III. Agree or disagree with the statements:

1. Her Majesty's Courts Service is responsible just for the administration of the civil courts.

2. Wales has its own Her Majesty's Courts Service.

3. Her Majesty's Courts Service came into life in 2004.

4. In Wales Her Majesty's Courts Service carries out the administration and support for the County Courts and the Probate Service.

5. The Crown Courts are administrated and supported by Her Majesty's Courts Service.

6. There are 32 Area Directors in the Court services.

7. The Government White Paper “Justice for all” came into life in 2005.

8. The Government White Paper “Justice for all” recommended that a single agency should be developed to support the delivery of justice in all courts in England and Wales.

9. Greater flexibility in the use of court buildings was one of the main goals of the Courts Act 2003.

10. Today Her Majesty’s Courts Service is responsible for the 42 existing Magistrates’ Courts Committees and Court Service.

IV. Answer the questions:

1. What is Her Majesty's Courts Service responsible for?

2. How was Her Majesty's Courts Service created?

3. Who are the Area directors?

4. What does the Area Directors do?

5. What is the Government White Paper?

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

1	It was created as a result	a	responsible for 42 local areas.
2	The Courts Act 2003 created the legal framework	b	the administration of the courts in England and Wales.
3	They work in partnership	c	required to make the changes.
4	Court services are administered by 7 regions	d	of the Unified Courts Administration Program.
5	Her Majesty's Courts Service is responsible for	e	to ensure that the Agency is focused on its customers and is meeting local needs.

VI. Make up a plan of the text.

VII. Retell the text in a written form (in English or Ukrainian). Text 39. The sentence of a court in britain

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

Punishment – покарання, conditional discharge – умовне звільнення, guilty – винний, to commit a crime – скоїти злочин, probation – випробувальний термін, minor offence – незначний злочин, to sentence – винести вирок, to imprison – ув’язнити, death penalty – смертна кара, life sen­tence – довічне ув’язнення.

II. Listen to the text: The Sentence of a Court in Britain

If it is someone's first offence and the crime is a small one, even a guilty person is often unconditionally discharged. He or she is set free without punishment.

The next step up the ladder is a conditional discharge. This means that the guilty person is set free but if he or she commits another crime within a stated time, the first crime will be taken into account. He or she may also be put on probation, which means that regular meetings with a social worker must take place.

A very common form of punishment for minor offences is a fine, which means that the guilty person has to pay a sum of money.

Another possibility is that the convicted person is sentenced to a certain number of hours of community service.

Wherever possible, magistrates and judges try not to imprison people. This costs the state money, the country's prisons are already overcrowded and prisons have a reputation for being “schools for crime”. Even people who are sent to prison do not usually serve the whole time to which they were sentenced. They get “remission” of their sentence for “good behavior”.

There is no death penalty in Britain, except for treason. It was abolished for all other offences in 1969. Although public opinion polls often show a majority in favor of its return, a majority of MPs has al­ways been against it. For murderers there is an obligatory life sen­tence. However, “life” doesn't normally mean life.