MV313Z Language II.1. - English for Lawyers

Faculty of Law
Autumn 2024
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Bc. Merve Aydin, M. B.A. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Štěpánka Dillingerová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Radmila Doupovcová (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Alena Hradilová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. et Mgr. Věra Hromádková (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Barbora Chovancová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Kateřina Chudová (seminar tutor)
PhDr. Hana Kallus, M.A., Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Radek Šimek, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Barbora Chovancová, Ph.D.
Language Centre, Faculty of Law Division – Language Centre
Contact Person: Lenka Pavlíková
Supplier department: Language Centre, Faculty of Law Division – Language Centre
Timetable of Seminar Groups
MV313Z/01: No timetable has been entered into IS. H. Kallus
MV313Z/02: No timetable has been entered into IS. B. Chovancová
MV313Z/03: No timetable has been entered into IS. R. Šimek
MV313Z/04: No timetable has been entered into IS. R. Šimek
MV313Z/05: No timetable has been entered into IS. M. Aydin
MV313Z/06: No timetable has been entered into IS. M. Aydin
MV313Z/07: No timetable has been entered into IS. M. Aydin
MV313Z/08: No timetable has been entered into IS. B. Chovancová
MV313Z/09: No timetable has been entered into IS. R. Šimek
MV313Z/10: No timetable has been entered into IS. M. Aydin
MV313Z/11: No timetable has been entered into IS. V. Hromádková
MV313Z/12: No timetable has been entered into IS. R. Doupovcová
MV313Z/13: No timetable has been entered into IS. V. Hromádková
MV313Z/14: No timetable has been entered into IS. R. Doupovcová
MV313Z/15: No timetable has been entered into IS. H. Kallus
MV313Z/16: No timetable has been entered into IS. B. Chovancová
MV313Z/17: No timetable has been entered into IS. K. Chudová
MV313Z/18: No timetable has been entered into IS. V. Hromádková
MV313Z/19: No timetable has been entered into IS. H. Kallus
MV313Z/20: No timetable has been entered into IS. B. Chovancová
MV313Z/21: No timetable has been entered into IS. R. Doupovcová
MV313Z/22: No timetable has been entered into IS. R. Doupovcová
MV313Z/23: No timetable has been entered into IS. K. Chudová
MV313Z/24: No timetable has been entered into IS. K. Chudová
MV313Z/25: No timetable has been entered into IS. R. Šimek
MV313Z/26: No timetable has been entered into IS. Š. Dillingerová
MV313Z/27: No timetable has been entered into IS. K. Chudová
MV313Z/28: No timetable has been entered into IS. R. Doupovcová
MV313Z/29: No timetable has been entered into IS. Š. Dillingerová, H. Kallus
MV313Z/30: No timetable has been entered into IS. Š. Dillingerová
MV313Z/31: No timetable has been entered into IS. R. Šimek
MV313Z/32: No timetable has been entered into IS. Š. Dillingerová
Prerequisites
! CM111Z English for Lawyers && ! CM210Z English for Lawyers && ! CM308Z English for Lawyers && ! CM408Z Language I.4. - English for Lawyers && ! CM408Zk English for Lawyers && ! MP111Z English for Lawyers && ! MP210Z English for Lawyers && ! MP309Z English for Lawyers && ! MP409Z English for Lawyers I.4. && ! MP409Zk English for Lawyers I.4 && ! NOWANY ( MP111Z English for Lawyers )
The students are required to reach at least intermediate level of general English before they enter the course. All language skills will be practised with special focus on English for Specific Purposes (Legal English) and English for academic purposes.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 2/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
In this semester, the student will become acquainted with legal language and its characteristic features and learn to recognize the differences between Legalese and Plain English. They will also be introduced to linguistic mediation, through which they will be able to explain professional terms to clients in a way that they understand. The student will also learn to understand and apply basic legal terms in order to describe the main features of continental and “common” law systems. They will learn to define and explain basic differences between civil and public law and describe legal institutions and the English and Czech systems of courts in the seminars. They will become familiar with different types of legal education and legal work. Last but not least, they will be able understand the basics of law of contract.
Learning outcomes
After finishing this course, the student will be able to recognize differences between Legalese and Plain English. Through linguistic mediation, they will be able to explain professional terms to clients in a way that they understand. The students will also be able to use legal terms efficiently (e.g.Common law, Continental law), use the language of comparison (e.g. civil and public law), define legal terms (e.g. in the area of law of contract), both when talking to a fellow lawyer and a client, identify Legalese and Plain English, and clearly describe different legal professions in English.
Syllabus
  • Theory of law,
  • basic terms in legal English,
  • modern law and its sources,
  • the differences and similarities between common law systems continental systems,
  • the differences and similarities between civil and public law,
  • judicial institutions, English and Czech systems of courts,
  • legal profession, education, differences in different countries,
  • legal language and plain English, compulsory assignment - a text that describes typical features of Legalese and/or Plain English
  • law of contract.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • KROIS-LINDNER, Amy and TRANSLEGAL. International Legal English. 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, 2011, 336 pp. ISBN 978-0-521-27945-1. info
  • KROIS-LINDNER, Amy and Matt FIRTH. Introduction to international legal English : a course for classroom or self-study use : student's book. 1st pub. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, 160 s. ISBN 9780521718998. info
  • CHROMÁ, Marta. Czech-English law dictionary with explanations. 3. vyd. Voznice: Leda, 2010, 481 s. ISBN 9788073352493. info
  • Česko anglický právnický slovník s vysvětlivkami (Czech-English Law Dictionary with Explanations). 1st ed. Voznice: LEDA, 2001, 478 pp. ISBN 90-85927-90-X. info
Teaching methods
interactive language seminar
Assessment methods
Requirements: Active participation in class discussion, submitting a written assignment, final written credit test (a translation, linguistic mediation of terms to be fitted in a dialogue between a lawyer and a layperson and a short written text); students need to score at least 70%.
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
General note: Jazyk II. je rozvrhově sloučen s Jazykem I.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
Teacher's information
https://is.muni.cz/auth/el/1422/podzim2015/MV313Z/adapt/index.qwarp
All the information about the subject can also be found in the Interactive syllabi in the Information System and are placed on the Language Centre notice board. These include the content of seminars, a full list of compulsory and recommended literature, and credit test requirements, including attendance. The hours in which the teachers can be reached by students for consultations can be found in the Information system and by the doors of individual teacher's offices. Teachers communicate with their seminar groups also through the MSTeams platform.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 1999, Autumn 2000, Autumn 2001, Autumn 2002, Autumn 2003, Autumn 2004, Autumn 2005, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/law/autumn2024/MV313Z