UNIVERSITATEA SPIRU HARET

LAVINIA NĂDRAG MANUELA STROESCU

ENGLISH FOR LAW STUDENTS

EDITURA FUNDAłIEI ROMÂNIA DE MÂINE

 CONTENTS

page

UNIT 1 Law ………………………………………………. 5

UNIT 2 Civil Law …………………………………………...30
UNIT 3 Criminal Law ……………………………………….50
UNIT 4 Criminal Procedure …………………………………71
UNIT 5 Courts ……………………………………………..112
UNIT 6 The British Constitution and Government ………..146
UNIT 7 The United States Constitution and Government …169
UNIT 8 Legal Education …………………………………...210
APPENDIX A - Irregular Verbs …………………………...222
APPENDIX B - Idioms …………………………………….231
APPENDIX C - English-Romanian Glossary ……………...243
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………….252

5
UNIT LAW
1

֠ PRE-READING

Fill the word web below with as many words related

to LAW as you can think of.

LAW

JUSTICE

6
 READING

Law is the body of official rules and regulations,

generally found in constitutions, legislation, and judicial
opinions, used to govern a society and to control the behavior
of its members. In modern societies, some authorized body
such as a legislature or a court makes the law. It is backed by
the coercive power of the state, which enforces the law by
means of appropriate penalties or remedies.

Formal legal rules and actions are usually distinguished

from other means of social control and guides for behavior
such as mores, morality, public opinion, and custom or
tradition.

Law serves a variety of functions. Laws against crimes, for

example, help to maintain a peaceful, orderly, relatively stable
society. Courts contribute to social stability by resolving
disputes in a civilized fashion. Property and contract laws
facilitate business activities and private planning. Laws
limiting the powers of government help to provide some degree
of freedom that would not otherwise be possible. Law has also
been used as a mechanism for social change; for instance, at
various times laws have been passed to inhibit social
discrimination and to improve the quality of individual life in
matters of health, education, and welfare.

Law is not completely a matter of human enactment; it also

includes natural law. The best-known version of this view, that
God's law is supreme, has had considerable influence in the
United States and other Western societies. The civil rights
movement, for example, was at least partially inspired by the
belief in natural law. Such a belief seems implicit in the view

7
that law should serve to promote human dignity, as for instance
by the enforcement of equal rights for all. Muslim societies
also embrace a kind of natural law, which is closely linked to
the religion of Islam.

COMPREHENSION PRACTICE

Find the words in the text which have the same

meaning as the following definitions:

1. the system of basic laws and principles that a democratic

country is governed by:
2. a law or set of laws:
3. to officially and legally control a country and all the
decisions about taxes, laws, public services etc.;
4. using threats or orders to make someone do sth they do not
wont to do;
5. a punishment for breaking a law, rule, or legal agreement;
6. the customs, social behaviour and moral values of a
particular group;
7. peaceful or well-behaved;
8. to prevent sth from growing or developing;

8
9. health, comfort, and happiness;
10. having the highest position of power, importance, or
influence.

☺ VOCABULARY PRACTICE
1. Provide synonyms for the following words:
a) rule; behavior; means; morality; custom; crime;
discrimination; religion.

b) to control; to back; to limit; to enforce; to embrace.

2. Complete the chart below explaining the meanings

of the word right.

Sentence Meaning

a. They were right about the a. true/correct

party.

b. This is definitely the right b._______________________

decision for our country.

c. I hope I was right to report

them to the police. c._______________________

d. We guessed right. d._______________________

e. We are losing money e._______________________

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right, left and centre.

f. We have the right to live f.________________________

in peace.

g. They fight for women’s g._______________________

rights.

h. Those children don’t seem h._______________________

to know the difference
between right and wrong.

i. Both sides are convinced i.________________________

that they are in the right.

j. We are not interested in the j.________________________

rights and wrongs of the
system.

k. They must try to right the k._______________________

balance between taxation and
government spending.

3. Read the following definitions, and then fill in the

gaps.
The origins of law suggest something laid down
or settled. In its broadest sense, the word refers to a body of
rules of action or conduct established and enforced by a
controlling authority ( as in “the law of the land” or “state
law”). According to The Guide to American Law: Everyone`s
Legal Encyclopedia, “the term can encompass rules

10
promulgated by government; statutes or enactments of
legislative bodies; country or municipal ordinances;
constitutional provisions; administrative agency rules and
regulations; judicial decisions – judgments -- or the decrees
and rules of a court”.

Though commonly referred to as “a law”, a formal,

written expression of the will of a legislative body, when
signed by the proper executive officer, is officially called an
act or a statute. For example, in June 1990, newspapers
reported that the Supreme Court had declared “ the 1989
federal law against flag burning” unconstitutional, but the
majority opinion of the Court itself referred to “the Flag
Protection Act of 1989”. The American lawmaking process,
both federal and state, starts with a bill introduced by one more
members of the legislature. If passed, the bill goes to the
President or governor for signature. Ordinarily, only when the
bill is signed (or, if the bill is vetoed, when the veto is
overriden by the legislature) does it become written law -- and,
in the process, an act or statute. The President, on receiving a
bill from Congress within 10 days of its adjournment, can
exercise an indirect veto ( called a poket veto) by failing to sign
and return the bill before Congress adjourns.
Yet the word law has a place in official as in everyday
usage. California, for instance, has a Corporate Securities Law,
which, like similar laws in other states, is known informally as
a “blue-sky.” (Such legislation, designed to regulate the sale of
stocks, bonds, and other securities for the protection of the
public from fraud, is said to have got its name from the
comment made by an early proponent, to the effect that certain
business groups were trying to “ capitalize the blue skies.”)
Moreover, at the end of a state legislave session, all bills that
made their way through the process are collected and published

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in a volume typically bearing the title ”Laws of ( name of the
state).”

An ordinance is a law adopted by a town, city, or

county legislature. Local ordinances usually deal with matters
not already covered by federal or state legislation; for example,
zoning, waste disposal, and noise.
A regulation is a rule or order by which certain
conduct is controlled or directed. Often it is a set of rules
prescribed by a governmental administrative agency in the
public interest. For example, under authority granted by the
Communications Act of 1934, the Federal Communications
Commission has issued regulations on the construction and
operation of radio and television stations.
A rule is a standard guide, or regulating principle
established by a court or administrative agency for governing
its practices and procedures. Even without binding legal force,
rules are usually observed in the interests of order and
uniformity.
A ruling, though it too generally originates in a court or
administrative agency, is not the same as a rule. It is a judicial
or administrative interpretation of a provision of a statute,
order, regulation, ordinance, or other court decision. Yet a
ruling, such as one issued by a court, is a form of law in itself.
It has the force of law and will persist forever unless reversed
by a court or modified by statute.

a) A/An ........ is a law adopted by a city legislature.

b) A/An .........is a standard principle established by an
administrative agency.
c) .................. refers to a body of rules of action enforced by a
controlling authority.
d) A/An .........is a court decision.

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e) A/An........ is often a set of rules prescribed by a
governmental administrative agency in the public interest.

4. Order the following paragraphs.

A. Tribal society gradually evolved into territorial
confederations. Governmental structures emerged, and modern
law began to take shape. The most significant historical
example is Roman law, which influenced most of the legal
systems of the world. In the 8th century BC the law of Rome
was still largely a blend of custom and interpretation by
magistrates of the will of the gods.The threat of revolution led
to one of the most significant developments in the history of
law: the Twelve Tables of Rome, which were engraved on
bronze tables in the 5th century BC. They were largely a
declaration of existing custom concerning such matters as
property, payment of debts, and appropriate compensation or
other remedies for damage to persons. The Twelve Tables
serve as a historical basis for the widespread modern belief that
fairness in law demands that it be in written form. These tables
and their Roman successors, including the Justinian Code, led
to civil-law codes that provide the main source of law in much
of modern Europe, South America, and elsewhere.

B. Law develops as society evolves. Historically, the

simplest societies were tribal. The members of the tribe were
bonded together initially by kinship and worship of the same
gods. Even in the absence of courts and legislature there was
law -- a blend of custom, morality, religion, and magic. The
visible authority was the ruler, or chief; Wrongs against the
tribe, such as sacrilege or breach of tribal custom, were met
with group sanctions including ridicule and hostility. The gods

13
were appeased in ritualistic ceremonies ending perhaps in
sacrifice or expulsion of the wrongdoer. Wrongs against
individuals, such as murder, theft, adultery, or failure to repay a
debt, were avenged by the family of the victim, often in actions
against the family of the wrongdoer. Revenge of this kind was
based on tribal custom, a major component of early law.

C. The common-law systems of England, and later of the

U.S., developed in a different manner. Before the Norman
Conquest (1066), England was a loose confederation of
societies, the laws of which were largely tribal and local. The
Anglo-Norman rulers created a system of centralized courts
that operated under a single set of laws that superseded the
rules laid down by earlier societies. This legal system, known
as the common law of England, began with common customs,
but over time it involved the courts in lawmaking that was
responsive to changes in society.

5. Find words in the text above which could be

replaced by:

a) a social group consisting of people of the same race who

have the same beliefs, customs, language etc., and usually
live in one particular area ruled by a chief;
b) a family relationship;
c) a strong feeling of respect and love for a god.
d) the act of treating sth holy in a way that does not show
respect.
e) a person who has an illegal or immoral behoviour.

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f) the crime of stealing.
g) to develop sth by gradually changing.
h) to mix.
i) the quality of being fair.
j) used instead ( because they were more effective)

֠ PRE-READING / LISTENING
What do you know about: substantive law, procedural
law, public law, private law and international law?

READING / LISTENING

1. Read/ Listen to the text and complete the

table below. Provide as much information as you can.
Substantive law defines the rights and duties of persons;
procedural law defines and deals with procedures for
enforcing those rights and duties.
Substantive law determines a wide variety of matters -- for
example, what is required to form a contract, what the
difference is between larceny and robbery, when one is entitled
to compensation for an injury, and so on. The rules of
procedure and jurisdiction determine the court or
administrative agency that may handle a claim or dispute; the
form of the trial, hearing, or appeal; the time limits involved;
and so on.

Public law concerns the relationships within government

15
and those between governments and individuals. Because the
Roman codes were almost entirely limited to the private area,
public law is usually not codified. In civil-law countries,
separate administrative courts adjudicate claims and disputes
between the various branches of government and citizens, and
many lawyers specialize in public law.
Public law is not quite so clearly demarcated in the United
Kingdom and the U.S. Under the common-law approach the
same courts handle public and private litigation. Because the
United Kingdom has no written constitution, basic principles
pertaining to government powers and limits and to fundamental
individual rights are found in acts of Parliament, judicial
opinions, and tradition. The U.S., on the other hand, has a
distinct body of constitutional law.
The development of administrative law is a comparatively
recent occurrence. Numerous federal and state administrative
agencies now make rules that reach into all manner of
activities, including licensing, regulation of trades and
professions, protection of health, and promotion of welfare.
Their powers emanate from legislation, and their rules are
reviewable by the courts.

U.S. constitutional law is the most extensive and pervasive

of any country in the world. It is embodied in the Constitution
and in the opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court rendered over
time. Through its power of judicial review, the Supreme Court
may invalidate any legislation or other governmental actions
that it finds to be in violation of the Constitution.
Constitutional courts in some civil-law countries have similar
powers. In the United Kingdom no equivalent judicial power
exists, and Parliament is supreme. In totalitarian nations,
constitutional limits on legislative power are generally a matter
of political determination.

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 Private law involves the various relationships that people
have with one another and the rules that determine their legal
rights and duties among themselves. The area is concerned
with rules and principles pertaining to private ownership and
use of property, contracts between individuals, family
relationships, and redress by way of compensation for harm
inflicted on one person by another. Historically, government
involvement was usually minimal. Private law has also
operated to provide general guidelines and security in private
arrangements and interactions in ways that are complementary
to morality and custom but that are not necessarily enforceable
in a court of law, such as noncontractual promises and
agreements within an association of private individuals.
The relative significance of purely private law has
decreased in modern times. Public law dominates in
government-controlled societies; democratic societies
increasingly have a mix of public and private law. The private
sphere includes individuals and a vast array of groups,
associations, organizations, and special legal entities such as
corporations. They compete with one another and with
government for control of resources, wealth, power, and the
communication of ideas and values. Special fields of law, such
as labor law, facilitate and control this competition. Much of
such law is in the commercial and corporate areas.

The legal process that concerns relations among nations is

called international law. Belief and experience in some form
of international law dates from at least the days of the Roman
Empire. Such law differs greatly from national legal systems.
No court has the authority or power to give judgments backed
by coercive sanctions. Even in its most modern developments,
international law is almost wholly based on custom. The

17
precedents on which it rests are the acts of independent
governments in their relations with one another, including
treaties and conventions. Behind many of its rules is only a
moral sanction: the public opinion of the civilized world. When
treaties or conventions are involved, however, machinery to
enforce them exists -- either an arbitration or conciliation
procedure or the submission of the dispute to a regional or
international court. A discernible body of rules and principles
(concerning such matters as territorial titles and boundaries,
use of the high seas, limits on war, telecommunication,
diplomatic and consular exchange, and use of air space) is
observed or at least acknowledged in international relations.
The major sources of international law on these matters are
multilateral treaties and international custom.
The United Nations is one of the primary mechanisms that
articulate and create international law. Certain courts also have
indirect impact, including the International Court of Justice.

Type of Law Definition

Substantive Law defines the rights and duties of person;

determines.............................................

Procedural Law

Public Law

Private Law

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 Type of Law Definition

International Law

Administrative
Law

Constitutional
Law

☺ VOCABULARY PRACTICE
Provide synonyms for the following words:

duty to inflict
larceny guideline
injury security
claim custom;
trial agreement
dispute association
branch entity
approach to facilitate
power authority
act treaty
pervasive to enforce
to render submission
invalidate affair
ownership

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 GRAMMAR PRACTICE
THE INDICATIVE MOOD (REVIEW)

Read through the texts you have studied in

UNIT 1 and say why a certain from is used in
each case.

Supply the correct tense of the verb.

The Simple Present or the Present Continuous?

1. You (to speak) English well?
2. You (to quarrel) with them every day.
3. He (to explain) the case now.
4. You (to know) this man?
5. Torn (to see) his boss now.
6. The students (to take) notes now.
7. He (to borrow) always money from his friends but never
gives it back.
8. The judge (to hear) the witnesses.
9. You (to forget) your manners?
10. You (to mind) if I give her this book?
11. He (to know) what you mean.
12. What you (to do) tomorrow?
13. He (to go) to London on Sunday.

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14. We (to distrust) our new colleague.

The Past Tense Simple or the Past Tense Continuous?

1. The girl said they (to live) in a big house.
2. My friend would help me if he (to be) here.
3. I shouted to him to stop, but at the moment he (to run) too
fast to hear.
4. He understood that there (to be) something wrong.
5. He is speaking as if he (to know) everything about the
accident.
6. If she (to understand) you, she would answer your
questions.
7. Our neighbours would rather we not (to make) so much
noise in the afternoon.
8. He promised me that he would tell me the truth when be
(to know) it.
9. What they (to do) when they (to hear) that noise?
10. I wish you (to understand) the situation.

The Present Perfect Simple or the Present Perfect

Continuous?
1. Last week we wrote two reports, but this week we (write) only one.

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2. How long (know) him?
3. I (know) Tom since he (work) in our office.
4. We (be) busy lately.
5. Tom (live) in this house for ten years.
6. I (explain) this problem to them for half an hour, but they
don’t seem to have understood it yet.
7. What will you do after you (finish) school?
8. I hear that your secretary has left. Anybody (appoint) to
take her place?
9. A terrible accident (happen): a car ran into a group of
children and killed two of them.
10. They (discover) the mistake.

The Past Perfect Simple or the Past Perfect

Continuous?

1. The boy explained that he (to see) somebody in the

garden.
2. By the time the rain started, we (to dig) the whole garden.
3. No sooner she (to see) the photos than she remembered
everything about the accident.
4. None of us knew why they (to hi) in bed since morning.
5. I would have told you the news if you (not to sleep) for half an hour.

22
6. I hardly/scarcely (to enter) the room when somebody
knocked at the door.
7. I knew she (not to see) him since Christmas.
8. John explained to his father that he (watch) TV at 8 o'clock.
9. They were looking at us as if I though they (not to hear)
what we had asked them.
10. We wondered what she (to do) all that time.

Futurity
1. We (to speak) when we think fit.
2. You (to help) me with this report?
3. This time next month we (to travel) to London.
4. What Torn (to tell) us?
5. I (not to tell) you the truth.
6. Tomorrow we (to be) on holiday for one month.
7. At 2 o’clock they (to discuss) for four hours.
8. He told me that he (to go) there soon.
9. Torn reminded us that at that time he (to travel) to Paris.
10. The President (to arrive) at 8 o’clock.

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3. Supply the correct tense of the verbs given in
brackets.

Contraband (to classify) into two categories, absolute

contraband and conditional contraband. The former category
(to include) arms, munitions, and various materials, such as
chemicals and certain types of machinery, that may be used
directly to wage war or be converted into instrumentalities of
war. Conditional contraband, formerly known as occasional
contraband, (to consist) of such materials as provisions and
livestock feed. Certain other commodities, including soap,
paper, clocks, agricultural machinery, and jewellery, (to
classify) as non-contraband, although these distinctions (to
prove) meaningless in practice.
Under conditions of modern warfare, in which armed
conflict (to become) largely a struggle involving the total
populations of the contending powers, virtually all
commodities are classified by belligerents as absolute
contraband.
Numerous treaties defining contraband (to conclude)
among nations. For the duration of World War I, nearly all
cargoes in transit to an enemy nation were treated as
contraband of war by the intercepting belligerent, regardless
of the nature of the cargo. A similar policy (to inaugurate) by
the belligerent powers early in World War II.
Copyright is the property right arises automatically on the
creation of various categories of work, and (to protect) the
right and interest of creators of literary, dramatic, musical,
and artistic works, sound recordings, films, broadcasts,
satellite and cable programmes, and the typographical

24
arrangements of published editions. Copyright (to call) the
trading system for works of the mind.
Copyright does not have to be registered. Once a work to
create in tangible form -- a book, painting, programme, or
recording of a piece of music -- the creators or right owners
can keep to themselves or authorize to others the exclusive
right to copy, publish, perform, broadcast, or adapt their
work.
The duration, or legal term, of copyright varies
internationally, but “life-plus-50-years” is common in many
parts of the world -- that is , copyright to exist in a work for
50 years from the end of the year in which the author (to die).
Several countries in the European Union, including the
United Kingdom, (to increase) now this term to 70 years.
The author or creator of a work is typically the owner of
the copyright he or she (to assign) that right to someone else,
or completes the work in the course of employment, in which
case the employer will own the copyright and be entitled to
all the economic but not the moral right in that work.

4. Match the definitions on the right with the

terms on the left.
1. above board a. important person
2. bible b. person who has no experience
3. bigwig c. know the procedures
4. by the book d. invariable
5. green horn e. stay out of trouble

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6. hard and fast f. honest
rule
7. in black and g. following rules or orders exactly as
white they are written
8. keep your nose h. in writing
clean
9. know the ropes i. establish and enforce regulations and
discipline
10. lay down the j. authoritative documents
law

CULTURAL NOTES

Did you know that the phrase “to turn the tables” means
to give an opponent the same treatment he has been
giving you? The expression comes from a popular
sixteenth century card game, where a player might have
found himself in a worse position than his opponent,
and so turned the board or table around to put the other
man in the same position.

The phrase dramatically tells the story of the

war. The Allies at last "turned the tables" on the
aggressors and defeated them.

26
 Two closely related expressions also come from
the word table. One is "to put your cards on the table".
The other is the phrase, "to deal under the table".

An honest man lays his "cards on the table", so

to speak. You can clearly see he is not trying to hide
anything. He is said "to be above board", out in the open
where everything can be examined.

But the man who wants to hide his plans and

purposes "deals under the table". This expression is
used to describe many dishonest activities.

One who makes a secret, illegal payment to

another is said to be "paying under the table".

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

1. Translate into Romanian the

following proverbs:

a) Abundance of law breaks no law.

b) Laws catch flies, but let hornets go free.
c) Ignorance of the law excuses no man.
d) Much law, but little justice.
e) Law makers should not be law breakers.

27
 f) Wrong laws make short governance.
g) Time is the father of truth.
h) Truth and oil are ever above.
i) Truth is the daughter of time

2. Choose one proverb from the list above and

enlarge on it.

3. Translate into English.

1. Nu întrezărim nici o dificultate în rezolvarea acelei
probleme.
2. Mă îndoiesc de faptul că ei vor sosi aici la timp.
3. Vorbe ti cu un străin.
4. De ce e ti a a de pesimist astăzi?
5. ofezi încet astăzi?
6. Ce vom discuta la următoarea edinŃă?
7. Prietenul tău te tachinează des?
8. El se întâlne te cu complicele lui acum.
9. Este timpul să studiem germana.
10. Dacă vei citi acestă scrisoare, vei afla adevărul.
11. Când l-ai vazut ultima oară?

28
12. Mergeam la serviciu ieri, când am văzut o casă în flăcări.
13. Alerga pe stradă când a căzut i i-a rupt piciorul.
14. Când am plecat de la poliŃie, Tom încă mai vorbea cu un
poliŃist.
15. Mi-am amintit adresa ei.
16. De cât timp a tepŃi?
17. L-am întrebat pe poliŃist de adresa lui John.
18. Ma gândesc la ce a spus de mai mult de două ore i tot
(încă) nu pot să înŃeleg ce s-a întâmplat acolo.
19. Am încercat adesea să îi spun adevărul.
20. I-am mulŃumit.
21. Tom ne-a spus că fratele său tocmai plecase.
22. Doream să nu fi pierdut trenul.
23. I-am spus prietenului meu că îi voi imprumuta cartea
după ce o voi citi.
24. Am anunŃat poliŃia despre accident imediat ce a avut loc.
25. Nu ne-am speriat până nu am auzit zgomotul.
26. Dl. Johnson nu i-a început discursul până nu s-a a ezat
toată lumea.
27. Dupa ce a citit telegrama, bătrâna a izbucnit în lacrimi.
28. Incendiul se răspândise i la alte case înainte ca pompierii
să sosească.
29. Când poliŃia a găsit fetiŃa, aceasta se plimba singură pe
străzi de ore întregi.

29
30. Ea se uita la noi de parcă nu ne recunoscuse.
31. Vrem să ascultăm tirile. Să dau drumul la radio?
32. Pe vremea aceasta săptămâna viitoare voi studia dreptul.
33. Fratele meu va absolvi facultatea în iunie.
34. De cât timp vei fi lucrat în acest birou când te vei
pensiona?
35. Mi-ai spus că ea va înŃelege asta mai târziu.
36. Unde îŃi vei petrece acest weekend?
37. Se va opri dacă va vedea semaforul.
38. Ei sunt pe cale să facă o mare gre eală.

30
UNIT CIVIL LAW
2

֠ PRE-READING
1. What do you know about CIVIL LAW ?
2. Is there any difference between CIVIL LAW and
COMMON LAW?

READING / LISTENING

1. Read / Listen to the text and complete the table on

the next page.

Characteristics Of Civil Law

Civil Law is the term applied to a legal tradition

originating in ancient Rome and to the contemporary legal
systems based on this tradition. Modern civil law systems,
which were originally developed in Western European
countries, have spread throughout the world. Civil law is

31
typically contrasted with common law, a system that evolved in
medieval England and that is the basis of law in most of the
United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.

The term civil law also applies to all legal proceedings

(whether taking place in a civil law or a common law system)
that are not criminal in nature.Under this definition laws
regulating marriage, contracts, and payment for personal injury
are examples of civil law.
The most obvious feature of a civil law system is the
presence of a written code of law. The code is a systematic and
comprehensive compilation of legal rules and principles.
Although the contents of codes may vary widely from country
to country, all codes are intended as blueprint of social
regulation that attempts to guide individuals through society
from birth to death.

The civil law tradition makes a sharp distinction

between private and public law. Private law includes the rules
governing civil and commercial relationships such as marriage,
divorce, and contractual agreements. Public law consists of
matters that concern the government: constitutional law,
criminal law and administrative law. In many countries with
civil law systems, two sets of courts exist -- those that hear
public law cases and those that address matters of private law.

The role of judges in civil law jurisdictions differs

considerably from that of judges in common law systems.
When different facts or new consideration arise, common law
judges are free to depart from precedent and establish new law.
The civil law tradition views judges as government officials
who perform essential but uncreative functions. Civil law
judges administer the codes that are written by legal scholars

32
and enacted by legislators. They may also consult legal
treatises on the issue in question. The civil law system assumes
that there is only one correct solution to a specific legal
problem. Therefore, judges are not expected to use judicial
discretion or to apply their own interpretation to a case.

Civil law systems do not have any process like the

common law practice of discovery -- the pretrial search for
information conducted by the parties involved in the case. The
trial of a case under civil law also differs substantially from a
common law trial, in which both parties present arguments and
witnesses in open court. In civil law systems the judge
supervises the collection of evidence and usually examines
witnesses in private. Cross-examination of witnesses by the
opposing party`s attorney is rare. Instead, a civil law action
consists of a series of meetings, hearings, and letters through
which testimony is taken, evidence is gathered, and judgment
is rendered. This eliminates the need for a trial and, therefore,
for a jury.

Systems of common law and civil law also differ in

how is created and how it can be changed. Common law is
derived from custom and precedents (binding judgments made
by prior judicial decisions). In the common law system, the
precedent itself is law. Therefore, the judges who decide which
party will prevail in any given trial are also the creators of
common law. Civil law, on the other hand, is made by
legislators who strive to supplement and modernize the codes,
usually with the advice of legal scholars. Civil law judges
administer the law, but they do not create it.

33
 CIVIL LAW COMMON LAW

ORIGINS

CHARACTERISTICS

DIFFERENCES

2. Refer to the text in order to fill in the missing

information in the chart below.

CIVIL LAW COMMON

in Western LAW
European in U.K.,
Countries & 2…………

PRIVATE 4……
LAW ….

CIVIL 5…… CONSTITUTIONAL 6…… ADMINISTRATIVE

LAW LAW
LAW …. …

34
☺ VOCABULARY PRACTICE

Match the words on the left with their corresponding

definitions on the right.
1. spread a) including all the necessary
details
2. proceedings b) a set of written rules or
laws
3. feature c) an official decision which
can be used to give legal
support to later decisions
4.comprehensive d) the ability and right to
decide exactly what should be
done in a particular situation
5. compilation e) a serious book about a
particular subject
6. code f) cover or stretch over a
large area
7. treatis g) a formal statement that
something is true
8. discretion h) to make a great effort to
achieve sth.
9. hearing i) actions taken in a law court
or in a legal case
10. testimony j) a book which is made up of
different pieces of
information
11. precedent k) a meeting of a court to find
out the facts about a case
12. strive l) characteristic

35
3. Order the following paragraphs:

A. The civil law tradition traces its origin to the Roman

Republic, a city-state that emerged in the 6th century BC and
became an important comercial and military power. The early
custom and laws of Rome were put in writing for the first time
in 451 and 450 BC, when they were inscribed on 12 bronze
tablets. The principles contained within these Twelve Tables
constituted the basis for all Roman civil law.

B. Toward the end of the 11 th century, when wars subsided in

Europe and trade flourished, scholarly interest in the law
resurfaced, especially in Italy. The legal scholars who
attempted to revive roman law sought to establish the study of
law as a science by interpreting and analyzing the Corpus
Juris Civilis. Their method was known as the gloss, and the
practitioners of this method became known as the Glossators.
Beginning in the 13th century, a group known as the
Commentators attempted to integrate the
Glossators`interpretations of the Corpus Juris Civilis with
customary law and canon, or religious, law.The Commentators
focused on the development of a comprehensive legal theory.
At this same time, the Corpus Juris Civilis began to be more
commonly enforced as legal authority in France and Italy. The
revival of the Roman civil law tradition eventually formed the
basis for a common legal language throughout Europe.

C. In the 6th century Emperor Justinian I reunified the Roman

Empire, which had been divided into eastern and western parts
as a result of invasions during the 5th century. Justinian sought
to restore the legal system throughout the empire and appointed
a commission to collect and consolidate existing sources of

36
Roman law. In 533 and 534 this commission published three
books that were collectively known as the Corpus Juris
Civilis (Body of Civil Law), or the Justinian Code. The
Corpus Juris Civilis embodied many generations of legal
pronouncements as well as interpretations by great jurists
(legal scholars).

D. The rise of nationalism that began in the 18th century led to

the adoption of distinct civil codes for each European country,
of which the French Code Napoleon of 1804 is the most
famous. In the early 1900s Switzerland and Germany adopted
similar codes. The subject matter of all these codes is almost
identical with the first three books of the Corpus Juris Civilis.

E. Much of the western part of the Roman Empire was

reconquered by various invaders in the last half of the 6th
century. In the resulting chaos, the influence of the Corpus
Juris Civilis in those areas diminished. The new rules did not
completely adopt Roman law or impose their own system.
Instead, over the next several hundred years a partial fusion of
local law and the law of the invaders occurred. For example,
simple version of Roman civil law heavily influenced by
Germanic legal customs were brought by invaders to what is
now Italy.

F. In 4th century BC the Roman Republic created a

magistrate`s office, known as the praetorship, to hear cases
involving civil matters. The sources of law applied by the
praetors included the Twelve Tables, resolutions of the Roman
Senate, edicts (proclamations) of the praetors, and after
Augustus declared himself emperor in the 1st century BC,
pronouncements of the emperor.

37
 READING AND VOCABULARY
PRACTICE

I. Read the following text and complete the sentences

below.
The Civil Law includes the remainder of the law after criminal
law. The civil law has many branches, but the principal ones
include the law of torts, contracts, real and personal property,
estates and trusts, and domestic relations. Civil law exists to
resolve conflicts between parties rather than between an
offender and society. A civilly injured party is entitled to
receive some type of compensation for the injury, and the party
responsible for the injury cannot be fined or imprisoned for the
act.”Injury” as used here refers not only to physical injury but
to other types such as monetary damage.

The Law of Torts A tort is any wrong or damage, except

breach of contract, for which a civil action, usually for
monetary damages, can be brought by one person against
another.Torts fall into two main categories: intentional torts
and negligence.
Many intentional torts may be crimes as well. Assault and
battery afford an example of this. If A commits battery upon B
and damages B`s teeth, it will do B little good if A is criminally
fined or imprisoned. But B can sue A for battery- a tort- and
receive monetary damages from A not only for the dental bills
and other out-of-pocket expenses B incurred as a result of the
battery but also for pain, suffering, and mental anguish.

38
Several other intentional torts include fraud and deceit, libel
and slander, the invasion of another`s privacy, the maintenance
of a nuisance, and antitrust violations.
Businesses that are involved with mass communications, such
as newspapers, magazines, and the broadcast media, are apt
without utmost care to commit the tort of libel or slander. The
damage suffered by a victim is essentially to the person`s
reputation as the result of a false statement or imputation. Thus,
both libel (written statement) and slander (oral statement) are
included in the broad term defamation. The constitutional
guarantee of “freedom of speech” does not protect the
tortfeasor who intentionally and knowingly defames the
reputation of another.
The tort of invasion of privacy stems from the right of the
individual to be left alone. Because it is an individual right, it
cannot be claimed by a corporation, institution, or business.
Damages for intrusion into an individual`s privacy might
consist of humiliation or shame, mental distress, or outrage by
person of ordinary sesibilities.
Nuisance consists of using one`s property in such an
unreasonable way as to damage another. The doctrine is really
a limitation on the use of property. Many businesses, as a part
of a manufacturing process, could cause damage to adjacent
property owners. The process could, for example, discharge
noxious fumes, which the business should take every
precaution to prevent. Environmental pollution may be a public
nuisance, and courts could order it abated or stopped.
Antitrust violations involve the activities of an unlawful
monopoly or combination that injure another. While state
antitrust statutes provide for the recovery of actual damages by
an injured party, the federal statute, the Sherman Act, provides
for treble, or three times, the actual damages.

39
Negligence is an unintentional tort for which a person can
receive a monetary judgment for damages. In all negligence
actions, the standard of care that an individual must exercise is
due care under the circumstances. A person is negligent when
he or she fails to exercise that degree of care that a reasonably
prudent person would have exercised under the same
circumstances. Negligence may arise from an act of omission
(the failure to do an act a reasonably prudent person would
have done under the same circumstances) or an act of
commission (the doing of an act that a reasonably prudent
person would not have done under the same circumstances).
The negligent act - the wrong - must be the proximate cause of
the injuries sustained.

The Law of Contracts Contracts may be oral or written,

express or implied. They include all agreements or promises to
buy and sell personal and real property; to perform services; to
agree to do or not to do specified acts; to lease property-real or
personal; to mortgage or otherwise encumber real or personal
property; and to include all dealings and relationships between
persons, including marriage, that are not classified as torts or
crimes

Personal Property The law relating to the sale of personal

property is largely contained in Article 2 of the Uniform
Commercial Code. Inherent in the ownership of property is the
right to transfer or dispose of it. A sale is but one medium
through which this may be done. The owner of property may
transfer property by will (a bequest) or by making a gift of it. It
is difficult to formulate a precise definition of personal
property. Clearly the term includes objects other than real
property, which consists of land and the buildings on it.

40
Personal property is frequently classified as corporeal or
incorporeal. The term corporeal personal property refers to
personal property that is tangible and includes goods that are
also referred to as chattels. Another distinction of corporeal
personal property is that it is visible and movable.
Incorporeal personal property involves “rights” rather than
tangible objects- patents (grant to the inventor to use, sell or
allow others to use the invention exclusively for 17 years);
copyrights-(grant giving an author an exclusive right to
possess, publish, or sell the production of their intellect);
trademarks- (a sign, mark, name or symbol that identifies a
business or its product-  may be registered-  for 20 years
and renewed at the same interval; mortgages on both real
estate and chattels; leases of apartments, offices and stores;
promissory notes; stock certificates; bonds; bank accounts; and
even court judgments.

II. Finish the sentences using information provided in the

paragraphs above.

1. The civil law includes…………………………………….

2. It has the following principal branches…………………...
3. A tort is ………………………………………………..…
4. Torts can be divided into …………………………………
5. Intentional torts include ………………………………….
6. Libel and slander are included in the broad term ………..
………………………………………………………………
7. Negligence is …………………………………………….
8. Incorporeal personal property involves…………………..

41
III. Find the words whose definitions are given below:

- someone guilty of a crime

- a wound or damage to part of your body caused by an
attack
- the crime of attacking someone
- to make a legal claim against someone
- to put yourself in an unpleasant situation by your own
actions
- mental or physical suffering caused by extreme pain or
worry
- the most that can be done
- the opinion that people have about a particular person
- a statement that someone is guilty of a crime or of
doing sth. Bad
- delinquent
- great pain
- a very cruel, violent, and shocking action

IV. Fill in the missing words in the sentences below.

Choose from the following:
arrested remanded in custody defence solicitor
verdict proof witness barrister
fine charged testimony evidence
juvenile delinquent sentenced arson commit
bail Magistrate’s Court burglary embezzlement
prosecution probation imprisonment shoplifting
Crown Court

42
1. The number of young people who ………….crimes has
risen sharply in recent years.
2. Another house was broken into last week. This is the
third…………in the area in the past month.
3. The judge………………….him to seven
years’..……………………for armed robbery.
4. After twelve hours, the Jury finally reached
its….……………: the prisoner was guilty.
5. Although the police suspected that he had been
involved in the robbery, since they had no
definite…………………there was nothing they could
do about it.
6. He parked his car in the wrong place and he had to pay
a 20$ parking ……………….
7. This is the fourth fire in the area recently. The police
suspect………….
8. The shop decided to install closed-circuit television in
an effort to combat the problem of………………
9. He was……………… by the police outside a pub in
Soho and………….with murder.

43
10. There are two criminal courts in Britain --
the……………….for minor offences and the.
……………………for more serious ones.
11. A…………………………….is a young person who
breaks the law.
12. A…………………...is someone who sees a crime
being committed.
13. The lawyer who prepares the case for his/her client
prior to appearing in court is called
a……………………..
14. The sum of money left with a court of law so that a
prisoner may be set free until his/her trial comes up is
called……………..
15. The bank manager admitted taking 250,000$ of the
bank’s money during the previous five years. He was
found guilty of…………………………
16. The witness held the Bible in her right hand and said: “I
swear by Almighty God that the……………………I
shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth”.
17. The formal statement made by a witness in court is
called a ……………………

44
 18. If a person is……………………………, this means
that s/he is put in prison before his/her trial.
19. Since it was his first offence, he was not sent to prison
but put on…………………for six months.
20. At a trial, the barrister who speaks for the accused is
called the Counsel for the………, while the barrister
who speaks against him is called the Counsel for
the………………….

V. Match the words in the two columns.

1. white-collar job a. an intelligent person

2. off the record b. not yet decided/resolved
3. piece of cake c. difficult to understand
4. go to law d. hide/cover up mistakes/failures
5. up in the air e. difficult job
6. broad picture f. job where you work at a desk
7. over my head g. a general overview of a situation
8. brain h. not official
9. whitewash i. sue
10. backbreaker j. extremely easy

45
  GROUP WORK. Make comments on:
“Honesty is the best policy”.

GRAMMAR PRACTICE
MODAL VERBS (REVIEW)

1. Underline the modal verbs in the text below.

Explain their usage.
The variability of standard of proof in the common law
system is well known. But one could label the penal
“beyond reasonable doubt” the 100% conviction rule,
whilst the civil “balance of probabilities” would be the 51%
conviction rule.

On the other hand, the standard of proof required in

civil and penal law in France is the same: the judge has to
be convinced, without a shadow of a doubt, of a person’s
fault, be it penal fault. The outcome is that where a civil
and a penal action are concurrently pending, the civil case
is stayed until the penal decision is taken. To avoid any
delay for victims, they are given the possibility of joining
their civil action to the criminal proceedings, which they do
in the immense majority of cases. They enjoy the added
advantage of seeing the prosecution doing the hard work of
establishing proof of guilt – and footing the costs.

There are extensive rules governing the gathering and

weighing of evidence in civil cases.
The emphasis is maybe stronger than in Common Law
trials on the written evidence and the rules governing its
admissibility.

46
 A striking difference between French and British civil
proceedings is that the great majority of the former end in a
written and reasoned judgment, whereas the latter
experience a considerable rate of pre-trial settlements. The
suspicion here is that a great number of settlements in
England are due simply to the cost of proceedings.

To conclude, I would assert that civil law procedural

systems do have a law of evidence. It addresses the subject
matter from a different angle to that of common law
proceedings, but it also practices the right to silence, the
exclusion of evidence and therefore also pens the
possibility for manipulation of evidence by lawyers. But it
is true that the investigative duty the continental judge is
held to discharge limits the extent of the risk, and that there
is no limit on what he may hear, even if he later discards
irregular evidence.

2. Group work. Make a list with the modal

verbs that you know. Use each one in sentences of
your own. Write them on the blackboard and
correct the mistakes.

3. Translate into English:

1) Harry poate să ne ajute mâine.

2) Acuzatul nu ar fi putut să dea un răspuns mai bun decât
acesta.

47
3) Cu toate că oferul a fost grav rănit, a putut să iasă din
ma ină înainte ca motorul să explodeze.
4) Deoarece aveam toate documentele în ordine, am putut
să trecem prin vamă rapid.
5) Nu îl putem recunoa te acum, dar puteam să-l
recunoa tem când avea mustaŃă.
6) Este posibil să plouă la noapte.
7) Vorbe te mai tare, astfel încât să te putem auzi.
8) Este posibil ca vecinii no trii să fi auzit ni te zgomote
când ma ina ne-a fost furată.
9) Dacă vorbe ti engleza bine, ai putea obŃine slujba
aceea.
10) Astăzi este miercuri, a a că Tom trebuie să meargă la
universitate. El a trebuit să meargă acolo ieri i va
trebui să meargă i mâine, de asemenea.
11) Nu putem discuta chestiunea aceasta altă dată? Nu,
trebuie să o discutăm acum.
12) Copii nu trebuie să traverseze strada pe aici.
13) In România traficul trebuie menŃinut pe partea dreaptă,
în timp ce în Anglia trebuie să fie pe partea stângă.
14) ÎŃi voi spune secretul acesta, dar nu trebuie să spui
nimănui despre el.

48
15) Nu este nevoie să mergem la serviciu mâine, dar eful
trebuie să meargă.
16) Este nevoie să merg acolo în fiecare zi? Este nevoie să
merg acolo acum?
17) Nu a fost nevoie să bat la u ă deoarece era deschisă.
18) Ar fi trebuit să încui u a înainte de a pleca de acasă.
19) Am stins luminile pentru ca nimeni să nu observe că
eram acolo.
20) A închis geamul de teamă să nu îl audă vecinul său.
21) Este recomandabil ca el să încerce să-l găsească.
22) Este corect ca el să spună adevărul de la început.
23) Ce ar face dacă s-ar întâmpla să găsească un pa aport
pe stradă?
24) Ar trebui să fii atent la regulile de circulaŃie!
25) Ea ar trebui să- i îndemne toŃi prietenii să participe la
întâlnire.
26) Vă deranjează dacă repetaŃi întrebarea?
27) Băiatul a promis că va fi aici la prânz.
28) Tom obi nuia să fumeze mult când era în armată?
29) Cum au îndrăznit să vină a a de târziu?
30) Nu îndrăzne te să se arate în faŃa noastră.

49
 WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT
Enlarge on:

♣ Corruption of the best becomes the worst.

♣ Knavery may serve for a turn, but honesty is best at
long run.
♣ Better speak truth rudely, than lie correctly.
♣ Face to face, the truth comes out.
♣ The sting of a reproach is the truth of it.

Topics for
Presentations

Common Law vs. Continental Law

The Adversary System

50
UNIT CRIMINAL LAW
3

֠ PRE-READING DISCUSSION

1. What do you understand by LAW ?

2. Do you know anything about CRIMINAL

LAW?

READING

Read the following to check your knowledge:

Criminal Law is the branch of law that defines crimes,

establishes punishments, and regulates the investigation and
prosecution of people accused of committing crimes. Criminal
law includes both substantive law and criminal procedure,
which regulates the implementation and enforcement of
substantive criminal law. Substantive criminal law defines
crime and punishment. On the other hand, criminal procedure
is concerned with the legal rules followed and the steps taken
to investigate, apprehend, charge, prosecute, convict, and
sentence to punishment individuals who violate substantive
criminal law.

51
 In the common law system, judges decide cases by
referring to principles set forth in previous judicial decisions.
Common law systems are typically contrasted with civil law
systems, which are found in most Western European countries,
much of Latin America and Africa, and parts of Asia. In civil
law systems, judges decide cases by referring to statutes, which
are enacted by legislatures and compiled in comprehensive
books called codes.

Criminal law seeks to protect the public from harm by

inflicting punishment upon those who have already done harm
and by threatening with punishment those who are tempted to
do harm. The harm that criminal law aims to prevent varies. It
may be physical harm, death, or bodily injury to human beings;
the loss of or damage to property; sexual immorality; danger to
the government; disturbance of the public peace and order; or
injury to the public health.

READING COMPREHENSION PRACTICE

I. Try to give a title for each paragraph

II. Find words in the text above corresponding to the
following definitions:

1. the process of bringing a charge against someone for a

crime
2. making people obey a rule or law
3. to find and take away a criminal
4. to prove or officially announce that someone is guilty of a
crime after a trial
5. a law passed by a parliament
6. damage, injury

52
7. a situation in which people fight or behave violently in
public
8. no trouble or crime

☺ VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR PRACTICE

1. Match the definitions on the right with the terms on the left:

1. retribution a. punishment denying the criminal the

oportunity to commit further crimes
2. deterrence b. compensation for victims
3. restraint c. punishment as a device for ensuring
that offenders pay for past misconduct
4. rehabilitation d. punishment dissuading the offender
from repeating the crime
5. restoration e. providing offenders with education
and treatment

2. Complete the following sentences with the correct

form of the words in brackets:
Defence is a term that refers to numerous claims that
serve to rebut, mitigate, justify, or excuse conduct that the state
has labelled criminal.The defence of (sanity) is based on the
premise that those who are unable to control their actions or
appreciate the (crime) of their actions due to mental (ill) should
not be under (crime) law. A perpetrator’s youth has long been a
defence to criminal charges because children are deemed
incapable of making rational
decisions for which they should be held (account). For
intoxication to be used as a defence against a crime, it must be
(voluntary). A person who commits a crime because another is
exerting extreme influence or (press) upon them may have the

53
defense of duress/coercion.
As a general rule, the law provides a defence for actions that
(reason) appear necessary to protect oneself from the imminent
use of (law) force.

3. Read the definitions below the chart and then fill

in the suitable column:

crimes crimes crimes crimes crimes

against against against against against
person property habitation sexual gvt.
morality

Larceny (commonly called and widely spread as theft) is

often divided into two degrees: grand larceny and petit larceny.
The line between the two depends upon the value of the
property stolen. Grand larceny is commonly a felony, while
petit larceny is a misdemeanor.

Arson is the malicious and voluntary burning of the dwelling

house of another.
Adultery is the crime of any married person who cohabits or
has sexual intercourse with another person who is not his or her
spouse.

54
Murder is defined as the unlawful killing of a human being by
a person who had an intent to kill.The intent is known as
malice aforethought. No actual hatred, ill will, or spite is
required.

Burglary The common law definition of burglary is breaking

and entering the dwelling house of another in the nighttime
with the intent to commit a felony therein.

Manslaughter is defined as the unlawful killing of another

without malice aforethought. It is generally divided into two
branches: voluntary and involuntary manslaughter.

Embezzlement occurs when a person who has lawful

possession of another’s money or property fraudulently
converts that money or property to his/her own use.

Assault and Battery are common law crimes that differ from
murder and manslaughter primarily in that the victim is not
killed. But assault (an attempt to inflict bodily injury upon
another) and battery with a deadly weapon or with intent to
commit some other crime
(such as rape) are commonly punishable as felonies, while
simple assault and battery are considered misdemeanors.

Perjury is defined as willfully giving a false statement while

under oath concerning a material matter in a judicial
proceeding.
Kidnapping is the felony involving the seizure, confinement,
and, perhaps, the carrying away of another by force (or threat
of force) against his/her will. An aggravated form of
kidnapping occurs if the purpose of the act is to obtain ransom
or reward; use the victim as a shield or hostage; facilitate the

55
commission of another offense, such as robbery or rape; or
terrorize or inflict bodily injury on the victim.

Robbery is a form of aggravated larceny - a combination of

assault or battery, plus larceny.

Bigamy is committed by a person who willfully and knowingly

enters into a marriage before a prior marriage has been legally
terminated by divorce, annulment, or death of the spouse.

Prostitution involves the exchange of sexual contact or favors

for money or its equivalent. The crime of pandering (pimping)
involves the promotion of prostitution by enticing or procuring
persons to engage in prostitution.

Bribery is defined as giving or promising to give a public

official something of value with a corrupt intent to influence
the official in the discharge of his or her official duty.

Extortion / blackmail differs from robbery in that the threats,

stated or implied, that cause the victim to give money or
property to the offender are not threats of immediate violence
but rather threats (intimidation) of future harm.

Forgery is a false writing or a genuine writing materially

altered, that either has legal significance or is commonly relied
upon in business transactions.
Incest consists of either cohabitation or sexual intercourse
between closely related persons, such as between parent and
child or between siblings.

Treason consists of attempting by overt acts to overthrow or

levy war against the government, to adhere oneself to the

56
enemies of the government, or to give aid and comfort to the
enemy.

4. Suggest your own comprehension questions to the

following extract :

ELEMENTS OF A CRIME

Certain elements, or factors, must coexist in order for

behavior to constitute a crime. To be guilty of a crime, a person
must commit an either voluntary physical act or fail to act
when s/he had a legal duty to do so. In other words, there is no
criminal liability for bad thoughts alone. Thus, a child may
earnestly wish a parent dead and may even think about killing
the parent. But even if the parent should coincidentally die, the
child is not a murderer, provided that he or she took no action
to bring about the parent’s death.

Most crimes are committed by a specific action—for

example, the pulling of a trigger or the thrusting of a knife in
murder, or the lighting of a fire in arson. Some crimes,
however, are defined in terms of omission or failure to act. For
example, it is a crime not to file an income tax return. A person
who has a special relationship with another or has voluntarily
assumed a duty to help another may be guilty of a crime if he
or she fails to act. For example, a parent is obligated to rescue
his or her child from danger and a lifeguard on duty must
attempt to rescue a drowning swimmer if it is physically
possible for the parent or lifeguard to do so. Although the duty
to rescue a person who is in danger is limited, parents owe a
duty to their young children and lifeguards to swimmers in
their charge.

57
 To be guilty of a crime, the person must also have had
the intent to act in a harmful way. This element is sometimes
called the requirement of mental fault (mens rea, Latin for
“guilty mind.”) Thus, many crimes are defined in terms of
intentionally, knowingly, maliciously, willfully, recklessly, or
negligently acting or bringing about a result, or of conducting
oneself with intent to accomplish a specified consequence.

There is no criminal liability unless the criminal act

and the required intent concur. Thus it is not murder if a man
desires to kill his brother and, while driving to the store to
purchase a gun for this purpose, accidentally runs over and
kills his brother who happens to be crossing the street. On the
other hand, if one intends harm to a particular person or object
and, in attempting to carry out that intent, causes a similar
harm to another person or object, one's intent will be
transferred from the target person or object to the person or
object actually harmed. For example, if a woman shoots at a
man with the intent to kill him but, due to poor aim, misses the
man and hits and kills a child nearby, the shooter’s intent to kill
the man is transferred to the child and the woman is liable for
the child’s murder.

5. Match each text with the corresponding headline:

Duress Self-Defense Insanity

Entrapment Age Mistake
Intoxication

58
 A. Defence is a broad term that refers to numerous
claims that serve to rebut, mitigate, justify, or excuse conduct
that the state has labeled criminal. This defense is based on
the premise that those who are unable to control their actions
or appreciate the criminality of their actions due to mental
defect or illness should not be punished under criminal law. It
is a legal test of criminal responsibility and does not strictly
conform to the medical definition of mental illness. Although
a great deal of publicity is usually generated when it is
invoked, it is rarely used and infrequently
successful.Evidence of the accused person’s diminished
capacity may reduce the severity of the crime charged or of
the sentence imposed upon conviction.
B. A perpetrator's youth has long been a defense to
criminal charges because children are deemed incapable of
making rational decisions for which they should be held
accountable. Under the common law, a child under seven is
deemed too young to be criminally responsible. A child
between seven and fourteen cannot be convicted of crime
without proof that s/he knows the difference between right
and wrong; but any child older than that is deemed
sufficiently mature to be criminally responsible in most
circumstances. Under these statutes children who commit
crimes are considered guilty of delinquency rather than of a
criminal act, based on the theory that children need help more
than punishment.
C. Whether caused by alcohol, illegal drugs, or
prescribed medications, this may produce a state of mind
resembling insanity. An offender in this state often cannot
distinguish right from wrong or may have an irresistible

59
impulse; in order to be used as a defense against a crime, it
must be involuntary.
D. A person who commits a crime because another is
exerting extreme influence or pressure upon them may have
this defense. Most jurisdictions allow it only when the
pressure exerted is immediate and substantial, such as the
threat of death or serious bodily harm; the coercion is such
that a reasonable person in the offender's position would have
committed the crime; the offender did not willingly
participate in creating a situation where coercion was likely.
For example, if a woman kills a man because another person
who is armed threatens to kill her if she does not, she would
have this defense to any charge of murder.
E. This one constitutes a defense to criminal liability
if it can be shown that, owing to it, the accused person lacked
the mental fault required to commit the crime in question. If a
person unintentionally takes another's coat, believing that it is
his/her own coat, this thing negates the intent to steal that is
required for the crime of larceny. On the other hand, if a
person, with the intent to steal, takes another's coat believing
that the coat belongs to a third person, this does not negate
the person’s intent to steal, and s/he is guilty of larceny.
F. As a general rule, the law provides a defense for
actions that reasonably appear necessary to protect oneself
from the imminent use of unlawful force. For example, a
person is justified in the use of deadly force if s/he
reasonably believes that deadly force is necessary to prevent
an act that would cause immediate death or serious bodily
injury to him/herself. If so acting, one may respond only with
force proportional to the force defended against or necessary
to resist the unlawful attack, even deadly force in response to

60
deadly force. One who has initiated or provoked an attack
generally may not claim this kind of defense.
G. A person who is induced by the police to commit a
crime that s/he would not have otherwise undertaken can claim
this defense. To prove it, one must show that the idea for
committing the crime originated with a law enforcement agent,
that the agent persuaded him/ her to commit the crime, and that
s/he was not predisposed to commit such a crime. A person
cannot successfully claim this defense if the police officer
merely furnishes the person with a favorable opportunity to
commit crime-for example, by pretending to be intoxicated in
order to catch a pickpocket who has been targeting drunk
individuals.

GRAMMAR PRACTICE
THE GERUND AND THE INFINITIVE (Review)
The Constitution gives the federal government authority over
certain limited subjects, such as the power to tax, to regulate
interstate commerce, to declare war, and to regulate the mail.
These powers include an implied authority to define some
crimes. For example, the taxation power includes the
authority to make it a crime to fail to file an income-tax
return or to understate income in a return that is filed. The
authority over mail includes the implied power to make it a
crime to use the mail to defraud or to distribute obscene
publications.
The Constitution explicitly grants power to define criminal
behavior. For example, it gives the federal government the
authority to punish counterfeiting, treason, and felonies
committed on the high seas (such as piracy) and to govern
land areas in the United States devoted to federal uses, such

61
as military bases and national parks. The federal government
may also protect itself from harm.
The states retain broad power to make law, including
criminal law, over matters not delegated by the U.S.
Constitution to the federal government or specifically denied
to the states. In fact, the states have primary responsibility for
defining and enforcing criminal law. The vast majority of all
criminal prosecutions take place in state courts under state
criminal codes. Each state, within its own territory, has so-
called police powers to make and enforce such laws as it
deems necessary or appropriate for promoting the public
health, safety, morals, or welfare.

6. Study the following words:

burglary/robbery

It is a crime to take another`s property without his/her

consent and with the intention of depriving the person of it.
The general term for such a criminal act is theft; the legal term
is larceny. Two related legal terms thatare used in everyday
speech and writing are burglary and robbery. Burglary once
implied breaking into a dwelling at night with intent to commit
a crime; however, in its broader current definitions, entry need
not be gained by breaking in, the structure need not be a
dwelling, and the act can be carried out at any time. Robbery
implies the unlawful taking of money, personal property, or
any other article of value from another person, against his or
her will and by force or intimidation. That is, the victim need
not be home when a burglar enters, but of course is present
when he or she is forcibly stopped and robbed.

62
cardsharp/ card shark

Over the years, a person who swindles, cheats, or

otherwise victimizes others has been called both a sharp( or
sharper) and a shark. In informal American English, The terms
cardsharp( or cardsharper) and card shark are applied
interchangeably to someone, especially a professional gambler,
who cheats at card games. But card shark refers also to an
expert, though not necessarily dishonest, card player.

quack/charlatan

Both quack and charlatan apply to a person who

unscrupulously pretends to knowledge or skill he or she does
not possess. However, quack almost always is used for a
fraudulent or incompetent practitioner of medicine. One might
say, for example, “Charlatans often dazzle party guests with
astrological predictions”, but “Quacks are cashing in on the
AIDS epidemic.”

vagrant/ tramp

Vagrant refers to a person without a fixed home who

wanders about from place to place, getting along mainly by
begging. In legal usage, the term designates an idle or
disorderly person whose way of living makes him or her liable
to arrest and detention. Vagabond originaly implied
shiftlessness or roguishness but now often connotes no more
than a carefree, roaming existence.
Tramp, drifter, derelict, and the Americanisms bum and
hobo are sometimes used as informal substitutes for vagrant
and vagabond. Bum, however, suggest an idle, dissolute, often

63
alcoholic person who lives either by begging or by doing odd
jobs. Hobo is also applied to a migratory worker.
The homeless refers to a group of destitute individuals
and families, often
recently poor or mentally ill, who lack the financial resources
to have a home. These people, largely rejected by society, can
be seen especially in large urban centers.
Bag lady is a 1970s slang term for a homeless, destitute,
usually elderly woman who wanders the streets of a city. The
name comes from the fact that she carries her few possessions
with her, usually in shopping bags. Such a hapless man is
likely to be called a bum or a drifter- not a bagman, for this
slang term denotes a go-between in offering bribes, collecting
money for the numbers racket, or engaging in similar shady
activities.

7. Put each of the following words and phrases into

its correct place in the passage below.
bigamy community civil classes
countries crimes criminal law felony
fine forgery laws life
imprisonment
misdemeanour offences penalty person
prison state Term treason

Crime
Crime violates the laws of a community, …… . or
nation.It is punishable in accordance with these …… . The
definition of crime varies according to time and place, but the
laws of most …… consider as crimes such ….. as arson, ….. ,
burglary, ….. , murder, and .….. .

64
 Not all offences against the law are ….. .The laws that
set down the punishments for crimes form the …… . This law
defines as crimes those offences considered most harmful to
the …… . On the other hand, a …… may wrong someone else
other way that offends the ….. law.
The common law recognizes three ….. of crime:
treason, ….. and misdemeanour. Death or …… is the usual
…… for treason. Laws in the United States, for example,
define a felony as a crime that is punishable by a …… of one
year or more in a state or federal ….. .A person who commits
a …… may be punished by a …… or a jail term of less than
one year.

8. Give the name of the defined law breaker.

1. steals _____
2. steals purses and wallets ___k______
3. gets money by threatening to ____k______
disclose personal information
4. seizes airplanes __ j_____
5. takes things from shops without _ _ _ _ _ i_ _ _ _
paying
6. kills people __r_____
7. steals from houses or offices ___ g___
8. steals from banks or trains __b___
9. takes people hostage for a ransom ___n_____
10. steals government secrets ___
11. willfully destroys property v_____
12. marries illegally while being b_ _ _ _ _ _ _
married

65
9. Choose the correct answer.
1. This was one of the few crimes he did not ….. .
a) achieve b) commit c) make d) perform

2. The ….. are still holding twelve people hostage on the

plane.
a) bandits b) guerrillas c) hijackers d) kidnappers

3. He was charged with a(n) ….. of currency regulations.

a) break b) breach c) disrespect d) observance

4. Our insurance policy offers immediate ….. against the risk

of burglary, accident or damage by fire.
a) care b) cover c) relief d) security

5. The man jumped out of the window and committed ….. .

a) death b) homicide c) murder d) suicide

6. “ Thieves will be …… .”
a) liable b) lifted c) persecuted d) prosecuted

7. Police blamed a small hooligan …… in the crowd for the

violence wich occurred.
a) constituent b) division c) element d) portion

8. The police said there was no sign of a ….. entry even

though the house had been burgled.
a) broken b) burst c) forced d) smashed

9. The police car raced down the street with the ….. blaring.
a) alarm b)bell c) gong d) siren

66
10. The tourist`s camera was …… because he had brought it
into the country illegally.
a) bereaved b) confiscated c) deprived d) extorted

11. Look, Officer. I`m not drunk. I`m as …… as a judge.

a) calm b) clear c) sober d) steady

12. He said he would sue us, but I don`t think he`ll …… his
threat.
a) achieve b) bring about c) carry out d) perform

13. The conspiration were plotting the ….. of the government.

a) catastrophe b) disaster c) demolition d) overthrow

14. The thieves ….. the papers all over the room while they
were searching for the money.
a) broadcast b) scattered c) sowed d) strayed

15. Ms. Goodheart was completely ….. by the thief’s disguise.

a) taken away b) taken down c) taken in d) taken up

16. The police caught the thief ….. .

a) in black and white b) in the red c) red-handed d) true blue

17. He was arrested for trying pass ….. notes at the bank.
a) camouflaged b) counterfeit c) fake d) fraudulent

18. He offered me $ 500 to break my contract. That’s ….. .

a) blackmail b) bribery c) compensation d) reward

19. The child was kidnapped by a notorius ….. of robbers.

a) crew b) gang c) staff d) team

67
20. The burglar ….. silently into the room.
a) crept b) stood c) strode d) wantered

10. Match the criminal with the definition.

1. an arsonist a) tries to enforce his political

demands by carrying out or
2. an assasin threatening acts of violence
3. a deserter b) pretends or claims to be what he is
not
4. an embezzler c) makes money by dishonest
business methods, e.g. by selling
5. a forger worthless goods
6. a fraud or con man d) steals from his own company
7. a hooligan e) attacks and robs people especially
in public places
8. a mugger f) sets fire to property
9. a poacher g) kills for political reasons or reward
10. a racketeer h) brings goods into one country from
another illegally
11. a smuggler i) hunts illegally on somebody else’s
land
12. a terrorist j) makes false money or documents
k) a soldier who leaves the armed
forces without permission
l) causes damage or disturbance in
public places

11. Choose the right answer.

1. The spy ….. the desk in a attempt to find the secret

documents.
a) invaded b) kidnapped c) looted d) ransacked

68
2. The safe deposit box ….. a high-pitched sound when it was
moved.
a) ejected b) emitted c) expelled d) excluded

3. He ….. his fist and threatened to hit me.

a) clenched b) clutched c) grabbed d) gripped

4. Thieves got away with a ….. of jewellery worth thousands of

pounds.
a) catch b) haul c) loot d) snatch

5. The burglar’s presence was betrayed by a ….. floorboard.

a) cracking b) creaking c) crunching d) groaning

6. Smuglers consistently ….. import regulations.

a) break b) flaunt c) float d) flout

7. Luckily my wallet was handed in to the police with its

contents ….. .
a) contained b) intact c) missing d) preserved

8. The intruder was badly ….. by the guard dog in the palace
garden.
a) damaged b) eaten c) mauled d) violated

9. When the police examined the house they found that the
lock had been ….. with.
a) broken b) hindered c) tampered d) touched

10. The hooligan ….. the money out of my hand and ran away.
a) clutched b) gripped c) snatched d) withdrew

69
12. There are many crimes and offences apart from
the few mentioned above. Explain, define or give
examples of the offences listed below.

blackmail driving without due care and

attention
kidnapping mugging - robbery with violence
arson drug peddling
trespassing espionage - spying
manslaughter shoplifting
smuggling treason
forgery hijacking
bigamy obscenity
baby / wife - battering bribery and corruption
conspiracy petty theft
fraud

13. Which of the above would or could involve the

following ?

1 counterfeit money 4 a ransom 7 state secrets

2 pornography 5 heroin 8 contraband
3 hostages 6 a traitor 9 a store detective

14.  Work in pairs or groups. Imagine you are

burglars or bank robbers. What plans must you make
if you want to succeed ?

70
 GRAMMAR PRACTICE
THE GERUND AND THE INFINITIVE (REVIEW)

Translate the following sentences into English

using either the Gerund or the Infinitive.

1) Te deranjează dacă mergi la poliŃie cu mine?

2) Ea ne-a sfătuit unde să îi căutăm.
3) S-a dovedit că el spusese adevărul.
4) Am insistat ca el să fie prezent acolo.
5) Tom a început prin a ne atrage atenŃia asupra acelei
probleme grave.
6) Bărbatul acela a fost acuzat de furt i de uciderea unor
oameni nevinovaŃi.
7) Toată noaptea ea a evitat să vorbească despre accident.
8) PoliŃistul mi-a recomandat să nu merg cu viteză.
9) Mă a tept ca el să ne fi înŃeles.
10) Ei au început să vorbească despre accident.
11) Am încercat să o împiedicăm să vadă cadavrul.
12) Cu toate că ne-au văzut, au continuat să se certe.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

1. Enlarge on:
Never ask pardon before you are accused.
Woe be to him whose advocate becomes his accuser.
A guilty consciences needs no accuser.

2. Write a short story about something that you did badly.

Give it a title (“The Worst…” or “The Least
Successful…”).

71
UNIT CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
4

֠ PRE-READING

1) Why do people commit crimes? In five minutes

write down as many reasons for committing crimes
as you can think of. Afterwards compare with
others.
2) What is criminal procedure?

READING

Read the text and complete the table below:

Criminal Procedure is the body of law regulating the

inquiry into whether a person has violated criminal law.
Criminal procedure governs the investigation of crimes; the
arrest, charging, and trial of accused criminals; and the
sentencing of those convicted (found guilty of a crime). It also
regulates the convicted person’s possible appeal for review of
the trial court’s decision.
Legal systems based on the common law tradition, such
as those in England, Canada, and the United States, are
typically contrasted with civil law systems, which are found in
many Western European countries, much of Latin America and

72
Africa, and parts of Asia. Civil law and common law systems
have entirely different approaches to criminal procedure. Most
countries with civil law systems use what is known as the
inquisitorial system. Common law countries use what is
called the adversarial system.
The inquisitorial process is characterized by a
continuing investigation conducted initially by police and then
more extensively by an impartial examining magistrate. This
system assumes that an accurate verdict is most likely to arise
from a careful and exhaustive investigation. The examining
magistrate serves as the lead investigator – an inquisitor who
directs the fact-gathering process by questioning witnesses,
interrogating the suspect, and collecting other evidence. The
attorneys for the prosecution (the accuser) and defense (the
accused) play a limited role in offering legal arguments and
interpretations that they believe the court should give to the
facts that are discovered. All parties, including the accused, are
expected to cooperate in the investigation by answering the
magistrate’s questions and supplying relevant evidence. The
case proceeds to trial only after completion of the examining
phase and the resolution of factual uncertainties, and only if the
examining magistrate determines that there is sufficient
evidence of guilt. Under the inquisitorial approach, the trial is
merely the public finale of the ongoing investigation. Critics
argue that the inquisitorial system places too much unchecked
power in the examining magistrate and judge, who both
investigate and adjudicate the case.
In a common law, an adversarial approach is used to
investigate and adjudicate guilt or innocence. The adversarial
system assumes that truth – that is, an accurate verdict – is
most likely to result from the open competition between the
prosecution and the defense.

73
Primary responsibility for the presentation of evidence and
legal arguments lies with the opposing parties, not with a
judge. Each side, acting in its self-interest, is expected to
present facts and interpretations of the law in a way most
favorable to its interests. The approach presumes that the
accused is innocent, and the burden of proving guilt rests with
the prosecution. Through counterargument and cross-
examination, each side is expected to test the truthfulness,
relevancy, and sufficiency of the opponent’s evidence and
arguments.
The adversarial system places decision-making authority in the
hands of neutral decision makers.
The judge ascertains the applicable law and jury determines the
facts. Critics of the adversarial approach argue that the pursuit
of winning often overshadows the search for truth.
Furthermore, inequalities between the parties in
resources and in the abilities of the attorneys may distort
the outcome of the adversarial contest.

Investigation Role played

Phases
System Countries (conducted by Drawbacks
(steps)
by) attorneys

74
☺ VOCABULARY PRACTICE

1) Find words in the text which could be replaced by:

a) an official process, in the form of serious of meetings,
intended to find out why something happened
b) to disobey or do something against an official
agreement, law, principle
c) a method of doing something, or dealing with a
problem
d) fair
e) extremely thorough
f) an official who is asking lots of difficult questions
g) information given in a court of law in order to prove
that someone is guilty
h) solution
i) legally determine/decide who is right in an argument
between two groups
j) the fact of being not guilty of a crime
k) the duty to prove something
l) giving true facts about something
m) being directly connected with the subject or problem
being discussed or considered
n) the act of trying to achieve something in a determined
way
o) to explain a fact or statement in a way that changes its
real meaning
p) final result

75
2)  Pair Work. Ask your colleague questions
and fill in the gaps.

Text for student A

The United States has a federal system, meaning that

power is divided between a (A1) authority and many state or
local authorities. Thus, there are 51 different sets of criminal
procedural law in the United States – that of the federal
government and one for each of the 50 states. In addition,
separate (A2) procedures exist for military courts and for
federal territories. The procedures adopted by each state and
federal government vary. However, the shared heritage of the
English common law provides significant (A3) in the basic
structure of the process. Furthermore, the Constitution of the
United States imposes some limitations on the states in
formulating their criminal procedure.
Federal Criminal Procedure - A person prosecuted in the
federal courts on charge of violating a federal criminal law is
subject to federal criminal procedure. Federal procedure is
(A4), first of all, by certain provisions of the U.S. Constitution,
especially those contained in the Bill of Rights (the first ten
amendments to the Constitution).
The Fourth Amendment protects citizens from
unreasonable (A5) and seizures and describes how law
enforcement officials can obtain warrants (court orders
permitting a search or arrest).
The Fifth Amendment protects individuals accused of
crimes from having to testify against themselves and from
being tried more than once for the same offense. The Fifth

76
Amendment requires that government procedures adhere to
due process of law, which means basic standards of (A6) and
equity. Under the Sixth Amendment, a (A7) is guaranteed a
speedy and public jury trial during which the defendant will
get notice of the charges he or she faces and may call witnesses
and face his or her accusers. The Eighth Amendment prohibits
excessive (A8), excessive fines, and cruel and unusual
punishments.
State Criminal Procedure – A person prosecuted in the
courts of a particular state on charge of violating the criminal
laws of that state is subject to state criminal procedure. State
criminal procedure is found in the (A9), statutes, rules, and
judicial decisions of that state. Furthermore, portions of the
U.S. Constitution are applicable to state criminal defendants.
State constitutions generally (A10) a state criminal
defendant most of the same rights that a federal defendant is
provided by the Bill of Rights. Some states have provisions
that vary from federal constitutional requirements.
The Supreme Court of the United States has required states
to provide to criminal defendants most of the procedural
guarantees in the U.S. Constitution.

77
 Text for student B

The United States has a federal system, meaning that

power is divided between a central authority and many state or
(B1) authorities. Thus, there are 51 different sets of criminal
procedural law in the United States – that of the federal
government and one for each of the 50 states. In addition,
separate criminal procedures exist for military (B2) and for
federal territories. The procedures adopted by each state and
federal government vary. However, the shared heritage of the
English common law provides significant similarities in the
basic structure of the (B3). Furthermore, the Constitution of
the United States imposes some limitations on the states in
formulating their criminal procedure.
Federal Criminal Procedure - A person prosecuted in the
federal courts on charge of violating a federal criminal law is
subject to federal criminal procedure. Federal procedure is
governed, first of all, by certain (B4) of the U.S. Constitution,
especially those contained in the Bill of Rights (the first ten
amendments to the Constitution).
The Fourth Amendment protects citizens from
unreasonable searches and (B5) and describes how law
enforcement officials can obtain warrants (court orders
permitting a search or arrest).
The Fifth Amendment protects individuals accused of
crimes from having to testify against themselves and from
being tried more than once for the same offense. The Fifth
Amendment requires that government procedures adhere to
due process of law, which means basic standards of fairness
and (B6). Under the Sixth Amendment, a defendant is
guaranteed a speedy and public jury trial during which the

78
defendant will get notice of the (B7) he or she faces and may
call witnesses and face his or her accusers. The Eighth
Amendment prohibits excessive bail, excessive (B8), and cruel
and unusual punishments.
State Criminal Procedure – A person prosecuted in the
courts of a particular state on charge of violating the criminal
laws of that state is subject to state criminal procedure. State
criminal procedure is found in the constitution, statutes, rules,
and (B9) decisions of that state. Furthermore, portions of the
U.S. Constitution are applicable to state criminal defendants.
State constitutions generally guarantee a state criminal
defendant most of the same rights that a federal defendant is
provided by the Bill of Rights. Some states have provisions
that vary from federal (B10) requirements.
The Supreme Court of the United States has required states
to provide to criminal defendants most of the procedural
guarantees in the U.S. Constitution.

3) Read about Pretrial events, match the actions with

their corresponding paragraph, then sort out the
correct order in which they would normally occur
by placing them in the grid:
Arraignment
on the Preliminary
Preparation Investigation First Judicial
Indictment Hearing or Bail Booking
for Trial and Arrest Appearance
or Indictment
Information

79
The rules of criminal procedure affect many actions prior to the
formal trial of the defendant. Even before a suspect is arrested,
certain procedural rules govern the activities of the police and
the rights of the suspect. After an arrest is made, a series of
events takes place leading up to either release, a guilty plea, or
a trial to determine the accused person’s guilt or innocence. All
of these events are governed by the rules of criminal procedure.

A.___ Within a reasonable time after the arrest, the accused

must be taken before a magistrate and informed of the charge.
The magistrate will ascertain that the person before the court is,
in fact, the individual referred to in the complaint (an initial
charging document). The magistrate also will notify the
accused of various legal rights, such as the right to remain
silent and the right to assistance of counsel. If the accused is
indigent (poor) and desires the assistance of an appointed
attorney, the process for securing an attorney at the state's
expense will be initiated (known as public defenders in some
jurisdictions, to defend those who cannot afford a private
attorney).

B.___ A neutral body-either a group of citizens or a judge-

reviews the case against the accused and decides whether he or
she should be tried. These proceedings are designed to review
the government's decision to prosecute in order to prevent
governmental abuse of power. If, after hearing the evidence,
the presiding judge or grand jury finds there is probable cause
to believe the accused committed the offense, legal
proceedings against the accused continue. If the prosecution's
evidence is found insufficient, the charges are dismissed and
the accused is released. However, the person can be rearrested
and recharged if the prosecutors develop or find further
evidence supporting the charge. If the grand jury finds

80
sufficient evidence to justify a trial on the crime charged, it
issues an indictment - a formal document containing a plain
statement of the facts constituting the offense charged. The
indictment or information replaces the complaint as the formal
charging document in the case. Once the formal accusation has
been issued, the accused is referred to as the defendant. A copy
of the accusation is given to the defendant before s/he is called.

C.___ The defendant is entitled to a speedy trial, although not

so speedy as to deny sufficient time to prepare an adequate
defense. The defendant may ask for a postponement if more
time is needed. Although the defendant is entitled to be tried in
the county or district where the crime was committed, he or she
may file a motion asking the court for a change of venue—that
is, a move of the trial to a court in another locality. A change of
venue is common when a fair trial in the district would be
impossible due to pretrial publicity or public hostility to the
defendant. Prior to the trial, the prosecutor is required to turn
over to the defendant information favorable to him or her on
issues that will be tried.

D.___ refers to the security that the accused gives to the court
to guarantee his or her appearance at subsequent judicial
proceedings. The accused person's promise to return for trial is
secured by some form of collateral, such as money or property
(fixed by the judge or magistrate), that the accused forfeits if he
or she does not show up for trial. The system attempts to
balance the due process rights of the accused with the state's
need to ensure that a person accused of a crime will return for
trial.

E. ___ is the process of taking a person into custody for the

purpose of charging that person with a crime,(the first step in a

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criminal prosecution). It can be made with or without a
warrant. Before questioning a suspect in custody, the police
must inform him or her of certain legal rights, including the
right to remain silent and the right to have an attorney present
during questioning. These Miranda warnings are named after
the 1966 Supreme Court case, Miranda v. Arizona, in which
the Court declared the necessity of such a procedure.
A judge may issue a warrant if either a police officer or a
private person swears under oath that the accused has
committed a crime, or that a crime has been committed and
there is probable cause for believing the accused committed it.
For certain crimes, a summons (formal document notifying a
person that he or she is required to appear in court to answer a
charge) may be used in place of an arrest.

F.___ At this procedure, taking place in the court in which the

defendant will be tried, the indictment or information is read.
The defendant is called upon to answer the charge by pleading
not guilty, guilty, or nolo contendere (no contest). Before
pleading, the defendant may file a formal document, known as
a motion, asking the court to dismiss the case. A judge can
dismiss the charges if, for example, he or she concludes that
the grand jury was not properly assembled or determines that
the conduct charged does not constitute a crime. If the
defendant does not make such motion or if the court denies the
motion, the defendant must enter a plea. If the defendant pleads
guilty, there is no trial and the case is set for sentencing. With
the court's permission, the defendant may be allowed to plead
nolo contendere. This plea has the same consequences as
entering a guilty plea, but it does not require the defendant to
admit guilt.

G.___ is the clerical process by which an administrative record

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is made of the arrest. The name and address of the person
arrested (sometimes referred to as the arrestee), the time and
place of arrest, the name of the arresting officer, and the arrest
charge are entered in the police log. This process can also
involve searching, fingerprinting, photographing, and testing
the arrestee for drugs and alcohol.

4) Read the explanation of the steps in either a

criminal or civil trial.
a) Opening Statement by Plaintiff or Prosecutor –
plaintiff’s attorney (in civil cases) or prosecutor (in
criminal cases) explains to the trier of fact the evidence
to be presented as proof of the allegations (unproven
statements) in the complaint or indictment.
b) Opening Statement by Defense – defendant’s attorney
explains evidence to be presented to deny the
allegations made by the plaintiff or prosecutor.
c) Direct Examination by Plaintiff or Prosecutor – each
witness for the plaintiff is questioned. Other evidence
(e.g., documents, physical evidence) in favor of the
plaintiff or prosecution is presented.
d) Cross Examination by Defense – the defense has the
opportunity to question each witness. Questioning is
designed to break down the story or to discredit the
witness in the eyes of the jury.
e) Motions – if the prosecution’s or plaintiff’s basic case
has not been established from the evidence introduced,
the judge can end the case by granting the defendant’s
motion to dismiss (in civil cases) or by entering a
directed verdict (in criminal cases).
f) Direct Examination by Defense – each defense witness
is questioned.

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 g) Cross Examination by Plaintiff – each defense witness
is cross-examined.
h) Closing Statement by Plaintiff – prosecutor or
plaintiff’s attorney reviews all the evidence presented
(noting uncontradicted facts), states how the evidence
has satisfied the elements of the charge, and asks for a
finding of guilty (in criminal cases) or for the plaintiff
(in civil cases).
i) Closing Statement by Defense – same as closing
statement by prosecution/plaintiff. The defense asks for
a finding of not guilty (in criminal cases) or for the
defendant (in civil cases).
j) Rebuttal Argument – prosecutor or plaintiff has the
right to make additional closing arguments.
k) Jury Instructions – judge instructs jury as to the law
that applies in the case.
l) Verdict – in most states, a unanimous decision is
required one way or the other. If jury cannot reach a
unanimous decision, it is said to be a hung jury, and the
case may be tried again.

5) Read the texts, then provide titles.

a) After a guilty verdict is issued, but generally before
sentencing, the convicted defendant may make a motion
for a new trial on the premise that a mistake prejudicial
(harmful) to the defendant was made at the trial.
Prejudicial errors include errors in the judge’s rulings
on the admissibility of evidence or instructions to the
jury, or some misconduct by the jury, judge, or
prosecutor. The defendant may also move for a new
trial based on the argument that the evidence was not
sufficient to support the jury’s guilty verdict. A motion

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 for a new trial on the basis of newly discovered
evidence that, had it been available at the trial, might
have resulted in an acquittal may be made after the
defendant has been sentenced; however, there is
generally a time limit on this. If the trial judge grants
the motion for a new trial, the conviction is set aside
and the defendant may be tried again by a new jury. If
the motion is denied, the defendant will be sentenced.

b) Once guilt has been determined, either by verdict

following a trial or by the entry of a guilty plea, the
defendant must be sentenced. Generally, the trial judge
imposes the sentence, which must be within the
statutory limits set by the legislature for the crime in
question. In a few states, the jury fixes the sentence.
Available sentences include fine, forfeiture (loss of
property), restitution, probation, some form of
incarceration or deprivation of liberty, or a combination
of these. For certain very serious offenses, the
convicted offender may be sentenced to death.
The sentencing options available to the judge are often
defined by the legislature. In jurisdictions that use
indeterminate sentencing, the judge has discretion to
set the sentence at a maximum and minimum term
within a broad range permitted by law. Parole
authorities then determine the actual release date within
those limits depending on the prisoner'’ behavior and
progress toward rehabilitation. In contrast, a
determinate sentence imposes a fixed term of
incarceration with no early release through parole. In
jurisdictions that use presumptive sentencing, the
judge sentences the offender to a term that falls within a
narrow range prescribed by the legislature, and

85
 offenders are expected to serve this term. However, a
judge may permit a departure from this presumptive
sentence – either an increase or decrease in the length
of the term – if specific justification is shown.
Legislators often spell out in detail the factors that
justify a judge’s departure from the presumptive
sentence. Some states have enacted statutes that provide
for long and often mandatory terms of imprisonment
upon proof that the defendant has a prior record of
criminal activity.

c) Judges often have the option to place a convicted

offender on probation. Probation means the offender
will remain in the community (rather than be sent to
jail) subject to certain conditions prescribed by statute
or by the judge. One condition of probation is
supervision by a probation officer. If the offender
violates the conditions of probation, probation can be
revoked and the offender can be incarcerated.
d) In many jurisdictions, a defendant sentenced to prison
may be eligible for release on parole after a portion of
the sentence has been served. Parole authorities grant
parole based on factors such as the prisoner’s behavior
while in jail and the predicted potential for the prisoner
to refrain from further criminal activity. The possibility
of parole does not exist for some serious criminal
offenders. If parole is granted, the person on parole
(known as the parolee) remains under the supervision
of a parole officer until the expiration of the sentence or
a term otherwise specified by law. If the parolee
violates the conditions of parole, the parole authorities
may revoke parole, returning the parolee to prison for
the remainder of the unexpired sentence.

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 e) A convicted criminal may appeal his or her conviction
and sentence to a higher court, known as an appellate
court. The appellate court will review all or part of the
written record of what transpired at the trial to
determine whether any error prejudicial to the
defendant was made. If any such error occurred, as
where the trial court erred in its rulings on the
admissibility of evidence or in its instructions to the
jury on the law to be applied, the appellate court usually
remands (returns) the case for a new trial. Sometimes,
however, the error is of a type that leads to a reversal of
conviction and the release of the defendant. For
example, if the trial court incorrectly refused to declare
unconstitutional the statute on which the prosecution
was based, the appellate court would nullify the
conviction, and the defendant would go free. In such a
situation a new trial based on the unconstitutional
statute is not permitted. If the appellate court finds no
error or deems any errors harmless – that is, not
substantial and not prejudicial to the interests of the
defendant – it affirms the conviction.

6) Read the texts below (marked A,B,C,D,E) and

then match each text with the corresponding
headline:
The Effects of Incarceration; Sentencing; Imprisonment Is
Not Effective; Restraining Violent Criminals; Jail & Prison
Conditions.

A. Since 1980, the United States has engaged in the largest

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 and most frenetic correctional buildup of any country in
the history of the world. During this time the number of
Americans in prison and jail has tripled to 1.5 million.
For some minority groups, the rate of incarceration has
increased tenfold. About 50 million criminal records -
enough to cover nearly one-fifth of the entire U.S.
population - are stuffed into police files. Hundreds of
billions of dollars have poured from taxpayers'
checking accounts into penal institutions and the
businesses that service them. One would think the
extraordinary expansion of the criminal justice system
would have made at least a small dent in the crime rate.
The increase in the prison population did not reduce
crime nor did it make Americans feel safer. In fact,
some criminologists have argued that the overuse of the
penal system for so many small-time offenders has
actually created more crime than it has prevented.

B. Anyone who has been handcuffed by police knows how

deeply humiliating the experience can be. Imagine the
effects of spending even a night in the bizarre and
violent sub-culture of most jails. Each person booked is
fingerprinted and photographed for their criminal
record . Sexual assaults are frequent and usually go
unpunished. As ever more young men and women are
socialized to the cell blocks and then are returned to the
streets, the violent subculture of the correctional facility
increasingly acts as a vector for crime in our
communities. Prisons and jails thus have a dual effect:
they protect society from criminals, but they also
contribute to crime by transferring their violent
subculture to our community once inmates are released.

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C. For those concerned with public safety as well as
vengeance, the issue of jail and prison conditions
becomes more complicated. We all want inmates to feel
the sting of punishment and loss of freedom. On the
other hand, it does not serve public safety to so frustrate
inmates that they return to the streets embittered and
angry. Jail and prison conditions exert a significant
influence on whether an inmate becomes productive
upon release or resumes criminal behavior. More than
nine out of ten inmates currently in prison will be
released at some point.

D. Many Americans believe convicted criminals get off

easy, and they are partially right. Some offenders get
off lightly for serious crimes while others pay too great
a price for lesser offenses. A vivid illustration of this
phenomenon can be seen by comparing the time served
of murderers to first-time drug offenders in the federal
system. In 1992, federal prisons held about 1,800
people convicted of murder for an average time served
of 4 1/2 years. That same year, federal prisons held
12,727 nonviolent first-time drug offenders for an
average time served of 6 1/2 years. No other nation
treats people who commit nonviolent crimes as harshly
as the United States.

E. The justice system imprisons only a small fraction of all

offenders, including only a small fraction of all violent
offenders. Not surprisingly, therefore, those who really
do go to prison in this country today are almost without
exception the worst of the worst predatory career
criminals. Not only are their official criminal records
punctuated by many different types of serious crimes;

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 they commit tremendous numbers of violent and other
crimes that go wholly undetected, unprosecuted, and
unpunished.

7) Below you see the story of an extraordinary case in

British legal history. The affair started in 1949 and
was finally closed in 1966.
At the moment, there are a number of gaps in the story. Use
the words below to complete it.

trial Confessed court custody guilty

convicted enquiry (2) sentenced jury executio
n
arrested Innocent charged appeal dropped
pardon Judges plea apprehend hunt
suspect Tried executed statements denied

The story began when a man called Timothy Evans was

1… for the murder of his wife and baby. He was 2… with the
double murder, but a short time later one of the charges was
3… and he was 4… for the murder of his daughter only.
During the 5…Evans accused the man whose house he had
been living in, John Christie, of the crimes, but no attention
was paid to him. The 6… found Evans 7… and he was 8… to
death. An 9… was turned down and he was 10… in 1950.
Some time later, more women’s bodies were discovered in
Christie’s house: two, three, four, five, six. John Christie was
the police’s chief 11… and they started a nationwide 12… for
him. He was soon 13…. Alleged 14… by Christie while he was
in 15… cast doubt on the Evans hanging. When he went to
16… , Christie 17 … that he had murdered Mrs. Evans, but in
private it was said that he 18… to that crime. His 19… of

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insanity with regard to other murders was rejected and he was
20… of killing his wife.
Soon afterwards there was an 21… into the 22… of
Timothy Evans. The 23… decided that justice had been done
and Evans had been rightly hanged. It was only in 1966 that
another 24… was set up. This time it was decided that Evans
had probably been 25… and he was given a free 26… . Better
later than never, as they say.

8) Study the following words:

alibi/excuse

As a legal term, alibi has to do with a plea made by the

defense to prove that the accused was somewhere other than at
the scene of the crime and therefore could not have committed
it. In informal usage, however, alibi is simply another word for
excuse; that is, a reason given for some action or behavior ( as
in “What`s your alibi for being late?”).

criminal/felon

A criminal or offender is a person guilty, or legaly

convicted, of a crime. Although a culprit can be a person only
accused of or charged with the commission of a crime, the
word also commonly refers to someone who has been found
guilty. If the crime is serious enough to be classified as a
felony, the person might be referred to by the legal term felon.
A convict is a person who not only has been guilty of a crime
but, as a result of that conviction, is serving a sentence in a jail,
prison, or penitenciary. A person who is confined in prison
following conviction of a crime might be called a prisoner, as

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might someone who, having been accused of a crime, is held in
custody or released on bail while on or awaiting trial.

felony/ misdemeanor

A crime is an act either committed in violation of a law

prohibiting it or omitted in violation of a law ordering it. A
felony is a major crime, such as murder, arson, rape, robbery,
or kidnapping, for which the usual penalty is more than a
year`s imprisonment in a penitentiary, with or without a fine, or
even death. A misdemeanor is a less serious crime, such as
breaking a municipal ordinance, for which the penalty is
usually a fine, a jail sentence of less than a year, or both.
Because a misdemeanor is a crime, it may seem odd to
title a film Crimes and Misdemeanors, as Woody Allen did.
But Black`s Law Dictionary offers an explanation:”
Crime`and`misdemeanor,`properly speaking, are synonymous
terms; though in common usage `crime` is made to denote such
offenses as are of a more serious nature.” In archaic usage, the
U.S. Constitution ( article II, section 4) provides for the
removal from office of the President, Vice President, and all
civil officers “ on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason,
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”

homicide/ murder

The kiling of one human being by another is homicide.

Although homicide is a necessary ingredient in both murder
and manslaughter, it is not necessarily a crime in itself. That is,
it may be committed without criminal intent and without
criminal consequences, as in the lawful execution of a judicial

92
sentence, in self- defense when one`s life is endangered, or as
the only way to arrest an escaping felon. According to Black`s
Law Dictionary, “the term`homicide` is neutral; while it
describes the act, it pronounces no judgment on its moral or
legal quality”.
Both murder and manslaughter, however, are crimes. In
most states, a person faces the charge of murder in the first
degree (or first-degree murder) if he or she kills another
unlawfully and maliciously or with premeditation; with atrocity
or cruelty ( as by poison, starvation, mayhem, or torture); by
lying in wait for the victim; or while committing or attempting
to commit a serious felony such as arson, rape, robbery, or
burglary. All other kinds of murder are considered murder in
the second degree( or second-degree murder).
Manslaughter is also the unlawful killing of another,
but without malice aforethought, either expressed or implied.
There are two kinds of manslaughter; voluntary( resulting from
a sudden quarrel or heat of passion)and involuntary( resulting
from the failure to exercise due caution or circumspection in
the performance of a lawful act, so as to safeguard humanlife
or from the commission of an unlawful but not felonious act).
Still another unlawful killing is assassination, in which
the victim is likely to be a politically important person. This
kind of murder is committed by surprise attack, usually for
payment or from zealous belief.

jail/prison

A jail is typically a building, though it may be a lockup

inside a police station, for the confinement of those who are
awaiting trial or who have been convicted of minor offenses
( misdemeanors). Local police departaments usually administer
city jails, and sheriffs` offices usually administer country jails.

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People convicted of major crimes( felonies) are likely to be
confined in a prison or penitentiary, these words being used
interchangeably.
Another type of penal institution( the generic term for
all places of confinement for those adjudged guilty of a crime)
is a reformatory, or house of correction, where juveniles
convicted of lesser offenses are sent for training and discipline
intended to reform rather than punish them. A penitentiary for
women is sometimes called a reformatory as well.

Gaol and jail came into Middle English at more or less the
same time from two French dialects. Gaol represents Norman
French, gaiole, gayolle, or gaole; jail the central and Parisian
Old French jaiole, geole( modern French geole). The Norman
French version would have been pronounced with a hard g, as
in <goat>.
In the I7th century there seems to have been some controversy
as to which was the correct form; one quotation in OED reads,
`they cannot come to a Resolution … whether they shall say
Jayl or Gaol`. This now seems to be resolved with a typically
British compromise; the word is always pronounced jail but is
spelt gaol in official use. In literary use either spelling may be
used. The Americans just use jail.

9) Match the list of criminals in column A with the

descriptions in column B.

A B
A person who steals things from
1) an assassin a.
a shop
A person who breaks into
2) a blackmailer b.
houses to steal things.
3) a shoplifter c. A person who kills an important

94
 person, possibly for political
reasons.
A person who demands money
4) a hijacker d. from a person about whom they
have secret information.
A person who commits violent
5) a robber e.
acts for political purposes.
A person who takes money from
6) a burglar f.
a bank (or another person)
A person who keeps someone
7) a terrorist g. prisoner until they are given
money.
A person who steals money
8) a pickpocket h.
from people’s bags or pockets.
A person who takes control of a
9) a rapist i.
plane by force.
A man who attacks a woman for
10) a kidnapper j.
sexual purposes.

Number each crime according to how serious you think

it is. Put number 1 for the most serious and number 10 for the
least serious. Afterwards compare with your neighbors.

shoplifting drunken driving

rape assault (physically attacking someone )
Tax evasion armed robbery
vandalism selling hard drugs
smoking hashish murder

10) Select a scene and time for a crime.

Two students are the “suspects”. They are sent outside and
instructed to prepare an “alibi” for one another. This means
they have to invent and be prepared to describe a situation

95
during the period of the crime, in which they were in each
other’s company and can therefore vouch for each other’s
innocence. Meanwhile the “suspects” prepare their story to try
to anticipate questions and give exactly corresponding versions
of their alibi. After ten minutes of preparation, the first suspect
is called in and asked questions about his/her movements and
actions during the crucial time. Then the second. If they do in
fact corroborate each other’s stories, they are “innocent”; but if
there are inconsistencies and contradictions, they are “guilty”.

11) Choose the right answer.

1. The policeman asked the suspect to make a(n) …..

.
a) account b) declaration c) deposition d) statement

2. The unruly ….. was broken up by the police.

a) collection b) congregation c) group d) mob

3. Prince Andrew was found dead in his palace this

morning. The police have …..any suggestion of foul
play.
a) discounted b) neglected c) omitted d) overlooked

4. The chief of police said that he saw no …..

between the four murders.
a) communication b) connection c) join d) joint

5. The detective stood ….. behind the door waiting

for the assailant.
a) immovable b) lifeless c) motionless d) static

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 6. The police arrested the wrong man mainly because
they ….. the names had been given by the witness.
a) bewildered b) confused c) merged d) puzzled

7. The police ….. off the street where the bomb had
gone off.
a) battened b) cordoned c) fastened d) shuttered

8. The police set a ….. to catch the thieves.

a) device b) plan c) snare d) trap

9. The police asked if I thought I could ….. the man

who stole my car if I looked at some photos.
a) certify b) identify c) justify d) verify

10. The policeman was ….. when he saw a light in the

office.
a) deductive b) disturbing c) suggestive d) suspicious

11. The inspector was a very ….. man and he

rechecked the evidence several times.
a) attentive b) complete c) thorough d) thoughtful

12. The police who were ….. the crime could find no
clues at all.
a) enquiring b) investigating ) researching d) seeking

13. We promise not to reveal your ….. if you tell us

who the murderer is.
a) anonymity b) identification c) identity d) personality

14. The police are ….. the town for the stolen car.
a) combing b) investigating c) looking d) seeking

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 15. The police have not yet found a possible ….. for
the murder.
a) example b) motive c) principle d) understanding

16. The police ….. their attention to the events that led
up to the accident.
a) completed b) confined c) confirmed d) contained

17. As he was caught in ….. of a gun, he was

immediately a suspect.
a) control b) handling c) ownership d) possession

18. As the result of the police ….. on the disco, ten

people were arrested.
a) entry b) invasion c) raid d) storm

19. I was informed by the police constable that he

would be forced to take me into ….. .
a) confinement b) custody c) detection d) guardianship

20. It is the responsibility of the police to ….. the

laws, not to take it into their own hands.
a) compel b) enforce c) force d) press

21. After the accident the policeman asked if there had

been any ….. .
a) observers b) onlookers c) spectators d) witnesses

22. The police was ….. in their examination of the

murder site.
a) concentrated b) exhausting c) intense d) thorough

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 23. The police made sure everyone stood well ….. of
the fire.
a) away b) clear c) free d) out

24. Why don’t the police take ….. measures against

crime.
a) affective b) effective c) efficient d) ineffective

12. Match each punishment with its description.

1) capital punishment a) a period of time in jail

2) corporal punishment b) being made to do specially

hard work while in prison

3) eviction c) death

4) a heavy fine d) a punishment imposed only

if you commit a further crime

5) internment e) a large sum of money to

pay
6) penal servitude f) whipping or beating

7) a prison sentence g) regular meetings with a

social worker

8) probation h) removing (a person) from a

house or land by law

9) solitary confinement i) limiting the freedom of

movement especially for
political reasons

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10) a suspended sentence j) being imprisoned
completely alone

13. Choose the right answer.

1) The community was angered by the …… punishment

given their friend.
a) august b) austere c) severe d) vigorous

2) Those acting for the defendant propose to appeal …..

the sentence.
a) against b) for c) out d) to

3) Mr. Tipsy was …… twenty pounds for drinking and

driving.
a) charged b) fined c) ordered d) penalized

4) The ringleader was lucky to get …… a suspended

sentence.
a) away b) off with c) through d) through to
5) After considering the case, the judge put the young
offender ….. for two years.
a) in charge b) in control c) on probation d) on trial

6) Despite the seriousness of his crime he only received a

….. sentence.
a) light b) little c) small d) soft

7) The young offenders were warned never ….. with the

members of any gang.
a) to assign b) to assimilate c) to associate d) to assume

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 8) As it was her first offence, the judge gave her a …..
sentence.
a) kind b) lenient c) severe d) tolerant

9) The woman ….. for her husband’s life when he was

found guilty of murder.
a) bid b) debated c) disputed d) pleaded

10) The accused man was able to prove his innocence at the
trial and was ….. .
a) absolved b) acquitted c) forgiven d) pardoned

11) Jack the Ripper was a hardened criminal without a

scrap of ….. for his crimes.
a) penance b) pity c) remorse d) reproach

12) His sentence has been commuted to five months on the

….. of failing health.
a) bases b) causes c) grounds d) reasons

13) The prisoners had spent almost a month digging a …..

before the guards discovered it.
a) pipe b) pass c) subway d) tunnel

14) He was thrown into prison and ….. of his property.

a) confiscated b) denied c) deprived d) removed

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14. Put each of the following words and phrases into
its correct place in the passage below.
accused acquit civil suits counsel
court cross-examination fault guilty
judge Jurors jury legal disputes
legislature List money officer
panel sentence swear testimony
trial witnesses

Trial by Jury

A jury is a selected group of laymen that hears the ….. in …..

and decides the facts.
A courtroom trial in wich a ….. decides the facts is called a
….. by jury.
Before each ….. term, a jury commissioner or another public
….. prepares a panel, or large initial ….. of qualified jurors.
For each trial, ….. are selected by lot from this ….. Before the
trial begins, the jurors ….. to decide the facts fairly. They hear
the ….. given by witnesses for both sides, including ….. .
Then ….. for each side sum up, or summarize the case, and the
….. explains the applicable law in his instructions to the jury.
In ….. for financial damages, the jury must decide who is at
….. and must determine the amount of ….. to be paid. In
criminal cases, the jury must decide whether or not the ….. is
guilty “ beyond a reasonable doubt “, and then either return a
verdict of guilty, or ….. the defendant by a verdict of not
guilty. If the verdict is ….. the judge imposes the …., or
punishment, within limits that have been fixed by the …...

102
15. Choose the right answer.
1) There is no doubt about the outcome of the trial. The man
is a ….. criminal.
a) self-centred b) self-confessed c) self-conscious d) self-contained

2) If the terrorists are not sent to prison, there will be a public

….. .
a) attack b) onslaught c) outcry d) recrimination

3) It is often difficult for ex-convicts to keep to the ….. and

narrow.
a) deep b) long c) straight d) wide

4) When the detectives finally trapped him, he had to ….. to

lying.
a) recourse b) resort c) resource d) retort

5) The judge recommended more humane forms of

punishment for juvenile ….. .
a) convicts b) delinquents c) sinners d) villains

6) The murdered proved to be an apparently well-behaved …..

middle-aged woman.
a) inoffensive b) offensive c) unoffending d

7) He found some squatters living in his house so he asked the

court for a speedy ….. .
a) discharge b) ejection c) eviction d) expulsion

8) The witness ….. the statements made by the accused man.

a) agreed b) confessed c) corroborated

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9) A prominent local figure was ….. as co-respondent in a
divorce case.
a) accused b) cited c) nominated d) quoted

10) The whole story was a ….. of her imagination.

a) fabrication b) fantasy c) figment d) figure

11) As she was the murderer’s mother, the judge ….. the normal
restrictions on visits and let her see him.
a) abandoned b) lifted c) relinquished d) surrendered

12) The baby at the centre of the controversy has been made a
….. of court.
a) child b) progeny c) protege d) ward

13) After considering the evidence for a few hours, the Jury
came to a(n) ….. verdict.
a) unambiguous b) unanimous c) undivided d) united

14) It was a reasonable ….. to draw in the light of the evidence.

a) assessment b) conclusion c) interpretation d) verdict

15) Ms Stickyfinger was charged with ….. the funds of the

organization.
a) misappropriating b) mislaying c) mistaking d) misplacing

16. The mistakes in these sentences have been

underlined for you. Suggest a correct or better
alternative for each mistake in Parts A and B. The first
one has been done for you.

104
 Part A

The affair remains unsolved ______case____

1 Stealing banks is on the increase. 1 ______________

2 We must be sure he receives a fair 2 ______________

process.

3 They found the corps in the garden. 3 ______________

4 Many people have bought false Dali 4 ______________

paintings.

5 The police examined the suspect for 5 ______________

ten hours.

6 There are austere penalties for 6 ______________

dangerous driving.

7 The little boy was able to make us a 7 ______________

good description.

8 The most famous criminals used to 8 ______________

be held on Alcatraz.

9 Everyone agrees the judge’s 9 ______________

decision was exact.

10 How can you test this man is guilty ? 10 ______________

11 Can you acknowledge the person in 11 ______________

this photo ?

105
12 His strange behaviour raised my 12 ______________
suspicions

13 She refuses all knowledge of what 13 ______________

happened.

14 The police searched the missing boy 14 ______________

for ten days.

15 Will this proof stand up in court? 15 ______________

16 Some young people disappear 16 ______________

without track.

17 The police have been remarking his 17 ______________

movements.

18 He has evaded from prison several 18 ______________

times.

19 The sentence was “ Not Guilty ”. 19 ______________

20 Murderers aren’t often hung these 20 ______________

days.

Part B

1 The gang specialized in robbing 1 _____________

bikes and selling them.

2 I dialed a false number. 2 _____________

106
 3 I saw a suspected person outside the 3 _____________
shop.

4 You can’t do an accusation without 4 _____________

proof.

5 It will be two weeks before the injury 5 _______________

heals.

6 She received a life verdict for murder. 6 _______________

7 I’m going to conduct my own apology. 7 _______________

8 She was held stealing goods at a 8 _______________

department store.

9 The murdered chocked his victim with 9 _______________

a stocking .

10 There’s a big police chase for the 10 _______________

criminals.

11 He was convicted to death. 11 _______________

12 I was sued and had to pay damage of £ 12 _______________

500.

13 We have a list of missing peoples. 13 _______________

14 These new credit cards are easy to 14 _______________

imitate.

15 A lie is intended to cheat someone. 15 _______________

16 When does the murder try begin? 16 _______________

107
17 Laws are done to be broken. 17 _______________

18 The innocents were punished along 18 _______________

with the guilty.

19 Someone has roused the alarm. 19 _______________

GRAMMAR PRACTICE
PHRASAL VERBS

1. Choose the right answer.

1. To get into a building or car using force is to ___.

a. break out
b. break down
c. break in

2. To steal money from a bank by using force is a ___.

a. hold in
b. hold down
c. hold up

3. To steal or take something without asking is to ___.

a. run off with
b. do without
c. do over

4. To hurt someone badly by hitting or kicking is to ___.

a. pull them over
b.beat them up
c. put one over

108
5. To kill someone in informal English is to ___ with them.
a. do away
b. have away
c. stay

6. To destroy something with a bomb is to ___.

a. beat it up
b. blow it up
c. knock it over

7. To take a criminal to the police is to ___.

a. turn them over
b. turn them in
c. turn them down

8. To put someone in prison is to ___.

a. lock them up
b. do them in
c. blow them up

9. To not punish someone for their crime is to ___.

a. give them over
b. let them off
c. put them away

10. To succeed in not being punished for a crime is to ___

it
a. get away with
b. make off with
c. pick through

109
2. Fill in the missing particle
1. The bank was held ______ by three masked men.
2. If you don't give me what I want, I'll do you ______.
3. He's dead. He was bumped ______ by another gangster.
4. The thieves broke ______ my car and took my radio.
5. The police have pulled ______ a suspect for
questioning.
6. I think you should give yourself ______ to the police.
7. The car was blown ______ by terrorists.
8. He was turned ______ to the police by his best friend.
9. I put my bag down for a moment and somebody made
______ it.
10. She thinks that people who harm children should be
locked ______ for life.
11. She thinks that people who harm children should be put
______ for life.
12. She thinks that people who harm children should be
banged ______ for life.
13. He was informed ______ by one of his neighbours and
the police came to arrest him.
14. He grabbed the bag from me and ran ______ it.
15. I don't see why politicians who commit crimes should
be let ______ so lightly.
16. The gang of youths beat ______ the old man.
17. He literally got ______ murder.
18. If I had my way, I'd lock them ______ and throw away
the key!
19. The police are rounding ______ the usual suspects.
20. I'm concerned because the crime figures are going
______. We need more police.

110
THE PASSIVE VOICE

1. Use the verbs in brackets in the Passive Voice:

A judge may issue an arrest warrant if either a police officer or

private person swears under oath that the accused has
committed a crime, or that a crime (to commit) and there is
probable cause for believing the accused committed it. For
certain crimes, a summons may (to use) in place of an arrest.
A summons is a formal document notifying a person that he or
she (to require) to appear in court to answer a charge. A police
officer may properly make an arrest without a warrant if a
felony – serious crime – (to commit) or (to attempt) in the
officer’s presence, or if the officer reasonably believes a
felony (to commit) and that the accused did it. A police officer
may also make an arrest for any misdemeanor – minor offense
– committed or attempted in the officer’s presence. Even a
private citizen may properly make a warrantless arrest in
certain limited circumstances, but such citizen’s arrests are
rare.

2. Translate into English.

a) Prietenului meu i se pun multe întrebări acum.

b) łi s-a recomandat să pleci.
c) Casa aceasta a fost construită cu mulŃi ani în urmă.
d) Adesea mi s-a spus să mergem acolo.

111
 e) La ora 8.00, programul TV va fi urmărit de toŃi prietenii
mei.
f) Cazul a fost deja discutat.
g) S-a crezut că ai spus adevărul.
h) HoŃul a fost recunoscut de unul dintre copii.
i) Am descoperit un document care a fost scris în secolul
al XIX-lea.
j) Am auzit că ai fost rănit în accident.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

1. Describe the courtroom combat step by step.

2. Enlarge on:
If you steal for others, you shall be hanged yourself.
The hole calls the thief. /Ease makes thief.
A bean in liberty is better than a comfit in prison.
Punishment is lame, but it comes.

112
UNIT COURTS
5

֠ PRE-READING DISCUSSION

Before you read about the suggested topic, think of your own
judicial system:

How is the administration of justice organized?

Are there separate jurisdictions for different areas of law?
What is the relationship between the different courts?
What is the role and position of judges and other lawyers in
our country?

READING PASSAGE
Courts are the branch of government established to
administer the civil and criminal law. They are classified in
many ways. Among the more usual general classifications are
courts of record and courts not of record; courts of superior
jurisdiction and courts of inferior jurisdiction; courts of first
instance and appellate courts; civil courts and criminal courts.
In courts of record the proceedings are recorded
completely; no detailed record is made of the proceedings in

113
courts not of record. Courts of superior jurisdiction, often
called higher courts or appellate courts, are generally those to
which appeals are made from decisions of courts of inferior
jurisdiction, referred to as lower courts or courts of first
instance. Civil and criminal courts deal with cases arising from
infractions of the civil law and the criminal law, respectively.
Courts with special, limited jurisdictions are known by the
names of those jurisdictions. For example, probate or
surrogate’s courts are tribunals dealing with the probate of
wills and the disposition of estates.

The judicial organs of military establishments are called

military courts. They have jurisdiction over infractions by
military personnel. Admiralty courts have jurisdiction over
cases arising from maritime contracts and from violations of
maritime law.

COMPREHENSION PRACTICE

a) Draw a diagram illustrating the classification

of courts and their role.
b) Decide if the following statements are true or
false :
1. Courts are classified according to their
jurisdiction.
2. Civil courts are also called appellate courts.
3. Probate courts have supreme authority.
4. Maritime law infractions fall under military
courts jurisdiction.

114
 5. Courts of first instance may be referred to as
courts of inferior jurisdiction.

READING AND VOCABULARY PRACTICE

1. Read the text and complete the diagram.

Courts in the United Kingdom

There are three legal systems in the United Kingdom: for

England and Wales; for Scotland; and for Northern Ireland.
Because they have been ruled by the same parliament for so
long, the different systems have much in common. However,
their different origins and circumstances, especially in
Scotland, mean that they have their own procedures and
detailed law. Appeal can be made from all courts in the United
Kingdom, except in Scottish criminal matters, to the House of
Lords in London.

The Structure of the Courts: Criminal

The most numerous courts in England and Wales are the

magistrates’ courts, where Justices of the Peace, or
magistrates, sit. Most magistrates are lay people who sit on a
bench of three with a legally qualified clerk who advises
them on the law. In cities there are also stipendiary
magistrates who are legally qualified and sit alone.
Magistrates decide the vast majority of criminal matters and a
limited range of civil and administrative questions. Appeal
can be made from the magistrates’ decision to the Crown

115
Court, where a circuit judge sits, usually with two
magistrates who did not hear the case in the magistrates’
court.
Either the defendant or the prosecution may appeal to the
House of Lords in its appellate capacity, which does not
involve lay members of the House, but is heard by a committee
of paid Lords of Appeal in Ordinary.

The Structure of the Courts: Civil Matters

Other than the limited jurisdiction of the magistrates’ court,

mostly concerned with family matters, most unexceptional
civil disputes come to the county court. This was created by
Act of Parliament, but it has concurrent jurisdiction with the
High Court, which means that in most areas the litigant has a
choice of which court to use.
The High Court is the ancient civil court of England, divided
into three Divisions: Queen’s Bench; Chancery; and Family
Division. Usually, one judge sits in a High Court case, except
when a divisional court is convened. That consists of usually
one High Court judge and a Lord Justice of Appeal, and
usually tries disputes about government decisions.

116
 Courts in the United Kingdom
ENGLAND AND WALES

MOUSE OF LORDS
JUDICIAL COMITTEE
SCOTLAND
CRIMINAL CIVIL
NORTHERN IRELAND
COURT OF INNER HOUSE COURT OF APPEAL
CRIMINAL OF COURT OF COURT OF APPEAL
APPEAL CRIMINAL CIVIL
SESSION
DIVISION DIVISION
HIGH CROWN
COURT COURT
HIGH OUTER HIGH COURT OF
COURT OF HOUSE OF PRINCIPAL JUSTICE
JUSTICIARY COURT SHERIFF
(1) (2) (3)
SESSION
SHERIFF
COURT

IN BANKRUPTCY
(criminal
matters)

COUNTY COUNTY
DISTRICT SHERIFF COURT CROWN COURT COURT
COURT (civil matters) COURT (circuit judge)

COUNTY
DISTRICT (4) COURT
COURT MAGISTRATES
(district judge)
COURT

Arrows show either the course an appeal will follow from one court to another, or the
progression of a case if it is felt to be too complex or serious for a lower-level court. No
indication is given here of the levels of the different courts represented in relation to one
another.

2. Read the text below, study the diagram, and

then match the definitions on the right with the
terms on the left.

117
 Courts in the United States

Courts in the United States are judicial organs of government,

comprising two principal systems: the federal courts, referred
to as United States courts, and the state courts.
Federal Courts

The jurisdiction of the federal courts is defined in the

Constitution, as extending in law and equity to all cases arising
under the Constitution and federal legislation; to controversies
to which the United States shall be a party, including those
arising from treaties with other governments; to admiralty and
maritime cases; to controversies between states; to
controversies between a state, or its citizens, and foreign
governments or their subjects; and to controversies between the
citizens of one state and citizens of another state.
The courts established under the powers of the Constitution are
known as constitutional courts. Judges of constitutional courts
are appointed for life by the president with the approval of the
Senate. These courts are the district courts, tribunals of general
original jurisdiction; the courts of appeals, exercising appellate
jurisdiction over the district courts; and the Supreme Court.
Other federal courts, established by Congress, are called
legislative courts. These are the Claims Court, the Court of
International Trade, the Tax Court, and the territorial courts
established in the federally administered territories of the
United States. The US Congress defines the special
jurisdictions of these courts.

118
 State Courts

Each state in the United States has an independent system of

courts operating under the constitution and laws of the state.
Broadly speaking, the state courts are based on the English
judicial system as it existed in colonial times, but as modified
by statutory enactments; the character and names of the courts
differ from state to state. The state courts as a whole have
general jurisdiction, except in cases in which exclusive
jurisdiction has been vested in the federal courts.
Cases involving the federal Constitution, federal laws, or
treaties may be brought to either the state courts or the federal
courts. Ordinary civil cases not involving any of those elements
can be brought only to the state courts, except in cases of
diversity of citizenship between the parties, in which event the
case may be brought to a federal court.
In some states, the same courts of original jurisdiction deal
with both civil and criminal cases; these courts usually have
two levels, one handling misdemeanors and civil claims under
US$5,000, the other handling felonies and civil claims over
US$ 5,000.
Between the lower courts and the supreme appellate courts, in
a number of states, are intermediate appellate courts which,
like the federal courts of appeals, provide speedier justice for
litigants by disposing of a large number of cases that otherwise
would be added to the overcrowded schedules of the higher
courts.
Courts of last resort, the highest appellate tribunals of the states
in criminal and civil cases and in law and equity, are generally
called supreme courts. In New York State, however, the
Supreme Court is a trial court; the highest appellate court of
New York, as well as of Maryland, is called the Court of
Appeals.

119
The state court systems also include a number of minor courts
with limited jurisdiction. These courts dispose of minor
offences and relatively small civil actions. Included in this
classification are police and municipal courts in cities and
larger towns and the courts presided over by justices of the
peace in rural areas.

Court System of the United States

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

COURTS OF APPEALS COURTS OF APPEALS

12 Circuits FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT

TAX TERRITORIAL DISTRICT COURTS CLAIMS COURT OF

COURT DISTRICT with Federal COURT INTERNATIONAL
COURTS with Jurisdiction Only 89 TRADE
Federal and Local Districts in 50 States
Jurisdiction Guam 1 in District of
Virgin Islands Columbia
Northern Mariana 1 in Puerto Rico
Islands

Most of the courts in the federal court system of the United States are
constitutional courts; the exceptions—the Tax Court, the Court of International
Trade, and the Claims Court—are legislative courts. Constitutional courts
decide the constitutionality of federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The
Supreme Court makes final decisions regarding constitutionality and is the
highest court of appeals in the country. Although this court hears cases never
tried before, the bulk of the work of the nine Supreme Court justices is made up
of appeals from lower courts.

120
1. jurisdiction a. a type of court that is given official
authority to deal with a particular situation
or problem
2. controversy b. someone who is making a claim against
someone, or defending themselves against
a claim in a court of law
3. treaty c. amount of money that you must pay to
the government
4. approval d. a serious crime
5. tribunal e. the right to use an official power to
make legal decisions
6. claim f. the legal right of belonging to a
particular country
7. tax g. an illegal action or a crime
8. enactment h. a crime that is not very serious
9. involve i. the act of officially accepting a plan or
decision
10. citizenship j. a formal list of something
11. misdemeanor k. making a proposal into law
12. felony l. to include something
13. litigant m. a serious argument or disagreement
14. schedule n. the principle that a fair judgment must
be made in a situation where the existing
laws do not provide an answer
15. equity o. request for money
16. offence p. formal agreement between two or more
countries or governments

3.  Work in groups. Discuss these questions

about the judicial branch of the federal government
and decide on the answers.

121
A. What is the highest court of the land?
a. the Supreme Court
b. the Presidential Tribunal

SUPREME COURT

COURT COURT COURT OF COURT OF

OF OF CUSTOMS CUSTOMS MILITARY
CLAIMS AND APPEALS
PATENT

11
Circuit Courts of Appeals

94
District Courts

B. The Supreme Court is the “Last Court of Appeal.”

What does this mean?
a. No other court has higher decision-making power.
b. Citizens can appeal its decision (take the same case)
to lower courts.

C. What does the Supreme Court do?

a. It approves or overturns decisions of lower courts and
explains and interprets laws.
b. It hears cases from individual citizens without
lawyers.

122
D. In the system of checks and balances, how does the
judicial branch have power over the other two branches
of government?
a. The Supreme Court appoints all judges.
b. The Supreme Court can decide on the
constitutionality of laws and Presidential Actions.

E. Where is the Supreme Court?

a. in every state capitol
b. in Washington, D.C. (the nation’s capital)

F. Who chooses the justice of the Supreme Court?

a. The voters elect them.
b. The President appoints them, but the Senate must
approve them.

G. Who chooses the Chief Justice (head judge) of the

Supreme Court?
a. the President and the Cabinet
b. The nine justices of the Supreme Court elect him or
her.

H. Has there ever been a woman Supreme Court justice?

a. Yes. Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman
justice in 1981.
b. No, because the Constitution states that all Supreme
Court justices must be men.

I. How long do Supreme Court justices serve?

a. for the same length of time as senators from their
states
b. for life

123
J. Must the Supreme Court hear all appeals from lower
courts?
a. Yes, because hearing appeals is its only
responsibility.
b. No. It takes only the more important cases
(especially cases concerning individual rights and
the constitutionality of laws or actions.)

K. Can the President or Congress abolish the Supreme

Court?
a. Yes, with a two-thirds majority of both houses.
b. No. Only a Constitutional Amendment could abolish
it.

L. What other kinds of courts and how many of them are

there in the federal system?
a. eleven Circuit Courts of Appeal and ninety-four
District Courts.
b. two Executive Courts and three Legislative Courts.

M. Are there any special federal courts?

a. Yes. There are a Court of Claims, a Court of
Customs, a Court of Customs and Patent Appeals,
and a Court of Military Appeals.
b. No. All courts must accept all kinds of cases.

N. What do the Circuit Courts of Appeals do?

a. They hear appeals (request to hear the case again)
from lower courts.
b. They overturn decisions of the Supreme Court.

124
 O. What are the District Courts and what happens in them?
a. They are state courts. All cases concerning state laws
begin there.
b. They are the lowest level of federal courts. Federal
cases begin there.

P. How do federal courts differ from other courts?

a. Federal courts take only cases concerning federal
law. Other courts hear cases about state or local law.
b. There is no difference. All courts take the same kinds
of cases.

4. Supreme Court decisions are very important to the

nation because they set precedents. They serve as a
guide in law making and the future decisions of all
courts. Here are some examples.

Year Case Decision

The Supreme Court has the right to
Marbury v.
1803 interpret laws and judge their
Madison
constitutionality.
Gibbons v. Only Congress can regulate interstate
1824
Ogden commerce (trade between states)
Worchester
1832 No state may control Indian Lands.
v. Georgia
It is unconstitutional for states to
“Poor
1941 control or stop migration (movement)
Migrants”
of people from one state to another.
Brown v. the Segregated schools are unconstitutional
Board of because they are unequal. Integration
1954
Education of (the bringing together of different
Topeka, races) is a part of education.

125
Year Case Decision
Kansas
Even in small cases, the government
Gideon v. must provide a lawyer to a defendant
1963
Wainwright (person on trial) if he or she can’t
afford one.
The police must tell an arrested person
Escobedo v.
1964 about his or her right to remain silent
Illinois
and to have an attorney (lawyer)
Miranda v.
1966 present when he or she answers
Arizona
questions.
Unequal treatment based on sex
“Women’s
1971 violates (goes against) the Fourteenth
Rights”
Amendment.
States cannot make abortion illegal,
1973 Roe v. Wade
except in the later stages of pregnancy.
Congress may draft (take for military
Rotsker v.
1981 service) only men (not women) into the
Goldberg
armed forces.
Illegal (undocumented) aliens are
persons under the Constitution and
1982 Plyer v. Doe
have the same protections under the law
as citizens and residents.
The United States government can give
asylum (protection) to refugees if they
INS v.
have reason to fear death or
1987 Cardoza -
mistreatment in their native countries.
Fonseca
Refugees no longer have to prove that
their lives are in danger.

126
Read each situation and answer this question: Why would the
Supreme Court disapprove of the situation? On the line, write
the name and year of the Supreme Court case that is the
precedent.

1) __Plyer v Doe
(1982)___________________________:
Texas keeps the children of illegal aliens out of its
public schools.

2) ___________________________________________:
California taxes all goods from Nevada.

3) ___________________________________________:
Oregon refuses to let a family move there from
Washington because they have no home and little
money.

4) ___________________________________________:
Arizona sends a woman to jail because she went to the
doctor to abort a two-month old fetus.

5) ___________________________________________:
Without permission, Nebraska takes land from an
Indian reservation to build a state prison.

6) ___________________________________________:
A young man refuses to enter the U.S Army because his
sister does not have to serve in the armed forces.

7) ___________________________________________:
The police send a man to prison for drunk driving but
do not give him an attorney because he can’t afford

127
 one.

8) ___________________________________________:
A public university refuses to admit a student because
she is not white.
9) ___________________________________________:
You are the best-qualified candidate for police chief but
the city won’t give you the job because you are a
woman.

10) ___________________________________________:
The INS sends a political refugee back to his country
because he cannot prove that his government would
take his life.

11) ___________________________________________:
The police arrest a man and tell him to confess his
crime on videotape in a room with no one else present.

12) ___________________________________________:
Congress makes the Speaker of the House the head of
the armed forces even though the Constitution gives
that position to the President.

5. After reading the text below suggest your own

comprehensive questions.

The Jury

If the parties in a civil case can’t agree on how to settle

the case on their own, or if a defendant in a criminal case
pleads not guilty, the court will decide the dispute through a

128
trial. In a civil case, the purpose of a trial is to find out
whether the defendant failed to fulfill a legal duty to the
plaintiff. In a criminal case, the purpose of a trial is to
determine whether the defendant committed the crime
charged.
If the parties choose to have a jury trial, determining the
facts is the task of the petit jury. If they decide not to have a
jury and to leave the fact-finding to the judge, the trial is called
a bench trial. In either kind of trial, the judge makes sure the
correct legal standards are followed. If there is a jury, the judge
tells the jury what the law governing the case is. For example,
in a robbery case in which an unloaded gun was used, the judge
would tell the jury that using an unloaded gun to rob a store is
legally the same as using a gun that is loaded. But the jury
would have to decide whether the defendant on trial was
actually the person who committed the robbery and used the
gun.
The group of people seated in the boxed-in area on one
side of the courtroom is the petit jury or trial jury.
Juries were first used hundreds of years ago in England.
The jury was a factor in the events that led to the Revolutionary
War. The Declaration of Independence charged that King
George III deprived the colonists “in many cases, of the
benefits of trial by jury.” Thus, the U.S. Constitution now
guarantees the right to a jury trial to most defendants in
criminal cases and to the parties in most civil cases.
In federal criminal cases, there are usually twelve jurors
and between one and six alternate jurors. Alternate jurors
replace regular jurors who become ill, disqualified, or unable to
perform their duties. In federal civil cases there can be from six
to twelve jurors. All of the jurors are required to join in the
verdict unless the court excuses a juror from service during the
trial or deliberations.

129
6.  GROUP WORK. How can an attorney for
the benefit of his/her client use jury selection?
Clues:
− Know the demographics, attitudes and experiences of
jurors who will respond most/least favorably to your
case
− Know the questions to ask to identify those jurors
− Educate the jurors to your arguments
− Establish your power position over opposing counsel
− Make intelligent strike decisions
− Win your case in voir dire
In jury selection you are expected to decide which jurors
will most fairly judge your case, but are given precious
little information on which to base that decision. The
following 7-step jury selection process facilitates that effort
and provides you a crucial edge over your opponent.

1) Getting educated: Read the relevant documents which

summarize the evidence and arguments on both sides.
2) Brainstorming the case: Identify the main issues,
outline case themes and map out Case Strategy.
3) Identifying Juror Profile: Outline the demographics,
experiences, attitudes and personality characteristics of
those jurors who will be more/less receptive to that
strategy.
4) Mapping out Voir Dire Strategy: Pin-point subject areas
to explore in voir dire and design specific questions to
reveal juror’s biases, experiences and attitudes.
5) Developing a Juror Questionnaire: Develop a Juror
Questionnaire to identify the juror characteristics.

130
 6) Developing an Evaluation Sheet: Design an Evaluation
Sheet by which to evaluate each juror according to
his/her responses to the Juror Questionnaire.
7) Selecting jurors: In the courtroom, report to counsel,
not only listening to the verbal message, but the
nonverbal one, as well, as an important indicator of bias
and character.

7. The following paragraphs deal with Western

European Tribunals. Put them in the right order.

A. When the Normans conquered England in 1066, they

imposed the Carolingian judicial system on the Anglo-
Saxons. In the long struggle between the king and landed
nobility that ensued, one of the principal weapons of the
Crown was the Curia Regis (King’s Court), which was
held wherever the royal household was situated. The
principal judicial strongholds of the nobility were the
manorial courts. Judicial supremacy was eventually won
by the Crown, and, since the reign of Edward I, in the
13th century, English courts have been organized on a
centralized basis.

B. Before this victory of the Crown, however, King John

had been compelled in 1215 to sign the Magna Carta,
which initiated the gradual separation of judicial from
executive and legislative governmental powers. The
terms of this charter of liberty established the Court of
Common Pleas as a court of a fixed location to try cases
initiated by commoners against other commoners. The
process of separation continued during the reign of
Edward I with the establishment of the Court of

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 Exchequer as a tribunal having exclusive jurisdiction
over revenue cases arising out of unpaid debts to the
Crown, and the establishment of the Court of King’s, or
Queen’s, Bench as the supreme appellate tribunal of the
realm, presided over by the monarch. The Court of
King’s, or Queen’s, Bench was also invested with
original jurisdiction over both civil and criminal cases
and thus encroached on the jurisdiction of the Court of
Common Pleas. In fact, the jurisdictions of all three
courts overlapped and were not entirely differentiated
until much later.

C. Medieval courts developed from the tribal courts of the

Germanic peoples, whose highest judicial authorities
were the popular assemblies that met regularly
throughout the year. The tribal judges supervised the
proceedings and executed the judgments rendered by the
assemblies. During the development of the Germanic
tribal organization into territorial states, the tribal courts
underwent a corresponding evolution, increasing in
number and becoming differentiated. Among the new
features of this Teutonic system were a royal court,
presided over by the king and modeled on the Roman
system of courts; special lower courts, under the control
of royal officials, which handled minor matters; and,
later, a corps of permanent lay judges, with power to
render judgments.

D. In the 8th century the Teutonic judicial system

experienced a further significant development: the
practice, initiated by Charlemagne, of dispatching royal
commissioners to examine the functioning of local courts
and, when necessary, to supplement the justice they

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 dispensed. In this innovation were the seeds of three later
important legal developments: assize courts, circuit
courts, and a central legal authority. This innovation was
adopted by other feudal monarchs in their struggles with
the landed nobility, who controlled the manorial, or
seigniorial, courts.

8. Match the words with their meanings on the right.

Write the letters on the lines.
1. ______ a search a. people who examine evidence to
warrant decide if a trial is necessary.
2. ______ charge (noun) b. legal permission to search
3. ______ grand jury c. members of a jury who hear
evidence and come to a verdict
4. ______ a trial f. an accusation of a crime
5. ______ testify e. people who give evidence
6 ______ guarantee f. promise or give assurance
7. ______ jurors g. money paid to guarantee that
someone freed from jail will return
to the trial
8. ______ a unanimous h. the hearing of a case in court
verdict
9. ______ witnesses i. give evidence
10. bail j. decision agreed on by everyone

9. Choose the right answer.

1) The high court judge will pass ….. next week.
a) justice b) punishment c) sentence d) verdict

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 2) If you break the law, you will be …… trouble.
a) for b)in c) out d) out of

3) The judge was very …… on pickpockets.

a) bad b) hard c) strict d) strong

4) It was impossible for her to tell the truth so she had

to …… a story.
a) combine b) invent c) lie d) manage

5) Peter gives one account of the accident, and John

another; it is difficult to …… the two versions.
a) adjust b) coincide c) identify d) reconcile

6) The witness testified that he could bear …… what

the defendant had claimed.
a) on b) out c) up d) with

7) The suspect is not under arrest, nor have the police

placed any ….. on his movements.
a) obstacle b) regulation c) restriction d) veto

8) You should only make serious accusations like that

if they have a sound …… in fact.
a) basis b) foothold c) framework d) principle

9) The judge …… the pedestrian for the accident.

a) accused b) blamed c) charged d) sued

10) His legal training enables him to put his case ……

very convincingly.
a) down b) out c) over d) up

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10.Study the following words:

grand jury/ petit jury

In law, a jury is a group of people sworn to hear the

evidence and inquire into the facts in a case, and to give a
decision based on their findings. A grand jury is a special jury
of a statutory number of citizens, usually more than 12, that
nowadays investigates accusations against people charged with
crime. If there is sufficient evidence, the grand jury indicts
those people for trial before a petit jury (or trial jury). This is a
jury of 12 or fewer citizens picked to weigh the evidence in,
and decide the issues of, a trial in court.

plaintiff/defendant

Two parties are involved in every civil lawsuit-that is,

every court action relating to rights and injuries. The party who
initiates the suit is called the plaintiff or complainant.( at first
glace, these two words may not seem to be related. Yet, both
having in their development a from of the Latin verb plangere,
which means”to beat the breast,” they share the sense of giving
expression to one`s grievance. That is why we talk about a
plaintive song, the plaintive sound of an oboe, and the like.)
The party defending or denying-that is, the one sued or accused
in the suit-is called the defendant.
The adversarial roles of the opponents can be seen in
the way the cases are referred to, the Latin word versus(
usually abbreviated as v. or vs.) meaning “in contest against.”
As the following case titles show, the plaintiff or the defendant,
or both, can be one or more individuals, companies, or federal,
state, or local agencies: Hellman v. McCarthy, Namath v.

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Sports Illustrated, Westmoreland v. CBS, United States v.
Louisiana, and Dawson v. Mayor and City Council of
Baltimore. In saying a case title, some people pronounce the v.
as”vee”; some give the full from, versus; and some substitute
the word against.
In the case title of the original suit, the plaintiff is listed
first. However, if the losing party in a suit in a federal court
appeals the case, this party`s name appears first; in other
words, the case title in the appellate procedure gives appellant
versus appellee. If the appeal goes all the way to the U.S.
Supreme Court, the party seeking the review is called the
petitioner and the party responding to the petition is called the
respondent. For example, when James J.Hill sued Time, Inc.,
for invasion of privacy, the case was titled Hill v.Time, Inc.,
but on appeal the title became Time, Inc. v. Hill.
Every criminal case-that is, every court action taken to
redress a public wrong-also has a defendant, but here the
initiator of the proceedings is called the prosecution. The
prosecutor, or prosecuting attorney, who is a public official
such as a district attorney, conducts the criminal suit on behalf
of the state or the people.
Criminal actions are referred to much the same way as
civil ones. In the original case title the prosecution ( the name
of the federal, state, or local entity) precedes the name of the
defendant; but in any appellate procedure whoever seeks the
review is listed first. For example, by the time Illinois v. Gacy
reached the U.S. Supreme Court for review, it was called Gacy
v. Illinois, John Wayne Gacy having appealed his conviction
and death sentence for murder.

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11.If you commit a crime you may be:

accused arrested charged convicted

interrogated paroled sent to prison suspected
tried.

Put these actions in the correct order.

12.Choose the right answer.

1. The … sentenced the accused to 15 years in prison.
a) barrister b) counsel c) judge d) solicitor

2. If you can’t resolve the dispute, it will have to be settled

by …
a) arbitration b) court c) election d) referee

3) His comments … little or no relation to the facts of the

case.
a) bear b) give c) possess d) reflect

4) They all thought he was guilty, but no one could …

anything against him.
a) accuse b) ensure c) point d) prove

5) It has been decided to hold a Public … into the cause of

the accident.
a) Autopsy b) Examination c) Inquiry d) Interrogation

6) To protected victims of blackmail their names are often

… in court.
a) covered b) erased c) hidden d) not given

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7) The youth involved in the disturbance at the
demonstration made a(n) … to the police.
a) account b) notice c) statement d) summary

8) I … to say anything unless I am allowed to speak to my

solicitor.
a) deny b) neglect c) refuse d) resist

9) I should like to call two … who can testify on my client’s

behalf.
a) witnesses b) onlookers c) passers-by d) spectators

10) You are surely not suggesting that these … young

children could have planned such and evil deed.
a) innocent b) lovely c) natural d) pure

11) The case against Mary Wrongdoer was … for lack of

evidence.
a) discarded b) dismissed c) refused d) resigned

12) The new law comes into … on May 15.

a) condition b) date c) force d) power

13) The … question in this case is whether the accused had a

motive for this crime or not.
a) crucial b) forcible c) supreme d) valuable

14) The driver admitted that the accident was partly his own
…
a) blame b) cause c) evil d) fault

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15) In fact, the murderer was … from the country before
extradition proceedings could be started.
a) barred b) deported c) exported d) interned

16) The suspect man has a … on his right cheek.

a) point b) scar c) sign d) trace

17) It is a criminal offence to … the facts.

a) express b) oppress c) repress d) suppress

18) After a close cross-examination, the barrister was … his

client was telling the truth.
a) contend b) glad c) happy d) satisfied

19) At the end of the trial he was … of murder.

a) condemned b) convicted c) convinced d) penalized

20) In the legal profession, men … women by five to one.

a) outclass b) outnumber c) overcome d) supersede

21) All … barristers are expected to study at the Inns of

Court..
a) hopeful b) prospective c) willing
d) wishful

22) The judge will hear the next … after lunch.

a) case b) charge c) lawsuit d) trial

23) The suspect … that he had assaulted a policeman.

a) contradicted b) declined c) denied d) refused

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 24) I wish you’d let me speak for myself and not … the
words out of my mouth.
a) grab b) pull c) snatch d) take

25) The suspect is … to have been in the neighborhood at the

time of the crime.
a) accused b) affirmed c) alleged d) announced

13.Choose the right answer.

1. The high court judge will pass … next week.
a) justice b) punishment c) sentence d) verdict

2. If you break the law, will be … trouble.

a) for b)in c) out d) out of

3. The judge was very … on pickpockets.

a) bad b) hard c) strict d) strong

4. It was impossible for her to tell the truth so she had

to … a story.
a) combine b) invent c) lie d) manage

5. Peter gives one account of the accident, and John

another; it is difficult to … the two
versions.
a) adjust b) coincide c) identify d) reconcile

6. The witness testified that he could bear … what the

defendant had claimed.
a) on b) out c) up d) with

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 7. The suspect is not under arrest, nor have the police
placed any … on his movements.
a) obstacle b) regulation c) restriction d) veto

8. You should only make serious accusations like that if

they have a sound … in fact.
a) basis b) foothold c) framework d) principle

9. The judge … the pedestrian for the accident.

a) accused b) blamed c) charged d) sued

10. His legal training enables him to put his case … very
convincingly.
a) down b) out c) over d) up

14.Put each of the following words and phrases into

its correct place in the passage below.

accused acquit civil suits counsel

court cross-examination fault guilty
judge jurors jury legal disputes
legislature list money officer
panel sentence swear testimony
trial witnesses

Trial by Jury

A jury is a selected group of laymen that hears the ….. in

….. and decides the facts.

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 A courtroom trial in which a ….. decides the facts is called a
….. by jury.
Before each ….. term, a jury commissioner or another
public ….. prepares a panel, or large initial ….. of qualified
jurors. For each trial, ….. are selected by lot from this ….. .
Before the trial begins, the jurors ….. to decide the facts fairly.
They hear the ….. given by witnesses for both sides, including
….. . Then ….. for each side sum up, or summarize the case,
and the ….. explains the applicable law in his instructions to
the jury.
In ….. for financial damages, the jury must decide who is at
….. and must determine the amount of ….. to be paid. In
criminal cases, the jury must decide whether or not the ….. is
guilty “ beyond a reasonable doubt “, and then either return a
verdict of guilty, or ….. the defendant by a verdict of not
guilty. If the verdict is ….. the judge imposes the ….. , or
punishment, within limits that have been fixed by the ….. .

GRAMMAR PRACTICE

Fill in the text below with the missing prepositions:

The evolution of courts in ancient Rome was marked (1)… the

development of a complex structure (2)… which criminal,
civil, and other jurisdictions were differentiated and exercised
by separate courts and officials. Violations (3)… criminal law
were prosecuted by the state; higher and lower courts were
organized; the right of appeal was juridical guaranteed; and a
corps (4)… professional jurists was established (5)… the first
time (6)… the history of Mediterranean civilization. (7)…
Christianity became the state religion of Rome, the
ecclesiastical courts, previously established by Christians who

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had refused to have recourse (8)… pagan courts, became a part
(9)… the Roman legal system. As the Roman Empire
disintegrated, the ecclesiastical courts survived and assumed
jurisdiction (10)… secular affairs.

THE ARTICLE AND THE NOUN (Review)

1. Supply A/AN or THE if they are necessary:

(1) United States has 51 separate court systems. They include
(2) federal court system, established and maintained by the
national government, and the courts of the 50 states. Because
of (3) separate state and federal systems, the United States is
said to have (4) dual court system.

The federal court system is more limited in (5) size and

purpose than are the state courts. (6) Federal courts have
jurisdiction over five basic kinds of cases. They hear: cases in
which the United States is (7) party and cases involving
foreign officials. In civil matters, if more than $10,000 is
involved, they may also hear cases with (8) parties from
different states, and cases involving the Constitution of United
States and federal laws. (9) Federal courts also hear “federal
specialties“, cases involving (10) patents, copyrights, or
bankruptcies.

2. Complete the following sentences using suitable

words from the box below:
patents Constitution jurisdiction cases lawyers
decisions offenses governor nomenclature judgeships

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State courts share jurisdiction with federal courts, and they
exercise sole, or exclusive, jurisdiction in other cases, mainly
those involving state law. Only those state court decisions that
involve the U.S. (1) and federal law may be appealed to the
federal courts.

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest appellate

court for cases within federal jurisdiction. The Court agrees to
decide only about 150 of the 4,000 to 4,500 (2) appealed to it
each year; the other federal courts decide approximately
330,000 cases a year, and the state courts, far more than that.
The Supreme Court’s (3), however, are binding on all other
courts.

Throughout U.S. history, the federal court system has been

small. In the mid-1990s there were 179 permanent circuit (4) in
the 13 courts of appeals; the 89 district courts had 610
permanent judgeships in the 50 states plus 15 in the District of
Columbia and 7 in Puerto Rico. Three special courts hear cases
involving customs duties, (5), and monetary claims against the
government. Congress provided (1978) for bankruptcy courts
in each district, staffed by bankruptcy judges.

The state court systems are similar in structure, but they vary
widely in specifics and (6). The major trial court may be a
circuit court in one state and a district court, or superior court,
in another. Some courts derive their titles and functions from a
past era and are not the result of systematic planning.

Most states have a trier of trial courts with limited or special

jurisdiction, such as justice-of-the- peace courts or juvenile
courts. Courts having jurisdiction over cases involving minor

144
criminal (7) may also conduct preliminary hearings for more
serious crimes to be tried in higher trial courts. These limited-
jurisdiction courts often receive most of their financial support
from local governments. Next is a level of general-jurisdiction
trial courts that hear the full range of serious cases and often
appeals in minor cases from lower courts. Finally, each state
has courts with mainly appellate (8). Every state has a supreme
court, although it is not always called by that name; about half
of the states have intermediate appellate courts below the level
of their highest courts.

There are about 7,600 judges in state courts of general

jurisdiction and over 1,000 judges in state appellate courts.
Additional thousands of judges serve in special state courts.
Historically, state judges were popularly elected, but
increasingly states are adopting a judicial selection system in
which the (9) appoints judges from a list submitted by a
commission composed of judges, (10), and representatives of
the public.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

a) If you have not already done so, make vocabulary

cards for the “legal” words that you want to remember,
or add them to your own personal vocabulary lists.

b) Comment on the following: “The law is the last result

of human wisdom acting upon human experience for
the benefit of the public”.

c) Is the Death Penalty a necessary and proper means of

punishment?

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 d) Answer the following questions after searching for
information relating to trials.
1. What are the qualifications required to be a juror?
2. How are future jurors selected for jury service?
3. Can a person change his/her jury service report date?
4. Can a person be transferred to another courthouse?
5. Can a person be excused from jury service?
6. What is the Opt-Out Program for jurors 70 years of
age or older?

SUGGESTED PRESENTATIONS
Courts of Appeal
European Court of Justice
Supreme Court of the United States
European Court of Human Rights
International Court of Justice (UN), World Court
Personal experience in a law court
What may happen if the witness gives false evidence?
Or if the jurors do not agree on the verdict?
Your opinion on films about court trials
Jury trials vs. Judge trials

UNIT THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION

6 AND GOVERNMENT

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֠ PRE-READING
1. What do you know about the British Constitution?
2. Name the parts of Parliament.

READING / LISTENING
The Constitution of the United Kingdom, not written
in one place, is made up of statute law, common law, and
conventions. Conventions are rules and practices which are not
legally enforceable but which are regarded as indispensable to
the working of government ; many are derived from the
historical events through which the British system of
government has evolved.
The key principles of the constitution are the rule of law
( everyone is subject to the laws of the land ), and the
sovereignty of Parliament ( there are no restrictions of the laws
that Parliament can pass ).
In England, the legislative power, that is the power of
making, altering, or repealing the laws, belongs to Parliament.
The three parts of Parliament are the monarch, the House of
Lords and the House of Commons.
The Queen is head of State and an important symbol of
national unity. She is head of the executive, an integral part of

147
the legislature, head of the judiciary; commander-in-chief of all
the Armed Forces of the Crown, and the ‘supreme governor‘ of
the established Church of England. The Queen acts on the
advice of her ministers. Britain is governed by Her Majesty’s
Government in the name of the Queen. In international affairs
the Queen, as head of State, has the power to declare war and
make peace, to recognize foreign states and governments, to
conclude treaties and to annex or cede territory.
For electoral purposes Britain is divided into 651
constituencies, each of which returns one member to the House
of Commons or the Lower House. Each elector may cast one
vote, normally in person at a polling station. Voting is not
compulsory. The simple majority system of voting is used.
Candidates are elected if they have more votes than any of the
other candidates, although not necessarily an absolute majority
over all other candidates.
British citizens and citizens of other Commonwealth
countries, together with citizens of the Irish Republic, may
stand for election as MPs provided they are aged 21 or over
and are not disqualified. A candidate must also deposit 500
pounds, which is returned if he or she receives 5 per cent or
more of the votes cast.
All election expenses, apart from the candidate’s
personal expenses, are subject to the statutory limit.
The House of Lords, with arround 1200 numbers, or
the Upper House, consists of the lords spiritual, i.e. two
archbishops, twenty-four bishops of the Established Church,
and the lords temporal, hereditary peers and peeresses, and life
peers.
As there are no legal restraints imposed by a written
constitution, Parliament can make or change any law. It can
even prolong its own life beyond the normal period without
consulting the electorate. In practice, however, Parliament does

148
not assert its supremacy in this way. A Parliament has a
maximum duration of five years, but in practice general
elections are usually held before the end of this term. The
maximum life has been prolonged by legislation in rare
circumstances such as the two world wars.
The privileges of the members of the Commons include :
freedom of speech, freedom from arrest in civil actions,
exemption from serving on juries, or being compelled to attend
court as witnesses, and the right of access to the Crown, which
is a collective privilege of the House.

COMPREHENSION PRACTICE

1. Answer the following questions.

1. Is the Constitution of the United Kingdom written
in one place?
2. What elements does the Constitution of the United
Kingdom consist of?
3. What are the key principles of the Britsh
Constitution?
4. How many parts has Parliament?
5. Whom does the monarch represent?
6. What is the royal prerogative?
7. What is the House of Commons also called?
8. How many members does the House of Commons
consist of?
9. What privileges do they have?
10. What kind of lords are there in the House of Lords?

149
 11. What church do the archbishops and bishops in the
House of Lords belong to?
12. What is the full duration of Parliament?

2. Find the words in the text which have the same

meaning as the following definitions.
1. laws made by Parliament
2. to develop by gradually changing
3. complete freedom and power to govern
4. to end
5. to vote in an election
6. the place where people go to vote in an election
7. a priest of the highest rank, in charge of all the
churches in a particular area
8. having a legal right to receive a position, rank, or
title passed from an older to a younger person in the
same family
9. permission not to do sth. you would normally have
to do

☺ VOCABULARY PRACTICE

1. Complete the following sentences using suitable

words from the box below:
draft law interest formality
policy set out Assent
bills Legislative
Draft laws take the form of parliamentary Bills. Most
are public Bills involving measures relating to public (1)….
Private (2)…. deal with matters of individual, corporate or
local (3)… Proposals for (4)… changes are sometimes set out

150
in government ‘White Papers’. Consultation papers, sometimes
called ‘Green Papers’, (5)… government proposals which are
still taking shape and seek comments from the public.
A (6)… is given a first reading in the House of
Commons without debate; this is followed by a thorough
debate on general principles at second reading, and a third and
final reading.
Bills must normally be passed by both Houses. They
must then receive the Royal (7)… before becoming Acts. In
practice this is a (8)….

2. Study the words opponent, antagonist and enemy.

An unemotional word, opponent refers to anyone who

is opposed to someone else or to ”the other side” especially in a
fight, game, political race, or debate. Antagonist implies more
active opposition, especially in a struggle for control or power.
Adversary usually suggests outright hostility in the conflict.
Enemy may imply actual hatred in the opponent and a desire to
injure, or it may simply refer to any member of the opposing
group, nation, or the like, whether or not there is personal
animosity or hostility involved. Foe, now a somewhat literary
synonym for enemy, connotes more active hostility.

3. The mistakes in these sentences have been

underlined for you. Suggest a correct or better
alternative for each mistake in Parts A and B. The
first one has been done for you.
Part A
The new law effects today. comes into effect
1 The paper is running an 1 …………………
action against the new

151
 privacy laws.
2 Are you interested in British 2 …………………
civilization?
3 The Minister was the victim 3 …………………
of a combine against him.
4 We’re electing a new party 4 …………………
conductor.
5 We must join ourselves to 5 …………………
win the next election.
6 Are you a member of the 6 …………………
Preservative Party?
7 They’ll have to control your 7 …………………
passport before they let you
in.
8 Conversations about trade 8 …………………
agreements are continuing.
9 They’ve set up centers to 9 …………………
council the unemployed.
10 Has he got the necessary 10 …………………
qualities to direct the
country?
11 The government was chosen 11 …………………
with a small majority.
12 She’s one of the greatest 12 …………………
faces in modern politics.
13 Are you member of the 13 …………………
Labor Faction?
14 The folk will be voting on 14 …………………
May 14th.
15 Dictators have a lot of craft. 15 …………………
16 What is the basis of political 16 …………………
force?
17 A dictator rules by strength. 17 …………………

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18 Do you know all the words 18 …………………
of your National Hymn?
19 The great forces decide the 19 …………………
destiny of smaller nations.
20 We pay imposition on 20 …………………
everything.

Part B
1 An industrious nation needs 1 …………………
a lot of capital investment.
2 Civil service departments 2 …………………
are full of plot.
3 Paris was discharged in 3 …………………
1945 by the allied forces.
4 The most of people are in 4 …………………
favor of a change in the law.
5 There’s been a peaceful 5 …………………
manifestation against
motorways.
6 What is the date of the 6 …………………
annual party lecture?
7 You have to tackle misery 7 …………………
before you tackle crime.
8 The German country is a 8 …………………
formidable force in Europe.
9 She’s been named to lead 9 …………………
the party into the next
election.
10 Whose part are you on? 10 …………………
11 I’m enjoying peasant life 11 …………………
now I’ve moved out of
London.
12 It’s government by the 12 …………………

153
 peoples for the peoples.
13 What’s your political 13 …………………
conviction?
14 Politic is central to the study 14 …………………
of history.
15 A government must reign or 15 …………………
resign.
16 Britain has a republican 16 …………………
government.
17 The way we are governed 17 …………………
affects the whole of
community.
18 Britain is a small country, 18 …………………
which is divided into lands.
19 Trade Syndicates defend 19 …………………
worker’s interests.

4. Study the idiom TO TABLE .

TO TABLE There is truth in George Bernard Shaw's
humorous statement that England and America are separated
by the same language. Similar expressions have meant
different things in each country.
For example, the phrase "to table a proposal" means
one thing in Britain, while in the United States it means
something just the opposite.
When Parliament wishes to take up a matter for
immediate discussion, it votes "to table it". On the other hand,
when the United States Senate or House of Representatives
votes "to table" a proposal, it has decided to put it aside - to
delay or postpone discussion of it - perhaps to kill it
altogether.
Shortly after the United States entered the war against
Nazi Germany, this difference created misunderstandings. As

154
the Americans and British began to develop joint military
plans, the expression "to table" needed a clearer explanation.
There were some British proposals that the
American leaders were strongly opposed to. They did
not even want to discuss them. Politely, they said, "let's
table them". The British were happy to hear it. They
thought the Americans were ready to give their
proposals serious consideration.
For a time, the misunderstandings were troublesome.
But the British and Americans in time understood what each
meant by the expression "to table". Communications between
them improved.
So did their military situation. It is a matter of history
how the Allies "turned the tables" on Hitler.
After being on the defensive for a long time, suffering
one disaster on top of another, they moved forward to take the
offensive on all fronts.
The phrase "to turn the tables" means to give an
opponent the same treatment he has been giving you. The
expression comes from a popular sixteenth century card game,
where a player might have found himself in a worse position
than his opponent, and so turned the board or table around to
put the other man in the same position.
The phrase dramatically tells the story of the war. The
Allies at last "turned the tables" on the aggressors and defeated
them.
Two closely related expressions also come from the
word table. One is "to put your cards on the table". The other is
the phrase, "to deal under the table".
A honest man lays his "cards on the table", so to speak.
You can clearly see he is not trying to hide anything. He is said
"to be above board", out in the open where everything can be
examined.

155
 But the man who wants to hide his plans and purposes
"deals under the table". This expression is used to describe
many dishonest activities.
One who makes a secret, illegal payment to another is
said to be "paying under the table".

5. Match the human right with the corresponding

paragraph:

1) Marriage and Family

2) Property
3) Fair Trial
4) Presumption of Innocence
5) Personal Liberty
6) Right to Privacy
7) Freedom of Religion
8) Political Rights
9) Work
10) Home

a. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention,

or exile. Everyone has a legal right to personal liberty.
No one can be arrested with the exception of those
suspected of committing a crime, those failing to
comply with certain civil court orders, or individuals in
contempt of a superior court or of Parliament. An arrest
to enforce a court order in civil proceedings can only be
made under a warrant issued by a court or by a power
of arrest granted by the court in cases of domestic
violence.

b. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of

his country, directly or through freely chosen

156
 representatives. Everyone has the right of equal access
to public service in his country. The will of the people
shall be the basis of the authority of government; this
will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine
elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage
and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free
voting procedures. Britain is a parliamentary
democracy, the Government being responsible to the
people through the elected House of Commons, which
has the power to force a government to resign on a vote
of no-confidence. The other House in the British
Parliament is the non-elected House of Lords, which is
normally a chamber of discussion and revision of
proposals and not a rival to the Commons. Its powers to
delay legislation are limited by law. Candidature for
parliamentary elections is open to anyone aged 21 and
over who is eligible to vote. The secret ballot is used in
all British elections. The electoral system is the ‘simple
majority’ system. The candidate with the largest
number of votes is elected. Officials working in central
and local government have a long tradition of political
neutrality. A change of minister therefore does not
involve a change of departmental staff, whose functions
remain the same whichever political party is in office.
Public offices are open to men and women, without
distinction on grounds of sex, religion, race or colour.
Staff is recruited to the Civil Service and its executive
agencies through fair and open competition solely on
the basis of merit.

c. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due

to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry
and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights

157
 as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and
full consent of the intending spouses. The family is the
natural and fundamental group unit of society and is
entitled to protection by society and the State. All
marriages are registered by the State. It is unlawful to
force anyone to marry against his or her will or to bring
about a marriage by fraudulent means. Members of the
family are in an advantageous position in matters of
succession. If death occurs without a valid will, the
spouse and children of the deceased have priority.
Children have equal rights of inheritance from parents
whether the parents are married or unmarried.

d. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to

be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to
law in a public trial at which he has had all the
guarantees necessary for his defence. No one shall be
held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act
or omission, which did not constitute a penal offence,
under national or international law, at the time when it
was committed. Not shall a heavier penalty be imposed
than the one that was applicable at the time the penal
offence was committed.

e. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of

employment, to just and favourable conditions of work
and to protection against unemployment. Everyone,
without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay
for equal work. Everyone who works has the right to
just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself
and his family an existence worthy of human dignity,
and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of

158
social protection. Everyone has the right to form and to
join trade unions for the protection of his interests. The
Employment Service, an executive agency of the
Department of Employment, helps unemployed people
to find work through its job placement and other
services and pays benefits and allowances to those
entitled to them. A fundamental reform of the
vocational qualifications system is being undertaken by
the National Council for Vocational Qualifications. It
aims to develop a system of nationally recognised
vocational qualifications based on standards of
workplace competence set by employers. Equal esteem
for academic and vocational qualifications is being
promoted with clearer and more accessible paths
between them. In most industries the pay and
conditions of workers are settled by national and/or
plant bargaining between employers and trade unions.
Laws impose duties on employers and others to ensure
the health, safety and welfare of their employees in
factories offices, mines, building sites and ail other
work activities. People may join trade unions, which
have members in virtually every occupation and some
10 million members in all. Dismissals for union
membership or non-membership are automatically
unfair. It is also unlawful for an employer to refuse to
employ an individual on the grounds of that
individual’s membership or non-membership of a trade
union. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure,
including reasonable limitation of working hours and
periodic holidays with pay. The basic working week in
Great Britain is about 37,5 to 40 hours for manual work
and 35 to 38 for non-manual work. A five-day week is
usually worked. Overtime is paid at higher rates.

159
f. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as
in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily
deprived of his property. Compensation is paid for any
losses suffered through compulsory purchase or the
deterioration of property as a result of activities by
public authorities.

g. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate

for the health and well-being of himself and of his
family, including food, clothing, housing and medical
care and necessary social services, and the right to
security in the event of unemployment, sickness,
disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of
livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care
and assistance. A children, whether born in or out of
wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection. The
National Health Service (NHS) provides
comprehensive health care to all residents. Treatment is
based on medical priority regardless of patients’ income
and is financed mainly out of general taxation. Patients
pay charges for prescriptions although in practice some
75 per cent are supplied free, since charges do not apply
to people on low incomes, children, expectant mothers,
pensioners and other groups. Patients are free to seek
private medical treatment and doctors, dentists,
opticians and pharmacists are able to practice privately.
NHS hospital doctors, too, can practice privately,
subject to certain rules. There is limited provision for
them to treat their private patients in NHS hospitals.
NHS patients are sometimes treated at public expense
in private hospitals.

160
h. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with
his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to
attacks upon his honour and reputation. Every one has
the right to the protection of the law against such
interference or attacks. The common law allows people
to speak and act in their own homes as they please and
to carry on their daily business, provided that they do
not infringe the rights of others or commit an offence.
Parents are free to bring up their children as they so
wish, provided that they do not infringe laws against
cruelty and exposure to moral and physical danger.
Parents also have to observe the law regarding
compulsory education of their children.

i. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public

hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal in the
determination of his rights and obligations and of any
criminal charge against him. Civil and criminal cases
are heard by an independent judiciary. In jury trials the
judge decides questions of law, sums up the evidence
for the jury, and discharges the accused or passes
sentence. A jury is independent of the judiciary. Any
attempt to interfere with the jury once it is sworn in is a
criminal offence. Publicity: Court proceedings are
normally held in public and reporters from the media
are admitted. In rape cases, the identity of the
complainant cannot be reported.

j. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought,

conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to
change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone
or in community with others and in public or private, to

161
 manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice,
worship and observance. Worship and religious
teaching take place without any interference from the
State. There is complete freedom of thought,
conscience or form of worship and no restriction on the
right of any citizen to change his or her religion.
Atheists and agnostics are also free to propagate their
views.

6. Give the summary of one paragraph.

7. Do you know any other human rights ?

֠ PRE-READING
What do you know about the British government?

READING

The British Government

After a general election, the leader of the party which
has the most seats in the House of Commons becomes Prime
Minister, who chooses the Chancellor of the Exchequer (for
the Treasury), the Foreign Secretary (for foreign affairs), the
Home Secretary (for domestic affairs), and others, to form the
Cabinet.
The Prime Minister is appointed by the Queen,
and all other ministers are appointed by the Queen on
the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Most

162
ministers are members of the Commons, although the
Government is also fully represented by ministers in the
Lords. The Lord Chancellor is always a member of the
House of Lords.
The composition of governments can vary both
in the number of ministers and in the titles of some
offices. The Prime Minister is, by tradition, First Lord
of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. The
Prime Minister’s office is located at 10 Downing Street
in central London.
To keep the workload of the Cabinet within
manageable limits, a great deal of work is carried on
through the committee system.
The doctrine of collective responsibility means that the
Cabinet acts unanimously even when Cabinet ministers do not
all agree on a subject.
As press adviser to the Prime Minister, the
Prime Minister’s Press secretary and other Staff in the
Prime Minister’s Press Office have direct contact with
the parliamentary press through regular meetings with
the Lobby correspondents. The Lobby correspondents
are a group of political correspondents who have the
special privilege of access to the Lobby of the House of
Commons where they can talk privately to government
ministers and other members of the House. The Prime
Minister’s Press Office is the accepted channel through
which information about parliamentary business is
passed to the media.

COMPREHENSION PRACTICE

163
Answer the following questions:
1) After a general election, who becomes Prime Minister?
2) Whom does the Prime Minister choose for the
Treasury?
3) What minister does the Prime Minister choose for
foreign affairs?
4) What do all the ministers chosen by the Prime Minister
form?
5) What does the doctrine of collective responsibility
mean?
6) What do the Lobby correspondents do?

SPEAKING PRACTICE

 GROUP WORK

The students are preparing part of a candidate’s

campaign for election to a post in either national or local
government. What sort of things should a candidate promise in
order to gain votes? Then the candidates present their
programmers, supported and prompted if necessary by
members of the groups. Finally, the class in a democratic
election may select one of the candidates.

GRAMMAR PRACTICE
THE ADJECTIVE AND THE ADVERB (REVIEW)

1) Read the text below and underlines the adjectives.

Explain their form.

164
Administration of justice rests with the Lord Chancellor,
the Home Secretaries, the Attorney General and the
Secretaries of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland. The
highest judicial appointments are made by the Queen on
the advice of the Prime Minister. The judiciary is
independent, its adjudications not being subject to
ministerial direction or control.
England and Wales

The Lord Chancellor is the head of the judiciary. He or she

is responsible for:
1) Appointing most magistrates
2) The procedure of the civil and magistrates courts
3) The administrations of magistrates and higher courts
4) A number of administrative tribunals
5) The legal aid and advice schemes
6) The administration of civil law reform
The Home Secretary is concerned with the criminal law,
the police service, prisons, and the probation and after–care
service. He appoints a Board of Visitors to each prisons
establishment, and is advised by the Parole Board on the
release of prisoners on license. The Home Secretary is also
responsible for advising the Queen on the exercise of the
royal prerogative of mercy.
The Attorney General and the Solicitor General are the
Government’s principal advisers on English law, and they
represent the Crown in appropriate domestic and
international cases. They are senior barristers, elected
members of the House of Commons and hold ministerial
posts. As well as exercising various civil law functions, the
Attorney General has final responsibility for enforcing the
criminal law. The Solicitor General is the deputy of the
Attorney General. As head of the Crown Prosecutions

165
Service, the Director of Public Prosecutions is subject to
superintendence by the Attorney General, as are the Director
of the Serious Fraud Office and the Director of Public
Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is responsible
for drafting legislations and advises the Government on
legal, parliamentary and constitutional questions.

8. Translate into English:

1. Tom are doi fraŃi primul este student, iar cel de-al
doilea este avocat.
2. Mi-a dat i alte informaŃii despre accident.
3. Mary este fericită că are câŃiva prieteni aici.
4. Această problemă este la fel de dificilă ca celelalte.
5. Acesta este cel mai bun raport pe care l-am citit
vreodată.
6. Rezultatele voastre sunt din ce în ce mai bune.
7. El niciodată nu a avut opinii diferite de ale tatălui
său.
8. Toate persoanele rănite au fost duse la spital.
9. Ea a fost atât de furioasă, încât l-a lovit peste faŃă.
10. Te rog să mă scuzi pentru că te întrerup.
11. A închis fereastra cu o asemenea forŃă, încât sticla
s-a spart.
12. Fiica voastră ne-a trimis cinci scrisori, iar fiecare
dintre ele subliniază cât de mult îi este dor de noi.
13. Cea mai mare parte a informaŃiilor s-a dovedit
adevărată.
14. Destul de ciudat: a plecat fără să spună un cuvânt.
15. De data aceasta l-am auzit clar.

166
 16. Eram complet con tient de ceea ce se întâmpla.
17. Acest succes s-a datorat în mare parte eforturilor
sale.
18. GlonŃul a trecut exact prin fereastră.
19. La puŃin timp după aceea, a sosit poliŃia.
20. Va trebui să îi întâlnim la ora nouă dimineaŃa, luni,
pe 4 Martie 2002.
21. Ea a spus că îl întâlnise cu două zile înainte.
22. Nepotul nostru ne-a vizitat în Mai, dar nu l-am mai
văzut de atunci.
23. Nu te-am înŃeles bine.
24. Îmi amintesc de faptul că ea avea o influenŃă
considerabilă acolo.
25. El va face tot ce va putea ca să ne ajute.
26. A vorbit atât de repede, încât nimeni nu l-a înŃeles.
27. Nu îmi place această idee i, mai mult, cred că este
ilegală.
28. Banditul a intrat în cameră. Încet, i-a mi cat mâna
spre armă.
29. Mai devreme sau mai târziu îŃi vei da seama că are
dreptate.
30. În nici un caz să nu deschizi u a aceea.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

Enlarge on: One cannot make people honest by Act of

Parliament.

167
 Topics for
Presentations

I.
Equality
Integrity
Punishment
Marriage and Family
Fair Trial
Personal Liberty
Right to Privacy
Freedom of Religion
Freedom of Expression
General Political Rights
Nationality
The right to work. Working Hours
Home
Education, Science, and the Arts
Culture

II. THE ROYAL FAMILY

members of the royal family
a. her majesty the queen
b. hrh the prince of wales
c. hrh the princess of wales
functions of the monarch
royal income and expenditure

168
 the royal household
royal palaces and residences

UNIT THE U.S .CONSTITUTION

7 AND GOVERNMENT

169
֠ PRE-READING

CONSTITUTION
people

law amendment

READING / LISTENING

170
Genesis of the Constitution

The first constitution of United States was the Articles

of Confederation ratified in 1781. Because this document left
too much sovereignty to the states, it was defective as an
instrument of government. Some leaders felt that the individual
states suffered economically from the lack of a strong central
authority; commercial barriers between the states seemed
particularly onerous. They also felt the lack of unity among
states was causing serious problems in international relations
and the defense of the nation.
Twelve states (all but Rhode Island) named 73 delegates to the
Constitutional Convention. Of these, 55 came but only 39
signed the Constitution on September 17, 1787.
What they sought was a balance that Madison called
“mixed government” and “free government,” a compromise
between monarchy and democracy, as they knew them.
Despite the consensus among the framers on the
objectives of the Constitution, the controversy over the means
by which objectives could be achieved was lively. Controversy
developed over the presidency and the way in which the
president was to be elected; the relationship of the states to the
national government; the relationship of conflict was partially
resolved through the great compromise that gave small states
equal representation with the large states in the Senate but
apportioned representation according to population in the
House of Representatives. Other compromises involved the
slavery issue.
After it was signed, the Constitution was offered for
ratification. This was achieved on June 21, 1788, and by 1790
all 13 of the original states had ratified it. Ratification was
vigorously opposed by the Anti-Federalists, who feared that a
powerful central government would minimize the role of the

171
people in governance and threaten individual rights and local
interests. The significant and lasting accomplishment of the
opponents was to get the Bill of Rights added to the
Constitution.
Three main principles from the basis of the Constitution are:
- the separation of powers of the three branches of
government;
- government of, for, and by the people;
- basic human rights (individual freedom, equality,
and justice).
The Constitution has three parts:
1) The Preamble tells its purposes: to protect the nation and to
assure justice, peace, and liberty for all;
2) The Document contains seven articles;
3) Twenty-six Amendments guarantee individual rights and
freedoms and establish other basic principles of
government.

READING COMPREHENSION
Write the words from the text.

1. After the Revolutionary War, ________________ (1781)

were the basis of the new American government.
2. The result of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was
________________.
3. They sought a compromise between monarchy and
_________________.

172
4. After if was signed, the Constitution was offered for
_________________.
5. One of the main principles of the Constitution is the
________________ of powers of the three
____________________ of government.
6. Another principle is government of, for, and by
_________________.
7. The third principle is basic ___________________, such as
individual _______________ equality, and
__________________.
8. The three parts of the Constitution are
__________________, the seven ______________ of the
Document, and the twenty-six ________________.

☺ VOCABULARY PRACTICE

1. Here is a summary of the Constitutional

Amendments about individual rights and liberties.
Read it, write the number and then explain the
amendments.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there of; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for
a redress of grievances.

173
 Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of
a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,
shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any
house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of
war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches
and seizures, shall not be violated.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or
indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the
land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual
service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any
person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in
jeopardy of life or limb.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the
State and district where in the crime shall have been
committed, and to be informed of the nature and cause of
the accusation.

174
 Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the
people.

Amendment XII
The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote
by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at
least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with
themselves.

Amendment XIII
Section I – Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall
have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Amendment XIV
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizen of United
States and of the State wherein they reside; nor shall any
State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without
due process of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Amendment XV
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State

175
on account of race, color, or previous condition of
servitude.

Amendment XVII
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for
six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.

Amendment XIX
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State
on account of sex.

Amendment XX
The terms of the President and Vice-President shall end at
noon on the 20th day of January, and terms of Senators and
Representatives at noon 3rd day of January, of the years in
which such terms would have ended if this article had not
been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then
begin.
If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the
President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice-
President elect shall become President.

Amendment XXII
No person shall be elected to the office of the President
more than twice, and no person who has held the office of
President, or acted as president, for more than two years of
a term to which some other person was elected President
shall be elected to the office of the President mote than
once.

176
 Amendment XXIV
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any
primary or other election for President or Vice-President,
for electors for President or Vice-President, or for Senator
or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or any State by reason of
failure to pay poll tax or other tax.

Amendment XXV
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his
death or resignation, the Vice-President shall become
President.

Amendment XXVI
The right of citizen of the United States, who are 18 years
of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by
the United States or any State on account of age.

1. Amendment ________ guarantees the right to vote to ex-

slaves and black people.
2. Amendment ________ protects people against
unreasonable bail or fines and cruel or unusual punishment.
3. Amendment ________ guarantees the right of freedom of
speech, press religion, peaceable assembly, and requesting
change from the government.
4. Amendment ________ provides for removal of an
incapacitated president and for filling a vacancy in the
office of vice-president.
5. Amendment ________ guarantees that slavery shall not
exist within the United States.
6. Amendment ________ guarantees the right to own
weapons.

177
7. Amendment ________ says that individuals have rights in
addition to those in the Constitution.
8. Amendment ________ gives the right to vote to all citizens
over the age of lightens.
9. Amendment ________ guarantees all the rights of citizens
to people born or naturalized in the United States.
10. Amendment ________ says that to bring a person to trial, a
grand jury must charge him or her with a crime. Also, the
government may not bring a person to trial more than once
for the same crime.
11. Amendment ________ limits presidents to two terms in
office.
12. Amendment ________ says that the government may not
search or take individual property without a warrant.
13. Amendment ________ prevents anyone from being denied
the right to vote for failing to pay a poll tax.
14. Amendment ________ gives individuals the right to an
open trial by jury and a lawyer. They have the right to hear
the charges and to question witness.
15. Amendment ________ guaranteed the right to vote to
women.
16. Amendment ________ says that the government may not
force people to take soldiers into their homes in peacetime.

READING AND VOCABULARY PRACTICE

1. Read/ Listen to the text and complete the

diagram.

178
The American System of Government

The United States is a democratic republic (a

representative democracy). The national government is a
government of all the people and their representatives (elected
officials). It is called the federal government because the nation
is a federation, or association, of states.
The U.S. Constitution gave the federal government only
limited powers, the powers stated in the Constitution. All other
powers belong to the individual states.
The Founding Fathers established three branches of
governments: the legislative, the executive, and the judicial.
Each branch has different functions and powers under the
principle of separation of powers. There is also a system of
checks and balances so that each branch has some control over
the other two branches. This way, no one group can have too
much power.

The
Constitution

2 3 4

179
2. Match the words with their meanings.

1. a democratic republic a. an association

2. representatives and senators b. having different functions
3. the Federal Government c. the legislative, the executive, and the
judicial
4. a federation d. only those powers stated in the
Constitution
5. limited powers e. a government of the people (a
representative democracy)
6. the branches of government f. elected officials
7. the separation of powers g. the national government
8. checks and balances h. a system of control of each branch over
the other two

3. Read/ Listen to the text and answer the

questions.

The Three Branches of Government

The legislative branch is called Congress. It consists of

the Senate and the House of Representatives. It is the
responsibility of Congress to propose and pass laws. In the
system of checks and balances, Congress can refuse to approve
presidential appointment and can override a presidential veto.
The executive branch consists of the President, the
Vice-President, the Cabinet and the thirteen Departments, and
the independent agencies. It’s the responsibility of the
executive to enforce laws. The President has the power to veto
(reject) any bill (law) of Congress. He appoints all Supreme
Court Justices.
The judicial branch consists of the Supreme (highest)
Court, eleven Circuit Courts of Appeals, and ninety-four

180
District Courts. This branch explains and interprets laws and
makes decisions in lawsuits. It has power over the other two
branches because it can declare their laws and actions
unconstitutional (against the principles of the Constitution).

Answer these questions about the three branches of

government.

the Legislative the the Judicial

Executive
the Senate
1. What does it consist the House of
of? Representatives

2. What are its

responsibilities?

3. What powers does it

have under the system
of checks and
balances?

1.  Work in pairs or groups. Discuss

these questions about the legislative branch of the
federal government and decide on the answers.

1) What is the legislative branch of U.S. government

called?
a. Congress
b. Parliament

181
2) What is a “bicameral” legislature?
a. one with cameras
b. one with two houses (divisions)

3) What are the two houses of Congress?

a. the Council and the Supreme Soviet
b. the Senate and the House of Representatives

4) Who is President of the Senate? (What is his office?)

a. Mayor of Washington, D.C.
b. the Vice President of the U.S.

5) Who presides if the President of the Senate is absent?

a. the President pro temper
b. the Vice President of the U.S.

6) Who presides over the House of Representatives (the

House)?
a. the President of the U.S.
b. the Speaker of the House

7) What party does the Speaker of the House usually

belong to?
a. no political party
b. the majority political party

182
2. Fill in the gaps.

1) The Senate has ____________members

House of Representatives (number)

2) The number of Senators for each state is ___________.

Representative

3) Each Senator serves in Congress for _________years.

Representative (number)

4) To run for Senator must be at least _____ years old

Congress, a Representative (number)
and a U.S. citizen for at least _________ years.
(number)

5) A regular session of the Senate is from _______ to ________.

House (date)

3. Fill in the gaps.

1) To begin the law-making process, either a __Senator___ or

a _________________ can write a _____________ .

2) The bill then goes to a _______________ of the same

house.

3) The committee can call _____________________,

______________(postpone) the bill, send it back to the full

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 house without a _______________, or _____________
(change) the bill.

4) If the Senate or House _____________ the bill, it does not

become law.

5) If the Senate or House _____________ the bill, it goes to

other house of Congress and its committee.

6) If the second house passes the bill, it goes to

_______________ .

7) If the President signs the bill, it

___________________________.

8) If the President ___________ (rejects) the bill, Congress

can ______________ the veto, and it becomes law anyway.

7. After reading the text below ask your

colleagues comprehension questions.

Political Parties

The U.S. Constitutions does not talk about political

parties, but they began during George Washington’s term of
office. On one side were the Federalists. They wanted a strong
federal government. On the other side, the Democratic-
Republicans wanted to limit the power of the national
government. Their leader was Thomas Jefferson, and their
group later became the Democratic Party.
Some of the early political parties, such as Federalists
and the Whigs, no longer exist.

184
Since 1854, the two major parties have been the Democrats and
Republicans and the Republicans. Smaller parties have lasted
for only a short time. “Third parties” have won in local
elections, but their candidates have never won a Presidential
election.
Many people say that there is not much difference
between the Republican and Democratic Parties. “Liberal”
politicians usually favor reform (change) and progress.
“Consecutive” politicians usually oppose change. But both
liberal and conservative members belong to the major political
parties, and their ideas often change with the times and issues.

8.  Work in pairs. Each of you studies the

information about a different one of the two major
political parties. Summarize your information for your
partner.
The Democratic Party is the oldest party in the United States.
In 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first Democratic
President. Since that time, the issues of the nation and the ideas
of party have changed. Both the major parties have liberal and
conservative members, but in general people consider the
Democrats today more liberal than the Republicans. Democrats
often want the government to establish social programs for
people in need, such as the poor, the unemployed, and the
elderly. They usually say they believe in equal rights for
women and minorities and they oppose nuclear weapons and
too much military spending. The symbol of the Democratic
Party (from political cartoons) is the donkey.
2) The Republican Party, sometimes called the GOP (the
Grand Old Party), began in 1854 over the issue of slavery.
Republicans oppose slavery. The first Republican candidate to
become President was Abraham Lincoln. After the Civil War,

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Republicans got interested in farm, land, and business issues.
In general, Republicans vote more conservatively than
Democrats. They want government to support big business but
not to control the lives of citizens. They often oppose
government spending for social programs but support military
spending. The party symbol is the elephant.

Work in pairs. Look at this page and answer your

partner’s questions about the responsibilities of the
federal and state governments.

Only The federal Only a state government:

government:
- declares war;- - maintains a police force;
- supports the armed forces supports a state militia, such as
the National Guard;
- coins money; - regulates transportation and
trade within the state;
- establishes and maintains -establishes and maintains
post offices schools :
- gives authors and - oversees local governments
inventors the exclusive right and grants city charters:
to their work (copyrights or
patens)
- makes treaties with the
governments of other countries;

Both the federal and state governments:

- fund public projects ( buildings, dams, highways, etc.)

- support farming and business
- maintain court systems
- regulate banks

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The federal government usually provides funding and
the states distribute the money and provide programs
for:

- public assistance for people in need

- health care
- protection of natural resources
- improvements in living and working conditions

Example:
Student 1: Which governments declares war and
makes treaties?
Student 2: The federal governments.

1. ... declares war and makes treaties?

_____federal_______
2. ... maintains a police force and state
militia?____________
3. ... regulates trade and transportation in the
state?__________________________________
4. ... coins money and maintains post
offices?______________________________________
5. ... establishes and maintains schools?__________________
6. ... regulates banks and supports
business?________________________________________

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7. ... oversees local government and grants city
charters?______________________________
8. ... funds public projects, like dams and
highways?_________________________________
9. ... maintains courts systems?_________________________
10. ... issues copyrights and patents?_____________________
11. ... provides public assistance and health care for people in
need? _____________________
12. ... provides funding for the protection of natural resources?
__________________________
13. ... distributes money through programs to improve living
and working conditions? ___________________________

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  GROUP WORK.

10. Work in groups of four. Each of you studies the

information about a different one of the four presidents. In turn,
summarize your information in your own words for the group.

1.
Before the United States
won independence from British
rule, George Washington was
a farmer in the colony of
Virginia. He served as a
military leader in the
Revolutionary War. The
colonists trusted him because
he did not want power for himself. He wanted all the states
and the people to work together as one. He wanted the
government to serve the people well.
Washington said that power should belong to institutions,
not to men. He also said that people could understand the
U.S. Constitution in many ways, not just one. He did not
think that the United States should have strong ties with
other countries.
George Washington was the first President of the
United States from 1789 to 1796. He is often called "the
Father of Our Country."

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2.
Thomas Jefferson could
do many things. As a young
man, he was a farmer and a
lawyer in Virginia. He was
also a scientist, an inventor, a
philosopher, and an architect.
He designed his own home,
called Monticello. He could
communicate in French, Italian, Spanish, Latin, and Greek.
Many of Jefferson's ideas became basic principles of
the government of the United States. For example, he
believed that „all men are created equal” (are born the same
and should receive the same treatment under the law). He
also said that power must come From „the consent of the
governed” (the voters, not the leaders). He wanted free
elections, a free press, and free speech.
Thomas Jefferson held many important government
jobs. He was Ambassador to France, Secretary of State
(under George Washington), Vice President (under John
Adams), and the third President of the United States, from
1801 to 1809. As President, Jefferson bought the huge
Louisiana Territory for the United States from France.

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3.
Abraham Lincoln grew up in
Kentucky in a log cabin. He
couldn't go to school, so he
taught himself. He became a
lawyer. Friends called him
„Honest Abe.” As a delegate
from Illinois, he served in
Congress from 1847 to 1849.
Lincoln was against slavery and gave some famous
speeches about his ideas when he was running for the
Senate.
In 1861 Abraham Lincoln became the sixteenth
President of the United States. He wanted the states of the
Union to work together as one country, but he had to lead
the North against the South in the Civil War. Some people
thought that Lincoln was too strong as President because he
used power that the Constitution did not give him.
President Lincoln freed the slaves with the
Emancipation Proclamation. He had a plan to bring the
South back into the Union after the Civil War, but he
couldn't carry out the plan because he was assassinated. In
1865 an actor named John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham
Lincoln.

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4.
John F. Kennedy was
President for only three years,
from 1961 to 1963, but his
personality and ideas changed
America. He was both the first
Roman Catholic and the
youngest President in the history
of the country. He set clear goals
for America. For example, he promised that the United
States would land a man on the moon before 1970.
Kennedy supported the ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr.
and fought for civil rights, fair housing, and programs to
stop poverty. He asked Congress for more money for
education and medical care for elderly people.
Kennedy was against Communism. For example, when
the Soviet Union put missiles in Cuba, he sent U.S. ships to
surround the island. But he believed that the best way to
fight Communism was not by sending armies but by
attacking poverty and injustice. He organized the Alliance
for Progress to help the countries of Latin America. He
started the Peace Corps and sent Americans to over sixty
countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. These young
volunteers worked and lived with the people, built schools,
and taught farmers more modern methods.
Kennedy was a man for the future. He worked to stop
the testing of nuclear weapons. But on November 22, 1963,
he was assassinated.

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11. Which President is each sentence about? Write the first
initial of his last name on the line.

W = Washington J = Jefferson L = Lincoln K = Kennedy

1. ____ This farmer and lawyer from Virginia was also a

scientist, an inventor, a philosopher, and an architect, and
he knew many languages.

2. ____ The colonists trusted this farmer from the colony of

Virginia because he did not want power for himself.

3. ____ This young Roman Catholic was President for only

three years because he was assassinated in 1963.

4. ____ He served as a military leader in the fight of the

colonists for independence from British rule.

5. ____ This honest man taught himself and became a lawyer

and a Congressman from Illinois.

6. ____ He was against slavery but wanted the states of the

North and South to work together as a nation.

7. ____ Many of his ideas (for example, about equality, „the

consent of the governed”, free press, and free speech)
are basic principles of the government of the United
States.

8. ____ He was an Ambassador, Secretary of State, and Vice

President before he became the third President of the
United States.

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9. ____ He was a man for the future, and one of his goals was
to land a man on the moon before 1970.

10. ____ As the sixteenth President, he used power that was

not given by the Constitution when he led the
northern states in the Civil War.

11. ____ He did not think the United States should have strong
ties to other nations.

12. ____ He bought the Louisiana Territory for the United

States from France.

13. ____ He is often called „the Father of Our Country.”

14. ____ His Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves, but

he was assassinated before he could bring the South
back into the Union.

15. ____ He supported civil rights, fair housing, and programs

to stop poverty, and he wanted more money for
education and medical care for elderly people.

16. ____ He tried to stop Communism with the Alliance for

Progress and the Peace Corps and was against nuclear
weapons.

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 CULTURAL NOTES

American Symbols
The Flag of the United States

1.

This is the British (English) flag. Before the American

Revolution, it was the flag of the thirteen American
colonies.

2.

This was the „Great Union Flag.” It was the flag of the
American army during the Revolutionary War. The flag of
England was in the corner. The red and white stripes were
symbols for the thirteen American colonies.

195
3.

Some people say that Betsy Ross made the first

American flag. In the corner, there were thirteen white stars
in a field of blue. The new flag also had seven red stripes
and six white stripes.

4.

During the War of 1812 the flag had fifteen stars and
fifteen stripes for the fifteen states. After a battle Francis
Scott Key wrote a song about the American flag. The „Star-
Spangled Banner” became the national anthem of the
United States.

5.

The United States grew and admitted more states to the

Union. Now the flag has thirteen stripes for the thirteen
original colonies and fifty stars for the fifty states.

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 6.

American citizens and

immigrants sometimes
recite the Pledge of
Allegiance to the flag. The
pledge is a promise of
loyalty to the United
States.

THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of

America and to the Republic for which it stands, one
Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for
all."

1. Write T for true and F for False. Correct the false

sentences.
1. ____ Before the American Revolution, the British flag
was the flag of the thirteen American colonies.

2. ____ The Great Union flag was the flag of England

during the Revolutionary War.

3. ____ Some people say that Abraham Lincoln made the

first American flag.

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 4. ____ The "Star-Spangled Banner" is a song about the
Liberty Bell and the Statue of Liberty.
5. ____ The flag of the United States now has thirteen
stars for the American colonies and fifty stripes for the
fifty states.

6. ____ The Pledge of Allegiance is a promise of loyalty

to the United States.

2. Write the words from the box.

Blue Stars colonies Revolution

White Stripes Union anthem

The British flag was the flag of the thirteen American

(1) _____________________________ before the American
(2)___________________ . During the Revolutionary War, the
red and (3) ____________________ stripes were symbols of
these colonies on the Great (4)_____________________flag.
The first American flag had thirteen (5)
____________________ in a field of (6)________________ .
In the War of 1812, the flag had fifteen stars and (7)
_____________________. Now the “Star-Spangled Banner” is
the national (8) _____________________ of the United States.

3. Number the flags 1 – 5 in time order. Tell about

each flag.

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4. More American Symbols
a.
The delegates of the thirteen
American colonies planned the
Declaration of Independence, and
Thomas Jefferson wrote it. The
document declared the independence
(separation) of the colonies from England.

b.
Congress adopted the
Declaration of Independence, and the
delegates signed the document on July 4, 1776. The Liberty
Bell in the State House in Philadelphia rang out on that day.

c.
The French gave the Statue of
Liberty to the United States as a symbol
of friendship. Now it is a symbol of
freedom for new immigrants to this
country.

d.

The American eagle is the

offcial emblem (symbol) of the United
States. It appears on the Presidential
flag and on some coins.

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e.
The donkey and the
elephant first appeared in political
cartoons. They are simbols for the
Democratic and Republican
Parties.

f.

Uncle Sam has the initials U.S. He

originally appeared in political cartoons
and is an unofficial symbol of the U.S.
government.

5. Match the sentence parts. Write the letters on the

lines.
a. the United States on the
1. ____ The Liberty Bell
Presidential flag and some
is the symbol of
coins.
2. ____ The Statue of
b. the U.S. government.
Liberty is the symbol of
3. ____ The American c. the Declaration of
eagle is the symbol of Independence.
4. ____ The donkey and d. the two major political
the elephant are parties.
symbols of
5. ____ Uncle Sam is e. freedom for immigrants to
the symbol of the United States.

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STUDY THE FOLLOWING IDIOMS :
NUTS AND BOLTS Every machine is held together by its
"nuts and bolts". Without them, the machine would fall apart.
That is also true of an organization. Its "nuts and bolts" are its
basic, necessary elements. They are the parts that make the
organization work.
In government, industry, diplomacy -- in almost
anything -- the man who understands the "nuts and bolts" is
the most important. Success depends more on them than on
almost anyone else.
In government, the president or prime minister may plan
and shape programs and policies, but it takes much more work
to get them approved and to make them successful. There is a
mass of detailed work to be done, the "nuts and bolts". This is
often put in to the hands of specialists. The top leaders are
always well known, but no those who work with the "nuts and
bolts".
This is equally true in the day-to-day operation of the
Congress. The Majority Leader of the Senate, and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, together with the chairmen of
committees, keep the business of Congress moving.
But behind every Senator and Congressman are
assistants. These people do all the detailed work to prepare the
Congressman to vote wisely on each issue. The top assistant is
the "eyes and ears" of a legislator.
In diplomacy, the chief ministers are unquestionably
important in negotiations. But there are lesser officials who do
the basic work and preparations on the different issues to be
negotiated.
A recent book tells of a British prime minister who
decided to send an ambassador to Washington to learn if a
detailed plan could be worked out for joint action on an

201
important issue. The talks in Washington, the minister said,
would be of "nuts and bolts." He meant, of course, the talk
would concern all the necessary elements to make such
common action successful.

TONGUE-IN-CHEEK People who say something with

"tongue-in-cheek" are not serious, although they may seem so.
They are just joking, like the man who winks one eye as a sign
that what he is saying is all in fun. There was a time when
people actually put their tongues into the cheek, or let them
hang out of one said of the mouth, to show that they were
fooling. That explains the expression.
A man can say many things with "tongue-in-cheek"
without making people angry. People don't believe he means
what he says. If they did, he might find himself in trouble.
Politicians, lawyers, judges and officials of all kinds
might have risen up in violent anger against the cowboy
humorist Will Rogers if they had thought he was serious. For
example, when he said with a laugh:
"I don't think you can make a lawyer honest by an act
of the legislature. You've got to work on his conscience. And
his lack of conscience is what makes him a lawyer".
And the professors and university officials smiled
when the Canadian writer Stephen Leacock wrote:
"If I were giving money for a university, I would first
build a smoking room; then after that, or more probably with
it, a good reading room and library. After that, if I still had
money that I couldn't use, I would hire a professor and get
some textbooks".
Popular politicians are well known for a kind of
"tongue-in-cheek" humor. Most politicians will make sure
voters know they can tell jokes. But the wise ones include
themselves in any "tongue-in-cheek" stories they tell.

202
 President John F. Kennedy did this when he spoke at
a dinner for 49 Americans who had been given the Nobel
Prize. President Kennedy said: "I think this is the most
extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that
has ever been gathered together at the White House-with the
possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone".
And the women voters laughed when Charlotte
Whitton who was mayor of Ottawa, Canada, said: "Whatever
women do they must do twice as well as man to be thought
half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult".
President Abraham Lincoln was highly skilled in the
use of "tongue-in-cheek" humor. For a long time, job seekers
almost drove him out of his mind. So when he came down with
that terrible disease, smallpox, while still in the White House,
he said, "Tell all job hunters to come on in, I've got something
for all of them."

WALK A TIGHTROPE Many circus expressions have

found their way into everyday speech. One such expression is
"to walk a tightrope". It first became popular in 1859. That is
when a French acrobat, Charles Blondin, walked across a
tightly-pulled rope over the Niagara River in New York State.
He did it high over the frightening rush of Niagara Falls.
Blondin's dangerous walk was widely reported, not only in the
United States, but all over the world.
Soon after that, tightrope acts became popular in circuses.
And they still are. People sit holding their breath, wondering
what can prevent the tightrope walker from falling off that thin
line so high up in the air. A tightrope walker must move
slowly, keeping perfect balance on the rope so he does not fall
off to one side or the other.

203
 Many people who are not circus acrobats "walk a
tightrope" today. You walk a tightrope when you have to
balance carefully between opposing sides, when you cannot
take one side or the other in an argument.
A negotiator between opposing groups often has to
"walk a tightrope" if he is to succeed. He cannot appear to
support one side against the other. He has to keep his balance
between the two sides, to stay in the middle. And balancing in
the middle is what keeps the negotiator and the tightrope
walker safe.
P.T. Barnum was an early and very famous American
showman. He traveled around the country with his circus acts,
visiting town after town. To attract a crowd in each town
Barnum marched through the streets with all the members of
his circus. His band played loudly as it rode on a large wagon
in the parade. Everyone called it "the bandwagon".
Soon a new expression became popular - to "jump on
the bandwagon". Political groups built bandwagons of their
own during election campaigns. The bandwagons were used to
attract voters to hear a candidate speak. Small boys often
jumped on a bandwagon to join the musicians as they rode.

GRAMMAR PRACTICE
THE NUMERAL (REVIEW)

1. Go back to the exercises on the Amendments to the

U.S. Constitution and make the necessary changes:
e.g. Amendment 15 guarantees the right to vote to ex-slaves
and black people.

204
 The 15th Amendment guarantees the right to vote to ex-
slaves and black people.

2. Make sentences about the following information.

Amendment What does the amendment say?

12 Electors vote for the President and Vice
President on separate ballots.
13 Slavery is illegal
14 All people born in the United States or
naturalized are citizens.
15 Black men have the right to vote.
16 Congress has the right to tax income.
17 The citizens elect United States Senators
directly.
18 It is illegal to make or sell liquor.
19 Women citizens have the right to vote.
20 A new President takes office on January 20.
21 The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed.
22 Presidents may serve no more than two
terms.
23 Citizens living in Washington D.C. may
vote in Presidential elections.

205
24 It is illegal to require voting taxes.
25 The Vice-President becomes President if the
President can’t carry out his duties.
26 All citizens eighteen years and older may
vote.

3. Listen to the text and fill in the gaps.

The Congress of the United States is the legislative, or
lawmaking, branch of the federal government. It is a
bicameral legislature, which means that it is made up of (1)
chambers, or houses. They are the House or Representatives
and the Senate.
At the time of the Constitutional Convention of (2), the
legislatures of 11 of the (3) states of the United States were
made up of two houses.
The House of Representatives has (4) members, or one
elected from each congressional district. It is thus more than
(5) times the size of the Senate, which has (6) members, or
two elected from each state. The House of Representatives
(commonly known as the House) is presided over by the
Speaker of the House, who is nominated by the majority
political party in that chamber. The Vice-President of the
United States presides over the Senate.

Because of its larger size, the House is more formal and has
stricter rules than the Senate. For example, a member of the
House (usually called a representative) is recognized to
speak during a debate for a limited period of time, often five
minutes or less. Senators normally have no such time limits
placed on them. Therefore it is possible, as an extreme

206
measure, for a senator or group of senators to use this
privilege of unlimited debate to delay or defeat legislation.
This delaying tactic is called a filibuster.

Members of the House are elected to 2-year terms of office.

Senators are elected to (7)-year terms. Members of the
House must thus seek re-election much more frequently than
senators and have to pay especially close attention to the
needs and opinions of their constituents – the people in the
districts they represents. The Constitution also requires that
one (8) of the Senate shall be elected every two years. As a
result, the Senate is more of a continuing body than the
House, because two thirds of the Senate’s membership will
remain unchanged regardless of what happens in an
election.

Although senators are now elected directly by popular vote

(that is, by the people), at one time they were elected by the
state legislatures. This change came about as a result of the
(9) Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1913.

House representatives must be at least 25 years of age and

have been citizens of the United States for at least seven
years. Senators must be at least (10) years of age and have
been citizens for at least nine years. Both must be residents
of the state in which they seek election.

The committees in the House and the (11) in the Senate

allow for the division of work and specialized Congress
needs to manage the (12) or more bills introduced to it every
two years. Each committee has its own special area of
interest – such as agriculture, health, taxation, energy, or
education – and a new bill will be sent to the appropriate

207
 committee. The committees, in turn, will distribute bills to
even more specialized subcommittees.

Committees have only enough time to deal with a small

percentage of the bills referred to them. Most bills receive
no further consideration and simply “die” in committee. If a
bill is of particular importance, the committee will usually
schedule hearings to gather information about the bill and
listen to the opinions of those that favor or oppose it. The
committee may then proceed to further consideration of the
bill and offer amendments to it. Only if the committee votes
to report (approve) the bill will it be scheduled for
consideration by the chamber’s full membership.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

1. Read the United States Constitution and answer the

following questions.

1) What is the Supreme Law of the Land?

2) What is the highest court of the land?
3) What branch of government makes the laws of the
nation?
4) How many Senators and Representatives does each state
have in Congress?
5) Do United States residents have the same rights in all
states?
6) Who is chief executive of the nation and Commander in
Chief of the armed forces?
7) What are some of the duties and powers of the
President?
8) What form of government do the states have?

208
2. Answer the following questions.

1) What are the qualifications for President?

2) What are the qualifications for Vice President?
3) For how many years may a President serve?
4) If the President dies, who becomes President?
5) Where does the President live and work?
6) How should people address the President?

3. Tell about political parties in the United States and

your native country.

4. Answer these questions in as many ways as you

can.

1) What can the federal government do that a state

government can’t?
2) What does a state do that the federal government
doesn’t do?
3) What do both the federal and state governments do ?
4) What programs does the federal government provide
funding for and state governments maintain?

209
 Topics for
Presentations

The Constitution and the Federal System.

Choosing the Nation’s President.
Citizenship: Its Obligations and Privileges.

210
UNIT LEGAL EDUCATION
8

֠ PRE-READING
1. What do you know about legal education in U.K./the
U.S.A.?

2. What does jurisprudence mean?

READING

Legal Education is the branch of education devoted to

preparing individuals for the practice of law and for other law-
related careers. In the United States, legal education is carried
out by approximately 200 law schools around the country.
Most law schools are units of public or private colleges and
universities. A small number of law schools, however, are
independent. In most states, completion of law school is
required before an individual may take a bar examination, and
one must pass the bar exam to become a lawyer. In a few
states, an individual may serve an apprenticeship in a law
office for several years as an alternative to law school.

211
Law schools in the United States are usually accredited by the
American Bar Association (ABA). The ABA determines
whether a new law school has skilled teachers, an adequate
library, and sufficient resources to conduct a successful
program of legal education. After the ABA grants a law school
accreditation, it visits the school once every seven years to
ensure that the school still meets the required standards.
Graduates of ABA-approved schools may take the bar
examination in any of the 50 states. Because each state has
different laws, each one has different requirements for passage
of its exam.

COMPREHENSION PRACTICE

Find the words in the text, which have the same

meaning as the following definitions:
1. the knowledge and skills that you gain from being taught;
2. a period of time you spend training to improve your skill in
doing something;
3. a job or profession that you have been trained for and
intend to do for several years;
4. the state of being finished;
5. group of lawyers;
6. the job of being an apprentice;
7. something that you can choose to do or use instead of
something else;
8. having official approval to do sth;
9. good enough in quality for a particular purpose or activity.

212
 READING AND VOCABULARY PRACTICE
1. Match the titles with their corresponding paragraphs.

a) Instruction and Degrees

b) Current Issues

c) History in the United States

d) Admission and Enrollment

1. Most U.S. law schools require applicants to have a

bachelor’s degree as a condition for admission. In addition,
almost all require applicants to take the Law School
Admissions Test (LSAT). There is no required pre-law course
of study. While many pre-law students major in political
science or economics during their undergraduate college years,
others study such subjects as philosophy, math, engineering, or
business.

Admission to most law schools is competitive. The most

selective schools offer fewer than one out of four applicants a
place in the entering class. Typically, a committee of faculty
members and administrators makes the admissions decision by
reviewing the file of each applicant. In making its decision, the
admissions committee considers such factors as the grades
earned by the applicant in college, the reputation of that
college, the applicant’s score on the LSAT, letters of
recommendation, and essays or personal statements by the

213
applicant. Very few law schools interview candidates for
admission.

There are approximately 120,000 law students enrolled in the

United States and about 40,000 graduate each year. Tuition
costs for legal education are substantial, especially at law
schools affiliated with private universities. Many such schools
charge more than $20,000 per year, not including books,
housing, or food costs. Law school tuition rates usually rise at
or slightly ahead of the general rate of inflation.

2. Law school requires three years of full-time study. Some

schools offer part-time programs that hold classes in the
evening. Part-time programs require four years of study.
Almost all schools require the same basic courses during the
first year of the program. These include contracts, criminal law,
property, civil procedure (the study of the rules controlling the
conduct of lawsuits in court), constitutional law, and torts (the
study of law governing personal injury). After the first year,
students are free to choose from many courses concerning
specific areas of the law. Among the many elective courses
offered by most law schools are corporate law, criminal
procedure, international law, family law (the law of divorce
and child custody), copyright law, evidence, and legal history.
Along with classroom work, most law schools offer clinical
programs that permit students to represent individuals with
relatively simple legal problems, under the supervision of a
faculty member. Unlike most colleges, law schools do not
require students to select a major field of study. Some students
informally choose to specialize in a particular branch of the
law, but most take a very general program of studies.

The basic law degree at American law schools is the doctor of

214
jurisprudence (J.D.). The J.D. degree permits an individual to
take the bar examination, which is, in turn, a prerequisite for
receiving a license to practice law. After completing a J.D.
degree, students may return to law school for one additional
year to earn a master of law, or LL.M. degree. Some schools
offer a highly specialized degree known as the doctor of
juridical science (S.J.D).

3. Before the American Revolution (1775-1783), the American

colonies had no law schools. Lawyers studied for their
profession by serving as an apprentice to an older, more
established lawyer. The first law professor in the United States
was George Wythe, who was appointed to teach law at College
of William and Mary in 1779. The first school that devoted its
entire educational program to the study of law was the
Litchfield Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut, founded in
1784. The Litchfield Law School operated until 1833. Several
major universities, such as Harvard, Yale, and the University of
Virginia, established law schools in the early 19th century. By
the time of the American Civil War (1861-1865), there were
approximately 20 law schools in the United States. At this time
law was taught through formal lectures. For their texts,
students read the works of great legal authors, such as British
jurists Sir Edward Coke and Sir William Blackstone.

In the late 19th century Christopher Columbus Langdell, the

dean of the Harvard Law School, introduced a new method of
study known as the case method. Langdell felt students could
learn more about the law by studying actual court opinions than
by reading legal texts. By the early 20th century virtually every
American law school had adopted Langdell’s method.
4. There are now approximately 1 million lawyers in the
United States—more than one lawyer for every 300 people in

215
the country. This relatively large number of lawyers has
discouraged some people from going to law school because of
concerns that they may not be able to get a job after they
graduate. As a result, the number of applications to law schools
declined in the mid-1990s, and some schools decided to reduce
the size of their student bodies. Other schools have developed
special programs to help them compete for students. The
question of how many lawyers and law schools our society
really needs is a subject of debate among legal educators and
government officials.

Another controversial issue concerns the racial composition of

law school student bodies. Prior to the 1960s very few law
students were women or members of minority groups because
of widespread social discrimination against those groups. Since
then, law schools have actively encouraged women and
minority students to study law, often through various
affirmative action programs. Today about half of all law
students are women, and members of all minority groups are
represented in significant numbers.

2. Read the text and complete the table below.

The principal modern schools of jurisprudence are the natural-

law school, the analytical school, the historical school, the
comparative school, and the sociological school. The first three
differ mainly in their views of the nature and origin of law and
its relation to ethics.

To the natural-law jurist, law is antecedent to the state; to the

analytical jurist, it is the creation of the state; and to the
historical jurist, state and law are social products, developing
side by side, each influencing the other. To the natural-law

216
jurist, law is cognizable by pure reason; to the analytical jurist,
it is the command of the sovereign power; to the historical
jurist, it is the formulated wisdom of men and women. To the
natural-law jurist, law is applied ethics, and, in the extreme
form of the theory, that which is not right is not law. To the
analytical jurist, a law that commands what is ethically wrong
or forbids what is ethically right is no less a law if it proceeds
from the political sovereign. The historical jurist accepts this
position taken by the analytical school, but points out that it is
difficult for a lawmaker to act otherwise than in accord with
the contemporary sense of right, and that laws which run
counter to that sense are not likely to be enforced. Historical
jurisprudence differs from analytical jurisprudence chiefly in
emphasizing the great part played by social custom in
developing and establishing law. To the analytical jurist,
customary law, including judicial custom, is an anomaly that
should be abolished by covering the whole field of social
relations with written codes.

The natural-law school has its roots in Stoic philosophy and

Roman jurisprudence; it was increasingly dominant in Europe
from the Reformation to the close of the 18th century. The
theory of the analytical school was first sharply formulated by
the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes in his Leviathan
(1651). The views of this school, however, did not originate in
England. The tendency to exalt the function of the legislator
appeared on the Continent at the close of the Middle Ages and
was associated with the efforts of the national states to rid
themselves of the chaos of varying provincial and local
customs that had taken form during the Middle Ages. This end
could be attained only by national legislation and has been
fully attained only by the adoption of national codes.

217
The historical school dates from the 19th century, as a reaction
against natural-law ideas. Its principles were first clearly
defined in 1814 by the German jurist Friedrich Karl von
Savigny. The latest school, the comparative, of which the
leading early exponents were the German legal scholar Rudolf
von Jhering and Albert Hermann Post, represents a widening of
the field of investigation. Each national law is studied
historically and the various national systems are compared at
similar stages of development. As a result of this process, not
only may the normal course of legal development be
discovered, but that which is universal and human may be
separated from that which is particular to a single nation or to a
special stage of development. Then, as Jhering hoped, it may
eventually become possible to write a history of the law of the
world.

School History Characteristics

218
3.  GROUP WORK.

What characteristics should be the competent legal

secretary press?
4. Read the following ad and answer it.
Our case Review Managers are responsible for investigating
and reviewing cases. Possibly, but not necessarily legally
qualified, they combine highly developed analytical, self-
management and comunication skills in a practical team
orientated environment together with experience of complex
case-work and a working knowledge of the criminal justice
system.

If you think you have skills and experience nedde for this
demanding, rewarding and thought-provoking work, we would
like to hear from you. Although we might not have an
immediate vacancy, we will keep your details on file and
should you match our needs, we will contact you when an
opportunity arises.

Please send your cv and covering letter to: recruit@gov.uk

Alternatively post your cv and covering letter to …..

5. Match the titles with their corresponding paragraphs.

a) Dealing with People

b) Court Personnel

c) Duties
d) Types of Position

219
1. Many kinds of positions are available to the legal secretary.
They include working in a single-attorney office, in a large law
firm, in the in-house law department of a large corporation, and
in the local, state, and federal court systems. In addition, legal
practices vary from the general to specialties in real estate law,
corporate, corporate law, criminal law, tax law, estate planning,
marital law, and labor law.

2. The functions of the legal secretary may be divided into

three major areas: dealing with people, managing the law
office, and preparing legal instruments and court papers. Many
of duties of the legal secretary are identical to those of types of
secretaries.

3. The legal secretary comes into regular contact either

personally or by written or phone communication with lawyers,
fellow employees, clients and potential clients, and court
personnel. The secretary must never be afraid to ask the
attorney questions when unsure of what should be done. All
attorneys would prefer to answer questions than to presented
with a legal paper done incorrectly. Moreover, the more a
secretary knows about the attorney’s clients, cases, and work
habits, the more effective she or he can be in helping the
attorney deal with the burden of work.
The secretary must always respect the confidentiality of legal
matters. Opinions, information, and anecdotes must never be
carried beyond the confines of the office.

4. The secretary will also come into contact with court

personnel, most often through phone contact with court clerks.
These contacts are usually important, involving requests for

220
information, such as the postoponement date of a trial, whether
some legal papers were received, or whether certain exhibits
need to be attached to papers (e.g., a copy of a lease in a
landlord-tenant dispute).
Have available the name of the case and the case index
number. And when receiving information from the court clerk,
write it down.

6. Complete the following definitions using suitable

words from the box below.

contract will

deed affidavit

1. A _________ is a legal instrument that, when delivered,

transfers a present interest in property.

2. A ___________ is a legal agreement between two or more

people to do something.

3. An ___________ is a written statement made on oath before

a notary public or other person authorized to administer oaths.

4. A __________ is a legal statement of a person’s wishes

concerning the disposal of his or her property after death.

221
 GRAMMAR PRACTICE
The Preposition (Review)

Fill in the gaps with the missing prepositions.

1. Do you know it _______ certain?
2. I’ve heard a shout _______ help.
3. _____ the wole, everything seems all right.
4. What should I do that ______?
5. She took ______ heart what he had told her and was
terribly disappointed.
6. Do you want to go in ______ the competition?
7. In Britain there are several societies _____ cruelty ____ animals.
8. Who did you mistake him ______ when you met him?
9. That behaviour is really characteristic _____ him.
10. He is not ____ the premises.
11. I am afraid I was taken ______ (cheated) by the car salesman.
12. I am acting _____ the law. (I am not breaking the law).
13. ______ all I know (as for as I know), he is still living.
14. He is _____ prison for forgery.
15. He is very sure of himself and never _____ a loss for an answer.
16. Is that law still _____ force?
17. His remarks are always _____ the point.
18. She pays all her bills ____ cheque.

222
 APPENDIX A - IRREGULAR VERBS

Verbs Past tence Past Romanian

Participle
translation
abide abided, abode abided a rămâne, a sta, a răbda
arise arose arisen a se ridica
awake awoke, awoken a (se) trezi
awakened
bear bore borne a purta/suporta, a da
na tere
beat beat beaten a bate
become became become a deveni
begin began begun a începe
bend bent bent a (se) îndoi
bereave bereft, bereaved a răpi
bereaved/bereft
beseech besought, besought, a implora
beseeched beseeched
beset beset beset a asedia; a asalta, a
cople i
bet bet/ betted bet, betted a paria
bid bade, bid bid, bidden a ruga; a proclama; a
licita
bind bound bound a lega
bite bit bitten a mu ca, a reteza, a răni
bleed bled bled a sângera
bless blessed, blest blessed, blest a binecuvânta
blow blew blown a sufla, a bate vântul
break broke broken a (se) sparge
breed bred bred a cre te, a educa
bring brought brought a aduce
broadcast broadcast broadcast a emite (radio/TV)
browbeat browbeat browbeaten a privi ameninŃător, a
intimida

223
build built built a construi
burn burned, burnt burned, burnt a arde
burst burst burst a izbucni, a năvăli, a
crăpa
buy bought bought a cumpara
bust (Br.E.) bust, (Br.E.) bust, a face felul; a arunca în
(Am.E.) busted (Am.E.) busted aer
cast cast cast a arunca, a distribui
catch caught caught a prinde
chide chided, chid chid, chidden a ocărî
choose chose chosen a alege
cleave cleaved, cleft, cleaved, cleft, a despica, a separa
clove cloven
cling clung clung a se agăŃa
come came come a veni
cost cost cost a costa
creep crept crept a se târî, a se furi a
cut cut cut a tăia
deal dealt dealt a trata, a se ocupa de
dig dug dug a săpa
dive dived, (Am.E.) dive a (se) scufunda, a plonja
dove
do did done a face
draw drew drawn a trage, a desena
dream dreamed, dreamed, a visa
dreamt dreamt
drink drank drunk a visa
drive drove driven a conduce un vehicul, a
ofa
dwell dwelt, dwelled dwelt, dwelled a locui
eat ate eaten a mânca
fall fell fallen a cădea
feed fed fed a hrăni
feel felt felt a (se) simŃi
fight fought fought a (se) lupta

224
find found found a găsi
flee fled fled a fugi
fling flung flung a arunca
fly flew flown a zbura
forbid forbade, forbidden a interzice
forbad
forecast forecast forecast a prevedea/estima/
prognoza
forego forewent foregone a precede
foresee foresaw foreseen a prevedea, a anticipa
foretell foretold foretold a prezice, a prevesti
forget forgot forgotten a uita
forgive forgave forgiven a ierta
forsake forsook forsaken a părăsi/abandona
forswear forswore forsworn a (re)nega, a jura,
strâmb
freeze froze frozen a îngheŃa
get got got, (Am.E.) a primi, a obŃine
gotten
give gave given a da
go went gone a merge
grind ground ground a măcina
grow grew grown a cre te
hang hung, hanged hung, hanged a atârna, a spânzura
have had had a avea
hear heard heard a auzi
heave heaved, hove heaved, hove a ridica, a aburca, a
scoate
hide hid hidden, hid a (se) ascunde
hit hit hit a lovi
hold held held a Ńine
hurt hurt hurt a lovi, a răni, a durea
input inputted, input inputted, input a alimenta/furniza
energie

225
inset inset, insetted inset, insetted a introducere, a băga, a
insera
interbreed interbred interbred a (se) încruci a
interweave interwove interwoven a împleti/întreŃese, a
lega stâns
keep kept kept a Ńine, a păstra
kneel knelt, (Am.E.) knelt, (Am.E.) a îngenunchia
kneeled kneeled
knit knitted, knit knitted, knit a tricota
know knew known a ti, a cunoa te
lay laid laid a pune, a a eza a a terne
lead led led a conduce
lean leaned, (Br.E.) leaned, (Br.E.) a (se) apleca, a (se)
leant leant sprijini
leap leapt, leapt, (Am.E.) a sări
(Am.E.)leaped leaped
learn learned, learnt learned, learnt a învăŃa
leave left left a pleca, a lăsa
lend lent lent a da cu împrumut
let let let a lăsa, a permite
lie lay lain a sta întins, a se afla
light lit, lighted lit, lighted a aprinde
lose lost lost a pierde
make made made a face
mean meant meant a însemna
meet met met a (se) întâlni
miscast miscast miscast a repartiza; a distribui
prost
mishear misheard misheard a nu auzi bine
mislay mislaid mislaid a pierde, rătăci
mislead misled misled a induce în eroare
misread misread misread a citi gre it, a interpreta
rău
misspell misspelt, misspelt, a scrie gre it
misspelled misspelled

226
 mistake mistook mistaken a confunda, a gre i
misunder- misunderstood misunderstood a înŃelege gre it
stand
outbid outbid outbid a supralicita
outdo outdid outdone a întrece
outgrow outgrew outgrown a depă i, a lăsa în urmă
outrun outran outrun a întrece
outsell outsold outsold a întrece în vânzări
outshine outshone outshone a întrece în strălucire
overbear overbore overborne a impune/constrânge,
domina
overcast overcast overcast a înnora, a întuneca
overcome overcame overcome a învinge, a înfrânge, a
depă i
overdo overdid overdone a exagera, a întrece
măsura
overdraw overdrew overdrawn a exagera, a nu avea
acoperire
overeat overate overeaten a mânca prea mult
overhang overhung overhung a atârna deasupra, a
ameninŃa
overhear overheard overheard a (sur)prinde o
conversaŃie
overload overloaded overloaded, a supraîncărca
overladen
overpay overpaid overpaid a plăti prea mult
override overrode overridden a nesocoti; a se extinde
peste
overrun overran overrun a invada, a covâr i, a
depă i
oversee oversaw overseen a supraveghea
overshoot overshot overshot A trage/ Ńinti prea
departe

oversleep overslept overslept a dormi prea mult

227
overtake overtook overtaken a ajunge din urmă, a
depă i
pay paid paid a plăti
partake partook partaken a împărŃi
plead pleaded, pleaded, a pleda; a susŃine un caz
(Am.E.) pled (Am.E.) pled
prove proved proved, a dovedi
(Am.E.)proven
put put put a pune
read read read a citi
rebind rebound rebound a lega din nou
rebuild rebuilt rebuilt a reconstrui
recast recast recast a remodela, a preface
redo redid redone a face din nou
relay relaid relaid a repune
remake remade remade a reface
repay repaid repaid a răsplati, a restitui
rerun reran rerun a relua
resell resold resold a revinde
reset reset reset a repune, a rea eza, a
restabili
rethink rethought rethought a reconsidera
rewind rewound rewound a învârti, a întoarce
rewrite rewrote rewritten a rescrie
rid rid, ridded rid, ridded a se descotorosi
ride rode ridden a călări, a merge cu
bicicleta
ring rang rung a suna
rise rose risen a răsări, a se ridica
run ran run a fugi
saw sawed sawn , sawed a tăia cu ferăstrăul
say said said a spune
see saw seen a vedea
seek sought sought a căuta
sell sold sold a vinde

228
send sent sent a trimite
set set set a potrivi, a monta, a fixa
sew sewed sewn, sewed a coase
shake shook shaken a scutura, a tremura
shear sheared shorn, sheared a tunde oi
shine shone, shined shone, shined a lustrui, a străluci
shoot shot shot a trage, a împu ca, a
filma
show showed shown, a arăta
showed
shrink shrank, shrunk shrunk a intra la apă, a se
strânge
shut shut shut a închide
sing sang sung a cânta
sink sank, sunk sunk a (se) scufunda
sit sat sat a edea
slay slew slain a ucide, a măcelări
sleep slept slept a dormi
slide slid slid a aluneca
slink slunk slunk a se furi a
slit slit slit a despica
smell smelt, (Am.E.) smelt, ( a mirosi
smelled Am.E.)
smelled
sow sowed sown, sowed a semăna
speak spoke spoken a vorbi
speed sped, speeded sped, speeded a accelera
spell spelt, (Am.E.) spelt, (Am.E.) a ortografia
spelled spelled
spend spent spent a cheltui, a petrece un
timp
spill spilt, (Am.E.) spilt, (Am.E.) a vărsa
spilled spilled
spin spun, span spun a toarce

229
spit spat, (Am.E.) spat, (Am.E.) a scuipa
spit spit
split split split a despica
spoil spoiled, spoilt spoiled, spoilt a răsfăŃa, a strica
spread spread spread a (se) răspândi
spring sprang , sprung a izvorî, a (ră)sări
(Am.E.) sprung
stand stood stood a sta în picioare
steal stole stolen a fura
stick stuck stuck a (se) lipi, a înfige
sting stung stung a înŃepa
stink stank, stunk stunk a mirosi urât
stride strode stridden a merge cu pa i mari
strike struck struck a lovi
string strung strung a în ira
strive strove, strived striven, a se strădui, a năzui
strived
swear swore sworn a jura, a înjura
sweep swept swept a mătura
swell swelled swollen, a (se) umfla, a cre te
swelled
swim swam swum a înota
swing swung swung a (se) legăna
take took taken a lua
teach taught taught a preda, a învăŃa (pe)
tear tore torn a rupe, a sfâ ia
thrive thrived, throve thrived a prospera
throw threw thrown a arunca
thrust thrust thrust a înfige
tread trod trodden, trod a călca, a pă i
unbend unbent unbent a dezdoi
unbind unbound unbound a dezlega, a elibera
underlie underlay underlain a sta la baza
undersell undersold undersold a vinde mai ieftin decât
understand understood understood a înŃelege

230
 undertake undertook undertaken a întreprinde
underwrite underwrote underwritten a subscrie, a garanta
undo undid undone a desface, a dezlega; a
ruina
unwind unwound unwound a desfă ura, a dezlega
uphold upheld upheld a sprijini, a confirma, a
aproba
upset upset upset a se răsturna, a se
tulbura
wake woke, waked woken, waked a (se) trezi
wear wore worn a purta
weave wove woven a Ńese
wed wedded, wed wedded, wed a se cununa
weep wept wept a plânge
wet wetted, wet wetted, wet a (se) uda
win won won a câ tiga
wind wound wound a răsuci, a erpui
withdraw withdrew withdrawn a (se) retrage
withhold withheld withheld a reŃine, a opri
withstand withstood withstood a se împotrivi, a rezista la
write wrote written a scrie

source: LONGMAN DICTIONARY OF CONTEMPORARY

ENGLISH

231
 APPENDIX B - IDIOMS

Above board Honest

Ace in the hole A surprise; a surprise situation; any argument,
plan or thing kept hidden until needed
Acid test Trial of value or quality through usage under the
hardest condition; a thorough, conclusive trial
All for it Agree entirely
All one`s eggs in one Risk everything on one effort or operation,
basket concentrate all resources, supplies, etc., in one
place.
All shot ruined ( plans)
Along with, to go (an To agree; follow
idea)
An arm and a leg Very expensive
A-one( A-1) The best
Apple polish(ing) Try to gain an advantage by saying nice things
or giving gifts
Around the clock 24 hours a day; a full day
Asked for it Invite trouble; deserve the results
Back to the To begin again/start over again
Backbreaker Difficult job;
Bad time Time spent in jail
Bad time, give Make or create a difficult situation for someone
Bag, in the bag Successfully settled or arranged
Ball, on the Correct; efficient; thinking or acting quickly
Be caught red-handed Be found in an act of wrongdoing
Be in charge of, to To command
Be in hot water Be in trouble
Be in the spotlinght/ Be in the public eye, be famous
limelight
Beat around the bush Delay coming directly to the point
Beats me I don`t understand this
Bet your bottom/last Be absolutely sure of something
dollar

232
Between a rock and a Choice between two equally dangerous things
hard place/between
the devil and the deep
blue sea/on the horns
of a dilemma
Between the rock and Faced with two or more alternatives or choice,
the hard spot all of which are bad
Bible Authoritative documents, such as manuals,
textbooks, etc.
Bigwig/ big wheel/ Important person
kingpin/top banana
Bird dog, to To supervise or watch closely
Blak sheep Person who does things that are not are
accepted, that violate tradition
Blow one`s stack/ top; Lose one`s temper; get very mad
blow up
Blow the deal/works Cause a plan or operation to fail as a result of a
stupid mistake
Boiling mad Be very angry
Bottleneck A place or person who acts as an obstacle to
progress or free movement
Brain An intelligent person
Break out Escape; remove from storage or holding place
Break, give someone a Don`t enforce the rules or standards fully
break
Break, take a break A short rest
Briefing Explanation of a plan
Bring to light, to To reveal; illustrate
Bring up a point Introduce a piece of information
Broad picture A general view of a situation
Buck the system Challenge or oppose standard procedures
Bucket of worms A difficult, complicated, or ambiguous situation,
problem
Build an empire Enlarge an organization for the purpose of
making one`s own position or job appear more
important

233
Bull by the horns; take Approach a problem or difficulty directly
the bull by the horns
Burn one`s Destroy any chance of turning back or changing
bridges/boats one`s decision
Burnt out Mental or physical exhaustion
By the book Following rules or orders exactly as they are
written
Call it a day Quit for the day
Come up with the To find the answer, to solve
solution, to
Carry on with, to To continue
Carry out an order,to To do or execute an order
Cat, let the cat out of Release information, ideas, etc, before the
the bag intended time
Catch on, to To understand
Catch, what`s the This sounds top easy; there must be a hidden
trick
Chiefs and not enough Too many people giving directions and not
Indians, too many enough people doing the real job
chiefs and not enough
Indians
Clear-cut Definite
Cloak-and- Spying or intelligence work
dagger(work)
Cloud the issue Confuse the issue
Cold blooded people People acting in cruel ways
Cold feet, get Become afraid or timid
Cook up, to To preparare; make a plan
Cool down/off Decrease in intensity; calm down
Count me in Include me
Count me out Exclude me
Count on, to To depend or rely on
Crap Information that is not true or believable
Cross someone`s heart Promise to tell the truth
Cross your fingers Hope for good luck

234
Cross-check, to To verify from different sources
Cry over spilled milk;
Don`t worry about things that have already
don`t cry over spilled
happened when you can`t change the results
milk
Cut down; cut Deflate a person`s opinion of himself
someone down to size
Damned if you do, You`re likely to be criticized equally by those
damned if you don`t who are for it and those who are against it
Dark, in the Ignorant of/without knowledge
Deadline Completion date; Prevent the use of

Dirty work/ nasty An unpleasant job or task

business
Do or die Make a maximum effort
Doesn`t know which Utterly confussed or stupid
end is up
Don`t make waves Don`t disturb the situation; maintain the status
quo
Don`t see the forest Too busy with details to see the big picture
for the trees
Down and out Totally defeated
Down hill; go down Deteriorate; get worse; stop trying
hill
Down the drain Lost without possibility of getting back
Down-to-earth Honest, open and easy to deal with
Draw the line Set a limit
Drive home Make obvious, stress a point
Driving at; getting at Aiming at; leading up to
Eager beaver Person who is always willing and excited to do
what is expected of him and do it as quickly as
he can
Ear to the ground; Try to get any information you can
keep your ear to the
ground
Easy come, easy go That which has gotten easily does not represent

235
 a great loss when it is lost
Easy touch/ soft touch Someone who is kind and helpful
Easygoing Relaxed; unexcited
Eat your words Be forced to admit that a previous statement was
wrong
Eye on, to keep an To watch closely
Federal case, make a To exagerate; to stress something which is not
important
Feel for you; I feel for I have sympathy for your situation but I can`t do
you anything about it
Feel like two cents Feel embararrased or foolish; feel small
Feet on the ground; Get organized or oriented
get one`s feet on the
ground
Fence, on the fence Undecided, neutral
Figure hammer and To fight heavily; closely engage
tongs, to
Figure out Reason out; discover; determine
Fingertips, to have at To have available; ready
your
Fink A person who carries stories or information to
his superiors
Flip ( one`s top) Act in an irrational or unrealistic way
Follow one`s nose Go straight ahead; do what is appropriate or
obvious
Foot in one`s mouth; Say something one should not have said
put one`s foot in one`s
mouth
Free ride Get something extra without expense or effort
Freeze Be too frightened to move; to restrict; stop in
place
Get action Obtain results
Get ahead, to To advance
Get along without, to To exist without
Get around a, to To find an answer

236
Get away with it Succeed by taking a chance
Get by with, to To succeed; to manage ( with little money, etc.)
Get in touch with, to To communicate with
Get on with Continue
Get rolling Begin; start
Get the show on To begin; start
Give away ( a give Fail to deceive( failure in deception)
away)
Give him the green Give your agreement ( signal to continue)
light
Give the highlights(of, Cover only the most important points
on)
Give up Surrender
Go along with Agree
Go for it! Try!; Take a chance!
Go for record Do something officially
Go through the mill, To experience; to undergo hardship
to
Go to law/go to court/ Sue
file a lawsuit/ bring an
action against/take
legal action/undertake
legal
proceeding/institute an
action at law/prefer
charges against
someone/ press
charges against
someone

Goldbrick A lazy person

Gone to the dogs In poor condition; become bad
Good deal, it`s a Wonderful; to one`s liking
Green light Approval to continue with a program or action
Greenhorn Person who has no experience ( who is new in a
job)

237
Guesstimate A close guess based on experience( from guess
and estimate)
Hand in glove with Closely together; closely related
Hand; get out of hand Get out of control
Handcarry (it) Personally take a letter, report from, etc., instead
of sending it by mail or through distribution
Hands are tied Cannot act
Hands full; got his He`s fully occupied
hands full
Have somebody in the Have strong influence on someone
palm of your
hand/eating out of
one`s hand/ twist
someone round one`s
little finger/ lead
someone by the nose/
someone is putty in
your hands.
Hang tight Not to give up
Hard and fast rule Invariable; fixed
Hard time, give one a Make it more difficult than necessary for
hard time someone
Hardnose A person who enforces regulations strictly and
sternly
Have one`s hands full Be very busy or occupied with
Head over heels In a completely confused state or condition
Helping hand Help
Highlight, to To emphasize; stress
Hit the ceiling Lose one`s temper
Hit the road Begin, start
Hit the roof Lose one`s temper
Hits the nail on the Is exactly correct
head
Hold it Stop it; wait
Hold out Continue to resist

238
Holding the bag, left Be held responsible
Horns of dilemma, on In a difficult position
the
Hot ( news, poop), the Latest, important information
Hot potato Difficult problem; a situation
Hot water, in In trouble
I`ll buy that I agree
In black and white In writing
In the air Currently rumored/ undecided; uncertain
In the bag Positive certain
In the black In a good situation
In the red In debt
In tune with Agree; in accord with
In/ by my book In my opinion
Irons in the fire; have Have project going
irons in the fire
It`s all yours/ It`s It’s your problem
yours
It`s beyond me I don`t understand this
Jam, in a In trouble
Jammed up Crowded
Jump ahead of, one Planned in advance
Jump to conclusions Decide too quickly
Junk Useless, worthless items
Kangaroo court Kind of court that often takes the law into its
own hands
( e.g. illegal trials held by prisoners in jails and
prisons )
Keep cool Stay calm
Keep in mind Remember
Keep the ball rolling Don`t let things slow down
Keep your finger To control or keep in contact with
Keep your heed Don`t get excited
Keep your nose clean Stay out of trouble
Keystone The principal point

239
Kick the bucket Die
Kick the habit Free oneself of a bad habit
Kickoff, to To begin
Kid gloves, handle Treat very carefully
with
Knock it off Shut up; cease; stop it
Know the ropes, to To know the procedures
Know your way To be ( became) familiar with
around, to
Know-how, the The ability, the knowledge

Lame duck Politician completing his term in office after not

being reelected
Law-abiding Obedient to the laws
Lawbreaker Person who breaks the law
Lawmaker Legislator
Lay down the law Be dogmatic or authoritarian, establish and
enforce regulations and discipline

Lay it out on the table/ Explain clearly and thoroughly, all the details
lay the cards on the
table, to
Learn the ropes Learn the standard procedures; learn the job
Let`s blow Let`s go; let`s leave
Let`s take a look Let`s examine
(at)(into)
Letter of the law Each detail of the law
Lobbying Attempt to influence a legislator`s vote on a bill
Look into Examine
Make a mountain out Make a small problem into a big problem
of a molehill/make a
big deal out of
something, to
Make do Use what you have in the absence of what you
want or need

240
Mess around Waste time or effort
Mess up Ruin; spoil
Monkey business Secret, maybe illegal activities
Nail down Determine exactly
Nail him to the cross Impose or inflict the most severe punishment
Never mind Forget about it
Never say die Never give up hope
Nose around Informally visit, converse, etc., for the purpose
of obtaining information unofficially
Number one The best; the top man; the person in command
Nutshell, in a Briefly
Off the cuff, record Not official; not to be quoted
Off the track Away from; unaware
On the carpet To reprimand
On the double Quickly rapidly
On the drawing board Being
On the fence Undecided
On the hook In a difficult position
On your own Independent; alone
Out of hard Out of control
Out of the woods The most difficult or dangerous part of
something is ended
Out on a limb Undecided; doubtful
Over my head Difficult to understand
Overall picture Complete situation
Paint a rosy picture, to To describe in an ideal manner
Pass the buck, to To avoid responsibility by giving it to another
Payoff , the Result, climax
Pay off, to To produce good results
Piece of cake/easy as Extremely easy
pie
Plant, a A spy
Play games Be childish; be playful; not serious
Play it by ear Operate independently and in response to the
needs of the situation

241
Play safe, to To be cautious
Poll the class Take a vote; ask for opinions
Point, there is no There is no reason
Poker face Someone who shows no emotion
Pro and con For and against
Put your finger on it Be specific; explain
Recap, to To recapitulate; to summarize
Right down my alley Very familiar to me
Rolling out the red An especially warm welcome of any kind
carpet
Rough idea, a A general conception
Rough time Difficult time
Rule of thumb Fixed rule
Run ( it) down Trace something to its source; try to find out
where something originated
Run the show, to To command, to be in charge
Run, on the To run moving quickly
Save your skin/ hide Protect yourself
Saved by the bell Had a very narrow escape; just barely escaped
disaster
Scapegoat One who is blamed
Schedule, tight A great deal in a very short period of time
Scraping the bottom Having to use inferior supplies, men, equipment,
of the barrel etc., because the best quality has already been
used; getting the very last of something
Screw up Ruin; spoil; make a mistake
See the light, to To understand
Shake-off, to Get rid of; lose
Shape up or ship out Conform to or obey the standards or be prepared
to leave
Shift gears Change a presentation or talk to better fit the
level of the audience or the needs of the
occasion
Shoot! Go ahead!
Shortcut A quick and easy way

242
Shot, to take a To attempt; try
Showdown Important meeting
Sidetrack Divert from main purpose
Silver lining, the The happy part of a situation which seems
difficult
Sit tight Wait; do not move
Size up the situation Make an estimate of the situation
Skin of your teeth, by Just barely succeed
the
Skip over, to To avoid mention of, to omit
Smoking gun Piece of evidence that proves someone is guilty
of a crime
Snow under To overwhelm
Snowball, to To become bigger
Sorry about that That`s bad, but that`s the way life is( usually
used in a humorous manner)
Sort of Somewhat
Spell out To be specific; to explain step-by-step
Spread the word Convey a message to others
Stand by Wait; reserve item, group, etc., which is held in
readiness
Start from scratch Explain from the beginning
Start the ball Begin
State of the art Modern
Step on people`s toes Offend or antagonize others
Take care of Be responsible for; be able to handle
Take it easy Relax
Take over, to To take the place of; to replace in command

Take the law into Redress a grievance by one`s own especially by

one`s own hands force
Talk down( to) Present something so simplified that it insults
the inteligence of the listeners
That`s tough That`s too bad
Throw away the book/ Standard procedures won`t apply in this case

243
trow the book away
Tied up Busy; detained
Time`s running short Not much time remains
Toe the line/ mark Meet standards
Touch-and-go Very closely matched
Tough time ; give one Make things difficult for a person
a tough time
Turn into Become
Up in the air Not yet decided or resolved
Up to you, it’s It depends on you
Update him Give him the most recent information on
anything
Update it Make agree with new facts
Up-to-date/Up-to-the- The latest information
minute
VIP Very important person
Washed up A failure; a person who has no future
Wear two hats Act in two or more jobs at once
What’s up? What is going on?; what is the state of the
situation?
White lie Harmless false statement or lie
White-collar job Job where you work at a desk, using your brain
instead of your muscles.
Whitewash Hide or cover up mistakes or failures
Work it out, to To solve

244
 APPENDIX C - ENGLISH -ROMANIAN GLOSSARY

accept/ a brief for/on behalf of somebody, to: a accepta să

apere, să reprezinte pe cineva în justiŃie;
account for something a explica o cauză, a da socoteală de
acknowledge the corn a recunoa te veridicitatea
unei afirmaŃii, a admite un fapt, (prin extensie) a- i
recunoa te vina;
act for somebody a acŃiona în numele cuiva;
administer justice a aplica legea, a face dreptate;
appear for somebody a reprezenta pe cineva (în instanŃă);

back up a susŃine, a sprijini

bail out a elibera pe cauŃiune
be after a fi pe urmele (unui răufăcător)
be art and part in a fi părta / complice la
be at the bottom of something a fi instigatorul, tartorul unei
acŃiuni, a fi responsabil de un lucru
bear witness (to) a fi martor(ul), a sta marturie
be at the horn a fi (declarat) în afara legii
be before a fi supus dezbaterii, a fi judecat (de un tribunal)
be behind bars a fi în închisoare, a fi după gratii;
be chiselled out of something a i se lua un drept/ avantaj
be in collusion (with) a fi de conivenŃă (cu)
be in force a fi în vigoare
be on the register a fi pe lista suspecŃilor, a fi pus în urmărire,
a fi Ńinut sub observaŃie
be on trial a fi judecat, a fi acŃionat în justiŃie
be out of jail a fi ie it din închisoare
be raised to the bench a fi făcut judecător
be within one’s rights (to do something) a avea toate
drepturile (sa faca ceva)

245
bail down a case a prezenta un caz în linii mari
bow the crumpet to a- i recunoa te vina/ invinuirea adusă
(într-un proces)
bring a charge against somebody a aduce cuiva o acuzaŃie, a
acuza (oficial) pe cineva
bring a charge/crime home to somebody a dovedi vinovăŃia
cuiva
bring into open a da în vileag, a dezvălui, a face public
bring more sacks to the mill a aduce argumente suplimentare
bring to light a dezvălui
bring to trial a da în judecată, a acŃiona în justiŃie

call to record/witness a lua drept martor/mărturie, a

invoca/face apel la mărturia (cuiva)
catch somebody red-handed a prinde pe cineva în flagrant
delict/ asupra faptului
charge somebody with something a acuza pe cineva de ceva
circumstances alter cases depinde de împrejurări, trebuie
procedat de la caz la caz
clap by the heels înv. a băga la închisoare, a aresta
clap somebody in/ into jail/ prison/ solitary confinement a
arunca pe cineva în închisoare, adeseori fără judecată
come into effect a intra în vigoare
come into force a intra în vigoare
cover up one’s tracks a acoperi/ terge urmele cuiva; fig. a
lucra acoperit
cover up somebody’s tracks a acoperi/ terge urmele cuiva;
fig. a acoperi pe cineva
cut across one’s own inerests a contraveni propriilor sale
interese

deal out justice a împărŃi dreptatea, a face dreptate

denaunce to the horn scot. a scoate/ pune în afara legii

246
drop the bucket austral., arg. a arunca/ da vina pe cineva
(într-un proces)
duck the scone austral., arg. a - i recunoaste vina (într-un
proces)

earn the wages of sin a fi spânzurat/ condamnat la moarte

explain something away a găsi o explicatie plauzibilă/valabilă
pentru ceva (înlăturand astfel orice dubiu)
ex post facto (d. o lege) cu efect retroactiv

fasten on/ upon somebody a-i aduce cuiva o acuzaŃie

find for the plaintiff/ defendant a pronunŃa sentinŃa în
favoarea reclamantului/pârâtului
fling something at somebody a-i arunca cuiva în obraz o
acuzaŃie
flag the eat a se justifica neconvingător

get a fair hearing a fi ascultat cu imparŃialitate/obiectivitate

get on the scent/trial a da de urma, a găsi/dibui urma
get round the law a ocoli legea
get the chair a fi condamnat la (moarte pe) scaunul electric
give a false/wrong scent a pune pe o pistă falsă
give harbour to somebody a tăinui pe cineva (un criminal, un
evadat)
give somebody a fair hearing a asculta pe cineva cu
imparŃialitate/obiectivitate
give (somebody) chapter and verse for something a veni cu
dovezi/argumente în sprijinul unui lucru
give somebody evidence of something a depune mărturie
cuiva/ în faŃa cuiva despre ceva
give somebody the benefit of the doubt a socoti pe cineva
nevinovat

247
give somebody the lie (direct) a dovedi contrariul (spuselor
cuiva)
give something a good/thorough going-over a
examina/cerceta ceva cu mare atenŃie
give teeth to something a da putere de aplicare unui lucru (o
lege)
give the lie (direct) to something a dezminŃi ceva
go behind a decision a reveni asupra unei hotărâri
go beyond the law a încălca legea
go by default (d. un proces) a se judeca în contumacie
go in somebody’s favour a da câ tig de cauză cuiva
go to bat against somebody a depune mărturie împotriva
cuiva, a înfunda pe cineva
go to the bar a intra în barou, a deveni avocat
go to the trial a fi judecat, a ajunge în instanŃă
go unpunished (d. o persoană) a rămâne nepedepsit; (de o
faptă) a scăpa nepedepsită

hand down heavy sentences a da condamnări grele

hand somebody over to justice/police a da pe cineva pe mâna
justiŃiei/poliŃiei
hang the jury a scinda voturile juraŃilor, a opri pe juraŃi să
ajungă la o hotărâre unică, împiedicând astfel pronunŃarea
sentinŃei
have a good grouse a avea temei de plângere/reclamaŃii
have not a leg to stand on a nu aduce nici o dovadă
concludentă, a nu se sprijini pe realităŃi
have nothing to say for oneself a nu avea ce spune în apărarea
sa
have plenty of brief a avea procese multe
have the law on somebody a da pe cineva în judecată
hold a brief for somebody (d. un avocat) a reprezenta pe
cineva; fig. a se ridica în apărarea cuiva

248
in abeyance (d. legi) neaplicat; în desuetudine
in accordance with în conformitate cu
in actual fact în realitate
in bad faith cu rea-credinŃă
in character with în conformitate cu
in compliance with: în conformitate/conform cu
in the first instance în prima instanŃă

justify bail a- i declara sub jurământ solvabilitatea (înainte de

a depune cauŃiune)

keep on the right/ windy side of the law a proceda în mod

legal, a acŃiona pe căi legale, a nu intra în conflict cu legea

lay a charge against somebody/(’s door) a aduce o acuzaŃie

cuiva, a învinui pe cineva de ceva, a face o plângere împotriva
cuiva
lay down the law a da verdicte
lead a witness a pune întrebări tendenŃioase unui martor
let out on bail a pune în libertate pe cauŃiune

make/put in a claim (for something) a face o petiŃie (pt.

ceva), a- i revendica drepturile (asupra unui lucru)
make a motion that a depune o moŃiune, a propune (într-un
grup legislativ) să se ia o anumita măsură, să se procedeze într-
un anumit fel
make default a nu compărea în faŃa curŃii/ instanŃei
make good a charge a dovedi o învinuire
make good an injustice a repara o nedreptate
make (out) one’s case a- i dovedi nevinovăŃia
mete out justice a face dreptate
more by token ca probă/dovadă…; i dovada este că…

249
nail a lie ( to the counter) a dovedi falsitatea unei afirmaŃii
not guilty nevinovat
not to have a leg to stand on (for something): a nu aduce nici
o dovadă concludentă, (d. ceva) a nu avea nici un fundament

offend against the law a încălca legea, a comite un delict

off the record (în mod) neoficial
of no effect neavenit
on equal terms pe picior de egalitate
on one’s own responsibility pe propria răspundere
on parole: pus în libertate/eliberat pe cuvânt de
onoare/condiŃionat
on the jury printre jurati; din/ în juriu/ componenŃa juriului
on the legit cinstit, legitim, în cadru legal
on the panel pe lista juraŃilor, în juriu
out on bail eliberat pe cauŃiune
own up a mistake/ fault a se declara vinovat, a face “mea culpa”

pack the jury a- i asigura un juriu favorabil

pass judgement/sentence upon somebody a judeca pe cineva,
a da cuiva o sentinŃă
pass the seals a ratifica, a sancŃiona
pitch somebody over the bar a respinge pledoaria/
argumentaŃia unui avocat
plead guilty a se declara vinovat
prompt a witness a influenŃa depoziŃia unui martor,
sugerându-i anumite răspunsuri
prove a will a omologa un testament, a certifica validitatea lui
push one’s claims a revendica (un drept); a urmări (prin
justitie) satisfacerea unei revendicări
put in a claim for a înainta o revendicare, a solicita un drept
put in/into force a pune în vigoare (o lege)
put out a court a exclude ca neîntemeiat (un argument)

250
put the law on somebody a intenta cuiva un proces
put the execution a de cuiva pedeapsa capitală

raise a claim a revendica un drept, a ridica o pretenŃie

rest the case a conchide, a pune concluzii la pledoarie
return somebody guilty a declara/ găsi pe cineva vinovat

send up for trial a trimite în judecată/înaintea unui tribunal; a

găsi pe cineva vinovat
serve a notice on somebody a aduce cuiva la cuno tinŃă o
hotărâre judecătorească/ oficială
serve notice a da/trimite o în tiinŃare oficială
set at large/liberty/free a pune în libertate, a elibera
settle a law suit (amiably) a rezolva un litigiu printr-o
tranzacŃie, a ajunge la un acord într-un proces;
settle out of court a stinge acŃiunea prin împăcarea părŃilor, a
se împăca înainte de a aduce cazul în faŃa instanŃei
stake out a claim a înainta/exprima o cerere/revendicare
stand mute of malice a refuza să vorbească în instanŃă
state a/once’s case a supune un fapt/ faptele judecăŃii
tribunalului (de către un reclamant)
stay judgement a întârzia judecata/procedura
strain the law a forŃa legea, a interpreta legea în mod
părtinitor; a încălca legea
surrender to one’s bail a se prezenta în faŃa autorităŃilor
(judecătore ti) după ce a fost eliberat pe cauŃiune
sustain a claim/an objection a admite/soluŃiona favorabil o
cerere/revendicare/obiecŃiune
swear a charge/an accusation against somebody a acuza pe
cineva sub jurământ
swear an affidavitt a face o declaraŃie sub jurământ
swear a witness a lua jurământul unui martor, a cere unui
martor să jure

251
take a brief for/on behalf of somebody (d. avocaŃi) a se ocupa
de procesul cuiva, a prelua un caz juridic, a se constitui
apăratorul cuiva
take action against somebody a intenta un proces cuiva
take bail a accepta/lua/primi o cauŃiune
take legal advice a consulta un avocat/jurisconsult
take the stand a se afla în boxa martorilor
take to court a da în judecată, a chema în faŃa instanŃei
tamper with a witness a influenŃa depoziŃia unui martor, a
mitui un martor
tender în evidence a înainta/prezenta ca dovadă/mărturie
thrust somebody from his rights a scoate pe cineva din
drepturile lui (legitime), a răpi cuiva un drept
trench upon somebody’s rights a încalca/ uzurpa/ atinge/
legea, drepturile cuiva
trip up a witness a prinde un martor cu declaraŃii false
trump up a charge against somebody, to: a depune acuzaŃie
falsă împotriva cuiva
try somebody for/ on a charge of…, to: a judeca pe cineva
acuzat de…

under ban prohibit interzis

under duress constrâns, forŃat
under pain of death sub pedeapsa capitală

vest somebody with power, to: a împuternici pe cineva

vow and declare a declara sub jurământ

wear the ermine/the gown a fi magistrat

within the law în cadrul legii, legal

252
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