orlovskaya_english

law, used to correct laws when these would apply unfairly in special circumstances.

A simple distinction between the criminal law (the foundation of which is the common law), and the civil law is that the latter regulates the relationships between individuals or bodies and the former regulates the legal relationships between the state and individual people and bodies. Examples of the civil law include breaches of contract (the law of contract), tort (literally meaning «wrong»), property or claims for damages for negligent conduct.

Consider the following situation. You decide to buy a cellphone from a local shop. You pay the correct price and take the cellphone away. You have entered into a contract with the owner of the shop. After three days the cellphone fails to work. This is a common situation and usually the shopkeeper will replace the cellphone or return your money. If not, you may wish to take legal action to recover your loss. As the law of contract is part of the civil law the parties to the action will be you (an individual) and the owner of the shop (an individual person or body). Hence, the civil law is more concerned with apportioning losses than determining blame. Given that the defendant has damaged the victim's property, the question in the civil law is who should pay for that damage. If the victim is wholly innocent and the defendant even only little to blame, then the defendant should shoulder the liability.

Now let us look at some examples of the criminal law. This is the law by which the state regulates the conduct of its citizens. Criminal offences range from the petty (e.g. parking offences) to the very serious (e.g. murder). Look at the following situation. You are driving your car at 70 m.p.h. (112 kilometers per hour) in an area, which has a speed limit of 40 m.p.h. You are stopped by a police officer and subsequently a case is brought against you for dangerous driving. This is a criminal offence. The parties to the action will therefore be the state (in the form of prosecuting authority) and you (an individual).

Although the division between the civil and criminal law is clear, there are many actions, which will constitute a criminal offence and a civil wrong. For example, you are driving your car too fast. Suppose that while you were doing this you knocked over and injured an elderly man. You will have committed a criminal offence (dangerous driving) and a civil wrong (negligence). The legal consequences under the criminal and civil law will be different. You would be prosecuted by the state in the criminal courts for dangerous driving and sued by the elderly man in the civil courts for negligence. The two actions will be totally separate.

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The law of contract and the criminal law are two areas of sub­ stantive law. «Substantive law lays down people's rights, duties, liberties and powers». By this is meant the actual content or sub­ stance of the law. These are the rules on which the courts base their decisions.

Procedural law is also a set of rules. Rules of procedure are the rules, which govern such matters as how the case is to be presented, in what court it shall lie, or when it is to be tried. Procedural rules are, in other words, the rules, which govern the machinery as op­ posed to the subject-matter. It is a striking fact that in the earlier stages of legal development these rules assume paramount impor­ tance: form is better understood than substance, and formal re­ quirements, rather than abstract principles, usually determined legal rights. However, the rules of procedure are now more flexible than once they were.

Упражнение 1. Прочитайте определения юридических терминов. Дайте русские эквиваленты выделенным словам и словосочетаниям. Переведите предложения.

1. The person charged with the criminal offence is the defen­ dant. 2. A criminal case is brought by a prosecutor. 3. A successful criminal prosecution will result in a conviction. 4. The word «guilty» is used primarily of criminals. The corresponding word in civil cases is «liable», but this word is also used in criminal con­ texts. 5. The party bringing a civil action is the plaintiff. 6. The party is one of the persons or sides in a legal agreement or dispute. 7. The defendant in a civil case is sued by the plaintiff. 8. If the plaintiff is successful, the defendant will be found liable. 9. The dis­ tinction between crimes and civil wrongs relates to the legal conse­ quences. 10. A court order not to do something is an injunction. 11. Judgment is the decision of a judge or court. 12. Procedure is the regular order of doing legal things. 13. A proceeding is a course of action. 14. Damages are money given as legal compensation. 15. To sue is to take legal action against someone in a civil case.

Упражнение 2. Заполните пропуски следующими словами:

1.In criminal proceedings a (1) ... prosecutes a defendant.

2.The result of the (2) ... if successful is a (3) ... 3. And the defen­ dant may be (4)... by one of a variety of punishments ranging from

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life imprisonment to a fine or else may be released or discharged without (5) ... 4. In civil proceedings a plaintiff (6) ... (e.g. brings an action against) a defendant. 5. The proceedings if successful re­ sult in judgment for the plaintiff, and the (7) ... may order the de­ fendant to pay the (8)... money, or transfer property to him, or to do or not to do something [(9) ... ], or to perform a contract.

Упражненше 3, Заполните пропуски, разместив следующие слова и сло­ восочетания в соответствующую колонку:

crime, life imprisonment, to convict, civil wrong, guilty, plaintiff, defendant, to cute, liable, to punish, prosecution, conviction, judgmentfor the plaintiff, prosecuto fence, punishment

Упражнение 4, Составьте словосочетания глаголов из колонки А и су­ ществительных из колонки В.

Упражнение 5. Подберите к словам из колонки А синонимы или близкие по значению слова и словосочетания из колонки В.

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Упражнение 8. A. Назовите 20'-25 ключевы[х слов и словосочетаний на тему «Branches of the law».

В. Speak about:

Distinctions between the criminal law and the civil law. Give your own examples of both of them.

Text 4

Какие судебные институты исполняют закон? Прочитайте и переведите текст.

Judicial Institutions (Courts)

In all legal systems there are institutions for creating, modify­ ing, abolishing and applying the law. Usually these take the form of

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а hierarchy of courts. The role of each court and its capacity to make decisions is strictly defined in relation to the courts. There are two main reasons for having a variety of courts. One is that a particular court can specialize in a particular kind of legal action. The other is so that a person who feels his case was not fairly treated in a lower court can appeal to a higher court for reassess­ ment. The decisions of a higher court are binding upon lower courts. At the top of the hierarchy is a supreme law-making body.

The court in which a case is first heard is called the court of first instance. Appellate courts (or Appeal Courts) are civil or crime courts to which a person may go for a reconsideration of the deci­ sion of the original court.

The formal courts are not the only means of solving disputes; adjudication increasingly takes place outside the court system. The two main forms of extra-court adjudication are tribunals and arbi­ tration. Tribunals were established to adjudicate on disputes arising out of social legislation which regulates such areas as employment, housing and social security benefits.

The disputes in these areas might be settled by ordinary courts but the ordinary courts lack the necessary expertise or are too for­ mal, slow and costly. Hence, the legislation has established a tribu­ nal to do the job. There are numerous types of tribunals, each with its own limited jurisdiction over a particular type of claim. Many tribunals have expert assessors^ sitting along a legally experienced chairman to make up the judging paneP. From the point of view of the ordinary citizens they are the most important courts in the country but from the point of view of lawyers they are perhaps the least important element in the court system of England.

In contrast, arbitration is a private means of adjudication, ar­ ranged and agreed between parties involved. Here the parties agree to place their dispute in the hands of an independent third party and invest the arbitrator with the power to decide the issue. The ar­ bitrator is likely to be someone with expertise in the area. The pur­ pose of arbitration is to enable people to have small disputes resolved in an informal atmosphere, avoiding as far as possible the strict rules of procedure usually associated with court proceedings. This does not mean that rules are not observed because the object of all court procedures is to protect the interests of each party to the action and to ensure that the case is tried fairly. Nevertheless, the formalities are kept to the minimum.

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The advantages of arbitration are similar to those of tribunals: speed, lower costs, flexibility, informality and adjudication by an expert. These advantages must, of course, be balanced against dis­ advantages. There is the argument that cheaper, quicker and less formal hearings result in a poor quality service. Nevertheless, the increasing use of tribunals and arbitration seems to indicate that they are a popular way of resolving disputes. On a wider point, they also increase access to justice for the ordinary people who make up 38 per cent of the plaintiffs.

Notes to the Text

1.expert assessor — эксперт-консультант

2.judging panel — состав, список судей

Упражнение 1. Дайте русские эквиваленты выделенным словам и слово­ сочетаниям, переведите предложения.

1. А hierarchy of courts is an organization with levels of author­ ity from the highest to the lowest courts. 2. To appeal means to take a case to a higher court in the hope of a new decision. 3. A request to a higher court to reexamine and change the judgment of a previ­ ous court hearing is called an appeal. 4. An appellant is the person or the party that requests an appeal. 5. Adjudicatioii is an act of giv­ ing a judgment or of deciding a legal problem. 6. The courts called tribunals are specialist courts outside the judicial system which ex­ amine special problems and make judgments. 7. To arbitrate is to settle a dispute between parties by referring it to an arbitrator in­ stead of going to court. 8. The word «legislation» means making laws or the laws made. 9. Jurisdiction is administration ofjustice or the extent of legal authority. 10. An assessor expert helps and ad­ vises a judge on technical matters in a particularly difficult case. 11. Disputes are disagreements or arguments. To be in dispute means to be in opposition to each other. 12. The agreement is bind­ ing on all parties, that is, all parties signing it must do what is agreed. 13. To bind is to place a court under legal obligation to act in accordance with a previous judicial decision.

Упражнение 2. Заполните пропуски.

1. We have no authority to deal with this matter: it does not come within our ... 2.The person who goes to a higher court to ask

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it to change a decision or a sentence of a lower court is known to be called an ... 3. To ... means to take a question to a higher court for rehearing and a new decision. 4. An ... is a person giving a decision on a legal problem in an industrial dispute. 5. The judicial ... im­ plies that judges in the higher courts have more authority than those in the lower courts. 6. Labour ... is laws concerning the em­ ployment of workers. 7. ... is the settlement of a dispute between parties by an outside person, chosen by both parties. 8. He lost his

... for damages against the company. 9. Industrial ... are courts which can decide in disputes between employers and employees. 10. Industrial or labour ... are arguments between management and workers. 11. ... precedent is a decision of a higher court which has to be followed by a judge in a lower court.

Упражненве 3. Составьте словосочетания глаголов из колонки А и суще­ ствительных из колонки В.

Упражненве 4. Подберите к глаголам из колонки А близкие по значению слова и словосочетания из колонки В.

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Упражнение 5. Подберите к словам из колонки А синонимы или близкие по значению словосочетания из колонки В.

Упражнение 6. Заполните пропуски антонимами,

Упражнение 7. Назовите прилагательные с суффиксом -able, означающие:

1.that can be argued

2.that can be enforced

3.that can be avoided

4.that can be agreed

Упражнение 8. Заполните таблицу на словообразование.

legislative

avoidance

arguable

impart

agreeable

enforcement

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Упражнение 9. А. Назовите 20—25 ключевых слов и словосочетаний на тему «Judicial institutions and courts».

В.Speak about:

1.The difference between courts of first instance and appellate courts.

2.The риф08е of tribunals and arbitration.

3. The advantages of arbitration.

Texts

Какие требования предъявляют к квалификации юриста в современном обществе? Прочитайте и переведите текст.

The Profession of Lawyers

The word «lawyer» describes a person who practices law, who has become officially qualified to act in certain legal matters because of examinations he has taken and professional experience he has gained. Most countries have different groups of lawyers who each take a particular kind of examination in order to qualify to do par­ ticular jobs. In Japan, a lawyer must decide whether he wants to take examination to become an attorney, a public prosecutor or a judge.

A distinctive feature of the legal profession in England is that it is divided into two groups: barristers and solicitors. Barristers are lawyers who specialize in arguing cases in front of a judge and have an exclusive right to be heard, the right of audience^ in all law courts in England, even in the highest courts. They are not paid di­ rectly by clients, but are employed by solicitors. Judges are usually chosen from the most senior barristers, and once appointed they cannot continue to practice as barristers. Solicitors are lawyers who do much of the initial preparation for cases. They prepare legal documents (e.g. wills, sale of land or buildings), advise clients on legal matters, and speak on their behalf^ in lower courts. In other words, a barrister spends most of his time either in a courtroom or preparing his arguments for the court and a solicitor spends most of his time in an office giving advice to clients and making investiga­ tions. Many people in England believe the distinction between bar­ risters and solicitors should be eliminated, as it has already happened in Australia.

In both the United States and other industrialized countries, lawyers are becoming more and more specialized. Working in small firms, lawyers now tend to restrict themselves to certain kinds of work and lawyers working in large law firms or employed in the law departments of a large commercial enteфrise work on highly spe­ cific areas of law.

How to enter the profession of lawyers? Lawyers are subject to standardized examination and other controls to regulate their com-

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petence. In some countries in order to practice as a lawyer it is nec­ essary to obtain a university degree in law. However, in others, a degree may be insufficient; professional examinations must be passed. In Britain, the main requirement is to have passed the Bar Final examination (for barristers) or the Law Society Final exami­ nation (for solicitors). Someone with a university degree in a sub­ ject other than law needs first to take a preparatory course. Someone without a degree at all may also prepare for the final ex­ amination, but this will take several years. In most countries, law­ yers would say that the time they spent studying for their law finals was one of the worst period of their life. This is because an enor­ mous number of procedural rules covering a wide area of law must be memorized. In Japan, where there are relatively few lawyers, the examinations are supposed to be particularly hard: less than 5 per­ cent of candidates pass.

A solicitor in England must then spend two years as an articled clerk^, during which time his work is closely supervised by an ex­ perienced solicitor, and then he must take further courses. A bar­ rister spends a similar year serving as a pupil under an experienced barrister.

In most countries, once a lawyer is fully qualified he receives a certificate proving his right to sell his service. There are also insur­ ance provisions so that if a lawyer is ever successfully sued by a cli­ ent for professional incompetence, there will be funds available to enable him to pay damages. Even if a lawyer is very competent, he must take care not to break the many rules of procedure and ethics set by the body which regulates his profession. In England, the body regulating the conduct of solicitors is the Law Society. There is also a Solicitor's Disciplinary Tribunal with the power to suspend or even disqualify a solicitor.

In most legal systems, conversations between a lawyer and his client are privileged: the client should know that what he says will not be passed on to someone else without his permission. In theory, it could pose difficult ethical problems for a lawyer. For instance, what should he do in a criminal case if he believes his client guilty? In any case, it is the prosecution's job to prove guilt, not the de­ fence's to prove innocence. A lawyer could therefore defend his cli­ ent simply by trying to point out weaknesses in the prosecution case.

Notes to the Text

1.the right of audience — право выступать в суде

2.on their behalf — от их имени

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