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Legal professions

Legal practice varies from country to country. In the United Kingdom the legal profession has two branches. Litigation lawyers are called barristers and those who deal with out-of-court courts are called solicitors. A person who needs legal advice, for example, when buying a house, usually goes to see a solicitor. Solicitors may represent their clients in higher courts. However, solicitors often use barristers to represent their clients in higher courts. Barristers are not allowed to deal directly with the public and can only talk to their client if a solicitor is present.

Barristers are called advocates in Scotland, and a solicitor or barrister representing a client in the English or Welsh courts is now often referred to as advocate.

After many years in the court barristers may be appointed as judges. They are highly paid and are sometimes accused of being remote from the rest of society.

The divided system still exists in some Australian states, although in other parts of Australia and in Canada and New Zealand, where it was originally used, the two parts of the profession have now come together, or “fused”.

In the United States there is a single profession. Lawyers are usually known as attorneys and they often specialize in limited areas of law such as criminal, divorce, etc., though many are involved in general practice. People who want to be lawyers go to law school after graduation from college. On completing their studies they must pass the examination of the bar association in the state in which they wish to work before they can practice law. Most American judges, although not all, are practicing attorneys at the time they assume to bench. Most courts have only one judge, but some higher courts have several. The United States has more lawyers than any other country.

The legal profession on every country has its own governing body, which regulates the conduct of its members and governs training and qualifications. In the United States every state has its own bar association. Bar association at the local, state and national levels help unify the legal professions in the United States. Bar associations often govern the conduct of lawyers within the state; otherwise, a state commission or court will consider grievances against lawyers.

In Great Britain barristers must be members of one of the four Inns of Court and solicitor must belong to the Law Society. Complaints system against solicitors and barristers are backed up by the Legal Services Ombudsman for England and Wales, who conducts investigations into the way the professional bodies handle these complaints. There is a separate Ombudsman for Scotland.

Many lawyers do not practice privately but work in the legal department of a large company or other association, or are in government service.

The Sentence the Court is ...

If it is someone's first offence. And the crime is a small one, even a guilty person is often unconditionally discharged. He or she is set free without punishment.

The next step up the ladder is a conditional discharge This means that the guilty person is set free but if he or she commits another crime within a states time the first crime will be taken into account. He or she may also be put on probation, which means that regular meeting* with a social worker must take place.

A very common form of punishment for minor offences is a fine which means than the guilty person has to pay a sum of money.

Another possibility is that the convicted person is sentenced to a certain number of hours of community service

Wherever possible, magistrates and judges try not to imprison people. This costs the state money, the country's prisons are already overcrowded and prison have a reputation for being 'schools for crime. Even people who are sent to prison do not usually serve the whole time to which they were sentenced They get remission of their sentence for good behavior.

There is no death penalty in Britain, except for treason. It was abolished for all other offences in 1965. Although public opinion polls often show a majority in favour of its return, a majority of MPs has always been against it. For murderers, there is. an obligatory life sentence. However, 'life' does not normally mean life