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.
4. Dock
Defendants charged with the more serious cases will be placed in the dock during the trial.
5. Probation Desk
A representative of the probation service may be in court to assist the court by providing information about the defendant.
6. Witness Box
All persons (including the defendant) will give their evidence from the witness box.
7. Press
The press have a right to report all matters in the Magistrates' Court unless there is a restriction on such publication.
8. 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. ______
B. Present the main stages of the trial procedure.
Task 3.
A. Concentrate upon the role of defense counsel in the US and compare it with the Russian one.
The defense lawyer has a double function in the investigation phase of the criminal process: to assist the suspect in gathering exonerating evidence and to protect him from violations of his rights at the hands of law-enforcement personnel. All legal systems grant the suspect the right to the assistance of an attorney, and in many countries the suspect must be informed of this right before police interrogate him. If the suspect does not have the means to hire a lawyer, often the state will pay the attorney's fee or provide the suspect with state-employed counsel.
However, the law also restricts defense counsel's ability to carry out his functions. In some jurisdictions, as in France, the attorney has no right to be present when the suspect or a witness is interrogated by the police; only a few countries, such as the US, grant the defense the right to compel witnesses on its behalf to appear in court. Moreover, in most jurisdictions the defense has no or only limited access to information gathered by the prosecution before the case reaches the court.
B. Make up a presentation about the functions of prosecuting counsel.
Task 4.
A. Read the extracts from Article 125 of the RF Constitution to add to the information about the Constitutional Court.
2. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation decides on cases on conformity to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of:
a) federal laws, normative acts of the President;
b) constitutions of republics, charters, and laws and other normative acts of constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
c) treaties between State government bodies of the Russian Federation and State government bodies of constituent entities;
d) international treaties of the Russian Federation which are not in force.
3. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation resolves disputes on authority:
a) between federal State government bodies;
b) between State government bodies of the Russian Federation and State government bodies of constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
c) between higher State government bodies of constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
4. The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, on receiving complaints about violations of the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens and at the request of courts, checks the constitutionality of a law which is used.
5. The Constitutional Court provides the interpretation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
6. Acts or certain provisions thereof which are recognized as unconstitutional shall lose force; international treaties of the Russian Federation which do not correspond to the Constitution of the Russian Federation shall not be implemented or used.
Make up a presentation about the Constitutional Court of the RF