Vocabulary. Property Law – право собственности, вещное право

Property Law – право собственности, вещное право

Contract Law – договорное право, договорно-обязательственное право

Tort Law – деликтное право

Merchant Law – торговое право

Negotiable Instruments Law – закон об оборотных документах

negotiable - оборотный, могущий быть переуступленным, могущий быть предметом переговоров

procedure – судопроизводство

real property – недвижимое имущество

personal property – движимое имущество, личная собственность, имущество

tangible property – материальная собственность

intangible property - нематериальная собственность (например, интеллектуальная)

equity – справедливость, право справедливости право, основанное на нормах справедливости

Equitable Law – право справедливости

remedy – средство правовой защиты

1. Before reading the text below try to remember:

- What branches of law do you know?

- What problems do they tackle?

1. Read the text.

The law is the whole body of laws considered collectively. There are many ways in which the law can be classified. It can be divided into common law, civil law, criminal law, constitutional law, substantive and procedural laws, etc.

By the words ‘common’ law’ we mean law which is common to the whole country – national law in contrast to local law. Common law in England is unwritten law, based on judicial decisions made by judges in previous cases (case law) in contrast to the law made by Parliament or other law-making body (statute law). It distinguishes the common law legal systems based on precedents from the civil law jurisdictions based on civil codes. Law of equity is the application of principles of justice outside common law or statute law, used to correct laws when these would apply unfairly in special circumstances.

One important distinction is between private – or civil – law and public law. Civil law concerns disputes between citizens within the country, and public law concerns disputes between citizens and the state, or between one state and another. The main categories of English civil law are contracts, torts, trusts, family law. The main categories of public law are crimes, constitutional law, and international law.

Commercial law regulates commercial relationships among people in the world of business. The main areas of commercial law are bankruptcy, consumer credit contracts, relations of debtors and creditors, as well as landlords and tenants, mortgages, real estate transactions and so on.

Intellectual property law is designed to promote the worldwide protection of industrial property (inventions, trademarks, and designs) and copyright materials (literary, musical, photographic, and other artistic works).

Family law covers child custody, children’s rights, marriage, divorce, insurance, adoption, estates and trusts.

Workers’ compensation laws are designed to ensure that employees who are injured or disabled on the job are provided with fixed monetary awards, eliminating the need for litigation.

3. Answer the questions:

1. What is law?
2. How is law classified?
3. What is common law?
4. What does civil law concern?
5. What are the main categories of civil law?
6. What does commercial law regulate?
7. What does intellectual property law regulate?
8. What problems does family law cover?