The Court system of England and Wales

 

The most common type of law court in England and Wales is the magistrates' court. There are 700 magistrates' courts and about 30,000 magistrates.

More serious criminal cases then go to the Crown Court, which has 90 branches in different towns and cities. Civil cases (for example, divorce or bankruptcy cases) are dealt with in County courts.

Appeals are heard by higher courts. For example, appeals from magistrates' courts are heard in the Crown Court, unless they are appeals on points of law. The highest court of appeal in England and Wales is the House of Lords. (Scotland has its own High Court in Edinburgh which hears all appeals from Scottish courts.) Certain cases may be referred to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. In addition, individuals have made the British Government change its practices in a number of areas as a result of petitions to the European Court of Human Rights.

The legal system also includes juvenile courts (which deal with offenders under seventeen) and coroners' courts (which investigate violent, sudden or unnatural deaths). There are administrative tribunals which make quick, cheap and fair decisions with much less formality. Tribunals deal with professional standards, disputes between individuals, and disputes between individuals and government departments (for example, over taxation).

 

ВАРИАНТ VIII

I. Перепишите следующие предложения. Подчеркните в них слова, оформленные окончанием -s, и определите по грамматическим признакам, какой частью речи являются эти слова и какую функцию выполняет это окончание, т.е. служит ли оно:

а) показателем З-го лица единственного числа глагола в Present Indefinite;

б) признаком множественного числа имени существительного:

в) показателем притяжательного падежа имени существительного.

Переведите предложения на русский язык.

 

1. At the bottom of the pyramid are the US district courts, where litigation begins.

2.The Procurator`s Office, like all the Russian courts, protects legality, law and order.

II. Перепишите следующие предложения, поставив прилагательные и наречия в указанную степень сравнения (сравнительную или превосходную). Переведите предложения на русский язык.

 

1. What is the (long - превосх.ст.) term a Magistrates' Court can sentence anyone to?

2. But the old traditions die hard, and judges and advocates who had been trained in the (old - сравн.ст.) school at the Old Bailey survived the formal changes.

III. Поставьте следующие утвердительные предложения в вопросительную и отрицательную формы. Утвердительные предложения переведите на русский язык.

 

1. The investigator arrived at the crime scene.

2.We will graduate from a police academy next year.

3.He works as a lawyer.

IV. Перепишите следующие предложения, найдите в них и подчеркните неопределенные и отрицательные местоимения. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

 

1. Anyone who is an American citizen, at least 18 years of age, and is registered to vote may vote.

2. There are some people in our society who don`t want to live an honest life, who try to profit at the expense of our state.

3. There is no such thing as a perfect crime, a crime that leaves no traces - there is only the inability to find the evidence.

V. Перепишите следующие предложения, подчеркните в каждом из них глагол-сказуемое и определите его видовременную форму и залог. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

 

1. The district court is hearing this case now.

2. In the first quarter of the 19th century two penitentiaries were built in America, Pennsylvania.

3. In our country all criminal cases pass through the stage of preliminary investigation before they are brought into the court.

4. We will study Administrative Law and Administrative Activity next year.

VI. Перепишите следующие предложения, подчеркните Participle I и Participle II и установите функции каждого из них, т.е. укажите, является ли причастие определением, обстоятельством или частью глагола-сказуемого. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

 

1. Judging from worldwide practice it is impossible to avoid judicial mistakes in all the cases.

2. When protecting a crime scene, the officer must remember that nothing is to be touched or moved.

3. While passing sentences for crimes committed, the court not only punishes the criminal but also reeducates him.

VII. Перепишите следующие предложения, подчеркните в каждом из них модальный глагол или его эквивалент. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

 

1. He also thought that punishment should be sensible and that people found guilty should be made to work for the good of the community.

 

2. We must know how to interview witnesses, interrogate criminals.

3. No person can be arrested without sanction of a procurator.

VIII. Прочитайте и письменно переведите текст.

THE COURT SYSTEM OF THE USA