作文百宝箱政治类之1--law and legal system

政治类之1----Law And Legal System 注：相关题目分析在最后 Introduction to Law Law serves a variety of functions. Laws against crimes, for example, help to maintain a peaceful, orderly, relatively stable society. Courts contribute to social stability by resolving disputes in a civilized fashion. Property and contract laws facilitate business activities and private planning. Laws limiting the powers of government help to provide some degree of freedom that would not otherwise be possible. Law has also been used as a mechanism for social change; for instance, at various times laws have been passed to inhibit social discrimination and to improve the quality of individual life in matters of health, education, and welfare. Some experts believe the popular view of law overemphasizes its formal, coercive aspects. They point out that if a custom or norm is assured of judicial backing, it is, for practical purposes, law. On the other hand, a statute that is neither obeyed nor enforced is empty law. Social attitudes toward the formal law are a significant part of the law in process. The role of law in China and Japan, for example, is somewhat different from its role in Western nations. Respect for the processes of law is low, at least outside matters of business and industry. Tradition looms much larger in everyday life. Resort to legal resolution of a dispute is truly a last resort, with conciliation being the mechanism that is preferred for social control. Why Do We Need the Law? 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 behavior. 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. 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 Canada states that we must drive our cars on the right-hand side of a two-way street. If people were allowed 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 conflicts 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. Goals of 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. However, despite the best intentions, laws are sometimes created that people later recognize as being unjust or unfair. In a democratic society like Canada, 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. 相关题目及分析： 【17】There are two types of laws: just and unjust. Every individual in a society has a responsibility to obey just laws and, even more importantly, to disobey and resist unjust laws. 有两种法律：公正的和不公正的。每个社会成员都有责任遵守公正的法律，但是更重要的是，更应该不遵守和反抗不公正的法律。 思路： · 是否可以将法律分为just and unjust? Why not? · Should individuals obey laws? · How should we react to those laws that harm our benefits? Resist? Or repeal to other channels. 【174】Laws should not be stationary and fixed. Instead, they should be flexible enough to take account of various circumstances, times, and places. 法律不应该是僵化或固定的，而应该根据不同的环境、时期和地点而足够灵活。 对题目的分析： · Social aspects社会发展所以法律要发展,因为法律是为社会服务的,保证社会有良好的秩序.民主也是在不断进步的,使法律得以不断完善. Take the United States for example. (1) democracy. 1787, the first Constitution was born, instead of being fixed, 1791 ten amendments were added to the Constitution to ensure human rights. Until now, there has been twenty-seven amendments, much more words than the initial Constitution.美国在1787年制定了《美利坚合众国宪法》，1791年就作出了史称“人权法案”的10条宪法修正案，迄今为止，美国宪法修正案已经有27条，超过正文三倍之多 (2) the blacks. During the Civil war, Lincoln enacted the laws that entitled the equal rights to the blacks with the whites. · Business world:法律随着出现的经济问题而发展，不断完善，确保市场的稳定和繁荣。 (1)antitrust and anti-dumping laws (2)Enron, a prime beneficiary of the relaxed regulatory climate of the 1990s, finally dissolved into bankruptcy due to its accounting, tax and stock fraud. Enron took advantage of the most arcane accounting and legal technicalities to turn debt into equity, loans into cash flow and tax-deductions into earnings. The excesses of Enron have turned government regulators into reformers and render them to take actions to investigate and punish accounting violations. What is more , energy and securities regulators are engaing in reforms in accounting rules and relevant laws, which are expected to better satisfy the needs of investors. · However, Laws should also have a relative stability. (1)Within a country , a period of time , laws should stay relatively stable, which doesn't means fixed or stationary ,but keep a consistency in spirit of laws. Without such coherence, people will be confused and distrust laws and legal system. (2)Ever-changing laws are so elusive that makes them hard to be respected and carryed out by lawman. 【178】It is possible to pass laws that control or place limits on people's behavior, but legislation cannot reform human nature. Laws cannot change what is in people's hearts and minds. 通过法律可以控制或者限制人们的行为，但是立法是无法改变人类本性的。法律无法改变人们的感情和思想。