Read the following texts using a dictionary. Precis the texts in English following the rules described above.

Text 1

The effect of European Law on the UK is still being estimated, but every aspect of British law has to adapt to changes in the way it operates.

European Union laws have increased people’s rights in the UK. Parts of the Employment Protection Act 1978 were ruled unfair under European Union law. The act gave less protection to part-time workers. As most part-time workers are women, the European Union decided that this broke the European rules on equal pay for men and women. It ruled that this amounted to sexual discrimination. The UK government was forced to change the law.

The commitment to “Free Trade” within the union has also affected the way businesses operate.Goods can now be transferred throughout the European Union without passing through customs. Trademarks and intellectual property issues such as copyright are protected in each member country. Individuals have the right to live and work in any European Union member’s country. Common European Standards have been established, ensuring that any product will be of similar quality regardless of where it is manufactured. Free Trade agreements have revolutionized the way that businesses operate in Europe. Businesses can now operate in any member country because national boundaries have been removed.

The European Convention on Human Rights is known as the Human Rights Act 1998 in the UK. It must now be considered when any legal ruling is made throughout the European Union. The main points it guarantees, which are called ‘Articles’ are:

· A right to life

· Freedom from inhuman treatment

· Freedom from slavery

· Right to liberty and security of the person

· Right to a fair and public hearing

· Freedom form retrospective effect of penal legislation

· Right to respect for privacy

· Freedom of thought, conscience and religion

· Freedom of expression

· Freedom of association and assembly

· The right to marry and found a family

If a legal decision made in the UK is thought to break the rules of the European Convention on Human Rights the case can be referred to the European Court of Human Rights for a ruling to be made, which may overrule British law.

Text 2

International Law

By its nature, international law is a common concern of all states, a product of legal culture, thought and experience of many different societies. The central concern of international law is the relations among states. The role of international law is to establish a workable framework* for intergovernmental relations, and to provide criteria and procedures for the settlement of international disputes which are, or can be made, justiciable.

«Justiciable» * is a lawyer's word. It is used to describe disputes of a kind that can be resolved justly and peacefully by impartial tribunal on the basis of commonly accepted legal principles. In any civilized society, there are an immense range and variety of disputes that are justiciable, and are effectively resolved under law*. In even the most highly civilized and law-abiding states, however, many disputes are generally recognized to be nonjusticiable*. They must be resolved through factors and processes other than adjudication.

A familiar example is the struggle for political authority and control which takes place at regular intervals within the United States, at the levels of the national, state and local governments. These struggles are resolved by elections which are contests of power. Law plays a part, but only in the sense that it sets limits within which the contest goes forward. Violence and fraud are prohibited by law, and law determines who may participate in the contest as candidate or voter.

Another illustration may be drawn from labor relations. Within limits set by law, disputes among employers and labor unions which cannot be settled through negotiations and agreements are resolved by strikes.

International law is partly customary and partly conventional. Customary international law reflects a consensus among nations, which through common practice used long enough has crystallized into law. Conventional international law is that part of international law which is established by convention or treaty.

Text 3

Common Law

Common law may be defined as binding and enforceable principles or rules, the authority for which rests upon the decisions of courts rather than upon any express statute or non-judicial proclamation.

Law develops under the common law system by judicial precedent, and agencies of government as well as individuals must conform to legal rules developed in and applied by the courts. This theory of law embraces the legal principle of stare decisis* which is a doctrine or policy of following rules or principles laid down by decisions of a court of last resort in similar cases, unless those decisions contravene fundamental concepts of justice (bear in mind the distinction between stare decisis* and res judicata*).

Common law or «judge-made» law has been said to be the embodiment of broad and comprehensive «unwritten» rules and principles inspired by reason and an innate sense of justice. The common law is sometimes referred to as the «unwritten law» primarily because, unlike law created by a legislative body, the common law was not «codified», or arranged into a system of codes covering a specific area of the law. Rather than being found in a set of rules or laws covering one subject, as is true with a «code», the common law develops on a case by case basis, with legal issues decided in chronological order as particular legal problems arise.

Common law is a system for deducing just, reasonable and consistent rules of law from causes of action in specific cases or in­stances of litigation. «Causes of action» were developed at common law, thus giving people a right to institute judicial proceedings in certain cases.

The common law system may be distinguished from the Roman, or civil law, system, which, instead of relying upon judicial decisions for a pronouncement of the law, consists of explicit codes which have been enacted or decreed, and which define legal rights and obligations within a more or less rigid framework. Virtually the only remedy available to litigants under the common law system vas the award of money damages. This led to the development of the chancery courts (also called courts of equity), which could order «equitable relief».

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