Magistrates, Judges and other legal professions

List of words.

Read the words and learn them.

to commit	совершать (обычно что-л. дурное)
common sense	здравый смысл
to consist of	состоять из
criminal	преступный; криминальный злоумышленник, правонарушитель
to decide	решать, принимать решение
to draw	вытягивать по жребию
elections	выборы
to give up	оставить, бросить (что-л.), терять
guilty	виновный
innocent	невинный человек
to inquire into	расследовать; выяснять
JPs (Justices of the Peace)	мировой судья, судья первой инстанции
to judge	судить, выносить приговор
legal training	юридическое образование, обучение
to listen to	слушать
to look after for through forward to in	смотреть, глядеть заботиться искать 1)пролистывать (что-л.) 2) не замечать ожидать с нетерпением; предвкушать заглянуть к (кому-л.)
magistrates	судья, мировой судья
prison	тюрьма
at random	случайно, наугад
salary	жалованье, заработная плата
to select	выбирать, избирать
vast	обширный, многочисленный
variety	многообразие, разнообразие
voluntarily	добровольно, свободно
to vote	голосовать

Ex. 1. Complete the phrase by matching the word from A with its best association from B. Translate the phrases.

A	B
sound	common sense
to commit	voluntarily
to give up	a crime
to judge	a case
to have	legal training

Ex.2. Read the text.

Magistrates

In Britain, the vast majority of judges (that is, people who decide what should be done with people who commit crimes) are unpaid. They are called “Magistrates”, or “Justices of the Peace” or JPs.

There are about 30000 magistrates in Britain. They are ordinary people who are selected not because they have any legal training but because they have “sound common sense” and understand their fellow human beings. Magistrates are selected by special committees in every town and district. Nobody, not even the Magistrates themselves, knows who is on a special committee in their area. The committee tries to draw Magistrates from as wide a variety of professions and social classes as possible.

Magistrates judge cases in the lower courts. They have no formal legal qualifications, but they are respectable people who are given some training. They give up time voluntarily.

Judges

A small proportion of judges are not Magistrates. They are called “High Court Judges” and they deal with the most serious crimes, such as those for which the criminal might be sent to prison for more than a year. High Court Judges, unlike Magistrates, are paid salaries by the State and have legal training.

There is no special training for judges. They are trained as barristers and preside in more serious cases.