Studying Law in the United Kingdom

 

1. In the UK, a legal education usually begins with the completion of a bachelor degree in law, known as an LLB, which usually takes three years. However, many students graduate in a non-law subject and then undertake a one year conversion course known as a postgraduate Diploma in Law or GDL. One interesting aspect of legal profession and appropriate legal education in the UK is that there are two separate legal careers of solicitors and barristers in England and Wales.

2. A person wishing to become a solicitor must complete three stages: the first stage involves gaining a law degree; the second stage requires passing a one-year full-time (or two years part-time) Legal Practice Course (LPC); and the final stage entails working for two years as a trainee solicitor with a firm of solicitors or in the legal department of a local authority or large company. At this stage, a trainee solicitor is paid a salary.

3. Intending barristers also need a qualifying law degree in order to apply to join one of the Inns of Court to study for the Bar Professional Training Course. It's also mandatory for students to keep terms, which means dining at their Inn a fixed number of times, before they can be called to the Bar, that is, qualify as a barrister.

6. Then the new barrister faces intense competition to obtain a funded pupillage in chambers for twelve months in order to get practical training, when pupils at first shadow an experienced barrister byobserving professional activities, and then, with their supervisor's permission, can undertake to supply legal services and exercise rights of audience.

7. To gain a Full Qualification Certificate pupils must learn the rules of conduct and etiquette at the Bar, learn to prepare and present a case competently, learn to draft pleadings and opinions, have advocacy training. If successful at the end of the twelve months, the qualified barrister applies for a tenancy in chambers.

8. The profession of barrister in England and Wales is a separate profession from that of solicitor. It is however possible to hold the qualification of both barrister and solicitor at the same time.

9. The practical difference between the two professions is twofold:

– Barristers have a more specialized knowledge of case-law and precedent. It is relatively common for a barrister to only receive a " brief " from an instructing solicitor to represent a client at trial a day or two before the hearing.

– A barrister has rights of audience in the higher courts. In this regard, the profession of barrister corresponds to that part of the role of legal professionals found in the civil law countries relating to appearing in trials or pleading cases before the courts.

 

2.1.1. Слова из текста:

conversion course – курс переподготовки, переходной курс обучения

postgraduate – изучаемый после окончания бакалавриата

solicitor – сол и ситор, адвокат (дающий советы клиенту, подготавливающий дела для барристера и выступающий только в судах низшей инстанции)

barrister – б а рристер (адвокат, имеющий право выступать в высших судах; является членом одного из "Судебных иннов")

gaining – получение, приобретение

full-time – очное обучение

part-time – заочное обучение

trainee solicitor – солиситор-стажёр, практикант

intending – желающий стать, намеревающийся

Inns of Court – "Судебные Инны" (четыре английские школы подготовки барристеров)

mandatory ['mændə,tɔ:rı] – обязательный

keep terms – посещать занятия

dining – система учебных занятий в неформальной обстановке, так называемые "занятия в столовой"

be called to the Bar – быть принятым в адвокатское сословие, получить право адвокатской практики в суде, стать барристером

funded pupillage – оплаченный курс ученичества

shadow – непрестанно следовать за, непрерывно наблюдать

right of audience – право выступать в суде

Full Qualification Certificate – диплом об окончании полного курса обучения в учебном заведении

tenancy – членство

chambers – контора адвоката

brief – краткое письменное изложение дела с привлечением фактов и документов, с которым сторона выступает в суде

correspond – соответствовать; согласовываться, соотноситься

plead a case – представлять (чьи-либо) интересы по делу

 

2.1.2. Найдите в тексте ответы на следующие вопросы:

1. Are the skills acquired by solicitors and barristers the same?

2. How long is a full-time LPC in England?

3. How many years does an LLB course last?

4. May graduates in non-law subjects enter a law school?

5. What are the two parts of pupillage for intending barristers?

6. What stages of education and training must a candidate undergo in order to become a barrister?

7. What three stages is it necessary to complete in order to become a solicitor?