9. Read the text. Judges

Judge is a public officer with authority to hear and decide cases in a law court. In the British system of law judges are chosen from lawyers who have gained considerable experience as legal practitioners before being appointed to the judiciary.

Judges must be independent of the parties to a dispute (this ensures a fair and just trial). They must be independent of the executive. This enables the judges to exercise control over government action. Judges must be free of any political bias (пристрастность, предубеждение).

Most of the work of the judges is judicial in the sense that they have to adjudicate upon disputes. To do this they are required, impartially, to find the facts based on the evidence presented to the court, to apply the law to the facts and then to give the right decision. Their role is therefore limited to ensuring that there is a fair trial, reaching a decision on the fact as presented to them and applying this to the law.

Judges do not investigate the cases they are trying but they do not play a completely passive role; they may, sometimes, question witnesses and they must ensure that the trial is conducted according to the rules of procedure and evidence.

10. Speak about:

1. The difference between courts of first instance and appellate courts.

2. The purpose of tribunals and arbitration.

3. The advantages of arbitration.

1. Read the text. The Profession of Lawyers

The word «lawyer» describes a person who practices law, who has become officially qualified to act in certain legal matters because of examinations he has taken and professional experience he has gained. Most countries have different groups of lawyers who each take a particular kind of examination in order to qualify to do particular jobs. In Japan, a lawyer must decide whether he wants to take examination to become an attorney, a public prosecutor or a judge.

A distinctive feature of the legal profession in England is that it is divided into two groups: barristers and solicitors. Barristers are lawyers who specialize in arguing cases in front of a judge and have an exclusive right to be heard, the right of audience¹, in all law courts in England, even in the highest courts. They are not paid directly by clients, but are employed by solicitors. Judges are usually chosen from the most senior barristers, and once appointed they cannot continue to practice as barristers. Solicitors are lawyers who do much of the initial preparation for cases. They prepare legal documents (e.g. wills, sale of land or buildings), advise clients on legal matters, and speak on their behalf ² in lower courts. In other words, a barrister spends most of his time either in a courtroom or preparing his arguments for the court and a solicitor spends most of his time in an office giving advice to clients and making investigations. Many people in England believe the distinction between barristers and solicitors should be eliminated, as it has already happened in Australia.

In both the United States and other industrialized countries, lawyers are becoming more and more specialized. Working in small firms, lawyers now tend to restrict themselves to certain kinds of work and lawyers working in large law firms or employed in the law departments of a large commercial enterprise work on highly specific areas of law.

How to enter the profession of lawyers? Lawyers are subject to standardized examination and other controls to regulate their competence. In some countries in order to practice as a lawyer it is necessary to obtain a university degree in law. However, in others, a degree may be insufficient; professional examinations must be passed. In Britain, the main requirement is to have passed the Bar Final examination (for barristers) or the Law Society Final examination (for solicitors). Someone with a university degree in a subject other than law needs first to take a preparatory course. Someone without a degree at all may also prepare for the final examination, but this will take several years. In most countries, lawyers would say that the time they spent studying for their law finals was one of the worst period of their life. This is because an enormous number of procedural rules covering a wide area of law must be memorized. In Japan, where there are relatively few lawyers, the examinations are supposed to be particularly hard: less than 5 percent of candidates pass.

A solicitor in England must then spend two years as an articled clerk³, during which time his work is closely supervised by an experienced solicitor, and then he must take further courses. A barrister spends a similar year serving as a pupil under an experienced barrister.

In most countries, once a lawyer is fully qualified he receives a certificate proving his right to sell his service. There are also insurance provisions so that if a lawyer is ever successfully sued by a client for professional incompetence, there will be funds available to enable him to pay damages. Even if a lawyer is very competent, he must take care not to break the many rules of procedure and ethics set by the body which regulates his profession. In England, the body regulating the conduct of solicitors is the Law Society. There is also a Solicitor's Disciplinary Tribunal with the power to suspend or even disqualify a solicitor.

In most legal systems, conversations between a lawyer and his client are privileged: the client should know that what he says will not be passed on to someone else without his permission. In theory, it could pose difficult ethical problems for a lawyer. For instance, what should he do in a criminal case if he believes his client guilty? In any case, it is the prosecution's job to prove guilt, not the defence's to prove innocence. A lawyer could therefore defend his client simply by trying to point out weaknesses in the prosecution case.

Notes to the Text

the right of audience - право выступать в суде; on their behalf – от их имени;articled clerk – служащий конторы солиситора, выполняющий свою работу в порядке платы за обучение профессии солиситора