14.02.2022 20 кпо
Задание: прочитать, перевести, ответить на вопросы, выписать все неизвестные слова в словарь и выучить наизусть.
Task 1. Translate the text into Russian.
LAW OF TORTS – закон о правонарушениях
A tort is a wrongful act committed by an individual against another individual's person, property or reputation. The concept of tort is used in most English-speaking common law traditions. It is a civil wrong. Torts often help those who are not in contractual relationship. Contractual liability is based on agreement between parties.
Tort liability is based on the duty one person owes to another. It is imposed by law regardless of whether or not there is an agreement between the parties.
Although a tort and a crime appear to be the same in many cases, the parties, burden of proof, and punishment are different. In a tortious action the injured party is the plaintiff and the person charged with committing the tort is the defendant. The plaintiff has to prove the elements of his case. He is entitled to damages to compensate him for his injury.
Crimes usually involve public law and order. Thus in a criminal action the plaintiff is the state, represented by the prosecutor. The person charged with committing a crime is the defendant. The injured party is merely a complaining witness. The state has to prove its case. The convicted defendant either pays a fine, or goes to prison. The injured party receives nothing. Sometimes a crime is also a tort and the injured party may try to get damages in a civil court.
The most common torts are the tort of conversion, the tort of trespass, the tort of nuisance, the tort of negligence and the tort of defamation.
The tort of conversion covers taking, destroying or selling someone else's goods. It resembles the crime of theft.
The tort of trespass covers entering someone's land without the owner's permission.
The tort of nuisance covers an unreasonable interference with a person's use or enjoyment of land. It can be used in many situations. An individual can sue in the tort of nuisance when his neighbour creates too much noise or keeps rubbish that causes unpleasant smells.
The tort of negligence covers a breach of a legal duty of care. An individual may sue in the tort of negligence if he is injured by broken glass falling from a window or if someone has damaged his car while parking.
The tort of defamation covers attacks against someone's reputation through the written or spoken word.
Task 2. Answer the following questions:
1. What is a tort?
2. What law system uses the concept of tort?
3. What kind of wrongs are torts?
4. What is the tort of negligence?
5. What is the tort of trespass?
Task 1. Translate the text into Russian.
Law and Society – закон и общество
When the world was at a very primitive stage of development there were no laws to regulate life of people. If a man chose to kill his wife or if a woman succeeded in killing her husband that was their own business and no one interfered officially.
But things never stay the same. The life has changed. We live in a complicated world. Scientific and social developments increase the tempo of our daily living activities, make them more involved. Now we need rules and regulations which govern our every social move and action. We have made laws of community living.
Though laws are based on the reasonable needs at the community we often don’t notice them. If our neighbour plays loud music late at night, we probably try to discuss the matter with him rather than consulting the police, the lawyer or the courts. When we buy a TV set, or a train ticket or lend money to somebody a lawyer may tell us it represents a contract with legal obligations. But to most of us it is just a ticket that gets us on a train or a TV set to watch.
Only when a neighbour refuses to behave reasonably or when we are injured in a train accident, the money wasn’t repaid, the TV set fails to work and the owner of the shop didn’t return money or replace it, we do start thinking about the legal implications of everyday activities.
You may wish to take legal action to recover your loss. You may sue against Bert who didn’t pay his debt. Thus you become a plaintiff and Bert is a defendant. At the trial you testified under oath about the loan. Bert, in his turn, claimed that it was a gift to him, which was not to be returned. The court after listening to the testimony of both sides and considering the law decided that it was a loan and directed that judgment should be entered in favour of you against Bert.
Some transactions in modern society are so complex that few of us would risk making them without first seeking legal advice. For example, buying or selling a house, setting up a business, or deciding whom to give our property to when we die.
On the whole it seems that people all over the world are becoming more and more accustomed to using legal means to regulate their relations with each other. Multinational companies employ lawyers to ensure that their contracts are valid whenever they do business.
Task 2. Answer the following questions:
1. Were there any laws when the world was at a very primitive stage of development?
2. Why are rules and regulations necessary nowadays?
3. Did Bert win or lose the case?
4. In what cases do people need legal support?
5. Why do companies employ lawyers?