Vocabulary exercises

Ex. 1. Match the terms with their definitions

law, court, courtroom, tribunal, judiciary, justice, the Magistrate's Court, Lord Chancellor, the House of Lords, the Supreme court, the Court of Appeal , The Supreme Arbitration Court

1. place where legal cases are held;

2. a system of courts of law;

3. a British officer of state who presides over the House of Lords in both its legislative and judicial capacities, serves as the head of the British judiciary;

4. a room in which a court of law is held;

5. the administration of law; esp. : the establishment or determination of rights according to the rules of law or equity;

6. a court hearing appeals from the decisions of lower courts;

7. a court or forum of justice;

8. the upper chamber of the British Parliament composed of the lords temporal and spiritual;

9) a court that has minor civil or criminal jurisdiction;

10) the highest judicial tribunal in a political unit (as a nation or state);

11) a court hearing and determining cases in controversy by arbiters;

12) a rule or order that is advisable or obligatory to observe.

Ex. 2. Every jurisdiction organizes the administration of justice in different ways. In England, the basic division between criminal and civil law is reflected in the court system. Look at the chart below and then complete the description that refers to each court.

1. Claims of lesser value will start in a County Court. There are 250 of these around the country. They can also deal with divorce and bankruptcy matters.

2. Matters of important legal dispute arising in the Crown Court may be appealed to the______________.

3. From the Court of Appeal, there can be an appeal to the ______________on fact or law, but usually appeal is only allowed on matters of legal importance.

4. If the case involves a serious crime, it is heard in the ______________(there is only one______________but it has about 70 centres around the jurisdiction).

5. In less serious criminal cases (which comprise over 90% of criminal cases), the case is sent for trial in one of over 400 ______________ .

6. More substantial civil claims (over around £25,000) are heard in the______________.

7. The______________was set up under the Treaty of Rome of 1957, by which the European Community was established. The court can overrule all other courts on matters of Community law.

8. Under the system of appeals in civil cases, it is possible to appeal from a County Court or the High Court to the______________.

Ex. 3. Translate the paragraphs into English.

A.

Апелляционный суд США (U.S. Court of Appeals)

В американской федеральной судебной системе существует 12 федеральных апелляционных судов. Соответственно страна разделена на 12 "округов" ("circuit"), один из которых соответствует федеральному округу Колумбия (District of Columbia). До 1948 эти суды назывались Окружными апелляционными судами (Circuit Courts of Appeals). Эти суды имеют только апелляционную юрисдикцию, распространяющуюся на судебные решения в пределах Округа. Имеют также право пересмотра решений независимых федеральных регуляторных ведомств (regulatory agency), например Федеральной комиссии по торговле (Federal Trade Commission) или Федеральной комиссии по торговле между штатами (Interstate Commerce Commission). Судьи назначаются Президентом и утверждаются Сенатом (Senate). Являются высшей судебной инстанцией, за исключением Верховного Суда (Supreme Court), поскольку последний (the latter) принимает к рассмотрению крайне ограниченное число дел.

B.

Апелляционный суд США по федеральному округу (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit)

Федеральная апелляционная судебная инстанция рассматривает главным образом дела, в которых ответчиком выступают федеральные власти США. Правопреемник (assignee) Апелляционного суда США по таможенным и патентным делам (Court of Customs and Patent Appeals) и частично Претензионного суда США (United States Court of Claims). Состоит из 12 судей; заседания проходят в г. Вашингтоне. Создан в 1982. Судьи назначаются президентом пожизненно "по совету и с согласия" (advice and consent) Сената.

Ex. 4. Translate the sentences into Russian in a written form.

1. The trial was taking place in the venerable old San Francisco Hall of Justice on Bryant Street. The building, which housed the Superior Court and County Jail, was a forbidding-looking edifice, seven stories high, made of square gray stone. Visitors arriving at the courthouse were funneled through electronic security checkpoints.

2. Upstairs, on the third floor, was the Superior Court. In Courtroom 121, where murder trials were held, the judge’s bench stood against the rear wall, with an American flag behind it. To the left of the bench was the jury box, and at the center were two tables separated by an aisle, one for the prosecuting attorney, the other for the defense attorney.

3. The courtroom was packed with reporters and the type of spectators attracted to fatal highway accidents and murder trials.

4. The trial was now in its fourth week. The spectators and press had found the prosecuting attorney and defense attorney fascinating to watch. Gus Venable was dressed in white and Alan Penn in black, and the two of them moved around the courtroom like players in a deadly, choreographed game of chess, with Paige Taylor the sacrificial pawn.

5. Judge Young had slammed her gavel down. «Objection sustained!» She turned to the two attorneys. «There will be a fifteen-minute recess. I want to see counsel in my chambers.» When they returned to the courtroom, Judge Young said to the jury, «The jury will completely disregard the prosecutor’s last question.» She turned to the prosecutor. «You may go on.»