COMMON LAW

Pre-reading tasks____________________________________________________

1. Discuss the following questions:

Are terms “Common law” and “Case law” similar? What do you know about these notions from your law course?

2. Match the following English words and expressions with their Ukrainian equivalents:

1. to preserve independence

2. rule of decision

3. to set a precedent

4. trial court

5. conduct of a court

6. to reach a verdict

7. to adjudicate disputes

8. appellate courts

a. судове рішення

b. встановити прецедент

c. проведення судового засідання

d. винести вердикт

e. розглядати спори

f. зберігати незалежність

g. суд першої інстанції

h. апеляційні суди

Reading tasks____________________________________________________

Read the text to understand what information is of primary importance or new for you.

COMMON LAW

Common Law is a term, which describes the main body of English unwritten law that evolved from the 12th century onward. The name comes from the idea that English medieval law, as administered by the courts, reflected the “common” customs of the kingdom. This system of law prevails in Great Britain and in those countries, such as Canada and the United States that were originally colonized by English settlers.

The common law is based on the principle of deciding cases by reference to previous judicial decisions, rather than to written statutes drafted by legislative bodies. Common law can be contrasted to the civil law system, based on ancient Roman law, found in continental Europe and elsewhere.

As the number of judicial decisions accumulates on a particular kind of dispute, general rules or precedents emerge and become guidelines for judges deciding similar cases in the future. Subsequent cases, however, may reveal new and different facts and considerations, such as changing social or technological conditions. A common-law judge is then free to depart from precedent and establish a new rule of decision, which sets a new precedent as it is accepted and used by different judges in other cases. In this manner, common law retains a dynamic for change.

In all common-law systems, a pyramidal structure of courts exists to define the law. At the base of the pyramid is trial courts, composed of a single judge and a jury selected from local citizens. The judge controls the conduct of the court and the admission of evidence. After both sides have presented their evidence, the judge instructs the jury on the appropriate legal principles to be applied in determining the case. The jury then weighs the facts and applies the law, as stated by the judge, in order to reach a verdict or judg(e)ment.

Above the trial courts, layers of appellate courts, composed entirely of judges, exist to adjudicate disputes. These disputes centre on whether or not the trial judge applied the correct principles of law. (The jury's determination of fact and its ultimate verdict or judg(e)ment are not subject to appellate review, however, in order to preserve the independence of the jury as a check on judicial power.) The interpretations of law made by appellate courts form the precedents that govern future cases. Furthermore, the importance of a precedent for any given court depends on that court's position in the pyramidal structure; for example, a precedent set by an appellate court has greater force in trial courts than in other appellate courts.

UNDERSTANDING MAIN POINTS____________________________________

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