"Just Train Your Brain"

Благодарим всех конкурсантов, принявших участие в первом туре! Здесь мы публикуем САМЫЕ ИНТЕРЕСНЫЕ ответы на вопросы олимпиады.

1. Why should every community have a certain set of rules of behaviour, in other words laws?
I think that every community should have a certain set of rules of behaviour, because a state cannot survive without any kind of law (from traditions, primitive rules to modern sophisticated law codes). There are always people, who have different interests, which are usually colliding, and the function of law is to regulate this situation. (Максим Шуваев, Пермский Государственный Университет)

2. Why is it impossible to produce laws which would be entirely satisfactory?
Each society consists of many social groups and each of them has its own political, economical and other interests which can be different and even contradictory. These circumstances make the adoption of laws which would be entirely satisfactory impossible. (Сергей Бурлаков, Ивановский Государственный Университет)

3. What areas of human life did the earliest laws deal with?
Laws are supposed to regulate the relations and protect the values which are considered by the society and the state as the most important at a particular time. The earliest laws dealt with compensation for body injuries, slavery, etc. (Сергей Бурлаков, Ивановский Государственный Университет)

4. What is the origin and the meaning of the word "draconian"?
The word "draconian" means very severe, extremely harsh measures. This term arises from the code of laws of Draco, where death penalty was the main punishment for almost all criminal offenses. (Дарья Кривошея, Белгородский Государственный Университет)

5. In your opinion, why did Hammurabi decide to have his laws carved into a stone pillar set up in a temple?
To my mind, Hammurabi decided to have his laws carved into a stone pillar set up in a temple, because the stone allowed his laws to live forever. The stone also symbolized that Hummurabi's laws were as durable as stone, and setting up of the pillar in a temple asserted that his laws were divine and represented the will of God. (Марина Агальцова, Южно-Уральский Государственный Университет)

6. How do you understand the principle "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth"?
This is the principle of revenge, according to which the punishment should fit the crime. That's why those who steal, should be deprived of their property those who kill should be killed. (Марина Агальцова, Южно-Уральский Государственный Университет)

7. What is the Latin name for the "Act for the better securing the liberty of the subject, and for prevention of imprisonments beyond the seas"?
The Latin name for the "Act for the better securing the liberty of the subject, and for prevention of imprisonments beyond the seas" is the "Habeas Corpus Act".

8. How do you understand the principle of limited government?
The principle of "limited government" was introduced by the Magna Carta and meant the restriction of absolute monarchic power in the economic sphere, in the sphere of human rights and legal proceedings. According to this document certain taxes could not be collected without popular consent, the unlawful loss of life, liberty and property was forbidden. (Антон Рапенок, Пермский Государственный Университет)

9. In your opinion, were the punishments of the ancient world harsher than those of our time? Justify your view.
I consider, that punishments of our time are not so harsh, as they were in ancient times, because we are trying to make them more humane, respecting intrinsic individual rights. Moreover, nowadays many states have abolished death penalty and use imprisonment as the most common punishment, unlike ancient times, where the Talion principle was observed. (Марина Агальцова, Южно-Уральский Государственный Университет)

10. What is the essential difference between the codes of Solon and Draco?
The most essential difference between the codes of Solon and Draco is that in comparison with the code of Draco the code of Solon was more humane. (Максим Шуваев, Пермский Государственный Университет)

11. What facts support the statement that Solon was a more popular ruler than Draco?
Solon was one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece, a noted poet and the Athenian people of all classes turned to Solon hoping to solve their problems in a satisfactory way. (Екатерина Кривошапова, Белгородский Государственный Университет)
The main indication of a statesman's popularity is that people trust him and support his activities. Athenians believed in Solon and relied on him in times of political crisis and possible revolution because they supposed that he would be able to find a wise solution to the problems. (Сергей Бурлаков, Ивановский Государственный Университет)

12. What political situation necessitated the granting of the Magna Carta?
The struggle for power between the English King and the nobility and the threat of civil war necessitated the adoption of the Magna Carta, one of the oldest written constitutional papers. (Юрий Анцыферов, Ивановский Государственный Университет)

13. What was so remarkable about Napoleon's law code? Napoleon's code is the excellent model of civil law codification which is characterized by a very high level of judicial technique that makes it understandable for ordinary people. Having abolished previous privileges of different social groups and having given people equal rights, Napoleon created an immortal code of laws. (Сергей Бурлаков, Ивановский Государственный Университет)

14. In which national emergencies can the Habeas Corpus Act be suspended?
The Habeas Corpus Act can be suspended only in extraordinary situations such as rebellion or invasion, which is declared in Article 1 of the American Constitution. In England and Scotland such a measure has not been applied since 1818. (Антон Рапенок, Пермский Государственный Университет)

15. How do you understand the concept of "natural law"?
The concept of "natural law" means that some rights of persons are given to them not by their states, but by nature. So the state and its bodies can't confine the people or deprive them of these rights. (Алла Ксенюк, Белгородский Государственный Университет)

16. How were the rights of the monarch limited by the Bill of Rights?
The monarch couldn't dispense with the law in certain cases, completely suspend laws without the consent of Parliament, levy taxes and maintain army in peacetime without specific parliamentary authorization. (Дарья Кривошея, Белгородский Государственный Университет)

17. Which prominent leader remarked: "The heart of a statesman must be in his head". What did he mean by this?
The phrase "The heart of a statesman must be in his head" was said by Napoleon Bonaparte. I suppose Napoleon wanted to express the idea, that taking public decisions a statesman must follow the common sense, think logically in the interests of his state, not taking into account his own feelings and attitudes. (Антон Рапенок, Пермский Государственный Университет)
...To my mind, Napoleon wanted to emphasize that each statesman should remain cold-minded under most strenuous circumstances and subordinate all his feelings to his duty of a statesman. (Юрий Анцыферов, Ивановский Государственный Университет)

18. What is the influence of the Bill of Rights on political thinking in America?
The Bill of Rights (1689) proved that the state system of each country should be based on the recognition of law as the main means of protection of human life, on the recognition of the main rights and freedoms of people. It was one of the reasons which caused the adoption of American Constitution (1787) and the ten amendments to it which soon received the same name as the constitutional document in England because it largely referred to the same matters. (Юрий Анцыферов, Ивановский Государственный Университет)

19. Why is it difficult to know the nature of laws that were in effect before the 3rd century BC?
The difficulty of examining the laws that were in effect before the 3rd century BC is explained by the fact that writing originated in about 3500 BC. That is why there are no written sources to be analyzed. (Сергей Бурлаков, Ивановский Государственный Университет)
... a lot of legal documents of that period have been lost or destroyed. We can make our suppositions only according to some legal memorials, which are undoubtedly insufficient for the reconstruction of the comprehensive system of ancient law. (Антон Рапенок, Пермский Государственный Университет)

20. Why did The Code Napoleon (1804) become the basis of European and, in part, the American legal systems?
I think that The Code Napoleon became the basis of European and, in part, the American legal systems because it was the first document which granted all citizens equal rights before the law, without regard to their rank. (Максим Шуваев, Пермский Государственный Университет)
... I suppose that Napoleon's Code (1804) spread in European and, in part, in American states due to the human rights proclaimed in it and its plain language - that is why it could be read and understood by ordinary people. Maybe it spread due to the political authority, which Napoleon had in the first quarter of the XIX century. (Антон Рапенок, Пермский Государственный Университет)

21. Why do contemporary law students give historical legal documents such careful consideration?
In my opinion, we should know the origins and development of law in order to be successful and professional lawyers. Moreover, many legal ideas and principles of the past times are in effect nowadays. (Людмила Клюева, Саратов)
...ancient law is the basis of modern legal system of all countries, the legal system of every state has a special connection with ancient law. And, of course, through the history of legal documents we can see the history, the state system and the way of living of our ancestors. (Максим Шуваев, Пермский Государственный Университет)
...Of course, we need to know the history of the law, as History is the great teacher that can prevent us from making the mistakes of our predecessors. The development of world legal system helps us to reconstruct the whole picture of world law. (Марина Агальцова, Южно-Уральский Государственный Университет)

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