Text a. The legal profession
Task: read the text, translate it into Russian in written form.
The court system is dependent upon the legal profession to make it work. Although individuals can institute cases and defend them normally lawyers do this job for them. The legal profession is the normal source of judicial personnel for any court system.
England is almost unique in having two different kinds of lawyers, with separate jobs in the legal system. The two kinds of lawyers are solicitors and barristers1. This division of the legal profession is due mainly to historical causes. Each branch has its own characteristic functions and a separate governing body.
The division has a number of significant impacts upon the judicial system. It is the main reason for the separation between civil and criminal courts. It also has a significant impact upon judicial appointments.
The traditional picture of the English lawyer is that the solicitor is the general practitioner, confined mainly to the office. The solicitor is the legal adviser of the public. Members of the public are able to call at a solicitor's office and seek his advice in a personal interview. The barrister is the specialist adviser much of whose time is taken up with court-room appearance. A barrister can only be consulted indirectly through a solicitor. Today however the lines of demarcation are blurred.
There is approximately one solicitor to every 1300 of the population, with considerable regional and local variations. There is a heavy concentration in commercial centres. The ratio for barristers is about one per every 10,000. Taking the legal profession as a whole (38,500), there is one practising lawyer per 1200 people. This compares with about one lawyer per 600 in the USA. But a lot of work in English solicitors' offices is undertaken by managing clerks, now called «legal executives»2, who are a third type of lawyers. (Legal executives now have their own professional and examining body — «the Institute of Legal Executives»).
Notes:
1 solicitor — солиситор, стряпчий (юрист, консультирующий клиентов, организации и фирмы; подготавливает дела для барристеров) barrister — барристер (адвокат, имеющий право выступать в высших судах)
2"legal executives" - законные исполнители (персонал, нанимаемый солиситорами. клерки)
EXERCISES
Ex. 1. Read the international words and guess their meaning. Mind the stress.
| 'system 'barrister 'function 'specialist 'interview | pro'fession so'licitor his'torical tra'ditional com'mercial | indi'vidual demar'cation characte'ristic person'nel concen'tration |
Ex. 2. Memorize the following pairs of derivatives:
| N → Adj | Adj → Adv | V → N |
| history – historical tradition - traditional region - regional commerce - commercial profession - professional | normal – normally main - mainly indirect - indirectly approximate – approximately separate - separately | execute – execution concentrate - concentration demarcate - demarcation divide – division appear - appearance |
Ex. 3. Transform as in the models:
Model 1: to interpret the law — interpretation of the law
to divide the legal profession; to institute a case; to appoint judges; to select magistrates; to determine the facts;
Model2: office of the solicitor — the solicitor's office
advice of the solicitor; functions of the jury; summing up of the judge; Law Officer of the Government;
Model 3: system of court — court system
judges of High Court; officers of police; departments of government; system of law.
Ex. 4. Match English and Russian equivalents:
| 1. court system 2. to institute a case 3. legal profession 4. historical cause 5. characteristic functions 6. to seek advice 7. legal adviser 8. court-room appearance 9. heavy concentration 10. personal interview | а. характерные функции b. юридическая профессия с. обратиться за советом d. выступление в суде е. личная беседа f. судебная система g. большое количество h. возбудить дело i. историческая причина j. юрисконсульт, советник по правовым вопросам |
Ex. 5. Choose the right word or the word-combination.
1. The court system is dependent upon the ... .
a) legal system b) governing body c) legal profession
2. England is almost ... in having two different kinds of lawyers.
a) characteristic b) unique c) historical
3. The division of the legal profession is due to the ... .
a) governing body b) characteristic functions c) historical causes
4. Each branch has its own characteristic functions and a separate ... body.
a) governing b) examining c) executive
5. A lot of work in English solicitors' offices is undertaken by ... .
a) solicitors b) legal executives c) barristers
Ex. 6. Complete the sentences:
1. The court system is dependent upon ... .2. The- legal profession is the source of judicial personnel for .3. The two kinds of lawyers are ... . 4. The solicitor is ... . 5. The barrister is … .
Ex. 7. Insert the necessary preposition.
of, due to, at, in, upon, through
1. The court system is dependent ... the legal profession to make it work. 2. England is unique ... having two different kinds of lawyers. 3. This division of the legal profession is ... ... historical causes. 4. Members ... the public are able to call ... a solicitor's office. 5. A barrister can only be consulted indirectly ... a solicitor.
Ex. 8. Mark the statements that are true:
1. The court system is independent of the legal profession. 2. England is almost unique in having two different kinds of lawyers: solicitors and barristers. 3. The solicitor is the legal adviser of the public much of whose time is taken up with court-room appearance. 4. There is a heavy concentration of barristers in commercial centres. 5. A lot of work in English solicitors' offices is undertaken by «legal executives». 6. Taking the legal profession as a whole, there is one practising lawyer per 1200 people.
Ex. 9. Answer the questions on the text:
1. What is the court system dependent upon? 2. The division of the legal profession is due mainly to historical causes, isn't it? 3. What are the two kinds of lawyers in England? 4. Are solicitors mostly concentrated in towns? 5. What is a third type of lawyers?
Ex. 10. Give a short summary of the text.
TEXT B. JUDGES
Task: read the text, find the answers to the questions given below.
The judge is the presiding officer of the court. The statutory basis for the appointment of judges dates from the Act of Settlement 17001.
Judges are not themselves a separate profession: they are barristers who have been elevated to the bench2, itself a name derived from the part of the Court where they sit.
The judge decides the interpretation of the law. After all the evidence has been given the judge summarizes the case, both law and facts, for the jury. This is called his summing up.
Judges cannot be removed from office on account of political considerations - the independence of the judiciary is, at least theoretically, guaranteed.
The professional judges, «High Court Judges», deal with the most serious crimes. They are paid salaries by the state. Alongside with professional judges there are unpaid judges. They are called «Magistrates» or «Justices of the Peace» (JPs)3 They are ordinary .citizens who are selected not because they have any legal training but because they have «sound common sense4» and understanding of their fellow human beings. They give up their time voluntarily.
Magistrates are selected by special committees in every town and district. Nobody, not even the Magistrates themselves, knows who is on the special committee in their area. The committee tries to draw Magistrates from different professions and social classes.
The work of the Magistrates' Courts5 throughout the country depends on the unpaid services of JPs.
Notes:
1 Act of Settlement — Акт о престолонаследии (облек Ганноверскую династию правом престолонаследия, закрепив английский престол за протестантами).
2 ...be elevated to the bench — возвысить до положения судьи (букв. скамья, используется в собирательном смысле по отношению к судьям или магистратам в суде).
3 Magistrate, Justice of the Peace (JP) — судья, мировой судья.
4 "Sound common sense" — (зд.) чувство здравого смысла
5 Magistrates' Court — суд магистратов, мировой суд (рассматривает дела о мелких преступлениях).
1. Are judges themselves a separate profession?
2. What is judge's summing up?
3. What do judges deal with?
4. Are magistrates paid salaries?
5. Who are magistrates selected by?
6. What does the work of Magistrates' Courts depend on?
TEXT C. JURIES
Task: read the text, get ready to render its contents in Russian.
The use of the jury in English law stretches far into history, the modern English jury now owes its statutory existence to the Juries Act 1974. To qualify for jury service it is necessary to be a registered elector between the ages of 18 and 65 (the property qualification for jurors was abolished). All those people connected with the law by way of occupation (including ex-prisoners) are ineligible to jury service, as well as the clergy and the mentally ill. Barristers, solicitors and police officers must have retired from that work for a minimum of ten years. The call to jury service is regarded as an obligation. A jury is normally composed of twelve persons whose names have been selected at random1 from the list of qualified jurors for the area. Its verdict must be unanimous (it is essentially one of «guilty» or «not guilty») and, in the event of failure to reach agreement, the case is retried before another jury. Only 6 - 7% of jury decisions are by a majority verdict.
Juries most frequently appear in criminal cases in the Crown Courts. The function of the jury is to determine the facts, having heard the judge's summing up and his directions on questions of law.
Counsel for the defence or the defendant have the right to object to jurors without giving reasons, the maximum number of peremptory challenging2 being reduced to three.
Notes:
1 at random — наугад, случайно
2 peremptory challenging — отвод без указания причины