Иностранный язык в профессиональной сфере (юридический английский)

Н. В. Ковальчук 
И. В. Щербакова 

Иностранный язык  
в профессиональной сфере 
(юридический английский) 

Учебно-практическое пособие 

Москва 
2022 

УДК 811.111:316.34(075) 
ББК  81.432.1я723 
К56 

Научный редактор: 
Кузьминова И. А., канд. филол. наук, доц. каф. «Иностранные языки» 
ФГБОУ ВО «Донской государственный технический университет» 

Рецензенты: 
Евсюкова Т. В., д-р филол. наук, проф. каф. лингвистики  
и межкультурной коммуникации ФГБОУ ВО «Ростовский 
государственный экономический университет (РИНХ)»; 
Клеменова Е. Н., д-р. филол. наук, проф.,  
зав. каф. журналистики ФГБОУ ВО «Ростовский  
государственный экономический университет (РИНХ)» 

Ковальчук, Н. В. 
К56  
Иностранный язык в профессиональной сфере (юридический 
английский) : учебно-практическое пособие / Н. В. Ковальчук, 
И. В. Щербакова ; под ред. И. А. Кузьминовой. — Москва : 
Директ-Медиа, 2022. — 92 с. 

ISBN 978-5-4499-3154-2 

Данное учебно-практическое пособие рассчитано на студентов колледжей, 
обучающихся по направлению подготовки «Юриспруденция». 
В пособие включены тексты юридической направленности и упражнения 
для отработки лексического материала, а также краткий грамматический 
справочник. 

УДК 811.111:316.34(075) 
ББК  81.432.1я723 

ISBN 978-5-4499-3154-2
© Ковальчук Н. В., Щербакова И. В., текст, 2022
© Донской государственный технический университет, 2022
© Издательство «Директ-Медиа», оформление, 2022

Оглавление 

Предисловие ............................................................................................................................................... 5 

Part 1. Тексты профессиональной направленности ............................................................. 6 
Text 1. Why do we need law? ......................................................................................................... 6 
Text 2. Law and society .................................................................................................................... 8 
Text 3. Why do we commit crimes? ............................................................................................. 9 
Text 4. Development of law in Great Britain and the USA .............................................. 11 
Text 5. The legal profession in Great Britain ........................................................................ 13 
Text 6. Compensation culture and lawyers in the USA .................................................... 15 
Text 7. Contract law ........................................................................................................................ 17 
Text 8. Remedies for breach of contract ................................................................................. 18 
Text 9. The first laws ...................................................................................................................... 20 
Text 10. Punishment ....................................................................................................................... 21 
Text 11. International comparisons of law system ............................................................ 22 

Part 2. Тексты для перевода ............................................................................................................ 25 
Text 1. Illegal marketing of drugs: Pfizer’s record fine .................................................... 25 
Text 2. Apple in legal battle over iPad name in China ....................................................... 26 
Text 3. Why Wal-Mart won a big ruling in sex discrimination case ............................ 27 
Text 4. Business law ........................................................................................................................ 29 
Text 5. The requirements of an offer ....................................................................................... 30 
Text 6. How an offer is ended once made .............................................................................. 32 
Text 7. Types of contracts ............................................................................................................. 33 

Part 3. Тексты для чтения ................................................................................................................. 36 
Text 1. NHS doctor killed his partner’s father with poison, civil court finds .......... 36 
Text 2. Doctor found to have poisoned partner and her parents 
suspended by GMC ........................................................................................................... 37 
Text 3. Marks & Spencer and Aldi call truce in Colin the Caterpillar cake war ...... 39 
Text 4. US healthcare giant’s takeover of GP practices lands in high court ............. 39 
Text 5. German police arrest two suspects after officers shot dead on patrol ....... 41 

Part 4. Краткий справочник по грамматике английского языка ................................ 42 
Артикль (The Article) ................................................................................................................... 42 
Имя существительное (The Noun) ........................................................................................ 43 
Конверсия .......................................................................................................................................... 44 
Имя прилагательное (The Adjective) ................................................................................... 45 
Наречие (The Adverb) .................................................................................................................. 46 
Имя числительное (The Numeral) ......................................................................................... 48 
Местоимение (The Pronoun) .................................................................................................... 48 

3 

Времена английского глагола (действительный залог — актив) ..................... 50 
Indefinite (Simple) — неопределенное (простое) время ................................... 50 
Continuous (Progressive) — длительное время ...................................................... 52 
Perfect — перфектное (совершенное) время .......................................................... 53 
Perfect Continuous — совершенное длительное время ..................................... 55 
Страдательный залог .................................................................................................................. 56 
Модальные глаголы и их эквиваленты ............................................................................ 57 
Сослагательное наклонение (The Subjunctive Mood) ................................................ 59 
Условные придаточные предложения .............................................................................. 60 

Part 5. Тесты ............................................................................................................................................. 62 
Variant 1 .............................................................................................................................................. 62 
Variant 2 .............................................................................................................................................. 64 
Variant 3 .............................................................................................................................................. 67 
Variant 4 .............................................................................................................................................. 69 
Variant 5 .............................................................................................................................................. 72 
Variant 6 .............................................................................................................................................. 74 
Variant 7 .............................................................................................................................................. 77 
Variant 8 .............................................................................................................................................. 80 
Variant 9 .............................................................................................................................................. 82 
Variant 10............................................................................................................................................ 85 

Ответы на тесты .................................................................................................................................... 89 

Memo ............................................................................................................................................................ 90 

Литература ............................................................................................................................................... 91 

Предисловие 

Данное пособие представляет собой практический материал на английском 
языке для изучения и применения в монологической и диалогической 
речи терминов, объединенных темой «Юриспруденция». 
Пособие предназначено для студентов средних специальных учебных заведений, 
изучающих английский язык. 
Целью пособия является обучение студентов активному владению английским 
языком в сфере профессиональной деятельности юриста, а также 
формирование способности к межкультурной коммуникации. 
Учебно-практическое пособие состоит из пяти разделов. Раздел 1 содержит 
11 текстов профессиональной направленности и задания к этим текстам; 
раздел 2 включает в себя тексты по специальности для самостоятельной работы (
внеаудиторное чтение) с целью овладения навыком письменного перевода; 
раздел 3 содержит тексты для чтения; раздел 4 — краткий справочник по 
грамматике; раздел 5 представлен тестами для самоконтроля. 
Задания направлены на овладение, развитие и совершенствование профессиональных 
умений и навыков студентов в процессе их работы под руководством 
преподавателя и самостоятельной работы. 

 
Part 1. Тексты  
профессиональной направленности 

Text 1. Why do we need law? 

1. Vocabulary. 
• to control or alter our behavior — управлять и вносить изменения в наше 
поведение 
• to safeguard our personal property and our lives — охранять нашу личную 
собственность и наши жизни 
• to ensure a safe and peaceful society — обеспечивать безопасное и мирное 
существование 
• to punish people without trial — наказывать людей без суда и следствия 
• to respect individual rights — уважать права человека 
• to give effect to social policies — оказывать влияние на социальную политику 
• 
to protect equality — защищать равенство 

2. Read and translate the text. 
Almost everything we do is governed by some set of rules. There are rules for 
games, for social clubs, for sports and for adults in the workplace. There are also 
rules imposed by morality and custom that play an important role in telling us what 
we should and should not do. However, some rules — those made by the state or the 
courts — are called “laws”. 
Laws resemble morality because they are designed to control or alter our be-
haviour. But unlike rules of morality, laws are enforced by the courts; if you break  
a law — whether you like that law or not — you may be forced to pay a fine, pay 
damages, or go to prison. 
Why are some rules so special that they are made into laws? Why do we need 
rules that everyone must obey? In short, what is the purpose of law? If we did not 
live in a structured society with other people, laws would not be necessary. We 
would simply do as we please, with little regard for others. But ever since individuals 
began to associate with other people — to live in society — laws have been the glue 
that has kept society together. For example, the law in our country states that we 
must drive our cars on the right-hand side of a two way street. If people were al-
lowed to choose at random which side of the street to drive on, driving would be 
dangerous and chaotic. 
Laws regulating our business affairs help to ensure that people keep their 
promises. Laws against criminal conduct help to safeguard our personal property 
and our lives. Even in a well-ordered society, people have disagreements and con-
flicts arise. 
The law must provide a way to resolve these disputes peacefully. If two people 
claim to own the same piece of property, we do not want the matter settled by a duel: 
we turn to the law and to institutions like the courts to decide who is the real owner 
and to make sure that the real owner's rights are respected.  
We need law, then, to ensure a safe and peaceful society in which individuals’ 
rights are respected. But we expect even more from our law. Some totalitarian  
governments have cruel and arbitrary laws, enforced by police forces free to arrest 

6 

 
and punish people without trial. Strong-arm tactics may provide a great deal of 
order, but we reject this form of control. The legal system should respect individual 
rights while, at the same time, ensuring that society operates in an orderly manner. 
And society should believe in the Rule of Law, which means that the law applies to 
every person, including members of the police and other public officials, who must 
carry out their public duties in accordance with the law.  
In our society, laws are not only designed to govern our conduct: they are also 
intended to give effect to social policies. For example, some laws provide for benefits 
when workers are injured on the job, for health care, as well as for loans to students 
who otherwise might not be able to go to university. 
Another goal of the law is fairness. This means that the law should recognize 
and protect certain basic individual rights and freedoms, such as liberty and equality. 
The law also serves to ensure that strong groups and individuals do not use their 
powerful positions in society to take unfair advantage of weaker individuals. Howev-
er, despite the best intentions, laws are sometimes created that people later recog-
nize as being unjust or unfair. 
In a democratic society, laws are not carved in stone, but must reflect the 
changing needs of society. In a democracy, anyone who feels that a particular law is 
flawed has the right to speak out publicly and to seek to change the law by lawful 
means. 

3. Match the words and phrases in column A with the verbs from column B. 

A
B

1) the purpose of law
a) уважать права отдельного человека

2) to live in society
b) отражать изменяющиеся потребности 
общества

3) to choose at random
c) иметь разногласия и конфликты

4) to safeguard our personal property and 
our lives

d) верить в верховенство закона

5) to have disagreements and conflicts
e) защищать основные права и свободы

6) to resolve disputes peacefully
f) назначение (цель) права

7) to turn to the law
g) иметь право открыто высказать свое 
мнение

8) to respect individual rights
h) жить в обществе

9) to arrest and punish people without trial
i) выбирать что-либо наугад

10) to believe in the Rule of Law
j) стремиться изменить закон законными 
средствами

11) in accordance with the law
k) арестовывать и наказывать людей без 
суда и следствия

12) to protect basic individual rights and 
freedoms

l) охранять нашу собственность и жизнь

13) to reflect the changing needs of society
m) в соответствии с законом

14) to have the right to speak out publicly
n) обращаться к закону

15) to seek to change the law by lawful means
o) решать споры миром

4. Complete the sentences. 
1) Almost everything we do is governed by … . 
2) If we didn’t live in a structured society with other people … . 
3) Laws against criminal conduct help … . 
4) We turn to the law … . 
5) Another goal of the law is … . 

7 

 
5. Make up at least 10 questions about the text above. 

6. Match the English sentences in the right column with the correspond-
ing Russian sentences in the left column. 

1) Не каждый может работать для общего 
блага 

1) The law is the rule of conduct established 
by a government and applicable to people, 
whether in the form of legislation or custom

2) Юрист — это лицо, чья профессия 
заключается в том, чтобы подавать судебные 
иски или консультировать клиентов 
и действовать от их имени по различным 
юридическим вопросам

2) Law is any rule or injunction that must be 
obeyed 

3) Право — это нормы поведения, установленные 
государством и применяемые 
в обществе в форме закона или обычая

3) Not everybody can work for the good of 
society 

4) Закон — это любая норма или предписание, 
которым надо следовать 

4) A lawyer is a person whose profession is 
to conduct lawsuit for clients or to advise or 
act for them in other legal matters

5) Мы следуем определенным нормам 
поведения, если принадлежим определенным 
социальным институтам

5) We accept some rules if we belong to par-
ticular social institutions 

6) Я посоветуюсь с юристом
6) I’ll take legal advice

7) Она обратилась в суд
7) She brought a case to court

8) Судья отправляет правосудие
8) What factors influenced your decision?

9) Какие факторы повлияли на Ваше 
решение?

9) The judge administers justice

Text 2. Law and society 

1. Read and translate the text. 
When the world was at a very primitive stage of development there were no 
laws to regulate life of people. If a man chose to kill his wife or if a woman succeeded 
in killing her husband that was their own business and no one interfered officially. 
But things never stay the same. The life has changed. We live in a complicated world. 
Scientific and social developments increase the tempo of our daily living activities, 
make them more involved. Now we need rules and regulations which govern our 
every social move and action. We have made laws of community living.  
Though laws are based on the reasonable needs at the community we often 
don’t notice them. If our neighbour plays loud music late at night, we probably try to 
discuss the matter with him rather than consulting the police, the lawyer or the 
courts. When we buy a TV set, or a train ticket or loan money to somebody a lawyer 
may tell us it represents a contract with legal obligations. But to most of us it is just  
a ticket that gets us on a train or a TV set to watch.  
Only when a neighbour refuses to behave reasonably or when we are injured 
in a train accident, the money wasn’t repaid, the TV set fails to work and the owner of 
the shop didn’t return money or replace it, we do start thinking about the legal impli-
cations of everyday activities.  
You may wish to take legal action to recover your loss. You may sue against 
Bert who didn’t pay his debt. Thus you become a plaintiff and Bert is a defendant. At 
the trial you testified under oath about the loan. Bert, in his turn, claimed that it was 

8 

 
a gift to him, which was not to be returned. The court after listening to the testimony 
of both sides and considering the law decided that it was a loan and directed that 
judgment should be entered in favour of you against Bert.  
Some transactions in modern society are so complex that few of us would risk 
making them without first seeking legal advice. For example, buying or selling a house, 
setting up a business, or deciding whom to give our property to when we die. 
On the whole it seems that people all over the world are becoming more and 
more accustomed to using legal means to regulate their relations with each other. 
Multinational companies employ lawyers to ensure that their contracts are valid 
whenever they do business. 

2. Answer the following questions. 
1) Were there any laws when the world was at a very primitive stage of devel-
opment? 
2) Why do we need rules and regulations nowadays? 
3) Do we notice laws? Why? 
4) When do we start thinking about the legal implications of our everyday ac-
tivities? 
5) In what case may we sue against Bert? 
6) Where do we testify under oath? 
7) Did Bert win or lose the case? 
8) In what cases do people seek legal advice? 
9) Why do companies employ lawyers? 

3. Decide if the sentences (1–5) below are true or false. 
1) When the world was at a very primitive stage of development there were no 
laws to regulate life of people. 
2) Now we don’t need rules and regulations which govern our every social 
move and action. 
3) Though laws are based on the reasonable needs at the community we often 
don’t notice them. 
4) Some transactions in modern society are so complex that few many of us 
would risk making them without first seeking legal advice. 
5) People all over the world are becoming more and more accustomed to using 
legal means to regulate their relations with each other. 

4. Look through the text again and divide it into logical parts. Give the 
message of each part. 

Text 3. Why do we commit crimes? 

1. Read the text and match the headings with the sections of the text  
below. 
• Psychological and psychiatric theories. 
• Genetic and biological theories. 
• Social environment theories. 
• Theological and ethical theories. 
• Multiple causation theory. 
• The theory of choice. 

9 

 
All adults at some time or another commit a crime, sometimes by accident, but 
why do some people intentionally commit crimes? Here are some theories that try to 
explain the causes of criminal behavior: 
1) No one knows why crime occurs. The oldest theory, based on theology and 
ethics, is that criminals are perverse persons who deliberately commit crimes or who 
do so at the instigation of the devil or other evil spirits. Although this idea has been 
discarded by modern criminologists, it persists among uninformed people. 
2) The idea that some people commit crimes because of biological factors has  
a long tradition. This theory suggests that criminals are born, not made. It was devel-
oped in the 19th century by the Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso, who believed 
that crimes were committed by persons who are born with certain recognizable 
hereditary physical traits. Among the things he considered important were skull and 
ears shapes, colour of the hair and the eyes, etc. Although experts today no longer 
believe this, they argue that human behaviour can be linked to an individual's genes. 
Studies of adopted children who show criminal behaviour suggest that their behav-
iour is more similar to their biological parents’ behaviour than their adoptive par-
ents’, showing a genetic link. 
3) Many prominent criminologists of the 19th century stated that a person's 
surroundings such as poverty, lack of privacy and poor sanitation influence their 
behaviour. These conditions engender feelings of deprivation and hopelessness and 
are conducive to crime as a means of escape. More modern scientists point out that 
just as children learn good behaviour from their parents, so children can learn bad 
behaviour from their families and friends. It is a vicious circle, as one expert states: 
“Problem children tend to grow up into problem adults, and problem adults tend to 
produce more problem children”. 
4) Studies of the 20th century investigators indicated that about one-fourth of a 
typical convict population is psychotic, neurotic, or emotionally unstable and another 
one-fourth is mentally deficient. These emotional and mental conditions do not auto-
matically make people criminals, but make them more prone to criminality. Recent 
studies of criminals state that emotional disturbances may lead to criminal behavior. 
5) The central idea of this theory is that crime is a career decision, an alterna-
tive way of making a living. The theory argues that most criminals are rational peo-
ple, who know what they want and the different ways of getting it. They are able to 
balance the risks of committing a crime, such as going to prison, against its benefits, 
i. e. what they gain if they aren’t caught. The conclusion is: if there are more benefits 
than risks, — do it; but if there are more risks than benefits, — don't do it. 
6) Since the mid-20th century experts have inclined to the so-called multiple 
causation theory. They reason that crime springs from a multiplicity of influences — 
biological, psychological, cultural, economic and political. The multiple causation 
explanations seem more credible than the earlier, simpler theories. An understand-
ing of the causes of crime is still elusive, however, because the interrelationship of 
causes is difficult to determine. 
To protect its citizens laws are made to regulate human behaviour and the 
State provides crime prevention policies, remedies and sanctions if the laws are 
broken. However, research is continuing into people's motivation for committing 
crimes, because understanding this may help us apply the correct punishments for 
crime. With more knowledge, it will be easier to prevent crime and to help criminals 
to lead a more useful life. 

10 

 
2. Match the synonyms. 
1) link 
a) intentionally  
2) deliberately 
b) to go on  
3) to occur 
c) to cause  
4) prominent 
d) to happen  
5) to lead to 
e) important, noticeable  
6) to argue 
f) conduct  
7) to continue 
g) connection  
8) behavior 
h) to state 

3. Match the antonyms. 
1) adult 
a) minor 
2) by accident 
b) stable  
3) the oldest 
c) wealth  
4) uninformed 
d) irrational  
5) similar to 
e) on purpose  
6) poverty 
f) the latest  
7) unstable 
g) different from  
8) rational 
h) literate 

4. Make up at least 10 questions about the text above. 

Text 4. Development of law in Great Britain and the USA 

1. Look through the text again and divide it into logical parts. Give the 
message of each part. 
The common law of England, the body of customary law embodied in reports 
of decided cases, is in fact a Norman creation. It originated in Middle Ages in the 
decisions of local courts which applied what Sir William Blackstone, one of the prom-
inent English jurists of the 18th century, called “the custom of the realm from the 
time immemorial”. 
Before the Norman Conquest (1066) the Anglo-Saxons, especially after acces-
sion of Alfred the Great (871), developed a body of rules which resembled those 
being used by the Teutonic peoples of northern Europe. But the Norman Conquest 
brought an end to the Saxon laws, except for some local customs. The main role in 
the development of common law was played by courts. Before the Conquest, there 
existed two types of courts, or the courts of the smallest settlements. The other kind 
of courts was the shire court which was more significant. The head of the shire was 
an earl. The earl’s reeve, or the shire reeve (sheriff) managed, the shire court and 
supervised the lesser courts. 
The Conquest brought another kind of local court. Anglo-Saxon England had 
not been altogether feudal; the Norman system was. Each lord had his court. The 
privilege of holding court was an important incident of feudal tenure. For one thing, 
the power to adjudicate was then the principal expression of political authority, not, 
as now, just one of three. For another, it was an important source of income. The 
Anglo-Saxons had no royal courts. In the last half of the 12th century the king of 
England and Normandy Henry II introduced litigation in the royal courts as a substi-
tute for private wars. Thus, he made it clear to Englishmen that most of the law, the 
important law, would issue from a single source, from a government strong enough 

11 

 
and bright enough to render it large in their lives. It would operate throughout the 
land. The common law took hold. With it the jury system. 
Another English adaptation of medieval Western legal ideas and procedures 
was the development by the Chancellor of special rules and procedures called ‘equi-
ty’. It is clear that single legal rules cannot be formed to deal with all possible cases. 
The mechanical application of rules can sometimes result in injustice. In the four-
teenth and fifteenth centuries the king's courts became rigid and narrow in their 
interpretation of their own functions and their own rules. The Chancellor, who next 
to the King was the most important official in the country, then set up a special office 
to hear grievances which the King's regular courts could not or would not handle 
adequately. Gradually, the Chancellor's jurisdiction developed into the Court of 
Chancery, whose function was to administer equity. 
Besides common law and equity, statutory law also developed in England. The 
term statute is usually applied to written law, to the acts of a legislative or law-
making body, whether Congress or Parliament, or other assembly of representatives 
charged with the enactment of general rules of conduct, which are binding upon the 
inhabitants of the state. There was written law in England before Parliament came 
into existence, as the collections of laws going under the names of the kings of pre-
Norman or Anglo-Saxon period indicate.  
In the 13th century statutes of Edward I, who has been called the English Jus-
tinian, greatly amended the unwritten common law: they limited the jurisdiction of 
local courts, liberalized appeals to high circuit courts, improved the law of admin-
istration of assets on death, etc. The Tudors made use of proclamations by the king to 
invoke emergency measures, to establish detailed regulations, especially in economic 
matters, etc.  
The English settlers on the Atlantic Seaboard of North America brought with 
them the English legal tradition. But the English law of that time was ill-adapted to 
the conditions of the New World. Innovations made by the American judges and 
legislators are great. That is why the lawyers say that Great Britain and the USA are 
“the two countries separated by common law”. Common law was formally adopted in 
all the original States of the Union. Louisiana, where the “Code Napoleon” prevailed 
at the time of its admission to statehood, is an exception. 
In the first 75 years of the history of the USA American judges, jurists, and leg-
islators were able to develop out of the received English law a body of legal institu-
tions and doctrines which reflected the social life of the new American polity —  
an American law. The greatest difference is found in the sphere of public law. Great 
Britain has no written constitution and no judicial review, whereas every court in the 
USA has the power to pass judgement on the conformity of legislation and other 
official actions to constitutional norms. Many areas of US law have been “constitu-
tionalized”. 
There are a lot of other specific features in the American legal system, which 
were established due to the great economic, political, and social changes that took 
place during the history of the country’s development. 

2. Answer the following questions. 
1) What is the common law of England? 
2) When did common law appear? 
3) Who is considered to be one of the prominent English jurists? 

12