Transcripts
Unit 1, Lesson 2, Exercise B 1.1 Part 1
Welcome to the Law Faculty. I want to start my first lecture by asking a simple question. What is law? That’s a very simple question, isn’t it? We all know the answer – don’t we? Let’s see.
We know that the law provides a set of rules that allows people to live in an organized and civilized way. If someone breaks a rule, there’s a system of punishment that not only protects people but also provides a deterrent. That is, it deters or stops people from breaking the rule. OK. But what are these rules and who decides what they are? For example, most people would agree that you should wash your hands before you eat a meal. If you don’t, have you broken the law? In my household, my mother imposed this rule and if any of the children broke it, they were punished. But has someone who hasn’t washed their hands before dinner broken the law? Well. Yes and no, or it depends. So what is law? What is the intrinsic meaning of the word? A word that we use every day and think we understand.
Unit 1, Lesson 2, Exercise C 1.2 Part 2
Many words have an intrinsic or basic meaning. We use the words in different situations and they have different surface meanings, but the basic meaning remains the same. Let’s start with a word that is very familiar to many students: bar. We use the word bar to mean a place where you go to order drinks; a coffee bar, for example, or in a hotel you have a lounge bar. On the campus there are many student bars. But we also use the word bar in an English legal context. If you have been called to the bar, it means that you have the right to speak in court. In legal terminology, you are a barrister. Is there any connection between these two words? Yes, there is. A bar is a wooden stand from which a person can serve drinks, for example, in a hotel. In a court, it is also a wooden stand, not for serving drinks but where someone can speak to the court.
Somehow, when we’re learning our first language, we get the feeling for the basic meaning of words which helps us to understand the same word in a new context. When we’re learning another language, it’s very important to find the basic meaning of a word because the direct translation in one context may not be the direct translation in another. For example, if you
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directly translate the words fair and just, they may not have the same meaning as in a legal context. One of the basic meanings of fair is to describe a hair colour that is pale or not dark. Just often means very recently. These words are used with these meanings in the sentence: My fair-haired sister has just arrived. This is not the same as a fair trial or a just outcome. In this more legal context fair means that the trial is conducted in the right way and just means that the outcome was correct and appropriate.
Unit 1, Lesson 2, Exercise D 1.3 Part 3
So let me go back to my original question. What is law? We have criminal law, civil law, public law, international law, family law and company law. They are all elements of the set of rules which forbid, permit or require actions among people and organizations. They are all branches of the law. In my view many of the most important legal developments will take place in international law, and I’ll talk in more detail about that in later lectures.
You will also study case law. In this context, a case refers to a binding or authoritative decision made by a court.
Unit 1, Lesson 2, Exercise E 1.4
Part 4 Let’s look at this in a bit more detail. A case comes before a court in one of two ways. There is either a dispute between people in a civil case or between citizen and state in a criminal case. These cases are decided following a set of rules which forbid, allow or require people to do certain actions. These rules are then enforced.
Let’s take an example that most people are familiar with. The law states that you must not drive more than 50 kilometres per hour in the centre of a town. If people drive at more than the 50 kilometres per hour speed limit they have broken the law, whether or not they get caught doing it. There is a reason for the law. It is dangerous to drive at more than 50 kilometres per hour in an area where people are walking and crossing the road.
If the driver is seen by the police or photographed by a speed camera, that driver will be prosecuted and punished. So this law helps people to live together in an organized and
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