Types of Legal Professions: Great Britain

Read this classification.

Solicitors

There are about 50,000 solicitors, a number which is rapidly increasing, and they make up by far the largest branch of the legal profession in England and Wales. Solicitors are important figures in the British legal system. They are found in every town, where they deal with all the day-to­day work of preparing legal documents for buying and selling houses, making wills, etc. Solicitors also work on court cases for their clients, prepare cases for barristers to present in the higher courts, and may represent their client in a Magistrates' court. It is their job to advise you on legal matters of all kinds. If you get into trouble with the police you will probably ask a solicitor to help prepare your defence and, if the offence is to be heard in a Magistrates' Court, you can ask a solicitor to appear for you and argue your case. If the case goes to a higher Court, the solicitor still advises you, but you must get a barrister to appear for you.

Barristers

There are about 5,000 barristers who defend or prosecute in the higher courts. Although solicitors and barristers work together on cases, barristers specialize in representing clients in court and the training and career structures for the two types of lawyer are quite separate. In court, barristers wear wigs and gowns in keeping with the extreme formality of the proceedings. The highest level of barristers have the title QC (Queen's Counsel).

Judges

There are a few hundred judges, trained as barristers, who preside in more serious cases. There is no separate training for judges.

Jury

A jury consist of twelve people ("jurors"), who are ordinary people chosen at random from the Electoral Register (the list of people who can vote in elections). The jury listen to the evidence given in court in certain criminal cases and decide whether the defendant is guilty or innocent. If the person is found guilty, the punishment is passed by the presiding judge. Juries are rarely used in civil cases.

Magistrates

There are about 30,000 magistrates (Justices of the Peace or JPs), who judge cases in the lower courts. They are usually unpaid and have no formal legal qualifications, but they are respectable people who are given some training.

Coroners

Coroners have medical or legal training (or both), and inquire into violent or unnatural deaths.

Clerks of the court

Clerks look after administrative and legal matters in the courtroom.

1. Choose the correct definition for each legal profession mentioned in the text.

(a) an officer acting as a judge in the lower courts.

(b) a public official with authority to hear and decide cases in a law court.

(c) a group of people who swear to give a true decision on issues of in a law court.

(d) an official who investigates the cause of any death thought to be violent or unnatural causes.

(e) a lawyer who has the right to speak and argue in higher law courts.

(f) a lawyer who prepares legal documents, advises clients on legal and speaks for them in lower law courts.

2. Complete the following text choosing from the words in the box:

prosecutor magistrates jury bench clerk judiciary barristers recorders judges

The ____________ are perhaps the most prominent amongst those involved in running the court. The largest group of____________are____________, ordinary citizens who are not legal professionals but are appointed to ensure that the local community is involved in the running of the legal system. They sit as a group of three (as a '____________'). Magistrates sit with a legally qualified____________, who can advise on points of law. A case is presented by the____________, who takes over the case from the police who have already charged the defendant (or accused) with specified crimes.

In the upper courts, the judges are almost all former ____________. But many cases are also heard by____________ - part-time barristers from private practice. The Crown Court ____________consists of 12 persons, aged 18 to 70.