Vocabulary

II. Answer the following questions.

1. What important role did the Bill of Rights play?

2. How exactly were the powers of the monarch limited by Parliament?

3. What American documents of great importance were influenced by the Bill of Rights?

Text 6. Napoleon's Code

I. Read and translate the text.

Napoleon, the emperor of France, was the first to refine and reorganize the diverse legal systems of his country. As a result, the Code adopted in 1804 was called Napoleon's Code.

Napoleon was not a lawyer, but his code was a success. In Napoleon's Code, all citizens were treated as equals. Besides, the code was written in a clear language. Formerly, all laws were written in Latin, and only lawyers could understand them. As for Napoleon's Code, it could be easily read and understood not only by scholars, but by ordinary people, too.

Napoleon's Code had a great influence on European legal systems. Many principles of his code are still in force today.

Vocabulary

II. Answer the following questions.

1. Why was the Code adopted in 1804 called Napoleon’s Code?

2. Did Napoleon have a legal education or was he self-taught?

3. What were the advantages of Napoleon’s Code?

4. What is the impact of Napoleon’s Code on other legal systems?

Text 7. The Development of Criminal law

I. Read and translate the text.

Historically, there was no distinction between criminal law and civil law. Crimes were considered to be private affairs and not the affairs of the government. So, people punished each other themselves. This often led to family feuds which were harmful to society. Later, the state began to punish the offenders for serious crimes, such as murder, rape, theft, and others. Less serious crimes were regarded as civil offences. This is how criminal law and civil law appeared in British society. Different courts were set up to deal with crimes and civil offences.