Lecturer: Miljen Matijašević G10, room 6/I, Tue 11:30-12:30 Session 2, 22 Oct 2013.

English for Tax Administration 1

Lecturer: Miljen MatijaševićG10, room 6/I, Tue 11:30-12:30

e-mail: [email protected] 2, 22 Oct 2013

1. What is meant by Law?

2. Separation of powers

3. Legal Systems of the World

Today’s session

What is meant by Law?

Unit 1

Try to think of a definition of LAW!Can you think of any synonyms?

RuleRegulation

Statute

Definitions of LAW

From Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

1. (U) all the rules established by authority or custom for regulating the behaviour of members of a community or country

2. (C) any single rule established in this way3. (U) a branch of such rules4. (U) such rules as a subject of study

Definitions of LAW

From the law.com dictionary:1. any system of regulations to govern the conduct of

the people of a community, society or nation (…)

2. a statute, ordinance or regulation enacted by the legislative branch of a government and signed into law, or in some nations created by decree without any democratic process

Definitions of LAW

What Is Meant by Law? “rules of conduct imposed by a state

upon its members and enforced by the courts.”

a norm is a law “if neglect or infraction is regularly met, in threat or in fact, by the application of physical force by an individual or group possessing the socially recognized privilege of so acting.” (anthropological definition)

What Is Meant by Law? a rule, or an order, is a law if “it is

externally guaranteed by the probability that coercion (physical or psychological), to bring about conformity or avenge violation, will be applied by a staff of people holding themselves specially ready for that purpose.” (sociological definition by Max Weber)

(a/the/Ø) LAW

Laws of a country

RegulationRule

(a law, laws, the law)

Field of lawLegal system

Branch of knowledge

(law) The courtsThe policeThe legal

profession(the law)

Meanings of LAW

1. Stealing is against the LAW.2. The new LAW on VAT comes into force next

month.3. Her brother specialises in company LAW.4. Jane finished LAW school but she doesn’t

practice LAW.5. The new car model defies the LAWS of physics.6. He has had some problems with the LAW.7. Most countries of Europe are continental civil

LAW countries.8. We will see what the LAW has to say about that!

Meanings of LAW

to lay down the law to enforce the law to break the law to enact law to interpret the law to practise law to violate a law an infraction of the law the rule of law

Collocations with LAW

to lay down the law – propisivati zakone to enforce the law – provoditi zakone to break the law – prekršiti zakon to enact law – propisivati, usvajati zakone to interpret the law – tumačiti zakon to practise law – biti odvjetnik to violate a law – prekršiti zakon an infraction of the law – povreda zakona the rule of law – vladavina prava, pravna država

Compose a sentence to illustrate each collocation!

Collocations with LAW

Separation of Powers

What are the Croatian government institutions?

Try to remember as many as you can. How are these bodis composed? What are their tasks, responsibilities and powers?

Who has the most power? Elaborate.

Organisation of government

making laws

enforcing laws

collecting tax

creating policies, strategies and plans on spending tax money, etc.

What authorities carry out these activities?

Governance of a state includes:

Separation of powers

The Legislative

The Executive

The Judiciary• What are the powers of each branch?• Which bodies represent the three branches of power in

Croatia?

Separation of powers THE LEGISLATIVE – enacts laws, usually in the hands of parliaments,

i.e. the legislature, elected (chosen) by and represents THE PEOPLE THE EXECUTIVE – proposes laws, implements policies, ‘runs the

country’, usually the government and/or the president of a country THE JUDICIARY – usually independent, the power lies in the system

of courts, administers justice, enforces laws

The idea is to prevent any branch from having absolute power. Each branch is involved in controlling the work of the other two, although in different ways.

Separation of powers (RC) THE LEGISLATIVE – the Croatian Parliament

(Hrvatski Sabor)

THE EXECUTIVE – the Government of the RC (Vlada RH) and other administrative bodies (ministries, agencies, etc.), and the President of the RC

THE JUDICIARY – the Croatian court system: the Supreme Court of the RC (Vrhovni sud RH) and other courts

Legal terms Note the following:

◦ legislation – zakonodavstvo (zakoni npr. jedne države)

◦ the legislative (power) – zakonodavna vlast◦ the legislature – zakonodavno tijelo (najčešće

parlament)

◦ the judiciary – sudstvo, sudska vlast◦ judicial, adj. – sudski, sudački

(e.g. judicial office – sudačka dužnost)

Legal Systems of the World

Legal systems The three dominant legal systems in the

world are:

CIVIL LAW

COMMON LAW

RELIGIOUS LAW

Legal systems of the world

CIVIL LAW (a.k.a. continental civil law) inspired by Roman Law and particularly

popularized during the Enlightment (18th century) – the first modern codifications in Europe

Characterized by CODIFICATION – an accessible and written collection of laws which apply to all citizens and which judges must enforce

CIVIL LAW (a.k.a. continental civil law)

Judges are merely 'the mouth of the law‘ Laws provide general principles and

guidelines to be applied to each particular case.

Main source of law: LEGISLATION

CIVIL LAW (example of codified law) II. GENERAL SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCTS

Article 4 (1) A producer shall only place safe products on the market. (2) For the purpose of paragraph 1 of this Article, a product shall be deemed safe:  if it meets all the requirements laid down in the technical regulations pertaining to

this product,  when there are no relevant technical regulations, if it meets the requirements of

Croatian standards transposing European standards, the list of which is published in the Official Gazette,

 (3) It shall be prohibited to produce, import, export or place on the market products

which are of misleading appearance, and are therefore unsafe for consumers, especially children.

COMMON LAW

Developed in England in the 12th century

Law which is not written by elected politicians but rather by judges.

Common law is a collection of court rulings or precedents which must be observed by judges.

COMMON LAWContrary to civil law, common law does not

provide general principles but examples of court rulings in similar cases, which provide the basis for new court decisions.

The starting point of common law is the case, not the general principle.

Main source of law: PRECEDENTS (PREVIOUS COURT RULINGS)

RELIGIOUS LAW Legal system using a religious system or

document as a legal source, although the legal methodology varies.

Religious law systems are usually mixed systems

Some areas may be governed by religious, and others by secular laws.

Legal systems of the world Legal systems of the modern world are

often a combination of two systems. Religious law usually follows the principles

of either civil or common law. Common law countries have a parallel

system of codified laws, supplementing the precedents.

Some countries even have multiple legal systems (e.g. Canada, the USA)

Thank you for your attention!