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Task 2. Read the text and translate all the unknown words and word
combinations. Make up your own dialogues on the basis of the text.
English Legal System
Law is a body of rules and principles under which justice is
administered or order enforced in a state or nation. In Western Europe
there are two main systems: Roman law and English law. US law is a
modified form of English law.
English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the
basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries
and the United States (as opposed to civil law or pluralist systems in other
countries, such as Scots law). It was exported to Commonwealth countries
while the British Empire was established and maintained, and it forms the
basis of the jurisprudence of most of those countries. English law prior to
the American revolution is still part of the law of the United States
through reception statutes, except in Louisiana, and provides the basis for
many American legal traditions and policies, though it has no superseding
jurisdiction.
English law in its strictest sense applies within the jurisdiction of
England and Wales. Whilst Wales now has a devolved Assembly, any
legislation which that Assembly enacts is enacted in particular
circumscribed policy areas defined by the Government of Wales Act 2006,
other legislation of the U.K. Parliament, or by orders in council given
under the authority of the 2006 Act. Furthermore that legislation is, as
with any by-law made by any other body within England and Wales,
interpreted by the undivided judiciary of England and Wales.
The essence of English common law is that it is made by judges
sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal
precedent (stare decisis) to the facts before them. A decision of the highest
appeal court in England and Wales, the House of Lords, is binding on
every other court in the hierarchy, and they will follow its directions. For
example, there is no statute making murder illegal. It is a common law
crime - so although there is no written Act of Parliament making murder
illegal, it is illegal by virtue of the constitutional authority of the courts
and their previous decisions. Common law can be amended or repealed by
Parliament; murder, by way of example, carries a mandatory life sentence
today, but had previously allowed the death penalty.

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