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Solicitors and barristers

England is almost unique in having two different kinds of lawyers, with separate jobs in the legal system. The two kinds of lawyers are solicitors and barristers.

If a person has a legal problem, he will go and see a solicitor. Almost every town will have at least one. In fact there are at least 50,000 solicitors in Britain, and the number is increasing.

Many problems are dealt with exclusively by a solicitor. For instance, the solicitor deals with petty crimes and some matrimonial matters in Magistrates Courts, the lowest Courts. He prepares the case and the evidence. He actually speaks in Court for you.

In a civil action he can speak in the County Court, when the case is one of divorce or recovering some debts. In the County Court the solicitor wear a black gown over his ordinary clothes.

A solicitor also deals with matters outside Court. He does the legal work involved in buying a house, for instance. He writes legal letters for you and carries on legal arguments outside Court. If you want to make a will the best man to advise you is a solicitor.

To qualify as a solicitors, a young man or a woman joins a solicitor as a “clerk” and works for him whilst studying part time for the “Law Society” exams. Interestingly enough, it is not necessary for you to go to university. When you have passed all the necessary exams, you can “practice”, which means you can start business on your own.

Barristers are different from solicitors. Barristers are experts in the interpretation of the Law. They are called in to advise on really difficult points. The barrister is also an expert on advocacy (the art of presenting cases in Court). Indeed, if you desire representation in any Court except the Magistrates Court, you must have a barrister, with one or two exceptions.

Barristers are rather remote figures. If you need one, for instance, you never see him without your solicitor being with him. Barristers do not have public offices in any street. They work in what are known as chambers, often in London. They all belong to institutions called Inns of Court, which are ancient organizations rather like exclusive clubs. In many ways the remoteness they have and the job they do are medieval in conceptions.

To qualify as a barrister you have to take the examinations of the Bar Council. These are different from solicitors examinations. There are over 5,000 barristers in England. A good one can earn 30,000 pounds a year. Only barristers can become judges in an English Court above a Magistrates Court.

Unit 8 crime and society

Scan the text.

The police are the public servants whose duty is to detect and prevent crime. If the police believe that they have enough evidence to show that a person has committed a criminal offence, they will make an arrest. The accused person will be prosecuted and taken to court where there will be a trial to determine whether the person is innocent or guilty. The accused will be found guilty only if the people trying him or her are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that they committed the crime with which they are charged. The law under which the person is charged will define precisely what the prosecution must prove in order for the accused person to be convicted. For example if someone is charged with murder, the prosecution fails to prove the intention and shows only that the accused was very careless (“negligent”) they cannot be convicted of murder, although they might be convicted of manslaughter.

Similarly, in order for someone to be convicted of theft, it has to be proved against them beyond all reasonable doubt that they dishonestly took the property of another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it. If it is proved that the accused merely borrowed the property and intended to return it, they should not be convicted of theft.

Thus, in general, criminal offences have two elements: a physical element (for example, the act of killing a person, or the taking of property), and a mental element (the intention to kill, or the dishonest intention permanently to deprive). The prosecution must therefore prove not only that the accused did the unlawful physical act, but also what their intention was, for it is generally considered unfair and in the United States unconstitutional, to convict someone of a criminal offence which they did not mean to commit but committed only innocently or by accident.

To be effective punishment must be acceptable to the society in which it is used. If the majority of people think it is cruel or unreasonable, they will not cooperate in bringing people to justice or support the police. Similarly it must be carried out fairly, so that the same punishment is seen to be inflicted in the same circumstances. In Japan and USA the constitution forbids “cruel and unusual punishment”. This prevents the use of penalties much harsher than the harm caused by the crime. Punishment must be carried out quickly if it is to reform or deter. It will cease to be associated with the crime if delayed.

According to the theories of punishment there are three models of punishment – retribution, rehabilitation, and deterrence. Retribution is based on the premise that the offender is a reasonable person freely made the decision to violate the law, so the wrongdoer should be punished in such a way that the punishment fits the crime. Rehabilitation is the notion that punishment should rehabilitate or reform the behavior of offenders so that they will become law-abiders rather than lawbreakers. Deterrence refers both to discouraging this particular offender from further illegal acts and to deterring others from criminal activity.

Find the English equivalents for the following words and word-combinations; memorize them.

  1. произвести арест

  2. вне всяких обоснованных сомнений

  3. доказать наличие умысла

  4. осудить за совершение преднамеренного/непреднамеренного убийства

  5. осудить за кражу

  6. предать кого-либо правосудию

  7. оказывать поддержку полиции

  8. стать законопослушным

  9. удерживать кого-либо от преступной деятельности.

Read and translate the text.

Arson: purposely setting fire to a house or another building or vehicle.

Assault: Threatening to do, or trying to do, or actually doing bodily harm to another person.

Blackmail: Demanding money from somebody in return for not revealing secret or unpleasant information about them.

Bribery: Giving or receiving a reward for a dishonest action, such as a policeman accepting money form someone who has committed a crime, so that the person will not be prosecuted.

Burglary: Entering the premises of another person with intent to commit a crime within; or having entered the premises of another, then committing a crime.

Disorderly conduct: Behaving in such a way that the quiet and comfort of other people is disturbed or their sense of what is right and decent is offended.

Forgery: Signing another person’s name, or changing something that is written on a receipt or a document. This is done by a dishonest person in order to get something that is his or hers or to win some other advantage.

Fraud, also known as Theft by Fraud: Cheating another person out of something he or she owns.

Hijacking: Seizing control of a vehicle, especially an aircraft, in order to force it to go to a new destination or demand something from a government in return for the safety of its passengers and crew.

Joy Riding: Going for a ride in a motor vehicle without the owner’s permission. This is a crime even if the vehicle is returned.

Kidnapping: Taking away a child or a person and keeping him/her by force (usually asking for money to be paid before he/she is released).

Larceny/Stealing/Theft: Taking something that belongs to another person without that person’s consent. Larceny is the term used for theft in the United States.

Mugging: Attacking somebody (e.g. in a dark street, a lift, an empty corridor…) violently and robbing.

Murder: Intentionally or recklessly killing another human being. Homicide simply means killing a human being. Manslaughter is killing a human being without malice. It is not murder, according to the law, to kill someone accidentally or in self-defense, or to kill an enemy of one’s country in time of war.

Perjury: Telling a lie after swearing to tell the truth, usually in a court of law.

Pick pocketing: Stealing money or things from people’s pockets or bags in public places.

Rape: Unlawful sexual intercourse with a female, by force or without consent.

Robbery: taking something away from another person by force, or frightening tht person into letting it be taken.

Shoplifting: Stealing from a shop by hiding things in a bag or in the clothes.