III. Agree or disagree with the statements:

1. The court system in Britain is divided between civil and criminal casesю

2. Civil law defines offences against the state and regulates their prosecution and punishment.

3. Civil law is connected with relations between pri­vate parties.

4. In criminal cases, there is one principal type of courts - magistrates' courts.

5. Important civil cases are dealt with in the County Courts.

6. Justices of the Peace are ordinary citizens chosen from the commu­nity and often have no legal qualifications.

7. A Crown Court is presided over by the Queen.

8. A jury of twelve citizens is selected from the local electoral rolls.

9. Every person charged with an offence is pre­sumed to be innocent until the prosecution can prove guilt.

10. The highest court in the land is the House of Commons.

IV. Answer the questions:

1. What are the main types of courts in Britain?

2. What are the criminal offences?

3. Is civil law connected with relations between pri­vate parties?

4. What are the qualification and the powers of the justices of the Peace?

5. What should a person convicted in a magistrates' court do?

V. Match the first part of the sentence (1-5) with the second one (a-e).

1	The highest court in the land	a	relations between pri­vate parties.
2	A person convicted in a magistrates' court	b	and regulates their prosecution and punishment.
3	Civil law is connected with	c	between civil and criminal cases.
4	Criminal law defines offences against the state	d	is the House of Lords.
5	The court system in Britain is divided	e	may appeal against its decision to the Crown Court.

VI. Make up a plan of the text.

VII. Retell the text in a written form (in English or Ukrainian). Text 37. The queen’s bench division

I. Read and memorize the following words and word combinations:

A bench – лава, negligence – недбалість, on behalf of – від імені, to weed out – сортувати, frivolous – неважливий.

II. Listen to the text: The Queen's Bench Division

The Queen's Bench Division — or King's Bench Division when the monarch is a King — has two roles. It hears a wide range of contract law and personal injury/general negligence cases, but also has special responsibility as a supervisory court. Until 2005, the head of the QBD was the Lord Chief Justice. A new post of President of the Queen's Bench Division was created under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, leaving the Lord Chief Justice as President of the Courts of England and Wales, Head of the Judiciary of England and Wales and Head of Criminal Justice.

Queen's Bench Division judges sit in the Crown Court, hearing criminal cases (as do Circuit judges and Recorders). In addition, the Divisional Court of the Division hears appeals on points of law from magistrates' courts and from Crown courts which have heard appeals from magistrates' courts. These are known as Appeals by way of Case Stated.

On behalf of the monarch, the Queen's Bench Division oversees all lesser courts and all government authority. Generally, unless other appeal processes are laid down in law, anyone who wants to challenge any decision of a lesser court, tribunal, government authority or state authority brings a claim for judicial review in the Administrative Court, a sub-division of the Queen's Bench Division. A single judge first decides whether the matter is fit to bring to the court (to weed out frivolous or unwinnable cases) and if so the matter is allowed to go forward to a full judicial review hearing with one or more judges.

Appeals from the High Court in civil matters lie to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division); in criminal matters appeal from the Divisional Court lies only to the House of Lords.

Sub-divisions of the Queen's Bench Division include the Technology and Construction Court, Commercial Court, the Admiralty Court and the Administrative Court.