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what is law The english word law refers to limits upon various forms of behaviour.

Some laws are desriptive, they simply describe how people or natural phenomena usually behave, fore x,law of gravity. Other laws are prescriptive- they simply prescribe hoe people ought to begave, fo ex, speed limits imposed upon drives prescribe how fast we should drive. In all societies relations between people are regulated by prescriptive laws. Some of them are customs- informal rules of social and moral behaviour. Some are rules we accept if we belong to particular social institutions, such as religious groups. And some are precise laws made by nations and enforced against citizens within their power. Customs need not be written down and need not be made by gov. We learn how we are expected to behave through the instruction of family and teachers, our experiences when dealing with strangers. Sometimes we can break these rules without suffering any penaluty. But if we break a very important one, other members of soiety can criticize us, act violently toward us. The ways in which we eat, drink,realx together are guided by such informal rules. The rules of social institutions tend to be more formal, carrying precise penalties fot those who break them. However they are not enforceable by any political authority. Sports clubs have detailed rules for their members. When gov make laws they use a system of courts backed by the power of the police to enforce these laws. Sometimes the law is not enforced against someone, foe ex, when young children commit crimes. But tge general nature of law is that it is enforced equally against all members of the nation. Relations between people are regulated by a combination of all these rules. Ex to ilustrate relationship: a member of a rugby club is angry with the referee during the game so he hits him and beraks his nose. At the most informal level of social custom, people seeing about the incident would criticize the player and would try to persuade the player to apologize. At a more formal level, the player would find he had broken the rules of club and would face punishment from institution governing the conduct of players such as a suspensijon. Finally, the player might face prosecution for atacking the referee under laws created by gov. There might be two kinds of prosecution: the referee could strat a civil action against the player demanding compensation. The police might also start an action agains the player for a crime of violence, because anti social behaviour is considered as a danger to the well beingo f soiety as a whole.

Motives govs have in making and enforcing laws: 1) social control. Public laws establish the authority of the gov itself and civil laws provide a framework for ineraction among citizens. Without laws there would be anarchy.2) implementation of justice. Many philosophers have proposed concepts oj justice and sometimes govs are influenced by them, such as the french revolutionaries who tried to implement montesquieus doctrine of the separation of powers.bur in general, govs are guided by more practical considerations such as rising crime rates. 3) sometimes laws are simply an attempt to implement common sense. Obvious that dangerous driving should be punished. It is a complex skill based upon long observation of many different people in different situations. In practice, gov combine many purposes. The law today is a complex of different and relatively independent national systems. Despite major revisions over the centuries, the legal system of england and wales is one ofthe oldest still operating. English law has directly influenced australia, india, canada, the US. Sources of modern law In order to understand why a particular country has a particular legal system, it is necessary to look at its history, political structure, social values. Despite civil wars in the 15, 17 centuries, enormous social changes associated with industrialization, england and wales have retained many laws and legal principles that originated 8 centuries ago. There are two main traditions of law in the world. One is based on english common law, and has been adopted by many commonwealth countries, most of the usa. The other tradition, sometimes known as Continental, or roman law has developed in most of Continental europe, latin america, many countries in asia, africa, has also influenced japan and several socialist countries. Common law, or case law systems, differ from Continental law in having developed gradually throught history not as the result of gov attempts to codify every legal relation. Customs and court rulings have been as important as statutes. Before william of normandy invaded england in 1066, law was administered by a seriesof local courts. The norman kings sent travelling judges around the country and gradually a common law developed, under the authority of 3 common law courts in london. Uniform application of the law throughout the country was promoted by the gradual development of the doctrine of precedent.

Doctrine of precedent- the practice of making legal decisions by following the decision made in a previous similar case. If the essential elements of a case were the same as those of previous recorded cases, then the judge was bound to reach the same decision regarding guilt or innocence. If no precedent could be found, the the judge made a decision based upon existing legal principles, and his decision would become a precedent for other courts to follow. From this definition you can see, that in common law systems, junges do nor merely apply the law, in some cases they make law rather than looking to the gov to write new laws. Of course, gov also make new laws- statutes. Legislation has become the most important source of new law. When the gov feels that existing com law,equity, statutes are in need of revision or clarification, it passes new legislation. Parliament passes new laws on matters that never arose when the com law was developed, for ex, modern soiety has produced crimes such as business froud and computer theft. Another feature of the common law tradition is equity. By the 14 century many people were dissatisfied with the inflexibility of the common law, and practice of appealing to the king or the lord chancellor developed. As the lord chancellors court became more willing to modify existing common law in order to solve disputes a new system of law developed. This system recognized rights that were not enforced as common law but which were considered just, such as the right to force someone to fulfill a contract rather than pay damages for breaking it. If an equitable principe would bring a different result from a common law ruling, then equity should prevail. Problem was that a person often had to begin action in different courts-a person had to seek specific performance in court of equity, and damages in a common law court. Later on two systems were unified. The spread of com law was due both: influence of britain and the growth of the usa. Continental systems known as codified legal systems have resulted from attempts by govs to produce a set of codes to govern every legal aspect of a citizens life. In codifying legal systems,many countries have looked to the examples of revolutionary and napoleonic france, whose legislators wanted to break with previous case law and to apply new egalitarian social theories to the law. 19th centuri europe saw the decline of several multi ethnic empires and the rise of nationalism. The lawmakers of new nations sometimes wanted to show that the legal rights of their citizens originated in the state, not in local customs, and thus it was the state that was to make law, not the courts. The lawmakers were influenced by the model of the canon law of the roman catholic church, also codes produced in the 7th mentury under the direction of the roman emperor justinian.

It is important not to exaggerate the differences between these two traditions of law. Many case law systems(californias)have areas of law that have been completely codified. On the other hand, many countries can be said to have belonged to the roman tradition long before codifying their laws, and large uncodified areas of law still remain. The clair distinction between legislature and judiciary has weakened in many europen countries, where courts are able to challenge the constitutional legalyty of a law made by parliament. Most countries have produced a great deal of case law in interpreting codes that become out ofdate because os social changes. It is also important not to exaggerate similarities. While adopting some french ideas, such as separation of the legislature and judiciary, 19th mentury codifiers if german law aimed at concerving customs and traditions peculiar to german history. Japanese law. The lawmakers of meiji japan imported a new system of law in order to give japan the appearance of a modernized country. They decided to adopt crim and civ codes. However the way in which justice was actually administered continued to reflect older japanese principles ofrefraining from formal methods of solving disputes. According to classical marxism , legal systems in capitalist and precapitalist nations were created to justify property relations. In other words, the law was on the side of those with economic power. Marx thought that with the coming of socialism, the state would dissaper. However, soacialist countries have produced very strong centralized state institutions and complex legal systems. The leaders of the soviet revolution tried to apply socialist ideology to a continental civil law tradition in as systematic and comprehensive a way as possible... Civil and public law Civil law concerns disputes among citizens within a country. Main categories of civil law are: contracts- binding agreements between people, companies; torts- wrongs commited by one individual against another individuals person, reputation, property; trusts- arrangements whereby a person administers property for another persons benefit rather than his own land law; probate- arrangements for dealing with property after the owners death; family law.

Public law concerns disputes between citizens and the state, or between one state and another. Main categories of public law are: crimes- wrongs, which are considered to harm the well beingo f soiety in general; constitutional lawregulation of how the law itself operetes and of the relation between private Citizen and gov; international law- regulation of relation between govs and also between private citizens of one country and those of another. Codes correspond to these categories, for ex Frances code civil, code penal, justinians roman codes. Civil and criminal differs in procedures: a) criminal court may force a defendant to pay a fine as punishement for his crime+the legal costs of the prosecution. If the victim of the crime wants to get compensation he/she must start civil action b) the standards of proof are higher in a criminal ation because the loser risks being sent to prison. The prosecution must prove the guilt of a criminal beyond reasonable doubt( persons judging cannot doubt without very good reason), but the plaintiff is required to prove his case on the balance of probabilities (court weigh all the evidence) c) criminal actions are nearly always started by the state. The party bringing a criminal action is called the prosecution. Civil actions are usually started by individuals. The party bringing a civil action is the plaintiff d) a criminal case would be described as the people/regina vs smith while civil case would be described as brown vs smith/ police e) evidence from a criminal trial is not necessarily admissible as evidence in a civil action about the same matter. If the victim wants to benefit- to get the amount of $/ damages, it is not enough to found guilty of a crime. He/she has to prove that the defendant is liable. Disobeying any court may constitute criminal conduct, and the disobedient loser of a civil action may find he/she not only has to pay the damages originally ordered by the court, but a criminal penalty as well.

Judicial institutions In all legal systems there are institutions for creating, modifying, abolishing and applying the law. Usually these take the form of a hierarchy of courts. The role of each court and its capacity to make decisions is srictly defined in relation to other courts. Two reasons for having a variety of courts: 1) a particular court can specialize in particular kinds of legal actions 2) a person who feels his case was not fairly treated can appeal to a higher court. The decisions of a higher court are binding upon lower courts.

When talking about English courts and how they relate to each other you can notice the division between civil and criminal law. The crown courts deal exclusively with criminal matters, the county courts with civil matters. The queens bench division of the high court considers appeals from lower criminal courts, as well as civil matters, and the magistrates courts, while moustly concerned with criminal cases, also deal with civil matters. House of lords deal with all. Criminal case usually begins in a magistrates court (lowest criminal court which is empowered to hear certain cases only as serious crimes cannot be heard). Having arrested someones suspected of commiting a crime, police must decide if they have enough evidence to make a formal accusation/charge. If they charge the suspect, they may release him on the condition that he will appear on a certain date ar a certain magistrates court-unconditional bail. The police may take the suspect to a magistrate so that he remains in custody until he next appears before a court. The magistrate may agree to unconditional bail, o he may grant conditional bail- release the suspect provided that he puts up some money as security or agrees to surrender his passport. There are some offences where a defendant is given a choise of having his case heard in the magistrates court or in the crown. In a crown court trial there are twelve jurors (ordinary members of the public, ages 18-70, seleted at random, service compulsory, not paid but given expenses, not connected with the world of law). Job of the jury-to listen to the case anuoto decide questions of fact (whether the defendant did in fact commit a crime or not). Judges responsibility to guide them on questions of law. A defendant found guilty by the magistrates may appeal against the finding to the local crown court. If a very good reason about a point of law then he may appeal to the queens bench division. In special cases to the court of appeal. Occasionally, a case is carried through this system of appeal all the way to the house of lords. The appeal system is mostly for the benefit of the defendant. The house of lords is the upper house of the british parliament with limited political powers. Members not elected, but consists of: 1)hereditary peers 2)peers appointed for life by gov 3)bishops of the church of england 4)law lordspeersappointed for life after long service as lawyers. When sitting as a court of appeal it is only the law lords. Their decisions bind all other courts. Only gov can overturn a decision of the house of lords by passingan act of parliament.

The lowest court in a civil action is also magistrates court, but its functions very limited, so most of the cases start in county courts, where junges are all professionals. They hear matters such as contract and tort disputes, actions regarding claims to land, grant divoreces. Chanery division deals with disputes abouttrusts, bankruptcy, the property of the dead . There are numeriuos special courts. Special industrial tribunals deal with disputes over contracts and sexual discrimination in employment matters. Juveniles are dealt with in special magistrates courts known as juvenile courts. Most court cases are open to the public. Some proceedings are closed such as where a child is giving evidence of sexual abuse which he or she has suffered. There are also restrictions on who may conduct a case in court-most people choose to be represented by a professional lawyer. In the usa the highest judicial decisions are made by a supreme court. Supreme courts are entirely concerned with legal matters and have no role in legislation. In some countries the judges and jurors decide the case together. In other juries have also a say about punishment, not only about guilty. In some jurors are not used. Lawyers at work The word lawyer describes a person who has become officially qualified to act in certain legal matters beause of examinations he has taken and professional experience he has gained. Most countries have different groups of lawyers who each take a particular kind of examination in order to qualify to do particular jobs. In Japan, the decision is between becoming an attorney, a public prosecutor, or a judge and in England-between a barrister or a solicitor. Barristers specialize in arguing cases in front of a judge and have the right of audience in highest courts. They are employed by solicitors. Judges are usually chosen from the most senior barristers. In general, a barrister spends most of his time in a courtroom or preparing his arguments for the court. Solicitors do much of the initial preparation for cases which they then hand to barristers,as well as handling legal work such as drawing up wills, and dealing with litigation which is settled out of court. They also have a right of audience in lower

courts. In general, a solicitor spends most of his time in an office giving advice to clients, making investigations and preparing documents Lawyers with the same qualifications and professional title may be doing very different kinds of work. But one thing is the same- lawyers are becoming more specialized. Working in small firms, lawyers now tend to restrict themselves to certain kinds of work, and lawyers working in large law firms work on highly specific areas of law. Pay also vary greatly. The Wall Street attorney probably earns a high salary, but the small firm giving advice to members of the public on immigration procedures may have to restrict salaries in order to stay in business. There are lawyers whose business with fee paying clients subsidizes thework they agree to do for no payment for citizens rights groups. Working conditions are not the same too. There are lawyers whose lives are not so secure (those involved in human rights). In Britain, it is not in fact necessary to have a degree in law, although most people entering the profession do. The main requirement is to have pass the Bar Final examination for barristers or the Law Society Final examination for solicitors. Those with a degree other than law needs first to take a preparatory course. Even after passing the examination a lawyer in not necessarily qualified. A solicitor must then spend two years as an articled clerk, during which time his work is closely supervised by an experienced lawyer + take further courses. A barrister must spend a similar year as a pupil. Once a lawyer is fully qualified he gets a certificate proving that he can sell his services. There are also insurance provisions so that if a lawyer is ever successfully sued by a client for professional incompetence there will be funds to pay damages. Lawyer must take care not to break the many rules of procedure and ethics. The body regulating the conduct of solicitors is the Law Society (sets rules for lawyers accounting procedures, investigates complaints against lawyers by their clients). Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has the power to suspend or even disqualify a solicitor. Barrister may not be sued for negligent servines, because anyone who lost a court case would try to sue. Conversations between a lawyer and his client are privileged(anything what client says will not be passed on. If a lawyer bedieves that his client is guilty, he must make sure that his client did not lacked the necessary mental state and defend his client by trying to point out weaknesses in the prosecution case. Legalese (jargon)- the strange and incomprehensible language so many lawyers seem to write ans speak. The use of special words can be justified because they

refer to matters which are important to a particular profession but not to most people. Legalese will survive because 1) old documents and reports of old cases have great importance 2) rewriting laws is a slow process and words must cover every eventuality, because people are always looking for a way of avoiding a legal duty by making use of an ambiguity 3) lies in the nature of law itself, because laws are attempts to implement justice, government policy, plain common sense. In order to be effective they must be as unambigious as possible. Everydau language is often very ambigious. Criminal law Crime is a part of public law- the law regulating the relations between citizens and the state. Crimes can be thought of as acts which the state considers to be wrong and which can be punished by the state. There are some acts which are crimes in one country but not in another. However, a visitor to a foreign country can be sure that stealing, physically attacking someone or damaging their property will be unlawful. In many legal systems it is an important principe that a person cannot be considered guilty of a crime until the state proves he committed it. The suspect himself need not prove anything. The state must prove his guilt according to high standarts and for each crime there are precise elements which must be proven. These elements are usually recorded in statutes, but can be described in case law also. Even where there is a precise statute, the case law of interpreting the statute may be very important since the circumstances of each crime may be very different. Ex. The crime of theft under the theft act- dishonestly appropriating property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it. Crime such as burglary is defined- entering someones land without permission intending to steal or commit ana ct of violence. Robbery- using force or threat in order to steal from someone. As we can see the theft act was intended to cover many possible circumstances, but still it is necessary for the courts to refer to case law in order to apply the act, as in the case where the defendant argued he could not be guilty of burglary since he reached through the window of a house. The court decided that if a person gets close enough to be able to ramove something from building, this means he enterd a building. There are usually two elements to a crime: 1) the criminal act itself( actus reus) 2) the criminal state of mind of the person when he committed the crime(mens rea).

There is a different definition of mens rea for each crime. Sometimes defendant must have intended to do a particular thing/to commit a crime( malice aforethought). In murder defendant need not have intended to kill, but just to have wounded someone seriously. A defendant can be found guilty if he killed someone because of recklessness-not caring about the dangers. In other crimes it is enough to have been negligent or careless without any clear intention or recklessness. Talking about actus reus the prosecution must show that the suspect did in fact cause the death of someone(if we talk about murder). It must be unlawfull killing under the queens peace. A time limit is also specified. In deciding if the defendants act caused death, the court must be sure that the act was a substancial cause of the result(the main reason). In some cases doing nothing at all may be considered an actus reus. In general, if the prosecution fails to prove either actus reus or mens rea, the court must decide there was no crime. There are some crimes for which no mens rea need be proved. If actus reus and mens have been proved, a defendant may still avoid guil if he can show he has a defence- a reason the court choul excuse his act. The defence of duress is allowed-being forced to commit a crime because of threats that you will be harmed if you dont. Insanity- a person cannot be found guilty if in a doctors opinion a person has mental illness. Self defense- you have to convince the court that the force you used was reasonable to protet yourself. Intoxication is not a defense. After being found guilty a defendant may try to mitigate his crime by explaining the specific circumstances. Mitigation- reasons your punishment should not be harsh, for ex crime of passion. Criminal law is one of the fastest growing areas of the law. Reasons are: technical changes; the number of crimes commited seem to be increasing (not clear whether people are breaking the law more, being caught more, reporting other peoples crime more); different societies review their ideas of what should be considered crime and what should be decriminalized- racial discrimination, euthanasia.

Torts Many wrongs in society are neither punished as crimes nor remedied as breaches of contract. Suppose a workman accidentally drops a brick on your head when you are walking past a construction site. In order to get compensation for such injury the

best option will be an action in the law of torts.Tort is a part of civil law. The concept of tort- a wrongful act among private individuals. The definitions of many torts closely resemble definitions of crimes, for ex the tort of conversion = the crime of theft. The only difference is that torts are the subject of civil law disputes between private individuals while crimes are prosecuted by the state. Whent the victim of the crime has gained no benefit from the criminal prosecution, an individual takes an action in the law of tort. Sometimes there is no criminal prosecution because the police do not feel they have enough evidence or they feel that the matter is not involving public law and order. Sometimes it is difficult to find a criminal law which covers a tortuous act, for ex entering land without owners permission is not a crime, but the tort of trespass. Other differences are that for all civil actions the standart of proof required is lower than in criminal prosecution and for many torts it is not necessary to show any particular mental element(no mens rea). So, tort actions are always appropriate in the case of accidents. When comparing torts with broken contracts there are also differences. Even if a person suffers directly from someone elses breach of contract, he does not have the right to sue in contract unless he was a party to the contract. Almost anyone may sue or be sued in tort, if he/she is able to show that the breach represents a tort commited against him/her. However, in some torts there are specific rules about who may sue or be sued, for ex the occupier of apartment may sue in the tort of nuisance if he is injured by broken glass falling from his neighbors apartment. But if a visitor is injured, he may sue in the tort of negligence-breach of legal duty of care. It may be possible to sue the employer of a person who commited a tort in the normal course of his employment under the concept of vicarious liability. The tort of defamation covers attacks against someones reputation through the written or spoken word. Statutory torts are those where the kind of breach of duty is defined in astatute(defective factory equipment). Not every wrong is remediable in tort. The plaintiff has to show that he has suffered an action recognized as a tortuous, and that his relation to the tortfeaser(commiter of the tort)gives him the legal capacity to sue. Sometimes you may have option to sue in the law of contract or in tort. In contract the aim of damages is to put the plaintiff in the position that he would have been if the contract had been performed. Damages in tort are to restore the position there would have been if the tort had not occurred. The requirements of proof differ for each tort. Sometimes it is necessary to show a degree of carelessness(tort of negligence). In others, the defendant may be liable

even if he was not at fault-strict liabilitywhen animal causes damages. In some torts it is necessary to show that plaintiff has suffered injury(tort of nuisance), in other no harm need be shown(false imprisonment). The number of negligence actions is increasing all over the world( ex would be when someone falls into a hole in the road/is given a wrong treatment by a hospital/ injured by faulty machinery at work). Doctors, dentists are often sued. Now it is possible to claim for financial loss connected to this. Damages are now awarded for the mental distress, as well as physical suffereing. It may be possible for the thord party to sue after suffering nervous shock as the result of witnessing an accident. To win a plaintiff must show that a duty of care existed which has been breached and damage/injury has beem suffered because of it. We owe a duty to people closely affected by our actions to avoid causing harm which we could have forseen. The courts have been guided by common sense and public policy when deciding about the degree of duty of care. State organs The constitutional principles, rules, practices of the uk have never been codified. They derive from statute law, from common law, from conventions of the constitution which are political practices. The monarchy is the most ancient secular institution in the uk with a continuous history stretching back over a thousand years. The monarchy is hereditary. The monarchy in the uk has evolved over centuries from absolute personal authority to the present constitutional form by which the queen reigns but not rule. Her majestys gov governs in the name of queen who must act on the advice of her ministers. Queen Elizabeth II, who succeeded to the throne in 1952 is -head of state -an integral part of legislature -the head of judiciary -the commander in chief of the armed forces of the crown -temporal head of the established church of england The queen summons, prorogues, dissolves parliament, opens new sessions of pparliament with a speech in where the major governmental policies are outlined. These acts form part of the royal prerogative. Prerogative rights are of legislative, executive and judicial character. The monarch must give the royal assent before a bill which has passed all its stages in both houses of parliament can become a legal

enactment. The monarchs approval is required before a cabinet can be formed or a minister take up office. The monarch has the pover to sign international agreements, to cede or receive territory, to declare war or make peace. The monarh confer honours and makes appt to all important offices of state. The monarch is able to remit penalties imposed upon persons convicted of crimes through the exercise of the prerogative of mercy. At the present time the monarch is informed and consulted on many aspects of public affairs. The privy council is the body on whose advice and through which the monarch exercises most statutory and many prerogative powers. Legislature. Parliament is the legislative organ and is constitutionally composed of the monarch,who represents the supreme authority, the house of lords, and the house of commons. The life of one parliament may not exceed five years. The house of lords is for the most part hereditary body. Consists of the lords temporal and the lors spiritual. The house of lords is presided over by the lord chancellor who is ex officio chairman of the house. The house of commons is an elected and representative body. Members are elected by almost universal adult suffrage to represent constituencies. Any british subject aged 21 or over if not disqualified( for ex members of the house of lords, civil servants, undischarged bankrupts, members of the regular armed services and the police forces) may be elected a member od parliament.2 types of elections: after a parliament is dissolved all seats are subject to a general election. By elections take place when a vacancy occurs during the life of a parliament. The speaker of the house of commons is elected by the members from the members to preside over the house immediately after each parliament is formed. He is an impartial arbiter over parliamentary procedure and the traditional guardian of the rights and privileges of the house of commons. The supremacy of the uk parliament is the most basic principle of british constitutional law. Parliament has of its own will settled the duration of the life of a parliament. In certain circumstances a bill may become law without the concurrence of all the component parts of parliament. This show the supremacy of the house of com over the house of lords. Executive. The gov consists of the misiters appointed by the crown on the recommendation of the prime m. prime m is appointed by the crown and is the leader of the political party which has a majority of seats in the house of com. Prime m is the head of the gov and presides over meetings of the cabinet. He

consults and advices the monarh, supervises the work of the various ministries and departments, is the principal spokesman for the gov in the house of com. He also makes recommendations to the monarch on many important public appts. The cabinet is the nucleus of gov. its members consist of a small group of the most important ministers who are selected by the prime m. size- 23. Principal functionto determine, control, integrate the policies of the gov for submission to parliament. Meets in private. No vote is taken. Collective responsibility is assumed for all decisions taken. The central gov ministries and departments give effect to gov policies, have powers and duties. Each is headed by a minister. There are over 100 ministries. They include departmental ministers, nondepartmental, ministers of state, junior ministers. The lord chancellor presides over the house of lords in its legislative capacity and as a final court of appeal. He is a member of the cabinet. He initiates law reformprogrammes. He is concerned with the composition of the courts, with civil law, parts of criminal procedure and law reform in general. Responsibilitity for the administration of the judicial system is divided between courts, the lord chancellor and home secretary. Home secretary is oncerned with the prevention of criminal offences, the apprehension, trial and treatement of offenders, and with the prison service. The for law officers of the crown represent the crown in civil litigation, prosecute in important criminal cases and advise gov on points of law. In Lithuania, State power shall be executed by the Seimas, the President of the Republic and the Government, and the Judiciary. The scope of power shall be limited by the Constitution. State institutions shall serve the people. The police and armed forces Most countries have a national police force, but not Britain. There are fifty two different police forces. The country is divided into separate areas-the counties. Each county has its own independent police force. Although forces cooperate with each other, usually members on one force do not operete in another area, unless assistance is requested. This sometimes happens if there has been a murder which is difficult to solve. Then the chief constable of the area where the murder took place may ask for assistance of the yard or new scotland yard, which is a headquarters of

the metropolitan police, a force that policies landon. But in general police forces work independently under its own chief constables. Special services as the fraud squad, who investigate financial crimes, are available to any local police force. Each police force is responsible for law enforcement in its own area(the police are responsible to the local communities they serve). All police forces are answerable to commitees of elected local councilors and lay justices, in other words to a loal police authority (exept london, because metropolitan police are responcible to home secretary). Commitees have a duty to listen to the views of people about policing objectives and plans. Citizens have a right to complain about the conduct of police officers. In order to ensure an impartial investigation , the police complaints authority supervises police investigations into the most serious complaints and reviews the reports of others. If a complaint proves justified, the authority decines whethet police disciplinary charges should be brought against an officer. Police officers can be prosecuted if they break the law. The police disciplinary code prevent abuses of the powers exercised by ploice officers. If a policeman violates the code, he/she can be dismissed from the police force. The police force has a numer of ranks: most senior polieman is called chief constable, most junior-constable. The police are assisted by a number of special constables-members of the public, who work for police voluntarily. Each police force has its own uniformed branch and cid- criminal investigations department, with detectives in plain clothes. The police employ traffick wardens whose job is to make sure that privers obey parking regulations and sometimes they direct traffic. Police duties cover a wide range of activities from traffic control to more specialised departments such as river police. The british police are usually armed only with a truncheon-a short, heavy stick. British policeman can be given a gun, but just with the signed permissionof a magistrate. Those who guard politicans or whose job is to patrol airports or secure other strategi places usually are armed. There has been an increase in the number os special units trained in crowd and riot control and in the use of firearms. The number of police has risen along with the crime rate. The armed forces consist of paid professional personnel who enlist voluntarilythere is no conscription. A major part of the armed forces manpower is met by volunteer reservists. The forces are under the command of the elected gov and have no independent political role. Members of the armed forces are subject to

the law. They are entitled to vote in election, although they have to resign if they become parliamentary candidates. In additin to their military role- country defece, armed forces are used to hepl in rescue missions or to help people who suffer from weather conditions, or they support the police in the fight against terrorism. Constitutional law: citizens and human rights There are laws which enable citizens to take legal action against the state. These actions are part of constitutional law. Law that regulates relations between citizens and the state and also regulates how the law itself operates. The number and range of constitutional law cases has increased. One ex of a case could be about an unmarried couple who complained that it is unconstitutional to register their daughter as illegitimate. Constitutional laws are necessary to prevent gov from becoming too powerful and from interfering too much in the lives of individuals. In anglo American law citizens are entitled to do everything other than that which the state forbids. As a check upon overpowerful gov most modern constitutions have adopted the principle of separation of powers. The functions of the state is divided into policy formulation and direction (executive), lawmaking(legislative), interpretation, application of the law (judicial). These functions are to be carried out by separate institutions and there must be balance. In the us the president has many important powers, but many of his decisions and all new legislation must be approved by a majority in congress. The supreme court has the task of interpreting laws which have been disputed in lower courts, and of deciding whether a law passed by congress is in keeping with the constitution. A constitution is the political and ideological structure within which a system of law operates. Constitution describes how laws are to be made and enforced. It is the main law of a country. Many countries put the constitution above other laws by making it difficult to change. Constitution describes also the fundamental rights of citizens(general declaration about freedom, equality). Britain constitution is not found ina formal written document. Rights of citizens, powers of gov are found in various case law rulings, statutes, traditions(bill of rights). 3 main groups of rights you can find in constitution:1. Political citizens rights- the right to vote, to be elected, participate in assambleys/meetings/protests, freedom of speech,political party, petition 2. Economical- the right t work, to get payment, to have business, own property, the right to strike, the right to trade unions 3. Social-cultural healt care, free education, self expression, leisure, pensions, clean environment.

Comparison of legal freedoms of dif countries: -how effective the provision of separation of power is -the right of citizens to say and write what they want and to take part in public meetings and demonstrations( forbidden/permitted). In britain advance notice is required before a peaceful protest; the police may order the protesters to break up, move if they anticipates serious disruption of community life. -the ease with which an individual may obtain restitution for a wrong a public body has commited against him. Judicial review enables a court to overturn a decision made by a gov ministry that acted illegally or beyond its authorized powers. -the treatment of citizens suspected of crimes. Is innocence presumed unless guilt can be proven?How long the police may hold the suspect before they must bring him before a court of law. Is a suspect entitled to free legal aid and choice of lawyer if he has no money. Court warrant before police search a private house. Trials open to the public. Human rights- rights that go beyond the laws of one country. Prisoners ofconsiencepeople who had never used or advocated violence and were simply in proson because of their political or religious beliefs. Amnesty international- put pressure on govs to observe human rights. Bu gathering info, creating publicity, writing letters, amnesty has helped to speed up the release of such prisoners. It also campaigns for fair trials for political prisoners, an end torture, inhumane treatement. Also have helped make more people aware of the concept of h.r. A human right is one to which people all over the world are entitled whatever their nationality, wherever they live. In other words, human rights are universal. They are basic minimum standarts of freedom and security for all. A constitutional right is one which a state guarantees to its own citizens/ to foreigners who are within its jurisdiction (limited by citizenship). Many rights of citizens also considered as h.r. some countires have imposed economic sanction against those countries whose gov fail to meet hr standarts. Many countries have restricted trade to s Africa because of its policy to apartheid. Hr can be a reason for military intervention against foreign countries. 2 sides: 1) it is wrong for one culture to impose its values on another when one country interferes in the affairs of another it is because its economic and military power2) basic moral standarts should not depend upon where a person happens to live. Moreover, most countries of the world have signed international agreements concerning the treatement of individuals. ---The universal declaration of hr- all human beings are born free and equal in rights and dignity; entitlement to

rights does not depend upon race, sex, color; freedom from slavery; the right to express ones opinion. --the international convenant on civil and political rightsfreedom of religion, movement, torture --- the European convention of hr- signed by every country of western Europe. Individual citizens of these countries have the right to bring a complaint before the European commission if they think their gov has broken the convention. If the comm. Agrees, it may try to persuade to rectify the breach or it may refer the matter to European court of hr, which has the right to order a change of law in that country. Main hr violations: a) the right not to be tortured b) disappearing of people govs sometimes kill civilians because of their political beliefs. Then they cover up any info about the killing in order to avoid responsibility c) unfair trials- judges/juries are independent, unbiased; suspect has access to adequate legal advice; prisoners are not held in jail too long before a trial takes place; trials held in public d) economical/political refugees- fled from their own countires because of hr violations, political pressures, economic hardship. Want to be treated fairly and humanely; seek political acylum; opportunity to explain why they were seeking asylum; legal representation. Sexual equality? Political and legal discrimination includes: lesser voting, official discouragement from entering politics, less well paid work, underrepresented in parliaments/boards of directors.

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