Правовая терминология в контексте международного права (английский язык для студентов юридических вузов и факультетов)

Министерство науки и высшего образования Российской Федерации
Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение 
высшего образования 
«Саратовская государственная юридическая академия»
Т. 
А. Александрова,  
Н. 
В. Лазовская
ПРАВОВАЯ ТЕРМИНОЛОГИЯ  
В КОНТЕКСТЕ  
МЕЖДУНАРОДНОГО ПРАВА 
(английский язык для студентов  
юридических вузов и факультетов)
Учебное пособие
Саратов
2024

УДК  811.111(076)
ББК  81.2Англя73
 
А46
Ре ц е н зе н ты: 
кандидат филологических наук, доцент,  
доцент кафедры прикладной лингвистики и межкультурной 
коммуникации Поволжского института управления  
им. П.А. Столыпина – филиала РАНХиГС при Президенте РФ  
Е.А. Макшанцева;  
кандидат филологических наук, доцент,  
доцент кафедры иностранных языков  
Саратовской государственной юридической академии  
А.Л. Игнаткина
Печатается по решению учебно-методического совета  
Саратовской государственной юридической академии
А46
Александрова, Т. А.
Правовая терминология в контексте международного права (английский язык для студентов юридических вузов и факультетов) : 
учебное пособие / Т. А. Александрова, Н. В. Лазовская ; Саратовская 
государственная юридическая академия. – Саратов : Изд-во Сарат. 
гос. юрид. акад., 2024. – 68 с. 
ISBN 978-5-7924-1983-4
Цель пособия – сформировать навыки и умения, необходимые 
для чтения и перевода специальной литературы в процессе профессионально-ориентированного использования языка, дать студентам общие представления об английской юридической терминологии в историческом контексте международного права.
Для студентов и слушателей высших учебных заведений юридического профиля.
УДК 811.111(076)
ББК 81.2Англя73
ISBN 978-5-7924-1983-4 
© Александрова Т. А.,  
 
  Лазовская Н. В., 2024  
 
© Саратовская государственная 
 
 
  юридическая академия, 2024

International law is the law that governs human activities 
and relationships at the international level. The major actors 
in the international arena are states and international organisations. 
So traditionally international law is primarily concerned with 
the conduct of states and international organisations. But in the recent 
decades individuals, transnational corporations and non-governmental 
organisations are becoming increasingly active in international affairs, 
and their activities are also relevant to international law.
The major topics covered in an international law course include: 
treaties (agreements between states dealing with any matters 
of international concern); jurisdiction (power of a state to make and 
enforce its laws at the international level); state responsibility for 
wrongful acts; the use of international law in domestic courts; human 
rights; war and peace; international organisations, etc. The basic purpose 
of studying international law is to understand the concepts, principles 
and methods of international law as distinct from domestic law and 
thereby understand the special environment, structure and process 
of international transactions.
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PART I
UNIT 1
A.
Read the text quickly and try to understand what it is about and what 
information is of primary importance or new to you.
International vs. National Law
The relationship between international law and national law 
(municipal law or domestic law as it is also called) is one of the most 
intriguing, variable, and complex, issues that arises in the context 
of the application of international law.
First, international legal obligations can be thought of as existing on 
two simulataneous planes: the international plane and the domestic plane. 
They are not necessarily the same and in many cases are quite different. 
Obligations that exist on the international plane are those between states 
themselves. States, of course, being the central actors in international law. 
These obligations arise as a result of treaties and customs that evolve over 
time.
These obligations, however, may produce different consequences 
when they are considered on the domestic plane. Here countries differ 
greatly with regard to the hierarchy or normative rank that their 
individual legal systems assign to international obligations. Typically, 
states will draw distinctions between obligations arising under treaty 
and those arising through customary law. Rarely, states consider 
international obligations superior to their domestic laws but in many 
more cases international obligations are considered on a par with, and 
part of, a state’s body of domestic law. In other cases, international 
obligations are made a part of a state’s domestic law by specific 
implementing legislation that converts an international obligation into 
a corresponding domestic one. Where this fails to occur, the state will 
be bound by the obligation on the international plane, but no rights flow 
from that obligation to the domestic plane.
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B.
Read the text carefully and divide it into logical parts. Give each part 
a suitable heading. Retell each part in brief in English. Write a one-page 
summary of this text in English.
Historical Basis for International Law
Through the ages a code developed for the relations and conduct 
between nations.  Even when nations were at war, envoys were often 
considered immune to violence.The first formal attempts in this direction, 
which over time have developed into the current international law, stem 
from the era of the Renaissance in Europe.
In the Middle Ages it had been considered the obligation of the Church 
to mediate in international disputes. During Council of Constance (1414) 
– Pawel Wlodkowic – rector of Jagiellonian University (Cracow, Poland), 
theologist, lawyer and diplomat presented the theory that all, including 
pagan, nations have right to self-govern and to live in peace and possess 
their land.
16th and 17th centuries 
The Church gradually  lost its direct influence in international affairs, 
as Catholic and Protestant powers emerged and struggled for dominance 
and survival. At the beginning of the 17th century, several generalizations 
could be made about the political situation:
1. Self-governing, autonomous states existed.
2. Almost all of them were governed by monarchs. 1) England and 
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had constitutional monarchies. 2) Not 
all monarchs were hereditary: the Holy Roman Emperor and the ruler 
of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were elected. 3) Switzerland, 
the Netherlands, and many Italian city-states were republics.
3. After the Thirty Years’ War, which ended with the Peace 
of Westphalia, there was relative stability in Europe for 130 years 
(until the 1789 French Revolution). 1) The Peace of Wesphalia is often 
cited as being the birth of the modern nation-states, establishing states 
as sovereigns answering to no-one within its own borders.
4. Land, wealth, trading rights, and monopolizing the new lands were 
the topics of war.
Some people assert that international law developed to deal with 
the new states arising, others claim that the lack of influence of the Pope 
and the Catholic church gave rise to the need for new generally-accepted 
codes.
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The Dominican Order
Dominican professor Francisco de Vitoria (in Latin Franciscus 
de Victoria) of theology at the University of Salamanca lectured 
on the rights of the natives. He did so while Spain was at the height of its 
power, after the violent Spanish conquest of Peru in 1536. Charles V, Holy 
Roman Emperor, protested against the friar, but in 1542 new laws put 
the natives under protection of the Spanish crown. Vitoria is generally 
recognized as the founder of modern international law.
France
French monk Emeric Cruce (1590–1648) came up with the idea 
of having representatives of all countries meeting in one place to discuss 
their conflicts so as to avoid war and create more peace. He suggested 
this in his The New Cyneas (1623), choosing Venice to be the selected city 
for all of the representatives to meet, and suggested that the Pope should 
preside over the meeting. Of course, during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–
1648), this was not acceptable to the Protestant nations. He also said that 
armies should be abolished and called for a world court. Though his call 
to abolish armies was not taken seriously, Emeric Cruce does deserve his 
place in history through his foresight that international organizations are 
crucial to solve international disputes.
Hugo Grotius (or Huig de Groot) (1583–1645) was a Dutch humanist 
and jurist considered central to the development of international 
law. He became a lawyer when he was 15 years old and got sentenced 
to life in prison after going against Maurice of Nassau, son of William 
I of Orange|William of Orange in a trial, but he escaped and fled to Paris. 
In France, he developed his ideas on international law with his Mare 
Liberum (Latin for «Free seas»), in which he challenged the claims and 
attempts of England, Spain, and Portugal to rule portions of the oceans 
and seas. He gained new international fame in 1625 with his book De Jure 
Belli ac Pacis (The Law of War and Peace), as it became the first definitive 
text on international law. It was published only two years after The New 
Cyneas.
Much of Grotius’s content drew from the Bible and from classical 
history. In his work he did not condemn war as only a political tool, 
considering cases in which war is appropriate. He further developed 
the just war theory. A just war fits certain criteria:
1. It can be to repel an invasion.
2. It can be to punish an insult to God.
3. There has to be a just cause (one of the two mentioned above).
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4. It has to be declared by the proper authorities.
5. It must possess moral intention.
6. It must have a chance of success.
7. It must abstain from brutal practices.
8. Its end result must be proportional to the means used.
9. The statesmen of the time believed no nation could escape war, 
so they prepared for it.
King Henry IV’s Chief Minister,  
the Maximilien de Bethune, duc de Sully
Duke of Sully, proposed the founding of an alliance of the European 
nations that was to meet to arbitrate issues and wage war not between 
themselves but collectively on the Ottoman Turks, and he called it 
the Grand Design, but was never established.
After World War I, the nations of the world decided to form 
an international body – the "League of Nations". 
When World War II broke out, the League of Nations was finished. Yet 
at the same time, the United Nations was being formed. On January 1, 1942, 
U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the “Declaration by United 
Nations” on behalf of 26 nations who had pledged to fight against the Axis 
powers. Even before the end of the war, representatives of 50 nations 
met in San Francisco to draw up the charter for an international body 
to replace the League of Nations. On October 24, 1945, the United Nations 
officially came  into existence.
The value and authority of international law is entirely dependent 
upon the voluntary participation of states in its formulation, observance, 
and enforcement. Although there may be exceptions, most states enter 
into legal commitments to other states out of enlightened self-interest 
rather than adherence to a body of law that is higher than their own. 
The formation of the United Nations created a means for the world 
community to enforce international law upon members that violate its 
charter.
Traditionally, states were the sole subjects of international law. With 
the proliferation of international organizations over the last century, they 
have in some cases been recognized as relevant parties as well. 
Recent interpretations of international human rights law, 
international humanitarian law, and international trade law (e.g. NAFTA 
Chapter 11 actions) have been inclusive of corporations, and even 
individuals. 
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