Read the following statements to choose the main topics of the text. Arrange them according to the content of the text, and add or exclude any point if necessary.

· Types of courts

· Requirements for a judge

· Tasks of the judicial system

· Legal relations

· Jurisdiction of courts

 

Read the following statements and decide if they are true or false. Prove your answer with the information from the text.

1. The judicial system consists of courts of general jurisdiction.

2. Court decisions are binding for everybody in Ukraine.

3. Trial courts can hear some types of appeal.

4. A person may have work experience in the sphere of law for five years to

become a judge.

5. President appoints all judges.

6. Judges are allowed to take part in political activity.

 

3. Answer the following questions:

1. What are the tasks of the judicial system?

2. What does the judicial system consist of?

3. What are the functions of courts?

4. What types of jurisdiction do courts possess?

5. Who can administer justice?

6. Who can become a judge?

 

4. Find in the text legal terms which have the following meanings:

· A person with authority to hear and decide disputes brought before a court;

· An application to a higher court to examine again a case decided by a lower court;

· The power of a court to hear and decide cases;

· The process of settling a dispute by referring it to an independent third party for decision as an alternative to court proceedings;

· A serious disagreement;

· A body of persons who decide the facts of a case and give a decision of guilty or not guilty called a verdict;

· A process of thinking carefully about something in order to make a judgment.

 

III. VOCABULARY STUDY

Give synonyms to the following words and phrases and make up word combinations.

Arise, single, lawful, binding, define, unlimited term, post, purpose, decision, important, question.

 

Give antonyms to the following words and make up your own sentences.

Legal, duty, competence, justice, constitutional, high, equal, professional.

 

3. Match the legal terms with their definitions.

1. a case of first instance	a) a collective term for all judges
2. a hearing	b) freedom from a legal obligation or consequence such as prosecution for crimes
3. immunity	c) one which is heard before a court for the first time
4. a judgment	d) the right to use an official power to make legal decisions, the area where this right exists
5. the judiciary	e) a meeting of a court to find out the facts about the case
6. a trial	f) an official decision given by a judge or a court of law
7. jurisdiction	g) the process of examining and deciding a civil or criminal case before a court

 

Read the sentences and fill in the gaps with the words and phrases given in the box. Pay attention that there are more words than the gaps.

 

court, decision, jury, dispute, arbitration, trial judge, appeal, people’s assessor, apply

 

1. The punishment was reduced to three years on ….

2. She is not happy with the …, and plans to appeal.

3. The dispute is going to ….

4. Both sides in the … have agreed to binding arbitration.

5. The problem was settled out of ….

6. The … determines the number of years to be spent in prison.

7. The … plays an important role in the legal system of many countries.

 

There are 13 lexical mistakes in the following text. Correct them.

In administer of justice judges are independence and obey only the law.

The main principles of the judiciary are the following:

1) unlawfulness;

2) equality of all parties to executive proceedings before the law and the court;

3) ensuring the proof of guilty;

4) competitiveness of parties and free related to presenting evidence to the court and demonstrating its inaccuracy to the court;

5) support of state prosecute by a prosecutor;

6) guarantee of the duty to defence for an accused person;

7) publicity of judge process and its record by technical means;

8) ensuring the appellate and cassation of a court decision except cases established by president;

9) obligatory courts decision.

Continue the list of words and phrases associated with the following topics. Be ready to use them for speaking.

1. Tasks of judicial system: to solve legal problems, …

2. Types of courts and their jurisdiction: local court, …

3. Requirements for a judge: higher legal education, …

 

7. Translate into English.

1) Судова система – це сукупність судів, що створені і функціонують на основі єдиних принципів організації та діяльності.

2) Суд першої інстанції – це суд, уповноважений у межах своєї компетенції розглядати і вирішувати кримінальні, цивільні, господарські, адміністративні справи. Суди першої інстанції розглядають справу по суті, встановлюючи обґрунтованість, необґрунтованість чи часткову обґрунтованість позову (спір про цивільне право чи про захист прав, свобод та інтересів у публічно-правових відносинах), або винність чи невинність особи (за звинувачення її у вчиненні злочину).

3) Суд апеляційної інстанції – це суд, який розглядає апеляції на рішення судів першої інстанції, що не набули законної сили, з вирішенням питання про законність і обґрунтованість рішень, що оскаржуються.

4) Касація – це спосіб оскарження судових рішень, які вступили в законну силу, до вищого спеціалізованого суду або до Верховного Суду України.

 

 

IV. GRAMMAR FOCUS

Find in the text sentences with Passive Voice and rewrite them in Active Voice.

2. Find in the text personal and possessive pronouns and decide instead of what nouns they are used.

 

V. SPEAKING

1. Imagine that you are a judge. Choose a court you work in and describe your job (types of cases, rights and duties, advantages and disadvantages, etc).

You are a specialist in judicial system of Ukraine. Describe it to your colleagues from the UK. Exercise 6 in Vocabulary Study will help you.

3. There is a joke, ‘A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer’. Do you agree with it? Do you think we should have jury trial? Prepare your arguments for and against it.

 

 

Unit 1 Judiciary in Ukraine Section 2 Status and Role of Judges in Legal Proceedings

I. LEAD-IN

1. Before you read the text answer the following questions:

1. What are the bases for judges’ independence in Ukraine?

2. What laws establish and guarantee their functions and independence?

3. What are the main responsibilities of a Ukrainian judge in a trial?

 

Divide the words into three groups according to the pronunciation of the underlined vowels. Three words do not belong to any of these groups.

C ou rt, r ea ch, appl y, w o rk, tr i al, l e gal, b i nding, r ea ch, imp o rtant, determ i ne, app ea l, l a w, proc e dure, rec o rder, h i gh, app e llate, prov i de, L o rd, pr i vate.

 

Read the text to check your answers in exercise 1.

TEXT 2

Independence of Judges, their Status and Role in Judicial Proceedings

Notes: institutional independence - інституціональна незалежність

Decisional independence - прецедентна незалежність

Preliminary hearing - попереднє судове слухання справи

To be subject to - підлягати чому-небудь

To favour - підтримувати

A judge is a state official, who knows a lot about the law, and has the power to adjudicate on disputes and other matters brought before the court for decision. The independence of judges is guaranteed by the Constitution and the laws of the country.

In the United Kingdom judicial independence is the doctrine that decisions of the judiciary should be impartial and not subject to influence from other branches of government or from private or political interests. It is guaranteed by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, s.3. Judicial independence is also secured by giving judges long, sometimes lifetime, tenure and making them not easily removable from their office. As long as judges hold their positions in “good order”, they remain in post until they wish to retire or until they reach 70.

There are two types of judicial independence in the USA: institutional and

decisional. The former means that the judicial branch is independent of the executive and legislative branches, while the latter lies in the idea that judges should be able to decide cases solely based on the law and facts, without letting the media, politics, or other concerns influence their decisions, and without fearing punishment in the careers for their decisions. Law-abiding federal judges have lifetime appointments. Another condition of judicial independence is proper judicial selection. Many state legislatures prefer election by the general public but many professionals view judicial elections as rewarding political skills rather than legal ones.

The Laws of Ukraine “On Status of Judges”, “On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine”, “On Court Organization in Ukraine”, “On Contempt of Court” and others determine the status of judges and provide their independence. Unity of status of judges is ensured by common requirements for candidates for a post of a judge, their powers, rights and duties, protection from interference in their work, means of legal, social and financial protection, immunity, political neutrality, etc. Guarantees of judges’ independence include the procedure of their election (appointment), secret of making a decision, prohibition on interference in administration of justice, responsibility for contempt of court or judge and so on.

Though there are significant differences between the functions of judges in different legal systems, they have some common functions. In judicial proceedings they are responsible for conducting a trial fairly, orderly and efficiently, observing the established procedures. Judges interpret and apply laws, decide questions related to pretrial release. In preliminary hearings and trial without a jury, they determine both the points of fact and the points of law. In jury trials they instruct jurors: the judge calls the jury’s attention to all most important points in the evidence and favours neither prosecution nor defence. In common law countries they also create law by establishing precedents.

The position of a judge is usually prestigious in society.

II. DEVELOPMENT