CLASS ACTIVITY 1
I.
Match the words to make collocations. Make up your sentences with three of
them.
1. common
2. legal
3. obey
4. political
5. interpret
6. appoint
7. meet
8. public
9. capital
10. real
II.
a. power
b. property
c. the law
d. law
e. rules
f. systems
g. the requirement
h. order
i. punishment
j. a committee
Complete the sentences using the words in the box.
postgraduate
conduct
jurisdiction
property
case
public
institutions
appeals
responsibilities
licence
1. Law is a system of rules and guidelines, usually enforced through a set of ______.
2. Legal systems elaborate rights and ______ in a variety of ways.
3. The Union of Advocates of Ukraine is an independent and self-governed ______ allUkrainian organization.
4. The sources that ______ recognize as binding are the defining features of legal systems.
5. Our relations with one another are governed by many rules of ______.
6. In Anglo-Saxon England, the older laws of real ______, succession, contracts, tariffs of
fines were regulated by folkright.
7. The world “statute” is used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from ______
law and regulations issued by government agencies.
8. The great body of legal precedent contained in law books is the result of ______ to higher
courts against the decisions of lower courts.
9. The Diploma is a state-recognized document which serves as both an educational
certificate and a professional ______ .
10. In the United States, the formal study of law is only available at the ______ level.
III.
Circle the correct option to complete the sentences.
1. Common law comes from England and it ___ almost every country that once belonged to the
British Empire.
A. was inherited by
B. is inherited by
C. are inherited by
2. Civil law is the legal system ___ in most countries around the world today.
A. is used
B. uses
C. used
3. The study of law ___ important questions about equality, fairness and justice.
A. raise
B. raises
C. raised
4. The influence of Roman law ___ the wealth of legal terminology, retained by all legal
systems.
A. is shown by
B. shows with
C. show
5. A rule set by a court of greater or equal status ___ if it is relevant.
A. must be applied
B. must apply
C. applied
6. Judicial precedent is the body of legal principles ___ by past court decisions.
A. establishes
B. establish
C. established
7. Sometimes the Judge ___ what his/her decision would have been if the facts of the case had
been different.
A. consider
B. considers
C. considered
8. The law ___ a four level system of higher education.
A. establishes
B. established
C. establish
9. Our country is aimed at . ___ a law governed state.
A. created
B. create
C. creating
10. The field of civil rights ___ the balance of governmental power and individual liberties.
A. deal with
B. deals with
C. dealt with
IV. Fill in the gaps in the text with the most appropriate words:
Legal systems of the world
From the map above you will see that the most widespread (1) _____ system in the world is civil
law also known as European Continental Law. It originated from (2) _____ Law and more
specifically from the Corpus Juris Civilis issued by the Emperor Justinian ca. 529AD. Civil law
is (3) _____. The most influential codes in history were the Napoleonic Code of 1804, the
German civil code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch) of 1900 and the Swiss codes.
Civil law is most often contrasted with (4) _____ law which dominates mostly in Anglophone
countries. Common law originated before there were any written laws and was developed by
custom. In the common law tradition, case law interprets laws, via (5) _____, based on how prior
cases have been decided. Precedents create a rule which courts and judges later follow when
making decisions. Common law systems follow the doctrine of stare decisis, i.e. "to stand by
things decided"— according to which (6) _____ courts usually make decisions consistent with
previous decisions of (7) _____ courts. If a lower court judge acts against precedent and the case
is not appealed, the lower court decision will stand.
In civil law countries legislation is seen as the primary (8) _____ of law. Judges in courts give
their (9) _____ on the basis of codes and (10) _____. By contrast in common law system cases
are the primary source of law.
The Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791 is claimed to be Europe's first modern codified national
constitution ratified less than four years after the United States Constitution was adopted on
September 17 1787.
Article 87 of the Polish Constitution of 1997 sets forth that “the sources of universally binding
law of the Republic of Poland shall be: the Constitution, statutes, ratified international
agreements, and (11) _____”.