WHAT IS LAW

1. Match the English terms with their Ukrainian equivalents:

2. Read the text:

WHAT IS LAW

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, other laws are prescriptive – they prescribe how people ought to behave.

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.

Customs need not to be made by governments, and the need to be written down. We learn how we are expected to behave in society through the instruction of family and teachers, the advice of friends, and our experiences in dealing with strangers. Sometimes, we can break these rules without suffering any penalty. But if we continually break the rules, or break a very important one, other members of society may ridicule us, act violently toward us or refuse to have anything to do with us. The ways in which people talk, eat and drink, work, and relax together are usually called customs.

Members of every community have made laws for themselves in self-protection. If it were not for the laws, you could not go out in daylight without the fear of being kidnapped, robbed or murdered. In the absence of law you could only rely upon the law of the jungle.

Every country tries, therefore, to provide laws, which will help its people to live safely and comfortably. This is not at all an easy thing to do. No country has been successful in producing laws, which are entirely satisfactory. But the imperfect laws are better than none.

Law is a term which does not have a universally accepted definition, but one definition is that law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior. Laws are made by governments, specifically by their legislatures. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution (written or unwritten) and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics and society in countless ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people.

Choose the correct answer:

What is the main purpose of laws in society?

WHAT IS LAW

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, other laws are prescriptive – they prescribe how people ought to behave.

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.

Customs need not to be made by governments, and the need to be written down. We learn how we are expected to behave in society through the instruction of family and teachers, the advice of friends, and our experiences in dealing with strangers. Sometimes, we can break these rules without suffering any penalty. But if we continually break the rules, or break a very important one, other members of society may ridicule us, act violently toward us or refuse to have anything to do with us. The ways in which people talk, eat and drink, work, and relax together are usually called customs.

Members of every community have made laws for themselves in self-protection. If it were not for the laws, you could not go out in daylight without the fear of being kidnapped, robbed or murdered. In the absence of law you could only rely upon the law of the jungle.

Every country tries, therefore, to provide laws, which will help its people to live safely and comfortably. This is not at all an easy thing to do. No country has been successful in producing laws, which are entirely satisfactory. But the imperfect laws are better than none.

Law is a term which does not have a universally accepted definition, but one definition is that law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior. Laws are made by governments, specifically by their legislatures. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution (written or unwritten) and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics and society in countless ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people.

Choose the correct answer:

How do we learn about social customs?