Специальность № 121100 – Юриспруденция.

 

Unit 7. THE LEGAL SYSTEM

 

Exercise 1

Read the text. Translate it (orally). Make use of the Notes and the Vocabulary.

 

England and Wales have a single system of law and courts, and Scotland has a system of its own; this chapter will deal only with England and Wales. The first thing to notice is that there is no civil code and no criminal code. The law as a whole consists partly of statutes, or Acts of Parliament, and partly of common law which may be said to be made up of past decisions of Judges, with regard to matters not regulated by statutes, in accordance with custom and reason and the previous decisions of courts. A large part of the civil law is not contained in statutes at all but made up of a mass of precedents, previous court decisions, interpreted in authoritative legal textbooks. By now, however, almost all actions for which a person may be punished are actions which are specifically forbidden by some statute or other, with the statute usually including a provision for a maximum penalty. It is almost as though there were a sort of criminal code scattered through a large number of laws.  

The courts and lawyers have a strong tradition of independence from the government. There is no Minister of Justice, though the Lord Chancellor, who is effectively the head of the legal profession, is always a member of the cabinet. There are two kinds of lawyers: solicitors and barristers. People who need the professional assistance of a lawyer go to solicitors. There are solicitors' offices (mostly partnerships) even in very small towns, and they deal with most people's legal problems. An ancient rule, much criticised and perhaps soon to be abolished, has until now forbidden solicitors to act as advocates in the higher courts, so if any civil or criminal matter is to go before a crown court a client's solicitor must hire a barrister to act as advocate in the court. The barristers form the 'senior' part of the legal profession, and have kept many ancient traditions. Every barrister belongs to one of four institutions called by the curious name 'Inns of Court'. Physically these are rather like colleges at Oxford or Cambridge University, and all are grouped close together, along with London's main central courts, in a compact area a little to the west of St Paul's Cathedral. Each Inn has a hall where the aspiring barristers who have joined it must have dinner at least six times in each of twelve terms (trimesters). They also have to pass the bar examinations, and work for a time as 'pupils' in the chambers of established barristers (these may be outside London). Newly-qualified barristers earn very little, but once they are established they can earn a great deal if they are successful.

There is no judicial profession. All judges are appointed after many years' work in the courts as barristers (very rarely as solicitors). Once appointed they cannot be dismissed except by a joint address of the two Houses of Parliament - and very few have ever been removed from office. There are less than a hundred judges, all with the title 'Mr Justice' (Brown, etc.), in the three divisions of the high court, from which some are promoted to the Court of Appeal with the title 'Lord Justice', and fewer still onward to the House of Lords. The high court judges hear only the most difficult or important cases. Most cases which go to crown courts or (civil) county courts are dealt with by circuit judges, who are appointed in the same way as the high court judges but are paid less and have less prestige. It is unusual for a circuit judge to be promoted to the high court, though some barristers appointed to the high court have already worked part-time doing the same jobs as those of circuit judges. A large proportion of the work of the courts is concerned with civil litigation. Some barristers specialise in libel, tax problems, commercial disputes, patent law or some other subject for which very detailed knowledge may be useful. In general, more difficult questions of the law arise in civil than in criminal cases, and some of the barristers who become high court judges have experience mainly in civil litigation.  

Apart from the ordinary courts of law there are many kinds of administrative tribunals to deal with special problems, such as claims about unfair dismissal or disputed rights to social security benefits or to compensation for industrial injury or illness. Lawyers may be involved in these, and in some cases there may be appeals to the ordinary courts of law.

 

Notes

civil code – гражданское право

criminal code – уголовное право

circuit judges – судьи выездной сессии суда

 

 

Vocabulary

appeal – жалоба, обращение

libel – клевета

solicitor – юрисконсульт

barrister – адвокат

Exercise 2

Translate the 1^st paragraph of the text beginning with the words “England and Wales…” and ending with the words “…member of the cabinet” (in written form).

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Exercise 3

Divide the text into logically connected parts and entitle them. Present the points of your plan in written form in the space below.

 

 

Exercise 4

Present the general idea of the text in 3-4 sentences. Do it in written form.

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Exercise 5

Give your opinion on the role of each House of Parliament in the political life of Great Britain. Present your interpretation in the form of a thesis. Write it down in the space below.

 

TUTOR’S REMARKS

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