3. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. A man is being held in police custody in connection with the murder. 2. The jury returned a majority verdict of 10 to 2. 3. Davis was taken to court for assaulting a policeman. 4. He was summoned to appear in court as a witness. 5. The defendant told the court that he was in Newcastle at the time of the alleged rape. 6. While on bail (which his father had stood for him), Martin committed another assault. 7. Clarke’s family paid &500 to bail him out. 8. Jason pleaded guilty of the offence he was charged with. 9. Harding, a bank employee, is due to stand trial on embezzlement. 10. By the time the case comes to trial he will have spent a year behind bars.

4. Read the text and compare the legal system in the United States with the legal system in England and Wales.

The legal system in the United States is similar in many ways to the English system. One of the main differences is the existence of the United States Constitution which is interpreted by the highest court, the Supreme Court. The nine Supreme Court judges, who are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate, can only be removed from office by impeachment.

Federal judges are also appointed for life by the President. They deal with federal law, which applies to the country as a whole, and with important cases involving citizens from different states. State judges hear cases involving the law of a particular state. They hold office for ten years and are usually elected, or confirmed in office by election.

The number of people who make up a jury varies from state to state, but efforts are made to ensure that they represent a fair cross-section of society. Both the defense and the prosecution are allowed to reject a certain number of jury candidates. Except in minor cases, the defendant in a criminal case has the right to be tried by a jury. In most states, the task of the jury is only to decide whether the defendant is innocent or guilty, while it is the judge who passes sentence.

The attorneys, who represent clients in court, have been trained at law schools and are licensed to practice only in certain states. If they wish to practice in a different state, they may have to take another exam. In a criminal case, the prosecution attorney is appointed by the District Attorney to prosecute the defendant. The defense attorney will be provided by the Public Defender’s Office if the defendant cannot afford to engage her or his own lawyer. The prosecution may agree to charge the defendant with a less serious offence if he or she agrees to plead guilty. This is known as plea bargaining.

5. Learn some more useful words and expressions that haven’t been used in the texts.

to lodge an appeal – to make an official appeal;

to uphold/overturn a verdict – to say that a previous decision was correct/incorrect;

to pervert the course of justice – to put obstacles in the way of justice being done; n. perversion;

to quash a decision/conviction – to change a previous official decision;

to sue – to make a legal claim against someone because you have been harmed in some way;

to indict – especially AmE – to officially charge someone with a criminal offence; indictment – an official written statement or the act of charging someone; indictable: More serious criminal offences are indictable, i.e. they are tried in a higher level of court, while less serious offences – summary offences – can be tried in a lower level of court.

statutory – fixed or controlled by law. If a worker feels that his or her statutory rights have been infringed, then he or she may take the case to a tribunal (a type of court that is given official authority to deal with a particular situation or problem), where an arbitrator has discretionary powers to rule on the dispute. The arbitrator’s decision is binding on both sides – they have to abide by his or her decision.

to sue – to make a legal claim against someone, especially for an amount of money, because you have been harmed in some way;

summons – an official order to appear in a court of law; serve a summons on sb – order someone to appear in court;

subpoena – a written order that you must come to a court of law and be a witness;

to testify (for; against) – to make a formal statement of what is true, especially in a court of law; n. testimony.