Skim the jokes and express your opinion.

A man stepped into a clothing store to ask the price of a suit on display in the window.

"You picked the best suit in the place", said the merchant approvingly", "and to show you that I like to do business with a man who has such good taste, I am going to make you a special proposition. I wouldn't ask you $ 82 for a suit. I wouldn't ask you $ 72. I wouldn't ask you $ 62. $ 52 is my price for you, my friend."

The customer replied, "I wouldn't give you $ 52 and I wouldn't give you $ 42. My offer is $ 32."

"Sold", said the merchant. "That's the way I like to do business. No chiselling."

The neighborhood butcher burst into the lawyer's office and demanded of the man behind the desk:

- "If a dog steals a piece of meat from my shop, is the owner liable for the theft?"

- "Of course, he is", replied the lawyer.

- "That's what I wanted to know", exploded the butcher. "Your dog just took a dollar steak".

- "I'm sorry", was the calm response. "Now if you'll just give me another dollar it will cover the fee for my advice".

Section B

Reading and speaking

Before you read:

2. Discuss statements and quotations of well-known people. Do you agree to them or not. Express your own vision of this problem:

a) "Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else".

(Will Rogers(1879-1935))

b) For every problem, there is one solution which is simple, neat and wrong.

It is difficult to imagine going very long before making some kind of agreement enforceable by law. Whenever we buy goods and services, we enter into a contractual relationship.

3. What kinds of contracts have you entered into recently? Make a list of some of the goods and services you have bought or used over the past 48 hours. Compare your list with a partner. Is it always clear whether the above are goods or services? How would you classify the electricity you consume every day?

This text deals with some of the main features of contact law.

4. Learn the following words and expressions:

body of Law	частина права
branches of Law	галузь права
commercial transactions	комерційні договори
legal mechanism	правовий механізм
domestic agreements	внутрішньодержавні угоди
significant degree	значуща ступінь
precommercial societies	суспільства вільні від торгівельних відносин
commitments of individuals	обов’язки сторін
ties of kinship	родинні зв’язки
enforceable promise	вимушена, примушена обіцянка
foreign persons and entities (individuals and legal entities)	іноземні фізичні та юридичні особи
domicile	доміцілій (держава, або місце, де вони мають статус постійного мешканця або постійно живуть)

Reading:

Read and translate the text.

Contract Law

There are many commercial relationships which are established by people in the world of business. These relationships will typically be regulated by a body of Law. Brought together, these branches of Law represent the Law of commercial transactions.

Contract law is the product of a business civilization. It will not be found, in any significant degree, in precommercial societies. Most primitive societies have other ways of enforcing the commitments of individuals; for example, through ties of kinship or by the authority of religion. In an economy based on barter, most transactions are self-enforcing because the transaction is complete on both sides at the same moment. Problems may arise if the goods exchanged are later found to be defective, but these problems will be handled through property law — with its penalties for taking or spoiling the property of another — rather than through contract law.

A true law of contracts — that is, of enforceable promises - imp­lies the development of a market economy. Where a commitment's value does not vary with time, ideas of property and damages are adequate and there will be no enforcement of an agreement if neither party has performed, since in property terms no wrong has been done. In a mar­ket economy, on the other hand, a person may seek a commitment tod­ay to guard against a change in value tomorrow; the person obtaining such a commitment feels harmed by the fact that the market value dif­fers from the agreed price.

Traditional contract law developed rules and principles controlling the voluntary assumption of obligations, regulating the performance of obligations so assumed, and providing sanctions for failure to perform.

The sales contract is universally recognized as the legal mechanism for conducting trade in goods. It is essential to trade because an international agreement to buy and sell goods, like many domestic agreements, takes time to perform.

In association with contractual relations in international busi­ness contacts it is desirable to clarify at the outset some issues con­nected with the position of foreign persons and entities on the terri­tory of a country other than the country of their citizenship or the country where they have permanent resident status or are usually found, often designated as their domicile. These issues are closely associated with "personal status", i.e. the range of rights and respon­sibilities that a legal system acknowledges not only to its own but also to foreign citizens and corporations (individuals and legal en­tities).

Modern commercial practice relies to a growing extent on arbit­ration to handle disputes, especially those that arise in international transactions.

Most contracts are agreements. It should now be noted that it is by no means true to say that all agreements are contracts. Many agreements fall outside the scope of the law of contract, either because they concern matters of moral, rather than of legal, obligation or because the parties agree that they are not to be treated as enforceable contracts, or because they are not intended to be such.

Contract law may cover agreements relating to transfers of merchandise, land, building, services, and other things tangible. Today we have added, the law is never static; it is always in change, growing or retreating, which also effects notions of justice, and the need for some absolutes.

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