Английский язык (специалитет, I-II семестры, набор 2019)

Неделя 9. Прочитать текст из учебника «Английский язык для юристов» Хижняк С.П. 2017 г., стр. 63-64, CONSTITUTIONS. Выполнить упр.5 (выписать из текста эквиваленты русским словосочетаниям). Файлы с выполненным заданием студенты загружают на образовательный портал (Moodle) на странице с названием своего курса, в разделе, соответствующем изучаемой теме.

Английский язык (специалитет, I-II семестры, набор 2019)

Тема: Constitutions

группа 137 (выполнить до 14.03.2020, 8.30)

группа 138 (выполнить до 14.01.2020, 10.15)

CONSTITUTIONS

“The word “Constitution” is used in two different senses, the abstract and the concrete. The Constitution of a State in the formersense is the system of laws, customs and conventions, which define the composition and powers of organs of the State and regulate the relations of the various State organs to one another and to the private citizen. A “Constitution” in the lattersense is the document in which the most important laws of the country are authoritatively ordained.”¹Great Britain, for example, has no Constitution in the concrete sense of the word. But more often we use the term “Constitution” in the concrete sense. A “Constitution” in this sense is the law of the laws. It cannot be modified in the ordinary legislative way.

A Constitution is “written” when most important constitutional laws are specially enacted. The American Constitution is a “written” one. “The British Constitution is “unwritten” because it is not embodied in any enactments or formally related series of enactments.”² In fact, however, many parts of the British Constitution exist in written form. The British Constitution includes the Bill of Rights (1689), the Act of Settlement (1700-01), the Parliament Act of 1911, etc., but these statutes are not codified within the structure of a single orderly document. However, on the other hand, some important aspects of the American Constitution are wholly unwritten, e.g. such institutions as presidential cabinet, the system of political parties, etc.

“Written” Constitutions cannot cover the whole constitutional law of a state, that is why they are usually supplemented by different statutes, judicial doctrines, etc.

Constitutions, “written” or “unwritten”, can be divided into “rigid” and “flexible”.The aim of the “rigid” Constitutions is to guarantee their stability. “Flexible” Constitutions can be modified through the simple procedure by which statutes are enacted. To modify the “rigid” Constitution of the U.S.A. the proposal to amend it must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote in each house of Congress or be made by a convention called by two-thirds of the States, with subsequentratification by the legislatures or specially elected convention of three-fourths³. The Constitution of Great Britain is “flexible” because its rules can be modified by an act of Parliament. There are also Constitutions of a “mixed” type. Different parts of such Constitutions are amended in different ways.

Constitutions may be established by sovereign power: a) either by a free sovereign people (the Constitution of the U.S.A.) or b) by a plenary power of the headof the state (monarch). Constitutions of the latter type are called octroyees⁴, from the French word octroyer, which means “to grant” (e.g. the Japanese Constitution of 1889).

Constitutions may be formed as a contract between the future ruler and the people. Some Constitutions are compacts between several sovereign powers. Such was the Constitution of the German Empire.

Constitutions may be classified according to political principles, e.g.: democratic and authoritarian. The former guarantee certain rights and freedoms, formation and activity of different political parties, etc. The latter restrict or prohibit the activity of political parties, or formalize the leading role of one political party, restrict the rights and freedoms, which it is compelled to proclaim. Aristocratic Constitutions are those, which establish privileged classes, e.g.: nobility and clergy. Such at one time, were the Constitutions of Swiss cantons, e.g. Bern.

There also exist some other classifications of Constitutions.

5. Give the English for:

значение слова, неписаная конституция, Закон о престолонаследии, кабинет президента, «гибкая» конституция, издавать статуты, одобрять квалифицированным большинством голосов, глава государства, будущий правитель, деятельность политических партий, запрещать деятельность