Ex. 4. Translate the sentences into Russian in a written form.

1. The trial was taking place in the venerable old San Francisco Hall of Justice on Bryant Street. The building, which housed the Superior Court and County Jail, was a forbidding-looking edifice, seven stories high, made of square gray stone. Visitors arriving at the courthouse were funneled through electronic security checkpoints.

2. Upstairs, on the third floor, was the Superior Court. In Courtroom 121, where murder trials were held, the judge’s bench stood against the rear wall, with an American flag behind it. To the left of the bench was the jury box, and at the center were two tables separated by an aisle, one for the prosecuting attorney, the other for the defense attorney.

3. The courtroom was packed with reporters and the type of spectators attracted to fatal highway accidents and murder trials.

4. The trial was now in its fourth week. The spectators and press had found the prosecuting attorney and defense attorney fascinating to watch. Gus Venable was dressed in white and Alan Penn in black, and the two of them moved around the courtroom like players in a deadly, choreographed game of chess, with Paige Taylor the sacrificial pawn.

5. Judge Young had slammed her gavel down. «Objection sustained!» She turned to the two attorneys. «There will be a fifteen-minute recess. I want to see counsel in my chambers.» When they returned to the courtroom, Judge Young said to the jury, «The jury will completely disregard the prosecutor’s last question.» She turned to the prosecutor. «You may go on.»

Communicative Activities

Task 1. Using the scheme and the information given below be ready to present the participants of a court procedure, their roles and functions.

1. Magistrates' Bench

Maximum of seven magistrates and minimum of two magistrates may sit. Usually magistrates sit in threes.

2. Clerk's Bench

The clerk in court will be a solicitor, barrister or holder of the Diploma in Law for Magistrates' Courts Clerks.

3. Solicitors' Desk

The representatives for the prosecution and defence conduct their case from this desk.

Dock

Defendants charged with the more serious cases will be placed in the dock during the trial.

Probation Desk

A representative of the probation service may be in court to assist the court by providing information about the defendant.

Witness Box

All persons (including the defendant) will give their evidence from the witness box.

Press

The press have a right to report all matters in the Magistrates' Court unless there is a restriction on such publication.

The Public

All persons over 14 years are entitled to sit in court to observe the proceedings.

Task 2.

A. The climax of the legal proceedings is the trial. Read the following text about the trial and the answer the true/false questions below the text.

A trial may be defined broadly and comprehensively as a judicial examination of the issues between the parties. Although some variations may exist, trials are usually held before a judge sitting alone, a referee, or a judge and jury. The counsels for the prosecution and for the defence make opening statements to the jury, outlining what each sees as the nature of the case and what each hopes to prove as the trial proceeds. Next, the counsel for the prosecution presents his case by calling witnesses, questioning them, and permitting them to be cross-examined by the counsel for the defence. The counsel for each side then makes a closing argument to the jury, summarizing the evidence in a light most favourable to their respective clients. The function of the jury is to determine the facts of the case, whereas the function of the judge is to determine the applicable law and to oversee the parties' presentation of the facts to the court. After the judge has instructed the jury on the applicable law, the jury will retire to deliberate in private until it reaches a just verdict, which will then be announced in open court. The verdict of a jury terminates the trial. In a case tried before a judge sitting alone, the decision of the judge constitutes a termination of the trial.

1. Criminal trials are always held in front of a jury. False

2. A judge may sit alone to hear a legal case. ______

3. At the beginning of the trial both counsels outline their case. ______

4. The counsel for the defence may cross-examine prosecution witnesses. ______

5. The function of the jury is to decide the applicable law. ______

6. The judge may intervene if the counsels on either side fail to observe the court procedures. ______

7. The judge advises the jury on the law relevant to the case.______

8. The jury discusses their verdict in open court. ______

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1268