English for the Legal Profession
法 律 英 语
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English for the Legal Profession
English for the Legal Profession
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Definition and Classification .......................................................... 3 Chapter 2 Lawyers and Judges........................................................................... 6 Chapter 3 Sources of English Law .................................................................... 8 Chapter 4 State and government of the UK .............................................. 10 Chapter 5 The UK system of Government ................................................ 14 Chapter 6 General Features of American Legal System ................. 11 Chapter 7 The Institutions of the American Government ................ 20 Chapter 8 Understanding the Court System of the U. S .................. 23 Chapter 9 Civil Litigation ........................................................................................ 26 Chapter 10 Commencing a Legal Action ....................................................... 28 Chapter 11 Pleadings and Motions Attacking Pleadings .................... 30 Chapter 12 Discovery .................................................................................................. 32 Chapter 13 The Trial .................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 14 Appeal and Enforcement............................................................... 36 Chapter 15 Basic Categories of Property Law .......................................... 38 Chapter 16 Contract Formation and Classification ................................ 40 References ............................................................................................................................. 42
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English for the Legal Profession
Chapter 1
I. Definition of Law
Definition and Classification
How do you give the definition of law? Two minutes for you to have a discussion.
Purpose of law: _____________________________________________ -_______ Function:
________________________________________________________ The law brings about changes in our society and society brings about changes in the law. In this sense law is both
___________________________________________________________. (法律既是变化的工具又是变化的结果)
II. Classification of Law
Figure out the equivalents of the following names of law, and then put them into different groups.
1) Constitutional law ____________________ 2) Criminal law _______________________ 3) Civil law ______________________ 4) ____________________ 行政法
5) Law of contract ________________________ 6) ____________________ 土地法 7) ___________________ 商法 8) ____________________劳动法 9) _____________________ 公司法 10) ____________________ 税法 11) International law _________________ 12) _________________ 侵权法 13) Equity ______________________ 14) Arbitration law ______________ 15) property law __________________
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English for the Legal Profession
16) intellectual property law_________________ 17) anti-dumping law_____________________
Public law and private law (公法和私法)
Public law includes laws that affect the public generally. For example, ________________________
Private law deals with the relationships between _____________ in an organized society.
For example: __________________
Substantive law and procedural law (实体法和程序法)
Substantive law concerns the law dealing with the facts of the case itself, such as the law of torts, product liability, corporations, or contracts.
Procedural law establishes the rules for enforcing or administrating law. It involves issues of evidence, appeals*, etc. Procedural rules ensure that a trial is fair and timely. If a juror* is biased, he or she can be dismissed. If evidence has been obtained improperly, for example, false evidence or evidence obtained without a valid search warrant*, procedural rules ensure that it will not be admitted in court. Procedural rules also govern whether or not the court has the power to hear a case. Take the famous Case of Simpson as an example.
Abstract of the case: Orenthal James Simpson was an American football star, who, after his divorce with Nicole, still loved her. One night, Nicole and her new boyfriend Goldman were found to be killed in front of Nicole’s house, and Simpson was suspected of killing them. Later, enough evidence was found by the police to prove his guilt. However, in order to make the evidence more definitude, the police fabricated* a glove with the blood of Simpson and Nicole, and it later was proved to be forgery by the counsel for the defense*.
If you were the judge, how would you decide on the case?
As a result, all the evidence the police collected before was ruled to be invalid, and Simpson was sentenced innocent.
III. Case analysis
A police officer cannot just walk up to your house and demand to be let in to search for anything that might be illegal. He must get a warrant from a judge first that basically says what the officer is looking for and where he officer will look. And even with warrants, the officer must knock on the door of a house and announce that they are police officers, as heard in many films: “Open up. It’s the police!” This is called the “knock and announce” principle (“敲门并声明”原则).
Read the following case of Wilson v. Arkansas, and answer the following
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