практическая работа

PART II

READING PRACTICE

TEXT 1 WHAT IS LAW?

The word law has many meanings, and this word is used variously in different

fields. For example, physical science has its law of gravity, and economics has the

law of supply and demand. Do these laws have precise definitions? Is the same

precision possible in jurisprudence – the scientific study of law? Over the years, legal

scholars have offered dozens of definitions of law, but none of them is universally

accepted as absolutely definitive. How can this difficulty in defining law be

explained?

The English word law refers to limits upon various forms of behaviour. Some

laws are descriptive: they simply describe how people, or even natural phenomena,

usually behave. An example is rather consistent law of gravity; another is the less

consistent law of economics. Other laws are prescriptive – they prescribe how people

ought to behave. For example, the speed limits imposed upon drivers are laws that

prescribe how fast we should drive. They rarely describe how fast we actually do

drive, of course.

In all societies, relations between people are regulated by prescriptive laws.

Some of them are customs – that is, informal rules of social and moral behaviour.

Some are rules we accept if we belong to particular social institutions, such as

religious, educational and cultural groups. And some are precise laws made by

nations and enforced against all citizens within their power.

What motives do governments have in making and enforcing laws? Social

control is undoubtedly one purpose. Public laws establish the authority of the

government itself, and civil laws provide a framework for interaction among citizens.

Without laws, it is argued, there would be anarchy in society (although anarchists

themselves argue that human beings would be able to interact peacefully without

laws if there were no governments to interfere in our lives).