Comparative Law Law In Other Cultures Test Bank Docx Ch.14

CHAPTER 14

COMPARATIVE LAW: LAW IN OTHER CULTURES

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. Even though preliterate societies lack written codes of conduct, _____________ is/are of central concern to all organized groups, and people living in these cultures are ruled by customs as rigid and inviolable as any law.

a. social control

b. law

c. rules

d. promises

2. Which of the following preliterate societies are larger groups (anywhere from a few hundred to many thousands)?

a. bands

b. gangs

c. tribes

d. clans

3. Why was property crime rare among the Inuit?

a. property crime was considered a sin

b. there was very little worth stealing among them that was not available to all

c. property crime carried a penalty of death

d. all of the above

4. One alternate tactic that avoided bloodshed and vendettas was a unique kind of mechanism of self-redress among the Inuits called the:

a. sing-off

b. voice duel

c. song duel

d. voice-off

5. In an Inuit song duel, who declared one of the parties a winner on the basis of how thoroughly he had humiliated his opponent?

a. chief

b. crowd of peers of both parties

c. government official

d. parents of participants

6. What punishment used in band societies signal social and possibly physical death in the harsh and hostile environments often inhabited by bands?

a. cutting off hands

b. ostracism

c. caning

d. whipping

7. Because the tribe is much larger than the band, _______________ and social control become more precisely defined.

a. law

b. rules

c. community

d. leadership

8. Which preliterate tribe discussed in the text provided for self-redress for murder of a relative, but like the Inuit, they also feared the chain-reaction nature of blood feuds?

a. Agta

b. Huron

c. !Kung

d. none of the above

9. Which of the following Huron crimes were crimes against the tribe?

a. treason

b. murder

c. assault

d. theft

10. Only countries either colonized or defeated in war by Britain or the United States have imported the ____________ law.

a. common

b. socialist

c. Islamic

d. civil

11. Under common law, prior judicial decisions based on facts before judges ultimately became the basis for future judicial decisions for judges confronted with similar cases in what became known as the doctrine of:

a. precedent

b. stare decisis

c. judge law

d. common law

12. Precedent operates in vertical and horizontal:

a. deliberations

b. dimensions

c. case flow

d. decisions

13. Which nature of common law stems from the "trial by combat" method of settling disputes in medieval times?

a. inquisitorial

b. stare decisis

c. adversarial

d. precedent

14. What refers to the judiciary's examination of the legality of the actions and decisions of executive and administrative officers of the government as well as appellate review of lower court decisions?

a. precedent

b. stare decisis

c. rule of law

d. judicial review

15. What type of law is used by almost half of the world's nations?

a. Islamic law

b. civil law

c. common law

d. socialist law

16. In regards to its development, what type of law probably owes its greatest debt to ancient Rome and nineteenth-century France and Germany?

a. common law

b. socialist law

c. Islamic law

d. civil law

17. Under early Roman law, what was a compilation of rules regulating family, economic, and religious conduct, written around 450 BCE?

a. Justinian Code

b. King Hammurabi's Code

c. Napoleonic Code

d. Twelve Tables

18. What is the most important historical difference between code law and common law?

a. the impetus for change has created a difference in government response

b. historically, the former has been developed after a major social upheaval that eliminated previous political regimes

c. the mistrust and hatred of the status quo has caused changes

d. the latter was created as a prototype for the former

19. Which country's system may be characterized as a crime control system emphasizing the rights of the victimized community?

a. France

b. China

c. Saudi Arabia

d. United States

20. In _____________ countries, new codes replace previous law, which emphasizes the revolutionary nature of this type of law.

a. common law

b. socialist law

c. Islamic law

d. civil law

21. What is the primary distinguishing feature of civil law vis-á-vis common law?

a. it is inquisitorial

b. it is adversarial

c. it focuses on precedent

d. it focuses on the rule of law

22. The inquisitorial focus is on _______________, and not so much on procedure.

a. rights

b. law

c. truth

d. evidence

23. In the French civil law system, judges are the key person in the system and are known by what term?

a. juge d'investigation

b. juge d'instruction

c. juge d'inquisitor

d. juge d'supervision

24. A French trial, in a sense, takes place with an unspoken:

a. presumption of probably guilty

b. presumption of guilt

c. presumption of innocence

d. presumption of probably innocent

25. _____________ jurors can question witnesses and the accused and receive defense and prosecution summations.

a. socialist law

b. civil law

c. Islamic law

d. common law

26. In a French jury trial, who is allowed to question witnesses and the accused?

a. jurors

b. judges

c. laypersons

d. all of the above

27. Which French court is supreme in criminal and civil matters?

a. Conseil d'Etat

b. Cour de Cassation

c. Conseil de prud'hommes

d. Conseil Constitutionnel

28. In what year did constitutional reforms enable the Constitutional Council to gradually become a fully functional court?

a. 1999

b. 2002

c. 2005

d. 2008

29. The function of the Cour de Cassation is to "_______________" erroneous decisions made by lower courts.

a. deny

b. uphold

c. smash

d. rule on

30. What type of law originated in 1917 with the Russian Revolution?

a. Islamic law

b. common law

c. civil law

d. socialist law

31. In a(n) __________ society, the state and the laws that support it would "wither away," and whatever would be construed as the "state" thereafter would become one with and inseparable from the individual.

a. socialist

b. common law

c. Islamic

d. civil law

32. Which ancient Chinese philosopher expressed the attitude toward law that has pervaded Chinese thinking for centuries when he wrote, "The superior man is concerned with virtue; the inferior man is concerned with law"?

a. Confucius

b. Laozi

c. Zhu Xi

d. Han Fei

33. Which Chinese code, established in 1646, contained no formal procedural rules?

a. Confucius Code

b. Ch'ing Code

c. Laozi Code

d. Tang Code

34. The Chinese system has both inquisitorial and adversarial aspects, but its emphasis is squarely on the_______________ process.

a. inquisitorial

b. review

c. justice

d. adversarial

35. In a court case, Chinese defendants have the right which of the following?

a. defend themselves in court

b. hire a lawyer

c. entrust their defense to a relative or lay advocate

d. all of the above

36. What is an article of the Chinese criminal code and is defined as evidence that a defense attorney relies on that is later shown to be false?

a. perjury

b. illegal evidence

c. troubling evidence

d. evidence fabrication

37. Which of the following is true of interrogation in a Chinese trial?

a. the defendant does not have the right to remain silent

b. the victim or the victim's representatives may interrogate the defendant

c. the judge may interrogate the defendant

d. all of the above

38. The average length of time a person sentenced to death waits until execution in China is:

a. seven days

b. two months

c. 10 years

d. 15 years

39. At the top of the Chinese court hierarchy is the:

a. Intermediate People's Court

b. Supreme People's Court

c. Higher People's Court

d. Basic People's Court

40. Which Chinese court operates at the provincial level and is analogous to an American state supreme court?

a. Supreme People's Court

b. Basic People's Court

c. Intermediate People's Court

d. Higher People's Court

41. What are Chinese informal dispute resolution committees called?

a. collegial mediation committees

b. standing mediation committee

c. people's mediation committees

d. prefecture mediation committees

42. What type of legal tradition exists mainly in Middle Eastern Arabic countries, most of northern Africa, and in the Pakistani and Bangladeshi regions of the Indian subcontinent?

a. socialist law

b. civil law

c. common law

d. Islamic law

43. According to the text, in which country does the Qur'an function as a constitution, laying out general principles that must be interpreted and applied to a variety of specific cases?

a. United States

b. France

c. Saudi Arabia

d. China

44. What country's law is a hybrid of the inquisitorial and adversarial systems, with strong emphasis on the former?

a. United States

b. Saudi Arabia

c. France

d. all of the above

45. In Saudi Arabia, which individual hears cases and makes decisions based on his own distillation of the facts and the testimony before him and on the principles of Islamic justice as he sees them?

a. Hadith

b. Sharia

c. Nizam

d. qadi

46. Which of the following is not one of the classifications of crimes under Islamic law?

a. hadith

b. hudud

c. quesas

d. ta'azir

47. Under Islamic law, usually a person can receive the penalty of death for which of the following hudud crimes?

a. false accusation of adultery

b. theft

c. apostasy

d. robbery

48. Which type of Islamic crimes include variations in sentences according to circumstance and social status?

a. ta'azir

b. quesas

c. hadith

d. hudud

49. Under Islamic law, a free person may receive __________ for drinking alcohol.

a. 150 lashes

b. 80 lashes

c. 20 lashes

d. 40 lashes

50. Penalties for quesas crimes are based on which principle?

a. eye for an eye

b. inquisitorial

c. stare decisis

d. parens patriae

51. The diyya for killing non-Muslims depends on the:

a. the way the victim died

b. victim's religion

c. victim's gender

d. victim's race/ethnicity

52. Ta'azir crimes carrying the death penalty are mostly:

a. sorcery

b. heresy

c. drug-related and terrorism

d. all of the above

53. The Islamic appellate court does not review either the law or the facts; rather it merely ensures that the judge paid sufficient attention to the point of:

a. objection

b. sentencing

c. evidence

d. procedure

54. Due to the practice of oath taking in Islamic courts, who is the sole finder of guilt or innocence, and he may not even have to concern himself with either fact or law?

a. ta'azir

b. qadi

c. kubra

d. hadith

55. Ordinary courts in Saudi Arabia are known as:

a. Huddera

b. Kubra

c. Haditha

d. Musta'galah

56. Which Islamic crimes are prescribed by the Qur'an and thus are inviolable in theory, they cannot be appealed, although pardons and stays have been granted by the king?

a. ta'azir

b. hudud

c. quesas

d. hadith

57. In Saudi Arabia, what is an administrative body, a source of pardons, and a final body of appeal that determines if verdicts have been rendered in conformity with sharia?

a. Ministry of Justice

b. Kubra

c. Huddera

d. Musta'galah

58. Which index ranks countries 0 through 10, with 10, with 10 indicating the highest civil liberty score?

a. Freedom House

b. Intelligence Freedom House

c. Democracy Unit

d. Economist Intelligence Unit

59. Which elements of the rule of law does France unquestionably exhibit?

a. the first element

b. the first two elements

c. all three elements

d. none of the above

60. What is the court of final appeals among the nations of the European Union, and finds its ruling respected by the member nations?

a. European Court of Justice

b. European Court of Human Rights

c. United Nations International Court

d. International Court of Justice

TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS

1. Societies that have no written language are collectively referred to as preliterate societies.

a. True

b. False

2. Rape was one of the most common crimes among the Inuit when they lived in nomadic bands.

a. True

b. False

3. Used by the Inuits, a song duel involved the participants hurling sung insults at one another.

a. True

b. False

4. The power of whipping in preliterate societies was so strong that this form of punishment sometimes resulted in the offender taking his own life.

a. True

b. False

5. In the Huron tribe, execution for witchcraft could only be done with the consent of the victim.

a. True

b. False

6. The term unwritten is used to distinguish common law's origin in the customs of the people as formalized by judges from the written or statutory laws of the civil tradition, which were imposed on citizens from above.

a. True

b. False

7. In regards to precedent, solitary dimension means that lower courts in their deliberations should always consider decisions made by higher courts.

a. True

b. False

8. Common law is the most pervasive legal tradition in the world.

a. True

b. False

9. Published in 1804, the Napoleonic Code became the blueprint for all subsequent civil law codes.

a. True

b. False

10. According to the text, France's system of law comes closest to the civil law prototype.

a. True

b. False

11. In France, to protect the accused from adverse publicity, criminal investigations are conducted in secret.

a. True

b. False

12. A French investigation takes place under the presumption of guilt.

a. True

b. False

13. In a French jury trial, guilt or innocence is determined by an open ballot.

a. True

b. False

14. The French Cour de Cassation court sits in six chambers, each with 15 judges.

a. True

b. False

15. Socialist law is the only system of law that considers itself a temporary anachronism devoted to its own demise.

a. True

b. False

16. In China, the evidence fabrication code specifically targets defense attorneys.

a. True

b. False

17. A criminal trial in China may be held in front of what is known as a collegial bench, composed of one to three professional judges and two to four laypeople's assessors.

a. True

b. False

18. In China, a sentence to a lifetime of hard labor is imposed when, in the court's opinion, the defendant is beyond rehabilitation.

a. True

b. False

19. The Basic People's Court is a Chinese court that operates at the prefecture (multicounty) level.

a. True

b. False

20. Islamic countries vary in the level of their adherence to strict Biblical interpretations.

a. True

b. False

21. Criminal court proceedings in Saudi Arabia are very informal by Western standards.

a. True

b. False

22. Under Islamic law, a hadd crime is a discretion crime.

a. True

b. False

23. Under Islamic law, the penalty for the hadd crime of robbery is amputation of alternate-side hand and foot.

a. True

b. False

24. Under Islamic law, quesas means "equal harm" or "retaliation," and includes crimes committed against individuals rather than against God.

a. True

b. False

25. Whether an Islamic crime is a quesas or hadd depends on the gender of the victim.

a. True

b. False

26. High courts in Saudi Arabia are known as Musta'galah.

a. True

b. False

27. Under Islamic law, there no possibility for a government issued pardon for the crime of quesas murder.

a. True

b. False

28. A useful way of making comparisons among the four legal traditions is the degree to which the rule of law is present.

a. True

b. False

29. France unquestionably exhibits all three elements of the rule of law.

a. True

b. False

30. China opposes judicial review because it interferes with the wishes of the Communist Party.

a. True

b. False

ESSAY QUESTIONS

1. According to the textbook, why is it important to explore the legal systems of other countries and cultures?

2. Discuss why informal social control was so important for preliterate bands and tribes. Do you feel that modern societies can learn something from them? if so, what and why. If not, why?

3. Choose one of the countries/cultures discussed in the chapter and explain its legal system.

4. Why is social law the least amenable to the rule of law?

5. Discuss the evidence provided by the text for the convergence of the various legal systems.