенные законы	b) well- being
3) проводить законы в жизнь	c) to a great extent
4) благополучие	d) independent national systems
5) в целом	e) precise laws
6) в значительной степени	f) various forms of behavior
7)независимые государственные системы	g) as whole
8) социальные институты	h) limits upon forms of behavior
9) порядок	i) order
10) ограничения форм поведения	j) social institutions

Task 4. Derive

a) nouns from the following verbs:

to borrow -	to instruct -
to behave -	to govern -
to rule -	to relate -
to enforce -

B) adjectives from the following verbs

to describe -

to prescribe -

to educate -

 

Task 5. Say if the following statements are True or False. If the statement is false, comment on the true one:

1.Social customs and rules are both enforced by governments.

2. Many laws reflect social customs.

3.The ways in which people talk, eat and drink are regulated by law made by governments.

4.Relations between people are regulated by customs, rules of social institutions and government-made laws.

5.The laws made by the government of one country are almost identical to the laws of all other countries of the world.

 

Task 6. Answer the following questions:

1. What does the word “law” refer to?

2. What are descriptive and prescriptive law?

3. What regulates the relations between people?

4. What is the difference between the customs and the rules of social behavior?

5. How do we learn to behave in society?

6. What is law today?

 

Text 2

WHAT IS LAW?

 

Law is the whole set of rules that are supported by the power of government¹ and that control the behavior of members of a society. The law itself provides the² basic structure within which commerce and industry operate. It safeguards the rights³ of individuals, regulates their dealings with others and enforces the duties of⁴ government. ⁵

There are two main kinds of the law - public and private (civil). Private law⁶ concerns disputes among citizens within a country, and public law concerns disputes⁷ between citizens and the state, or between one state and another. The system of law⁸ consists of different categories of law. Constitutional law is a leading category of the⁹ whole system of law. Its principal source is the country's Constitution. It deals with¹⁰ social structure, state system, organization of state power and the legal status of¹¹ citizens. Most countries have a formal written Constitution describing how laws are¹² to be made and enforced. ¹³

Administrative law is closely connected with constitutional law but it deals¹⁴ with the legal forms of particular executive and administrative activity of a¹⁵ government and ministries. Criminal law defines the general principles of criminal¹⁶ responsibility, indi­vidual types of crimes and punishment applied to criminals.¹⁷ Crimes are wrongs which, even committed against an individual are considered to¹⁸ harm the well-being of society in general. Criminal law takes the form of a criminal¹⁸ code. ¹⁹

International law regulates relations between government and also be­tween²⁰ private citizens of one country and those of another. Financial law regulates the²¹ budget, taxation, credits and other spheres of financial activity. Civil law is connected with relations in the economic sphere of life, with relations involving property, its ²³ distribution and allocation. The right in prop­erty is the central institution of civil law. The rules of employment law include legislation on the employment of industrial and office workers and regulate matters arising from employment relations. ²⁶

As well as defining the powers of government, most constitutions describe the fundamental rights of citizens. These usually include general declarations about²⁸ freedom and equality, but, also some specific provisions. The European Convention²⁹ on Human Rights (ECHR) was first adopted in 1950 and has now been signed by³⁰ every country of Western Europe Individual citizens of these countries have the right to bring a complaint before the European Commission if they think their government has broken the Convention. But despite the development of legally binding national³³ and international conventions, millions of people in the world still do not enjoy³⁴ human rights. ³⁵