Task 8. Answer the questions.

What is almost unique about the English legal system?

What kind of problems does a solicitor deal with?

How do you qualify as a solicitor?

What are barristers experts in?

When must you have a barrister?

What reasons are there for saying a barrister is rather remote?

How do you qualify as a barrister?

Task 9. Read the following text and answer the questions.

One of the most important figures in the British legal system is the solicitor. It is his 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 defense and, if the offence is to be heard hi 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.

On this tape a young solicitor discussed his experience: the reasons for theft, crimes of violence and how he feels when he knows the man he is defending is guilty. He gives his reason for defending someone hi these circumstances.

What are the two main jobs of a solicitor?

What does the young solicitor talk about on the tape?

Task i0. Read the following text and answer the questions.

In Britain, the vast majority of judges (that is, the people who decide what should be done with people who commit crimes) are unpaid. They are called "Magistrates", or "Justices of the Peace" (JPs). They are ordinary citizens who are selected not because they have any legal training but because they have "sound common sense" and understand their fellow human beings. They give up time voluntarily.

A small proportion of judges are not Magistrates. They are called "High Court Judges" and they deal with the most serious crimes, such as those for which the criminal might be sent to prison for more than a year. High Court Judges, unlike Magistrates, are paid salaries by the State and have considerable legal training.

Magistrates are selected by special committees in every town and district. Nobody, not even the Magistrates themselves, knows who is on the special committee in their area. The committee tries to draw Magistrates from as wide a variety of professions and social classes as possible.

On this tape, a Magistrate describes the sort of people who come before him, gives examples of a few typical cases and finally talks about the difficulty of deciding between when to help a person and when to punish him.

1. What kind of people are Magistrates?

2. Why are they selected?

3. Who would judge a person who had committed a crime like murder?

4. Who selects Magistrates and what is unusual about the system?

Task 11. Read the text and answer the questions: The Innocent and the Guilty.

Imagine, if you can, that you have been arrested for something like shoplifting, or for dangerous driving, or for getting drunk and causing "a disturbance of the peace". You are in a Magistrates Court now.

You, "the accused", are in a kind of large, open box. The sides come up almost to your chin. It is on a raised platform almost in the center of the court and is called "the dock". You are "in the dock". There are three magistrates "on the bench" in front of you. At least one of them is a woman. They are also on a raised platform, at desks, side by side. In front of and below them there is another man. He is the "Clerk of the Court" and he, unlike them, is trained in the law and is paid for his work. During your case he will handle the administrative details and perhaps give advice to the Magistrates on legal points.

The case begins. The policeman who arrested you gives evidence. He reads details from a small black notebook that he always carries. He tells the court when and why he arrested you, what you said, what he said, and so on. Your solicitor questions, or "cross-examines" him. One of the Magistrates speaking for all three, also asks questions. Other witnesses appear. Perhaps you yourself say nothing at all. You do not have to speak in your defense. "Everyone is innocent unless proved guilty". In other words, you do not have to prove that you are innocent. The police have to prove you are guilty.

At the end the Magistrates probably do not even go out of the court. They discuss your case in low voices in front of you. You try to hear, but cannot Then the Clerk of the Court tells you to stand. The Magistrate who has done the talking for the others tells you whether they have found you innocent or guilty. He can sentence you to no more than six months in goal for one offence, to a maximum of one year for two or more offences or to a fine of 400 pounds.

More serious cases are heard in the Crown Court, where the Judge is always a legal expert and is also paid for his work. In the Crown Court you may, if you choose, be given a "trial by jury". Twelve ordinary people like yourself judge you. But the Judge himself always decides on the sentence.

Reporters for local newspapers often go to Magistrates' Courts; the next day articles appear in the paper and full names, ages, addresses and details of the case are given. Find such an article if you can from an English local newspaper. It will give you an idea of the kind of cases that can be tried in such a court.

1. What are the names of at least three offences (less serious than crimes) for which people are tried in a Magistrates' Court.

2. What exactly is meant by "the dock"?

3. If you are "in the dock", what and who do you see is front of you?

4. If you are the accused, describe what these people will do during your case.

a. the policeman who arrested you

b. your solicitor

c. one of the three Magistrates

d. the other two Magistrates

e. witnesses