British judicial system

There is no single body of law in Britain and there are dif­ferences between the separate systems, especially between Scot­land and the rest of the country. However, some features are common to all systems: the sources of law, the distinction bet­ween criminal law, which is concerned with wrongs against the whole community, and civil law concerned with the rights, duties and obligations of individuals between themselves.

The English criminal law has never been reduced to a single code. The sources of law include statutes (Acts of Parliament) and ’unwritten’ or common law, based on judicial precedent. In this system, court decisions establish legal principles and rules of law. They also call the common law ’case law’ or ’judge-made law’.

In England there are two main classes of trial courts: the Magistrates’ Court and the Crown Court. Magistrates’ Courts are lower courts of trial in which less serious offences are tried before magistrates without a jury. More serious cases are also brought before Magistrates’ Courts, but the proceedings then do not amount to a trial, they are only a preliminary investi­gation. Magistrates’ Courts, sometimes called police courts, try the majority of criminal cases and some civil cases. They are courts of summary jurisdiction.

The Crown Courts sit in various circuit centres for the trial of serious criminal offences before a judge and jury. The courts are presided over by a High Court judge or by a Circuit judge. The Crown Courts have a double function. Sitting without a jury they hear appeals from Magistrates’ Courts. The Crown Court for London is called the Central Criminal Court. Trials in this court are presided over either by a High Court judge or by one of the special judges, such as the Recorder of the City of London.

The High Court hears those civil cases that cannot be decided by County courts. The Court of Criminal Appeal hears appeals from the Crown Courts and the House of Lords is the supreme court of appeal in criminal matters.

Vocabulary

judicial	-	судебный; судейский
source of law	-	источник права
distinction	-	различие; различение; разгра-ничение; отличие
wrong	-	неправда; правонарушение; де-ликт; вред, зло
court	-	суд (амер.) судья, судьи
case	-	случай; судебное дело, судеб-ное решение по делу
case law (judge-made law)	-	прецедентное право
judge	-	судья; (глаг.) рассматривать де-ло; судить
to try	-	судить; разбирать, рассматри-вать (дело); пытаться
trial	-	судебное разбирательство, про-цесс; слушание дела
offence	-	посягательство; правонарушение; преступление
magistrates^’court	-	магистратский суд, мировой суд
jury	-	состав присяжных; суд присяжных
to bring a case before the court	-	возбудить судебное дело
proceeding(s)	-	процессуальное действие; су-дебная процедура
preliminary	-	предварительный, прелиминарный
summary jurisdiction	-	суммарное судопроизводство, юрисдикция
circuit	-	судебный округ; выездная сес-сия суда
High Court (of Justice)	-	Высокий суд (правосудия)
appeal	-	апелляция, обжалование; (глаг.) подавать жалобу
Recorder (of London)	-	судья, управомоченный Цент-ральным уголовным судом
county court	-	суд графства; суд округа штата
court of appeal – court of appellate jurisdiction, criminal appeal	-	апелляционный суд, апелляция по уголовному делу
to concern	-	касаться, иметь отношение
to be concerned with (syn. to deal with)	-	иметь дело, заниматься
feature	-	особенность, характерная чер-та; признак, свойство
to reduce	-	понижать, сокращать; сводить, приводить (к)

Ex. 1. Read the following words and translate them into Russian. Define the parts of the speech.

Separate, system, criminal, individual, civil, statute, act, precedent, legal, principle, class, serious, jury, police, jurisdiction, centre, function, central, special, appeal.

Ex. 2. Find the equivalents:

the sources of law	единый кодекс
wrongs against community	источники права
a single code	предварительное расследование
court decisions	апелляционный суд
a preliminary investigation	правонарушения против об-щества
the court of appeals	решения суда
a single body of law	единый свод законов