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The following are some suggested topics for essay writing. Choose either of them to practice your English writing.
1. Write an essay of about 150 words giving a detailed description of the most interesting thing that happened to you during the first days of your college campus life.
2. Do you think that entering an elite university is the only way to success? Write an essay of about 200 words to express your point of view.
产生在罗马时代的大陆法系、盎格鲁-撒克逊民族逐渐形成的普通法系以及世界各大宗教内部产生的宗教法系并称为世界三大法系。你认为这样划分合理吗？
Legal Systems of the World
There are several major legal systems around the globe, namely, civil law, common law and religious law . Among them, the first two are most widespread.
Civil law is inspired by Roman law, the primary feature of which is that laws are written into a
codifie
collection.
The principle is to provide all citizens with all the laws which apply to them and which judges must follow. Civil law is the most
prevalent
and oldest surviving legal system in the world. It is used in Continental Europe, Latin America and many other countries and thus sometimes
referred to as
Continental European Law. The primary source of law is the law
codes
, usually created by a legislature's enactment of a new
statute
.
Therefore,civil law is also sometimes referred to as statute law.
The main
alternative
to civil law is common law, which was born in England and is now practiced in almost all its former colonies such as Wales, Northern Ireland, the United States(except Louisiana), the Republic of Ireland, Canada (except Quebec), Australia, New Zealand,South Africa and India
. Naturally it is also known as
Anglo
-American law.
Law students and lawyers from non-Anglo-American countries learn that common law is “ case law” or “judge-made law”: when a court decides and reports its decision concerning a particular case, the case becomes part of the body of law and can be used in later cases involving similar matters. That's true to an extent, but in reality a significant portion of the law of the common law countries is codified. Of course, it is true that in some cases no statutory or constitutional provisions will apply. Under those circumstances, attorneys must rely on earlier cases on the issue; however constitutional provisions and statutes take precedence over case law.
One considerable difference that exists between common and civil law countries is the amount of research an attorney must do. Once an attorney finds the relevant statutory law in a common law country, his research doesn't stop there. Nor is it
sufficien
to read one or two
explanatory commentaries
written by a law professor as it might be in a civil law system.
Attorneys in common law countries will search to find the case law related to a statute before they can say they have thoroughly researched the problem. Without
locating
and reading the cases that explain the application of the statute or constitutional provision, they have not even begun their research.
Modern online services have made it faster and more efficient to find cases that might be relevant, but it is still hard work. Once cases
pertaining to
the issue have been found, they have to be analyzed to see if they are relevant. Or, if the attorney thinks that his or her case is different from previous cases, he must explain why those cases and their decisions are not applicable.
In this way, case law is not only judge-made but also attorney-influenced law. We can say that the common law is the law that is created daily through the interaction of judges and attorneys in the courtrooms at all levels.
Other characteristics of common law are trial by
jury
,
adversary
system, and the
supremacy
of the law.
The opposition between civil law and common law legal systems has become increasingly
blurred
, with the growing importance of cases in civil law countries, and the growing importance of statutes and codes in common law countries.
As for religious law, in some religions, law can be thought of as the ordering principle of reality; knowledge as revealed by God defining and governing all human affairs. Law, in the religious sense, also includes codes of ethics and morality which are upheld and required by God. Examples include customary Jewish law, Hindu law, and to an extent, Islamic law and Christian law.
( 972 words )
civil law 民法法系
common law 普通法系
religious law 宗教法系
codify [ˈkəudifai] v. 把（法律、法条）编集成典
prevalent [ˈprevələnt] a. 盛行的；普遍的
be referred to as 被称之为……
code [kəud] n. 法典
statute [ˈstætʃuːt] n. 成文法，法令
alternative [alˈtəːnətiv] n. 供选择的东西
Anglo [ˈæŋɡləu] 表示“英国和……的”，“英格兰和……的”
case [keis] n. 诉讼；判例
portion [ˈpɔːʃn] n. 一部分
statutory [ˈstætʃutri] a. 成文法的；法令的
constitutional [kɔnstiˈt̩ uːʃənl] a. 宪法的
provision [prəˈviʒən] n. 条文；条款
attorney [əˈtəːni] n. （美）律师
take precedence over n. 比……更重要；precedence优先权
sufficien [səˈfʃənt] a. 充分的
explanatory [iksˈplænətəri] a. 解释的
commentary [ˈkɔməntəri] n. 说明
locate [ləuˈkeit] v. 查找到
pertain to v. 和……有关；适用于……
interaction [̩ intəˈrækʃən] n. 相互作用
courtroom [ˈkɔːtruːm] n. 法庭
jury [ˈdʒuəri] n. 陪审团
adversary [ˈædvəsəri] n. 对手
supremacy [sjuˈpreməsi] n. 至高无上
blur [bləː] v. 使（视线、形状、感觉、界限等）模糊不清
reveal [riˈviːl] v. （上帝）启示
ethic [ˈeθik] n. 伦理标准；道德规范
morality [məˈræliti] n. 道德观
uphold [ˈʌphəuld] v. 赞成；认可
Hindu [ˈhinˈduː] a. 印度教的
Islamic [izˈlæmik] a. 伊斯兰教的
Christian [ˈkristʃən] a. 基督教的
1. Blank fillin
1） ____ is inspired by Roman law and now popularly used in ____, Latin America and many other countries.
2） Common law is judge-made and attorney-influenced but in reality a significant portion o the law in the common law countries is ____.
3） In a common law country, an attorney has a lot of research to do. He has to find the relevant ____ first and then locate ____ relating to the issue. Finally, he has to analyze them to see if they are ____.
4） Religious law includes codes of ethics and morality upheld and required by God, like _____,_____and to an extent, ______and __________.
2. True (T) or false (F) questions
1） Common law is made by the legislative branch of a government.( )
2） Common law is also known as judge-made law or statute law.( )
3） Constitutional provisions and statutes take precedence over statute law and case law. ( )
4） Jury and adversary systems are often found in civil law courts.( )
5） In civil law countries laws are often written into codified collections.( )
3. Passage translation
民法法系和普通法系是目前世界上最有影响的两大法系。前者主要为欧洲大陆国家所采用，又称大陆法系。它的主要法律渊源是成文法典，即立法机关通过法令，并编纂成集，因此，这一法系还可以叫做成文法系。普通法系则不同，法官的裁决成为法律的一部分，以后的类似案件要遵循先前的判例。普通法又称判例法或英美法。