UNIVERSITATEA SPIRU HARET

 
    
           
         

PLATFORMA BLACKBOARD

Codul cursului:

Denumirea cursului: English for Law Students

Tip curs: obligatoriu pentru Facultatea de Drept şi Administraţie Publică, Anul II (semestrul II), Zi/ID/FR.

Durata cursului/Nr. credite: semestrial (semestrul II): 3 credite

Perioada de accesare a cursului: 1 oct 2007 - 1 octombrie 2008

Manuale recomandate: Rădulescu Adina – A Practical English Handbook for Law Students, Ed. Fundaţiei
România de Mâine, Bucureşti, 2006
Lavinia Nădrag, Manuela Stroescu – English for Law Students, Ed. Fundaţiei România de Mâine,
Bucureşti, 2002/6.

Obiectivele principale al cursului: 1. dezvoltarea competenţei comunicaţionale prin practicarea exerciţiilor

de Role Playing, de exprimare a opiniei personale, de susţinere a unor argumente pentru sau împotriva
unei anumite probleme; 2. aprofundarea vocabularului de specialitate prin consolidarea unor tehnici de
lucru cu textul; 3. aplicarea corectă în scris şi oral a structurilor gramaticale studiate în acest curs; 4.
rezolvarea setului de exerciţii de vocabular şi gramatică necesare pentru examenul final.

Modul de stabilire a notei finale: Învăţământ cursuri de zi: test grila Blackboard
Învăţământ cursuri ID/FR: test grilă Blackboard

Consultaţii pentru studenţi: în fiecare marti între orele 12-14, Facultatea de Drept si Administratie Publica,
Sediul Central din str. Ion Ghica Nr. 13, et. 5.

Adrese e-mail responsabil pentru contactul cu studenţii: adina.radulescu@yahoo.com

Titularul cursului: Seria Zi/ID/FR: Lector univ. drd. Adina Rădulescu – adina.radulescu@yahoo.com
Adresa facultate: Str. Ion Ghica Nr. 13

Consultaţii: în fiecare marti între orele 12-14, Facultatea de Drept si Administratie Publica, Sediul Central
din str. Ion Ghica Nr. 13, et. 5.

Conţinutul tematic al cursului: Student First Amendment Case

                      

 

; Contempt of Court or Violation of Freedom of the Press? - ; The

      
      "  

! 

Role of Federal Courts in Balancing Liberties and Safety; United States Constitution: Amendments;
Disclosure of Classified Information; Health Care Fraud; Identity Theft.

3. Bibliografia minimă obligatorie: Rădulescu Adina – A Practical English Handbook for Law Students,
Ed. Fundaţiei România de Mâine, Bucureşti, 2006
Lavinia Nădrag, Manuela Stroescu – English for Law Students, Ed. Fundaţiei România de Mâine,
Bucureşti, 2002/6.
Vladimir Hanga, Rodica Calciu – Dicţionar juridic englez - român şi român- englez, ed. Lumina Lex,
Bucureşti, 1994.

4, Bibliografie facultativă: Blackstone’s EC Legislation, Sixth Edition, Edited by Nigel G. Foster, BA,
LLM, Dip German, Blackstone Press Limited, 1995.
Collins, L. – European Community Law in the United Kingdom, 4th edition, London, Butterworths, 1990.
Weatherill, Stephen and Beaumont, Paul – EC LAW, Second Edition, Penguin Books, 1995.

Prezentarea cursului/Rezumatul cursului: This practical English course is an advanced form of dealing
with specialized language in the law field. The first communicational skills in a specialized field (juridical
sciences) achieved in the first year of study are now taken to the next level of communicational
competence. The course focuses on new targets: a) using English fluently in artificially created situational
contexts – Role playing (enacting a trial, presenting a case, pleading for or against a defendant, reaching a
verdict etc.); b) introducing arguments for or against in a juridical debate (practising linking words and
expressions); c) commenting on a case using expressions of personal opinion; d) summarizing a case by
making contrasting points. Though the focus has now shifted to practising advanced speaking skills, there
are still some text related skills that students need to develop: a) extracting English expressions from a text
to match their Romanian equivalents; b) matching Latin legal terms with their corresponding English
definitions; c) asking and answering questions selecting information from a given text. The grammatical
aspects consolidated in this course – conditional clauses, the infinitive and gerund, the subjunctive and
phrasal verbs – will be checked in multiple choice, gap filling, matching and translation exercises.
Students will be encouraged to show initiative and propose new topics for debate and to assert themselves
as future professionals ready to pursue a career in the law field.

Lista subiectelor posibile

1. What do the rules of journalistic fairness imply?
2. What is the content of the First Amendment?
3. What do you understand by Grand Jury Abuses?
4. What is the role of Federal Courts in balancing liberties and safety?
5. Make summaries of the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Amendments of the US Constitution.
6. How does the American government punish individuals for disclosing classified information?
7. Which are the main crimes related to health care fraud?

Aplicaţii
Teste pentru autoevaluare la tema tratată

1. State whether the following sentences are true or false:

a. Branzburg was called to Court to be investigated in the two cases of drug use. ___

b. The prosecutors ordered Branzburg to reveal the names of his sources. ___

c. Branzburg refused to name his sources on the grounds that they were important public figures. ___

2. Translate into English:

1. Libertatea presei nu poate asigura protejarea identităţii surselor jurnaliştilor.

2. În conformitate cu legea, dacă un jurnalist este adus în faţa Curţii, el va trebui să depună mărturie în
legătură cu cazurile despre care deţine informaţii neoficial.
3. Este datoria presei să semnaleze Curţii acele cazuri suspecte care ar face obiectul jurisdicţiei sale?

3. Choose the correct versions, paying attention to the use of verbal tenses, conditionals and modal
verbs in conditional clauses:

1. If the defendant has a prior criminal record, his sentence ……………… harsher.

a) will be b) is c) would be d) should be

2. If the writ of habeas corpus ……………….. , the prisoner will be brought into court.

a) will be issued b) is issued c) had been issued d) were issued

3. Judges ……… the authority to hold journalists in contempt of court, if reporters …….. to comply with
an order to reveal the identity of unnamed sources.

a) had, refused b) have, refuse c) have, would refuse d) have, will have refused

4. If the grand jury …………… its proceedings in secret, requiring a journalist to reveal confidential
sources would have been considered prosecutorial abuse.

a) had conducted b) has conducted c) conducted d) would have conducted

5. If a journalist’s source is engaged in illegal activities and ……… that the journalist could be required to
identify him/her, the source ………….. hesitant to talk.

a) knew, would be b) knows, will be c) is known, will be d) will know, will be

4. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct infinitive forms:

Can you help me find (find) better accomodation and a new job? The judges seem …………….. (1. grant)
me parole due to my good behaviour in prison. But my parole officer doesn’t appear …………. (2. share)
their opinion. Every time something bad happens in my neighbourhood, he expects me ………. (3.
confess) to a crime I did not commit. Sometimes he comes unexpectedly to check upon me. For instance,
yesterday, he pretended ………………. (4. forget) to give me an application form which had .……… (5.
sign) for my job interview. In other words, things appear …………….. (6. go) from bad to worse and
sometimes I think I would rather ……… (7. serve) the rest of my sentence in prison than ………… (8.
enjoy) a so-called freedom.

5. Choose the correct answer:

Amendment IV prohibits:

a) the security of people’s lives, houses, papers and effects;

b) any unauthorized searches and seizures without a valid warrant, legally issued for a specific purpose;

c) people’s rights to offer resistance to having their houses serched without a valid warrant.

6. Choose the correct answer:

Amendment V stipulates that:

a) no person shall be held responsible for a crime without the right to speak in front of the Grand Jury;

b) no person shall be forced to answer for a crime in front of the Grand Jury;

c) no person shall be kept in custody without an indictment of a Grand Jury.

7. Choose the correct answer:

Amendment VI deals with:

a) the criminal’s rights during the criminal proceedings;

b) the witnesses’right to decide whether to appear or not in a criminal trial;

c) the public’s right to witness the process of prosecuting a criminal.

8. Choose the correct form of Infinitive or Gerund:

1. ‘Shall we proceed? It’s no use .................... for the witness!’

a) to wait b) having to wait c) waiting d) wait
2. ‘I’m sorry Your Honour, but I can’ t help ................... when I speak about my son.’
a) crying b) not to cry c) not crying d) cry
3. They arrived home ........................ that the house had been burgled.
a) finding b) having found c) to find d) to have found
4. Despite ........................ jailed for drug crimes 5 years ago, he has just been taken into custody for the
same count.
a) to have been b) having been c) to being d) having to be
5. British Airways regret ........................... that the flight BA541 from Paris has been cancelled.
a) announcing b) having announced c) to announce d) announce

9. Choose the correct forms of Analytic Subjunctive and Synthetic Subjunctive:

1. It is vital that the defendant …………. the benefit of the doubt.
a) be given b) can be given c) should be give d) is given

2. The judge insisted that the verdict ……………… before the Court adjourns for lunch.
a) should be pronounced b) being pronounced c) be pronouncing
d) will be pronounced

3. Under no circumstances will I disclose the name of my sources! Heaven …………. !

a) forbids b) forbid c) forbade d) will forbid

4. ………… it to say that she is terribly sorry for what she did.
a) Sufficient b) Suffice c) Suffices d) Sufficed
5. …………. what may, I shall not drop the charges against him!
a) Comes b) Coming c) Come d) To come

10. Choose the right version to form phrasal verbs that fit in the context:

1. I don’t know how you can put …. ….. such an unbearable situation.
a) by with b) up of c) up with

2. The good sales brought ………. an increase in the employee’s salaries.

a) in b) around c) about

3. I guess the printer has either run ……….. paper or has broken ……….
a) away with, down b) out of, down c) off with, off

4. Several companies have decided to lay …. employees and call ….. all investment projects.
a) off, off b) out, off c) up, down

5. You have to learn how to ……….. if you are suffering from high stress levels.
a) draw back b) wind down c) hold up

Rezolvări şi răspunsuri
1.a. F; b. T; c. F
3. 1. a; 2.b; 3. b; 4. a; 5. b.
4. 1. to have granted; 2. to share/to be sharing; 3. to confess; 4. to have forgotten; 5. to be signed; 6. to be
going; 7. serve.
5.b
6.c
7.a
8. 1. c; 2. a; 3. c; 4. b; 5. c
9. 1. a; 2. a; 3. b; 4. b; 5. c
10. 1. c; 2. c; 3. b; 4. a; 5. b

Teme de casă
• Translate the texts of Units 1-7 in writing.
• Find 10 more Latin legal terms and use them in sentences of your own.
• Choose a different Amendment and comment on it.
• Choose a recent case from British or American on-line newspapers and make its summary.