Law and Society - Топик

Основні закони (Велика Хартія Вольностей, Закони Вавилону, Стародавньої Греції та Риму, Біль про права 1689 року, Кодекс Наполеона) Laws of Babylon One of the most detailed ancient legal codes was drawn up in about 1758 B.C. by Hammurabi, a king of Babylonia. The entire code, consisting of 282 paragraphs, was carved into a great stone pillar, which was set up in a temple to the Babylonian god Marduk so that it could be read by every citizen. The pillar, lost for centuries after the fall of Babylon in the 16 century B.C., was rediscovered by a French archaeologist in 1901 amid the ruins of the Persian city of Susa. Hammurabi’s words were still legible. The pillar is now in the Louvre museum in Paris. Punishments under the code were often harsh. The cruel principle of revenge was observed: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, which meant that criminals had to receive as punishment precisely those injuries and damages they had inflicted upon their victims. Not only murderers but also thieves and false accusers faced the death penalty. The Magna Carta At the heart of the English system are two principles of government - limited government and representative government. The idea that government was not all-powerful first appeared in the Magna Carta, or Great Charter, that King John signed in 1215 under the threat of civil war. Later the tension between the Kings and the nobility increased. Since 1199 Johns barons had to be promised their rights. It is, therefore, not surprising that Stephen Langton, archbishop of Canterbury, directed baronial unrest into a demand for a solemn grant of liberties by the king. The document known as the Articles of the Barons was at last agreed upon and became the text from which the final version of the charter was drafted and sealed by John on June 15, 1215. The power of the monarch, or government, was limited, not absolute. This document provided for protection against unjust punishment and the loss of life, liberty, and property except according to law. It stipulated that no citizen could be punished or kept in prison without a fair trial. 3. Державні символи України: прапор, герб та гімн Its state symbols are the State Flag, the State Emblem and the State Anthem. The State Flag is a blue and yellow banner made from two horizontal stripes. The blue color symbolizes the peaceful blue sky while the yellow one symbolizes the field of ripe wheat - the source of life. The contemporary national coat of arms of Ukraine, a trident is very ancient. The classic form of the Ukrainian trident is found on the gold and silver coins of Volodymyr the Great. The archaeological finds of trident in Ukraine go back to the first century A.D. Undoubtedly this emblem was a symbol of authority and a symbol of the ethnic groups which inhabited ancient Ukraine. The Ukrainian anthem, Shche ne umerla Ukraina (Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished), is of quite recent origin. In 1863 the Lviv magazine Meta (The Goal) published the poem Shche ne umerla Ukraina by Paul Chubynsky. It was mistakenly considered to be written by T.Shevchenko. The same year it was set to music by M. Verbytsky. This song, as a result of its catchy melody and patriotic text, became very popular. In 1917 it was officially adopted as the anthem of the Ukrainian State. The Constitution of Ukraine (1996) defines the State symbols of Ukraine in Article 20. 4. Верховна Рада - вищий законодавчий орган України. Основні функції The legislative power The parliament - the Verkhovna Rada is the only body of the legislative power in Ukraine. There are 450 people’s deputies who are elected for a term of 4 years on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. In order to be elected as a deputy, a person must by a citizen of Ukraine, must be at least 21 years of the age and have the right to vote, and must by resided in the territory of Ukraine for no less than the previous 5 years. Successive elections of the V.R. take place on the last Sunday of March of the 4 year of the term of the parliament. The V.R. works on a session basis. The Verkhovna Radas main function is making laws. Among the other functions of the parliament are: to amend the Constitution, to call for elections of the President of Ukraine, to determine the principles of domestic & foreign policy, to approve national programmes of economic, scientific & technical, social, national & cultural development, to remove the President from office, to declare war & to conclude peace upon the Presidents proposal. 6.