Module 4 unit 2

	Text: British Judicial System.
	Grammar: Sequence of Tences. Direct and Indirect speech.

BRITISH JUDICIAL SYSTEM

There is no single body of law in Britain and there are dif­ferences between the separate systems, especially between Scot­land and the rest of the country. However, some features are common to all systems: the sources of law, the distinction bet­ween criminal law, which is concerned with wrongs against the whole community, and civil law concerned with the rights, duties and obligations of individuals between themselves.

The English criminal law has never been reduced to a single code. The sources of law include statutes (Acts of Parliament) and ’unwritten’ or common law, based on judicial precedent. In this system, court decisions establish legal principles and rules of law. They also call the common law ’case law’ or ’judge-made law’.

In England there are two main classes of trial courts: the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court. Magistrates’ Courts are lower courts of trial in which less serious offences are tried before magistrates without a jury. More serious cases are also brought before Magistrates’ Courts, but the proceedings then do not amount to a trial, they are only a preliminary investi­gation. Magistrates’ Courts, sometimes called police courts, try the majority of criminal cases and some civil cases. They are courts of summary jurisdiction.

The Crown Courts sit in various circuit centres for the trial of serious criminal offences before a judge and jury. The courts are presided over by a High Court judge or by a Circuit judge. The Crown Courts have a double function. Sitting without a jury they hear appeals from Magistrates’ Courts. The Crown Court for London is called the Central Criminal Court. Trials in this court are presided over either by a High Court judge or by one of the special judges, such as the Recorder of the City of London.

The High Court hears those civil cases that cannot be decided by County courts. The Court of Criminal Appeal hears appeals from the Crown Courts and the House of Lords is the supreme court of appeal in criminal matters.

Vocabulary

Judicial	-	судовий
source of law	-	джерело права
distinction	-	різниця; розбіжність; відмінність
wrong	-	неправда; правопорушення; делікт; зло
court	-	суд (амер.) суддя, судді
case	-	випадок; судове діло, судове рішення з діла
case law (judge-made law)	-	прецедентне право
judge	-	суддя; (глаг.) розглядати діло; судити
to try	-	судити; разглядати (діло); випробувати
trial	-	судовий розгляд, процес; слухання діла
feature	-	характерна особливість, риса
magistrates’court	-	магістратський суд, мировий суд
jury	-	присяжні; суд присяжних
to bring a case before the court	-	возбудити судову справу
proceeding(s)	-	процесуальна дія; судова процедура
summary jurisdiction	-	сумарне судочинство, юрисдикція
circuit	-	судова округа
High Court (of Justice)	-	Високий суд (правосуддя)
appeal	-	апеляція, прохання
Recorder (of London)	-	суддя, управомочений Центральним кримінальним судом
county court	-	суд графства; суд округи штата
court of appeal (court of appellate jurisdiction)	-	апеляційний суд
to concern	-	стосуватися, відноситися
to be concerned with (syn. to deal with)	-	мати справу, займатися
to reduce	-	скорочувати; сводити

Ex. 1. Read the following words and translate them into Ukrainian.

Define the parts of the speech.

Separate, system, criminal, individual, civil, statute, act, precedent, legal, principle, class, serious, jury, police, jurisdiction, centre, function, central, special, appeal.

Ex. 2. Find the equivalents:

the sources of law	єдиний кодекс
wrongs against community	джерела права
a single code	попереднє розслідування
court decisions	апеляційний суд
a preliminary investigation	правопорушення проти суспільства
the court of appeals	рішення суду
a single body of law	єдиний свод законів