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Reading 1: Types of legal profession in England and Wales
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B) Complete the word building table.
C)
D) Look through the following words to make sure that you know them, learn those you don’t.
1. Read the text and translate the text into Ukrainian. Solicitors There are about 50,000 solicitors who are general practitioners, the number which is rapidly increasing, and they make up by far the largest branch of the legal profession in England and Wales. They are found in every town, where they deal with all the day-to-day 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. In a civil action solicitors have a right to speak in the County Court, when the case is one of divorce or recovering some debts, and they deal with petty crimes and some matrimonial matters in Magistrates Courts, the lowest Courts. To become a solicitor a young man joins a solicitor as a «clerk» and works for him while studying part time for the Law Society exams. When you have passed all the necessary exams, you may apply to the Law Society to be «admitted». After that you can practise, which means you can start business on your own.
Barristers There are about 9,000 barristers who defend or prosecute in the higher courts. Although solicitors and barristers work together on cases, barristers specialise in presenting clients in court and the training and career structures for the two types of lawyers are quite separate. In court, barristers wear wigs and gowns in keeping with extreme formality of the proceedings. The barristers of the highest level have the title QC (Queen’s Counsel). A barrister’s main work is to provide representation in the courts, where they are referred to as counsel, to draft documents associated with court procedure, and give opinions, that is specialist advise. They are normally instructed by solicitors or other recognised professionals on behalf of lay clients. A barrister must be capable of prosecuting in a criminal case one day, and defending an accused person the next, or of preparing the pleadings and taking the case for a plaintiff in a civil action one day, and doing the same for a defendant the next. As the law has became more complex, barristers increasingly specialise in particular areas, such as personal injury, crime, family or commercial law. Barristers are experts in the interpretation of the law. They are called in to advise on really difficult points. Unlike solicitors, barristers can’t form partnerships but must act as sole traders with unlimited liability. Some barristers are in employed practice and may only represent their employer, for example as in-house counsel or in government departments like the Crown Prosecution Service. Many work independently in self-employed practice in groups called chambers or sets and practise at the Bar as a barrister. Chambers are traditionally located in the four Inns of Court in London and are also located in the UK regions, known as circuits. The Inns are principally non-academic societies which provide collegiate and educational resources for barristers and trainees. Members of the chambers, known as tenants, share common expenses and support services, which are administrated by the administrative manager as the Clerk. A would-be barrister must first register as a student member of one of the four Inns of Court. A student must pass a group of examinations to obtain a law degree and then proceed to a vocational course (Bar Vocational Course, or BVC), the passing of which will result in his being called to the Bar. All practising barristers are junior counsels unless they have been designated Queen’s Counsels (QC). QС is expected to appear only in the most important cases.
Judges There are a few hundred judges trained as barristers, who preside in more serious cases. There is no separate training for judges; they are barristers who have been elevated to the bench itself, a name derived from the part of the Court where they sit. The professional judges, ‘High Court Judges’, deal with the most serious crimes. They are paid salaries by the state. The judge decides the interpretation of the law. After all the evidence has been given the judge summarizes the case, both law and facts, for the jury. This is called his summing up. Judges cannot be removed from office on account of political considerations — the independence of the judiciary is, at least theoretically guaranteed. There are following types of judges in England and Wales:
Jury A jury consists 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 a person is found guilty, the punishment is passed by the presiding judge. Its verdict must be unanimous (it is essentially one of «guilty» or «not guilty») and, in the event of failure to reach agreement, the case is retried before another jury. Only 6 - 7% of jury decisions are by a majority verdict. Juries are rarely used in civil cases.
Magistrates There are about 30,000 magistrates (Justices of the Peace or JPs), who judge cases in lower courts. They are usually unpaid and have no formal legal qualifications, but they are respectable people who are given some training. They are ordinary citizens who are selected not because they have any legal training but because they have ‘sound common sense’ and understanding of their fellow human beings. They give up their time voluntarily.
Coroners Coroners have medical or legal training (or both), and inquire into violent or unnatural death.
Clerks of the court Clerks look after administrative and legal matters in the courtroom.
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