Финансовый университет Кафедра «Иностранные языки-3» Legal English-1
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CHAPTER III CONSTITUTIONSUnit 5 The History of ConstitutionBefore you read Study the following definitions of CONSTITUTION. Which of them best matches your understanding of the concept? 1 A body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be. 2 The body of doctrines and practices that form the fundamental organizing principle of a political state. 3 The basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determine the powers and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the people. Text A The Concept and History of Constitution The idea of a constitution was first elaborated by Aristotle in his classification of governments as monarchies, tyrannies, aristocracies, oligarchies, democracies, and so on. For Aristotle, the best form of government – the best constitution – was that which combined elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy in such a way that the citizens of every class were enabled to enjoy their respective privileges and encouraged to exercise their respective responsibilities in the interest of the whole society. A constitution, to be worthy of the name, must contain provisions for certain political attributes: stability, both of form and of procedure; yet, on the other hand, adaptability to the social, economic, technological, and other changes that are inevitable in the life of a state; accountability of those in power to some other organ of the state, such as an electorate; representation of the governed within the government; openness in the conduct of government; and division of power among distinct branches of government. Constitutional government is thus limited government, and it is a chief function of a constitution to serve as the standard of legitimacy by which governments may be judged. In its wider sense, the term “constitution” means the whole scheme whereby a country is governed; and this includes much else besides law. The constitutional lawyer must constantly keep glancing backward into constitutional history; he must also keep his eye on current political practice and the day-to-day working of political institutions. In its narrower sense, “constitution” means the leading legal rules, usually collected into some document that comes to be almost venerated as “The Constitution.” But no country’s constitution can ever be compressed within the compass of one document, and even where the attempt has been made, it is necessary to consider the extralegal rules, customs, and conventions that grow up around the formal document. Vocabulary accountability n ответственность, подотчетность adaptability n приспособляемость, способность к приспособлению attribute n атрибут, неотъемлемое свойство, символ, отличительная черта branch n ветвь, отрасль, отделение; branches of government «ветви» власти compass n предел, граница; within the compass of… в пределах… compress v сдавливать, сжимать conduct n поведение, руководство convention n условность, обычай custom n обычай, привычка day-to-day adj повседневный distinct adj ясный, отчетливый, определенный elaborate v детально/тщательно разрабатывать или обдумывать, вырабатывать electorate n избиратели enable v давать (кому-л.) возможность или право (что-л. сделать) encourage v вселять мужество, надежду; воодушевлять exercise v осуществлять, применять, использовать extralegal adj не подпадающий под действие закона, не предусмотренный законом govern v управлять, руководить; (the) governed n те, кем управляют/руководят government n государственная власть, правительство grow up v создаваться, возникать (об обычаях и т.п.) inevitable adj неизбежный, неминуемый judge v судить, делать вывод keep glancing backward продолжать оглядываться назад keep one’s eye on не спускать глаз с чего-л., неотступно следить за чем-л. legitimacy n законность (власти ) monarchy n монархия oligarchy n олигархия privilege n привилегия, преимущество; enjoy privilege пользоваться привилегией provision n положение, условие (закона), постановление representation n представительство respective adj соответственный, соответствующий (чему-л.) responsibility n ответственность, обязанность, обязательство tyranny n тирания, деспотизм venerate v чтить, преклоняться whereby adv посредством чего, с помощью которой worthy adj достойный, заслуживающий Reading tasks A Answer these questions. 1 Who was the first person to introduce the idea of a constitution? 2 What kind of government did Aristotle consider to be the best? 3 What political provisions must a true constitution contain? 4 Why is constitutional government limited? 5 What is a chief function of a constitution? 6 What does the term “constitution” mean in a narrower sense and a wider sense? B Find in the text the English equivalents for the following words and expressions. 1 законность 2 в пределах единого документа 3 не предусмотренный законом 4 неизбежные изменения 5 осуществлять правление 6 подотчетность 7 пользоваться привилегиями 8 разделение власти 9 тщательно разрабатывать/развивать идею С Mark these statements T (true) or F (false) according to the information in the text. 1 The idea of a constitution was first elaborated by English philosophers. 2 People’s interests didn’t play great role in Aristotle’s view of the best form of government and the best constitution. 3 A constitution must be adaptable to changes occurring in the life of a community. 4 Accountability of those in power to an electorate is one of the necessary provisions of a constitution. 5 Division of power among distinct branches of government is unnecessary in a democratic society. 6 A constitution is a kind of scheme whereby a country is governed. 7 The constitution of any country can be compressed within the compass of one document. Language focus Complete these sentences with the past simple passive form of the verbs in brackets. Did you know …? 1 The concept of a constitution ___________(elaborate) by Aristotle. 2 A lot of elements __________(combine) in the best form of government. 3 The citizens of every class __________(encourage) to exercise their respective responsibilities in the interest of the whole society. 4 Governments __________(judge) by a constitution as the standard of legitimacy. 5 The term “constitution” meant the whole scheme whereby a country _______(govern). 6 No attempts _________(make) to compress the constitution within the compass of one document. Text B Characteristics of Constitutions Every state has a constitution, since every state functions on the basis of certain rules and principles. It has often been asserted that the United States has a written constitution but that the constitution of Great Britain is unwritten. This is true, but only in the sense that in the United States there is a formal document called the Constitution, whereas there is no such document in Great Britain. In fact, however, many parts of the British Constitution exist in written form, whereas important aspects of the American Constitution are wholly unwritten. Written constitutions can concern themselves exclusively or prevalently with the organization of government or deal extensively with the rights of people and with the goals of governmental action. Written constitutions are said to be “normative” when their binding principles are more or less all observed in the actual operations of the political system. This applies to the Constitutions of the United States, Canada, and of some western European countries. Other constitutions are said to be “nominal,” because they are largely or in substantial parts disregarded and do not provide insight into the real functioning of the system. This is often the case with constitutions of rapidly developing countries and of countries ruled by a one-person or a one-party dictatorship. Constitutions, written or unwritten, must be distinguished according to whether they are “rigid” or “flexible.” Rigid are those constitutions at least some part of which cannot be modified in ordinary legislative way. Flexible are those whose rules can all be modified through the simple procedure by which statutes are enacted. The United States has a rigid constitution, because proposals to amend the constitutional document adopted in 1788 can only be added through a complex procedure of majority vote in each house of Congress. Great Britain has a flexible constitution because all of its constitutional institutions and rules can be modified by an act of Parliament. Vocabulary act n акт, закон, постановление; act of Parliament постановление парламента amend v вносить поправки, изменения, дополнения (в конституцию, закон и пр.) binding adj обязательный, обязывающий; binding principles обязательные принципы dictatorship n диктатура; one-party dictatorship однопартийная диктатура disregard v не принимать во внимание, игнорировать, не обращать внимания enact v предписывать, постановлять; принимать, вводить в действие (закон), устанавливать в законодательном порядке enactment n издание, принятие (закона); законодательный акт, закон, указ, статут, постановление (законодательной власти), статья закона exclusively adv исключительно, единственно, только extensively adv пространно, обширно, широко, экстенсивно flexible adj гибкий, маневренный, подвижный goal n цель, задача house of Congress палата Конгресса США insight (into) n проникновение в суть чего-л., способность проникновения в сущность modify v модифицировать, видоизменять; modify the rules видоизменять правила/нормы права nominal adj номинальный, условный, символический normative adj нормативный observe v соблюдать (правила, обычаи, принципы) operation n действие, работа, функционирование prevalently adv общепринято, во многих случаях, главным образом rapidly developing countries быстро развивающиеся страны rigid adj жесткий, строгий, неукоснительный rule n правило, норма права, постановление, предписание, приказ statute n статут, законодательный акт substantial adj значительный, основной, главный, реально существующий vote n голос, право голоса; голосование, число голосов, вотум, решение; majority vote решение большинством голосов; большинство голосов written constitution писаная конституция; unwritten constitution неписаная конституция Reading tasks A Answer these questions. 1 Why is it necessary for every state to have a constitution? 2 What type of constitutions do the United States and Great Britain have? 3 What are the characteristic features of existing constitutions? 4 What examples from the text illustrate these features? B Complete the following sentences according to the information in the text. 1 The USA has a written constitution but the constitution of Great Britain is … . 2 In “normative” constitutions binding principles are … . 3 “Nominal” constitutions do not provide … . 4 If at least some part of the constitution … . 5 In “flexible” constitutions rules can all be modified through … . Language focus A Translate the following expressions into Russian paying special attention to the present participle. 1 leading documents 2 statutes dealing with the structure of the courts 3 developing countries 4 constitutions existing in European countries 5 providing insight 6 modifying rules B Open the brackets putting the verbs in the Present Perfect active or passive form. One of the reasons for having special constitutional laws is to prevent governments from becoming too powerful and from interfering too much in the lives of individuals. Whereas socialist legal systems 1) ________ (tend) to try to define exactly what the state allowed citizens to do, Anglo-American law 2) _______ (concern) with defining what the state could do, arguing that citizens are entitled to do everything other than that which the state forbids. As a check upon overpowerful government most modern constitutions 3) _______ (adopt) the principle of separation of powers, developed in the 18th century by the French political philosopher Montesquieu. Many presidents 4) ______ (have) important policies blocked by Congress. The Supreme Court (judiciary) has the task of interpreting laws which 5) _______ (dispute) in lower courts, and of deciding whether a law passed by Congress or by one of the individual states is in keeping with the Constitution. Vocabulary tasks A Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents. 1 act of Parliament a обязательные принципы 2 operations of political system b решение большинством голосов 3 amend the constitutional document c действия политической системы 4 deal with the rights of people d обычный законодательный путь 5 majority vote e вносить поправки в текст конституции 6 one-party dictatorship f быстро развивающиеся страны 7 modify the rules g видоизменять правовые нормы 8 binding principles h постановление парламента 9 ordinary legislative way i иметь дело с правами человека 10 rapidly developing countries j однопартийная диктатура B Complete the text with an appropriate preposition from the box.
There are also laws which enable citizens to take legal action 1) ______ the state – against, for example, a public authority or even against the government itself. These actions are part of constitutional law. As knowledge of the law has increased 2) ______ the general public, so have the number and range of constitutional law cases. A constitution is the political and ideological structure 3) ______ which a system 4) ______ laws operates. Most countries have a formal written constitution describing how laws are to be made and enforced. The French Constitution, for example, sets a seven year term of office 5)_____ the president; the US Constitution sets a four year term. In Switzerland, a referendum (national vote) must be held 6) ______ any issue for which a petition signed 7) ______ 10,000 people has been gathered; in Ireland, referenda are to be used only in the case of changes in the constitution itself. 8) ______ Germany, a change in the constitution requires a special majority vote in parliament, not the simple majority necessary for other laws. Many other countries put the constitution 9) _______ other laws by making it difficult to change. Over to you For discussion: Can a person or society as a whole live without any constitution? Are there any examples of this? |
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