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WHAT IS MEANT BY
LAW?Unit 1
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Structure
1. Definitions of law
2. Purpose of law
3. Classification of law
4. Law and morality
5. Law and religion
6. Law and justice:Revill v Newbery (1996)
7. Exercises
8. Legal terms
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What is law?
Law, says the judge as he looks down his nose,Speaking clearly and most severely
Law is as Ive told you before,Law is as you know I suppose, Law is but let me
explain it once more,
Law is The Law
(W.H.Auden. Extract from Law is Like Love)
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The Law
(Collins Cobuild English Dictionary)
1. a system of rules that a society orgovernment develops in order to deal withcrime, business agreements, and social
relationships. You can also use the law torefer to the people who work in thissystem. They are seeking permission to
begin criminal proceedings against him forbreaking the law on financing politicalparties...
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law
2. Lawis used to refer to a particularbranch of the law, such as criminal lawor company law. Under international
law, diplomats living in foreign countriesare exempt from criminal prosecution...
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law
3. A law is one of the rules in a system oflaw which deals with a particular type ofagreement, relationship, or crime
The law was passed on a second vote.
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law
Lawor the lawis all the professionswhich deal with advising people about thelaw, representing people in court, or
giving decisions and punishments
A career in law is becoming increasinglyattractive to young people.
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law
Law is the study of systems of law andhow laws work.
He came to Oxford and studied law.
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law
The laws of an organisation or activity areits rules, which are used to organize andcontrol it.
...the laws of the Church of England...
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law
A lawis a rule or set of rules for goodbehaviour which is considered right andimportant by the majority of people for
moral, religious, or emotional reasons
...inflexible moral laws...
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law
A lawis a natural process in which aparticular event or thing always leads to aparticular result
The laws of nature are absolute.
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law
A lawis a scientific rule that someone hasinvented to explain a particular naturalprocess
...the law of gravity...
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Law (Blacks Law Dictionary)
1. The regime that orders human activitiesand relations through systematicapplication of the force of politically
organized society, or through socialpressure, backed by force, in such asociety; the legal system
Respect and obey the law
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law
2. The aggregate of legislation, judicialprecedents, and accepted legal principles;the body of authoritative grounds of
judicial and administrative action; esp.,the body of rules, standards, andprinciples that the courts of a particular
jurisdiction apply in deciding controversies
brought before them The law of the land
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law
3. The set of rules or principles dealingwith a specific area of a legal system
Copyright law
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law
4. The judicial and administrative process;legal action and proceedings
When settlement negotiations failed, theysubmitted their dispute to the law
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law
5. A statute
Congress passed a law
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law
6. COMMON LAW
Law but not equity
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law
7. The legal profession
She spent her entire career in law
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Definitions of the law
The most common definition of the law inEnglish legal textbooks: (1) rules ofconduct (2) imposed by a state upon its
members and (3) enforced by the courts.
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Definition
Anthropologists: a norm is a law if itsneglect or infraction is regularly met, inthreat or in fact, by the application of
physical force by an individual or grouppossessing the socially recognizedprivilege of so acting
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Purpose of law
to regulate human behaviour andestablish social order
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Types of law
Law
- national (municipal)
- international
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National law
Public (involves the State or government)
Private (disputes between privateindividuals or businesses)
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Public law
Constitutional law
Administrative law
Criminal law
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Constitutional law
Set of laws relating to government and itsfunction under which a country is ruled
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Administrative law
Controls how Ministers of State or otherpublic bodies such as local councils shouldoperate
Judicial reviewreview by a higher courtof the actions of a lower court or of anadministrative body (nadzor nadzakonitou; sudska kontrola; sudskinadzor; postupak protiv javnih tijela islubenika
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Criminal law
Law relating to acts comitted against thelaw of the land which are punishable bythe state
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Private law
Also: civil law
Contract, tort, family law, law ofsuccession, company law, employmentlaw
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Law and religion
History: law closely linked to religion
Today: law should not be used to supportreligious order
Law should protect the ability of those ofdifferent religious beliefs to hold andpractise their religion (European
Convention of Human Rights, Article 9)
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Law and justice
Justicethe ultimate goal towards whichthe law should strive
What is justice?
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Law and justice
An impartial, independent judicial system
A competent and independent legalprofession
Procedural justice: access to legal advice,assistance and representation; theguarantee of a fair trial
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Revill v Newbury (1996)
Mark Revill, aged 21, with another manattempted to break into a shed belongingto William Newbury. They had already that
night stolen cars and caused criminaldamage elsewhere
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Revill v Newbury (1996)
Mr Newbury, aged 76, was sleeping in theshed to protect his property after earlierthefts; he had a shotgun and ammunition
When he was awakened by the noise ofthe two men trying to break in, he loadedthe shotgun and fired. The shot hit Mr
Revill on the right upper arm and chest
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Revill v Newbury (1996)
Criminal proceedings: Mr. Revill wasprosecuted for various criminal offenceshe had committed, pleaded guilty and was
sentenced
Mr Newbury was prosecuted for woundingMr Revill; found not guilty by the jury
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Revill v Newbury (1996)
Civil proceedings. Mr Revill brought a civilcase against Mr Newbury claimingdamages for the injuries he had suffered
The judge awarded Mr Revill damages of 12,100 but reduced the amount to4,033 because the judge held that Mr
Revill was two-thirds to blame for whathad happened
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Revill v Newbury (1996)
Mr Newbury appealed against this orderbut the Court of Appeal dismissed hisappeal saying that his conduct was clearly
dangerous and bordered on the reckless
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Revill v Newbury (1996)
Violence may be returned with necessaryviolence but the force used must notexceed the limits of what is reasonable in
the circumstances
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Questions
Should a criminal be able to use the legalrules to claim compensation for injuriescaused by another person?
Is it justice to award damages to someonewho was injured while carrying outcriminal activities?
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Questions
Bearing in mind that Mr Newbery had firedwithout warning, was the decision that heshould pay a reduced amount of damages
a just one?
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Questions
Mr Newbery was found not guilty of acriminal charge of wounding Mr Revill.Was this a just decision?
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Introduction to law: basic terms
The following terms introduce you to thelaw and basic legal terminology:
Authority, court, govern, judge, lawenforcement agency, lawyers, legal action,legal system, legislation, rule, the
judiciary, tribunal
Below are definitions. Find the definitionfor each term.
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A th it t j d l f t
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Authority, court, govern, judge, law enforcement agency,
lawyers, legal action, legal system, legislation, rule, the
judiciary, tribunal
9. The body or system of rules recognizedby a community that are enforceable byestablished process _______
10. the control resulting from following acommunitys system of rules_______
11. members of the legal profession_____
12. to rule a society and control thebehaviour of its members
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Introduction to law: basic concepts
Complete the following text about basiclegal concepts using the following wordsand phrases. Use each term once:
authority, court, govern, judges, lawenforcement agency, lawyers, legal action,legal systems, legislation, rule, the
judiciary, tribunal
th it t j d l f t
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authority, court, govern, judges, law enforcement agency,
lawyers, legal action, legal systems, legislation, rule, the
judiciary, tribunal
Why do we have laws andlegalsystems? At one level, laws can be seenas a type of _____which is meant to ____
behaviour between people. We can findthese rules in nearly all socialorganizations, such as families and sports
clubs.
th it t j d l f t
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authority, court, govern, judges, law enforcement agency,
lawyers, legal action, legal systems, legislation, rule, the
judiciary, tribunal
Law, the body of official rules andregulations, generally found inconstitutions and____, is used to govern a
society and to control the behaviour of itsmembers. In modern societies, a bodywith ____, such as a ____ or the
legislature, makes the law; and a ____,such as the police, makes sure it isobserved.
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Th bj t tt f th l l
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The subject matter of the legal
system
Lawyers often dividethe law into criminaland civil. Classify the
following terms intothe appropriatecolumn. Two termscan appear in both
columns:
Criminal Civil
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Classify the following:
Compensation, contract, crime, damages,family law, intellectual property, plaintiff,police, private individual, prosecution, the
accused, the defendant, theft, to bring acase, to bring an action, to fine, to chargesomeone with something
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Legal terms: general
Adjudication: the act of giving ajudgement or of deciding a legal problem
Sudska odluka, donoenje odluke, sudskipostupak
adjudicate
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Legal terms
Appeal: the act of asking a higher court tochange a decision of a lower court
alba Submit/bring an appeal
Uloiti albu
Dismiss an appeal Odbaciti albu
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Legal terms: general
Court: a body established by law for theadministration of justice by judges
Tribunal: a specialist court outside the
judicial system which examines specialproblems and makes judgements
Lawyer: a wide term which refers to allprofessionals working in the legalprofession; it does not refer to a specific
job
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Legal terms: general
Jurist: a person who has specialised in thestudy and practice of law
Pravni strunjak Enforce: to make sure something is done
or is obeyed
Provoditi (odredbe, zakone), primijeniti
Avenge: If you avenge a wrong or harmfulact, you punish the person who isresponsible
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Legal terms: general
Neglect: failure to do a duty; a lack ofcare towards someone or something
Nebriga, nemar, zanemarivanje
Infraction: breach, violation, infringement
Krenje, povreda
Coercion: the use of force to makesomeone to do some act
Prisila, prinuda
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Legal terms: criminal law
Criminal charge: an official statement in a courtaccusing someone of having committed a crime
Optunica
To answer charges: to plead guilty or not guilty To withdraw/drop charges
Odbaciti optube
To charge someone witha crime optuiti
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Legal terms: criminal law
Prosecute
Podignuti optunicu Plead
Izjasniti se o krivnji
Sentence
(osuujua) presuda, kazna To pass sentence on someone: to give a
convicted person the official legal punishment
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Legal terms: civil law
Dispute: disagreement between parties Spor, parnica
Civil proceedings
Parnini postupak Plaintiff (claimant)
Tuitelj u graanskom postupku; podnositeljtube, oteenik
Bring an action Pokrenuti postupak
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Legal terms: civil law
Claim
Tubeni zahtjev u graanskom pravu Damages
Novana naknada, (novana) odteta Claim damages
Traiti odtetuAward damages
Dosuditi odtetu
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Translate:
What exactly do we mean by the law?Law is a common word, so common thatmost people never stop to consider what it
means. Even jurists and social scientistsfind it hard to define the term law.
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Questions for discussion
Is it necessary for a society to reach aparticular level of development before lawcan play a useful role?
What are the consequences for a countryor society of not accepting the importanceof the rule of law?
Can law protect the economically weak?
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Questions for discussion
What should be the relationship betweenlaw and morality? When should things wedisapprove of be made unlawful?
How successful is law in shaping humanbehaviour?
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Thank you for your attention!