Функции Герундия

Функция	Пример	Перевод
Subject Подлежащее	1. Patrolling is one of the preventive methods. 2. Cross-examining was held before a jury.	1. Патрулирование – один из методов профилактики. 2. Перекрёстный допрос проходил перед судом присяжных.
Part of nominal predicate Именная часть сказуемого	1. An arrest is taking a person into custody. 2. One of the methods of re-educating of juvenile offenders is placing them in community home.	1. Арест – это взятие лица под стражу. 2. Одним из методов перевоспитания малолетних преступников является помещение их в детский дом.
Prepositional Object Предложное косвенное дополнение	1. I am proud of being a citizen of Russia. 2. The prosecutor spoke about punishing the offender.	1. Я горжусь тем, что я гражданин России. 2. Обвинитель говорил о наказании преступника.
Attribute Определение	1. There are different methods of solving a crime. 2. There are different opinions on abolishing penalty of death (death penalty).	1. Существуют различные методы раскрытия преступления. 2. Существуют различные мнения об отмене смертной казни.
Adverbial Modifier Обстоятельства	1. After being identified the criminal was arrested. 2. After reading about a law system in GB I understood its essence.	1. Преступник был арестован после того, как установили его личность. 2. Прочитав о судебной системе Великобритании, я понял её суть.
Part of verbal predicate Часть составного глагольного сказуемого	1.The police finished investigating the case. 2. The judge started asking the witnesses questions.	1. Полиция закончила расследование дела. 2. Судья начал задавать вопросы свидетелям.
Direct object Прямое дополнение	1.I remember having read this article on criminology. 2. This trial needs participating experts in different branches of industry.	1. Я помню, что читал эту статью по криминалистике. 2. Этот судебный процесс требует участия экспертов различных отраслей промышленности.

PART II

Tomsk State University

In a beautiful old park in the centre of Tomsk one can see a three-storey impressive building. It is the main building of Tomsk University. It was founded under the pressure of progressive public opinion in 1878 and opened in 1888. That is why you can see the two dates on the facade of the building. The newly-born University was the ninth in Russia and the first in Siberia.

Originally, it had only one faculty – that of medicine. The second faculty – law – was opened ten years later and two more: the faculty of physics and mathematics and the faculty of history, phylology and philosophy were opened only in 1917, the year of October Revolution.

In 1934 the University was named after V.V. Kuybishev, an outstanding revolutionary who became a law student of this University in 1909, and was one of the most active leaders of the students’ revolutionary life in Tomsk in 1909 – 1910.

At present the University has 22 faculties: physics, chemistry, mathematics and mechanics, applied mathematics and cybernetics, radiophysics, technical physics, geology and geography, biology and soil, computer science, history and international relations, psychology, foreign languages, philosophy, culture studies, military training, international department of agriculture and ecology, international management department, High school of business, law, economics, philology and journalism. Now the student body is over 17500.

The University also carries on the scientific supervision of postgraduates within the frame of most faculties.

Tomsk University is both the academic and research centre of Siberia for it comprises three reseach institutes, a lot of research laboratories, the Botanical garden founded by professor P.M. Krylov, the Herbarium and museums of paleontology, mineralogy, zoology, archeology and ethnography which are rich in various exhibits.

The University library deserves special attention because it is well known not only in Siberia but in other parts of the country as well. Its book depository numbers over 4 million volumes and the new building of the library offers fine reading-halls to the students, teachers and researchers of the University. All in all there are about 20 reading-halls at the disposal of the University people.

The University is actively involved in international programs, has signed agreements of cooperation with a number of foreign universitites, conduct student and scholar exchange, collaborates in joint educational programs.

In 2003 the University celebrated its 125th anniversary, which was the great date both for the teaching staff and the students.

Oxford University

Oxford is a beautiful town on the River Thames about fifty miles from London. Some people say it is more beautiful than any other city in England.

Oxford University was founded in the 12^th century as an aristocratic university and has remained so to the present day. The University consists of 32 colleges – 27 colleges for men and 5 colleges for women. There are 16 faculties there. Each college is a completely autonomous body, governed by its own laws. A large college has about 500 students, a small one – about a hundred. Several colleges say they are the oldest, but no other college is as old as Merton, which began in 1264.

The term of studies lasts for 10 weeks. There are 3 terms in the Oxford academic year.

Within the first week the freshman meets his tutor who tells the student about his plans, the lectures which he must take, about the requirements for the examination which he will take, about the course of reading for him. Attendance at lectures is not compulsory. Once every week each undergraduate goes to his tutor’s room to read out an essay which he has written and discuss this essay with the tutor.

At the beginning or end of each term the progress of the students is tested by the college examinations.

They pay great attention to athletics at the University. The students are engaged in different kinds of sports, take part in competitions between Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

This is how a student spends his day. His working hours are from 9 to 1. At 9 o’clock he sees his tutor or goes to the library, or attends lectures. From 2 to 5 he is engaged in sports and all kinds of exercise. From 5 to 7 he works in the library or laboratory. At 7 o’clock they have dinner-time. After dinner the students have club activities, debating societies, etc.

By 10 o’clock the students must be in the college, as most of students live in the colleges, only some of them live in lodgings in the town.

The doors of Oxford University are not open to all. The majority of the students are graduates of private schools, so Oxford University remains an aristocratic university to the present day.

Notes:

1. Freshman – первокурсник

2. undergraduate – студент, учащийся вуза (университета или университетского колледжа),

3. College – высшее учебное заведение, в котором учатся 3 года и получают специальное образование (техническое, гуманитарное, медицинское и др. Колледж может существовать как самостоятельная единица, а также может входить в состав университета.

4. university – это вуз, состоящий из колледжей различных специальностей (срок обучения – 3 года). Выпускник университета получает степень бакалавра (e.g. the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, Science, Medicine, Engineering, etc.)

5. institute – это как правило научно исследовательское учреждение

6. tutor – в английских университетах – это преподаватель, ведущий практические занятия в группе; он следит за учёбой и дисциплиной студентов.

7. within the first week – в течение (не позднее)первой недели

8. attendance at lectures is not compulsory – посещение лекций не обязательно

9. to live in lodgings – снимать комнату

10. the progress of the students is tested by the college examinations – успеваемость студентов проверяется экзаменами в колледже

11. a debating society – дискуссионный клуб

12. to take club activities – участвовать в работе кружка

University of Cambridge

Faculty of Law

A. The Law course at Cambridge is intended to give a thorough grounding in principles of law viewed from an academic rather than a vocational perspective. There are opportunities to study the history of law and to consider the subject in its wider social context. The emphases is on principle and technique. Skills of interpretation and logical reasoning are developed, and students are encouraged to consider broader questions such as ethical judgement, political liberty and social control.

B. Although many undergraduates who read law do so with the intention of practicing, many do not, preferring instead to go into administration, industrial management or accountancy. Candidates intending to read law need not have studied any particular subject at school. It is common for undergraduates to have a scientific or mathematical background at A-level as it is for them to have studied history or languages.

C. Undergraduates reading law for three years take Part IA of the Tripos at the end of the first year. This comprises four papers: Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, the Law of Tort and Roman Law. In the second year five subjects are studied for Part IB of the Law Tripos which is taken at the end of the year. The range of subjects on offer is wide – from Family Law to International Law – though in practice most undergraduates take Contract and Land Law as two of their papers. In the third year, five subjects are studied for Part II of the Tripos. The range of options is even wider then the Part IB. According to preference an undergraduate may develop his or her interest in property law (including trusts and conveyancing law), commercial law, public law (including Administrative Law and EEC Law), or in more academic and sociological aspects of law, such as Jurisprudence, Legal History, Labour Law and Criminology. Candidates may also participate in the seminar course, submitting a dissertation in place of one paper.

D. Candidates for the postgraduate LL.M. take any four papers selected from a wide range of options in English Law, Legal History, Civil Law, Public Law, International Law, and Comparative Law and Legal Philosophy.

Задание. The text has four paragraphs marked A, B, C and D. Read the text and decide which paragraph:

1. gives information about the subjects students can study on a first degree course

2. explains the general purpose and method of the course

3. gives information about Master’s degree course

4. says what most law students do before and after they go into university

Reading for detail

First check that your understand the questions below, then read the text carefully to find the answers.

1. Does the course (1) give an academic legal education or (2) teach students to become lawyers?

2. What intellectual abilities does the course develop?

3. Does the course only include strict (pure) law?

4. Do most Cambridge Law graduates become lawyers?

5. Should people who want to read law study (1) science subjects or (2) humanities (history, languages, etc.) at school?

6. Can students choose the subjects they study in the first and second years of the law course?

7. Do students have the same options in the second year and in the third year?

8. Must students take an exam in all the subjects they study?

9. How many exams do postgraduates take?

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Physical Geography

The British Isles is the geographical term for a group of about 5,000 islands off the north-west coast of mainland Europe between the latitudes 50o N and 61o N. The largest island is Britain or Great Britain, which is also the largest island in Europe. It consists of England, Wales and Scotland. The next largest island is Ireland, which is made up of Northern Ireland (or Ulster) and the Irish Republic (also known as Eire). Britain and Northern Ireland , together with a number of small islands, form the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. In everyday usage, however, Great Britain or Britain is used to mean the United Kingdom. The Isle of Man, between Ireland and Britain, and the Channel Islands, off the north-west coast of France, though recognising the Crown, have their own parliaments and are largely self-governing.

Great Britain is just under 1,000 km long and just under 500 km across in its widest part. The most mountainous region is Scotland (with Britain’s highest peak, Ben Nevis – 1,343 m), which also has a wide lowland area between the Grampians and the Southern Uplands, where most of the large towns, including Edinburgh and Glasgow, and three-quarters of the population are located. Much of Wales is also mountainous and in England the Pennine Range (the “backbone of England”) extends 224 km (although the highest peak is only 895 m high). The rest of England tends to be rather undulating, and not even the large agricultural plains of East Anglia are perfectly flat. In Ireland all the highland areas are around the edge, but there are no peaks over 1,100 m.

Rivers in Great Britain are quite short – the longest rivers are the Severn and the Thames – but their easy navigability has made them an important part of the inland transport network for the transportation of bulk products such as coal, iron ore and steel.

Population

With 57 million people, the United Kingdom ranks about fifteenth in the world in terms of population, with England (46 million) by far the most populous part (followed by Scotland 5 million, Wales 2.8 million and Northern Ireland 1.5 million). Although there are about 6% more male than female births, the higher mortality of men at all ages means that there are more females than males (29 million as against 27.6 million).

The average population density in Britain is about 239 per sq. km, compared with, for example, 190 per sq. km in Italy. The highest densities are to be found in conurbations, which are groups of once separate towns that have grown to form a single community. Although Britain is short of housing, planners like to keep a belt of undeveloped land around cities known as a green belt to reduce pollution and provide open spaces for leisure. The industrial area in these purpose-built towns is separate from housing and there are more green, open spaces. New towns have partially failed, however, especially since many are near enough to conurbations for people to use them as dormitory towns (towns where a large percentage of the population commutes daily to work in a conurbation ) and recent government policy has been to expand existing towns like Telford and Milton Keynes (formed from the amalgamation of a group of villages), which is cheaper than creation an entirely new town.

National Production

Membership of the European Community has had a major impact on Britain’s pattern of trade. The proportion of Britain’s export of goods going to other EC countries has risen to around 50%, while that going to other Commonwealth countries has fallen to around 10%. In recent years, Britain has had a negative balance of trade as regards visible exports and imports, though the balance as regards invisible is better.

Among the main trends in industrial activity in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s have been the decline in heavy industry and the growth of the offshore oil and gas industries together with related products and services; the rapid development of electronic and microelectronic technologies and their application to a wide range of other sectors; and a continuous rise in the service (or tertiary) industries’ share of total employment. Tourism, for example, is now one of Britain’s most important industries and a growing source of employment (supporting an estimated 1 million jobs in 1985).

In certain regions, older industries, such as coal, steel, shipbuilding and textiles, have steadily declined. As a result unemployment is far higher in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the north of England. The Government has therefore provided various incentives to encourage industrial development in “assisted areas”.

In addition to these structural changes there have also been important changes in ownership. The Thatcher Government returned many of the nationalised industries, such as British Airways, British Gas and British Telecom, to the private sector, although other industries in the same sectors, such as British Rail, British Coal and the Post Office, are still publicly owned. There has also been a growing trend towards the formation of massive international corporations through merges and acquisitions.

Less than 3% of the working population (around 690,000 people) is employed in agriculture in Britain, yet the industry produces nearly two-thirds of Britain’s food requirements, with gross output accounting for about 4% of the country’s GDP. Just over three-quarters of the land in Britain is used for agriculture. About three-fifths of full-time farms are devoted to dairying or beef cattle and sheep. The majority of sheep and cattle are reared in the hill and moorland areas of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and south-western England. The farms devoted primarily to arable crops are found mainly in eastern and central southern England. Pig production occurs in most areas, but particularly important in eastern and northern England. Britain is also broadly self-sufficient in poultry meat and eggs.

Britain is one of Europe’s most important fishing nations. The fishing industry provides about 66% of British fish supplies and it is an important source of employment (16,150 fishermen in regular employment) and income in a number of ports.

Woodland covers an estimated 2.1 million hectares in Great Britain, but the rate of new planting – especially by private owners – is growing and home timber production is expected to double over the next 20 years (at present it provides only 10% of the nation’s requirements).

The Constitution

The British Constitution is an unwritten constitution, not being contained in a single legal document. It is based on status and important documents (such as the Magna Carta), case law (decisions taken by courts of law on constitutional matters), customs and conventions, and can be modified by a simple Act of Parliament like any other law. It contains two main principles – the rule of law (i.e. that everyone, whatever his or her station, is subject to the law) and the supremacy of Parliament, which implies that there is no body that can declare the activities of Parliament unconstitutional. The constitutional safeguard of the separation of powers between the Legislature (the two Houses of Parliament), which makes law, the Executive (the Government), which puts laws into effect and plans policy, and the Judiciary, which interprets laws and decides on cases arising out of the laws, is only theoretical.

Exercise

Match the following terms with their correct definitions

1. rule of law

2. separation of powers

3. supremacy of Parliament

1. There is no legal opposition to Parliament.

2. Everyone is equal before the law.

3. Laws are made, put into effect and interpreted by different bodies.

The United Kingdom is one of six constitutional monarchies within the European Community and this institution dates back in Britain to the Saxon king Egbert. Since the age of absolute monarchy there has been a gradual decline in the Sovereign’s power and, while formally still the head of the executive and the judiciary, commander-in-chief of all armed forces, and temporal governor of the Church of England, nowadays monarchs reign but they do not rule.

Although many people consider the monarchy to be somewhat anachronistic and undemocratic institution, the Queen continues to enjoy the support of the vast majority of Britons and she does have certain undeniably useful functions. Besides carrying out important ceremonial duties, she also acts as a ‘unifying force’ in both the Constitution and the nation, lying outside of the political debate. Moreover, her regular meetings with successive Prime Ministers and personal contacts with numerous foreign leaders mean that she is better informed than most ministers.

The Legislature

Parliament is the supreme legislative authority and consists of three separate elements: the Sovereign, the House of Lords and the elected House of Commons. Over the centuries the balance between the three parts of the legislature has changed, so that the Queen’s role is now only formal and the House of Commons has gained supremacy over the House of Lords.

The House of Commons is a popular assembly elected by almost universal adult suffrage. There are 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) – each member representing one of the 650 geographical areas (constituencies) into which the country is divided for electoral purposes (523 for England, 38 for Wales, 72 for Scotland and 17 for Northern Ireland). If an MP dies, resigns or is made a peer, a by-election is held in that constituency to elect a new MP. Leaders of the Government and Opposition sit on the front benches of the Commons, with their supporters (back-benchers) behind them. The House is presided over by the Speaker.

The House of Lords, which is presided over by the Lord Chancellor, is probably the only upper House in the democratic world whose members are not elected. It is made up of the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal; the former consist of the representatives of the Church of England (the Archbishops of York and Cunterbury and 25 bishops); the latter comprise all hereditary and life peers (life peers, named by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister, do not pass on their title when they die).

The main functions of the Parliament are: making laws, providing money for government through taxation, examining government policy, administration and spending, debating political questions.

Making new laws: Bills and Acts

A proposal for a new law is called a bill. Bills may be introduced in either the House of Commons or the House of Lords by any member. In practice most bills are proposed by the Government. After being discussed and perhaps changed, the bill is sent to the other House to go through the same process. When both Houses agree on a text, the bill is sent to the Queen for her signature (or “Royal Assent”) at which point it becomes an Act of Parliament. A bill which has been passed by the House of Commons is almost certain to become law, and about fifty bills become Acts each year. The House of Lords can revise bills but cannot stop them from becoming Acts; it can only delay the process for a maximum of 12 months. The Royal Assent is a formality: no Sovereign has refused a bill since 1707.

Because Britain has no written constitution, there is no special procedure for changing the laws which govern the country. If a political party has a clear majority in the House of Commons it can make new laws and give itself new powers. This allows a Government to make radical changes in the law.

The Executive

Prime Minister and Cabinet

The leader of the party which obtains a majority of seats in a general election is named Prime Minister and is formally asked by the Sovereign to recommend a group of ministers to form a Government. The position of Prime Minister is based on convention, not status, and dates back to when George 1 left the running of the country’s affairs to his ministers. A number of ministers are invited by the Prime Minister to attend regular meetings to discuss policy and this group of ministers is known as the Cabinet. It is a political convention for the Cabinet to act as a single man, which means that a minister who cannot accept a Cabinet decision must resign. (The main opposition party forms a Shadow Cabinet, which is more or less as the Government would be if the party were in power, and the relevant members act as opposition spokesmen on major issues.)

The Prime Minister has considerable individual power to introduce and control policies, and to change the Cabinet by appointing new ministers, sacking old ones, or “reshuffling” the Cabinet by moving its members to other Cabinet posts.

Elections

The right to vote in elections has gradually been extended to virtually every British subject over 18 who is resident in Britain (members of the Royal Family and lunatics are not allowed to vote). People vote for any one of the candidates in the constituency in which they are registered. The candidate that obtains the most votes in that constituency, irrespective of whether he or she has an overall majority, becomes its Member of Parliament and the other votes are “wasted”.

Anyone over 21 who is entitled to vote (except for clergymen, civil servants, felons and bankrupts) can stand as a candidate. Candidates are normally selected by the local party associations, but independent candidates can also stand. Each candidate has to pay a deposit (currently 500 pounds), which is returned if a candidate obtains at least 5% of the total number of votes cast in that constituency. It is now a tradition for there to be a few humorous candidates in all general elections (such as the “Don’t-Vote-For-Me Party” in the 1987 election).

General elections must be held at least every five years, but the Prime Minister has the right to call elections before the five-year term has expired. Nowadays, the electorate often votes for a particular party leader rather than the party itself, so Government leaders try to hold elections at moments of particular popularity, e.g. Mrs. Thatcher after her victory in the Falklands War.

Political Parties

As a result of the electoral system two parties have usually been predominant in Britain, at different times Tories and Whigs, Conservatives and Liberals, and since the 1930s Conservatives and Labour, with one party normally obtaining a majority of seats in the House of Commons and the other having its role limited to criticising Government policy.

The Conservative Party was formed by Robert Peel from what was left of the old Tory party in 1830s.

Peel and his successor Benjamin Disraeli (the first Conservative Prime Minister) together shaped modern Conservatism. Originally the party of church, aristocracy and landed gentry, it has increasingly been supported by large business interests. The Labour Party was formed by James Keir Hardie in 1892 to represent the workers and was more or less the parliamentary wing of the Trade Unions, with whom the party continues to be closely associated. James Ramsay MacDonald became the first socialist Prime Minister in 1924.

In 1981 a new party was formed to try to break the dominance of Conservatives and Labour. Some Conservatives and Labour MPs left their own parties to join the new Social Democrats. The new party then agreed to fight elections in alliance with the small but long-established Liberals, forming the Alliance. Their problem, under the “first past the post” system, was to turn their popular votes into parliamentary seats. In 1987 the two parties of the Alliance agreed to merge to form a new party, the Liberal Democrats, although some Social Democrats preferred to remain independent.

The Judiciary

British law comes from two main sources: laws made in Parliament (usually drawn up by government departments and lawyers), and Common Law, which is based on previous judgments and customs. Just as there is no written constitution, so England and Wales have no criminal code or civil code and the interpretation of the law is based on what has happened in the past. The laws which are made in Parliament are interpreted by the courts, but changes in the law itself are made in Parliament.

A person charged by the police with an offence is sent to a magistrates’ court, the most common type of law court in England and Wales. There are 700 magistrates’ courts and about 30,000 magistrates.

Magistrates’ courts are presided over by groups of three unpaid, lay magistrates (also known as “justices of the peace” or JPs), who often have no legal qualifications, although they are given basic training when appointed and are advised on points of law and procedure by a legally-qualified clerk. There are also a few stipendiary magistrates – full-time, legally-qualified magistrates who sit alone. Magistrates hear and decide in cases concerning minor offences and refer more serious cases to the Crown Court, which has 90 branches in different towns and cities. A defendant can always choose, however, to be tried by a jury in the Crown Court.

The Crown Court deals with trials of a more serious nature or appeals from magistrates’ courts and is presided over by a judge, who must be a barrister or a solicitor with at least ten years experience.

Defendants who declare themselves not guilty of a crime are tried by a jury of 12 people. The judge decides on points of law, sums up evidence for the jury and instructs it on the relevant law (as well as determining fines and sentences). It is the jury alone, however, which decides whether a defendant is guilty or not guilty.

Civil cases (for example, divorce or bankruptcy cases) are dealt with in County courts. Appeals are heard by higher courts. For example, appeals from magistrates’ courts are heard in the Crown Court, unless they are appeals on points of law. The highest court of appeal in England and Wales is the House of Lords. (Scotland has its own High Court in Edinburgh, which hears all appeals from Scottish courts.) Certain cases may be referred to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. In addition, individuals have made the British Government change its practices in a number of areas as a result of petitions to the European Court of Human Rights.

The legal system also includes juvenile courts (which deal with offenders under seventeen) and coroners’ courts (which investigate violent, sudden or unnatural deaths). There are administrative tribunals which make quick, cheap and fair decisions with much less formality. Tribunals deal with professional standards, disputes between individuals, and disputes between individuals and government departments (for example, over taxation).

People in law cases

Solicitors

There are about 66,000 solicitors practicing in England and Wales and they are controlled by their own professional body called the Law Society. To become a solicitor it is usual to have a law degree and then to take a one-year Legal Practice Course. This is followed by two-year training period, previously called “articles”, where the trainee solicitor works in a firm of solicitors or for an organisation such as the Crown Prosecution Service or local or central government. During this two-year period he will be paid, though not at the same rate as a fully qualified solicitor. He will also have to complete a Professional Skills Course, which gives training in interviewing clients and witnesses, negotiating, advocacy and business management including dealing with accounts. Finally the trainee will be admitted as a solicitor by the Law Society and his name will be added to the list or roll of solicitors. Those who have a degree in another subject must take an extra year’s course on law, called the Common Professional Examination, before going on to take the Legal Practice Course. There is also a possible entry route which does not involve taking a degree first, but this is only available to mature students and it takes longer to qualify by this route.

The main criticisms of the training process are that, first, many people with good degrees cannot get a place on the Legal Practice Course; secondly, students have to pay the fees for this course and also support themselves during the year it lasts. This problem has occurred because most Local Authorities refuse to give a grant for the Legal Practice Course if the student has already had a grant to do a degree. The result of this is that students from poor families cannot afford to take the course and are therefore prevented from becoming solicitors. Many students from lower-and middle-income backgrounds take out bank loans and by the time they qualify, they may owe thousands of pounds. In order to overcome this problem some universities have started offering a four-year course combining a law degree and a practical course which allows the student to receive a grant for the four-year period. The University of Northumberland was the first to offer this course in 1993, so that the first students to use this route will qualify in 1997. The third criticism is that even after passing the Legal Practice Course students are not qualified as solicitors but must find a training place with a firm of solicitors or other suitable organisation. Not all students will be able to find training places and may be prevented from qualifying as solicitors as a result. In 1993 it was estimated that there were 6,000 applicants and only 3,000 training places available.

Barristers

There are about 8,000 barristers in independent practice in England and Wales and they are controlled by their own professional body called the General Council of the Bar. To become a barrister it is usual to start by obtaining a law degree; those with a degree in another subject will have to do one-year course on law and pass the Common Professional Examination. In order to go on to the next stage of training it is necessary to join an Inn of Court and be accepted on the Bar’s Vocational Training Course which lasts one academic year. It has become increasingly difficult to obtain a place on this Training Course and the method of selecting students has been criticised. Prior to 1994 it was necessary to have at least a 2(I) pass at degree level. In 1994 the procedure was changed; the grades obtained at A level became more important and critical reasoning tests were introduced. One result of the changes was that students with first class degrees were being refused places and there were many successful appeals against the refusal of a place. The Vocational Training Course concentrates on practical skills, particularly advocacy, and students learn to draft legal documents and present cases in court. As with solicitors there is a financial problem for students doing the Vocational Course since Local Education Authorities rarely give a grant for this stage of training. Joining an Inn of Court and attending there to dine or for weekend courses is compulsory but students may choose which of the four Inns – Lincoln’s Inn, the Inner Temple, the Middle Temple and Gray’s Inn – they wish to join.

Judges

Judges as a group are also called the judiciary. There are many different levels of judge although the main division is into inferior and superior judges. This may sound an odd way of referring to judges but it reflects the different levels of court in which they sit. Inferior judges include: stipendiary magistrates, district judges, recorders, circuit judges. Superior judges are: the puisne judges who sit in the High Court, the Lords Justices of Appeal in the Court of Appeal, the Law Lords in the House of Lords. To become a judge at any level it is necessary to be either a barrister or a solicitor. The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 made changes basing qualifications on certificates of advocacy and rights of audience in the courts. In other words, a barrister or solicitor must have been qualified to be an advocate in the court to which he is appointed as a judge. The Courts and Legal Services Act also introduced a type of career structure for judges, with the possibility of being promoted from a lower judicial office to the next one up on the ladder. Prior to the Act it was very rare for a judge to be promoted from one court to a higher court except from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and it was impossible for solicitors to progress further than a circuit judgeship. No matter how good a judge a solicitor was he could not be appointed as a High Court judge; this was clearly wrong as the best judges should be able to be promoted. The first High Court judge to come from solicitor circuit judges was Sir Michael Sachs, who was appointed in 1993.

Jury

A jury consists of twelve people (jurors’), who are ordinary people chosen at random from the Electoral Register (the list of people who can vote in elections). The jury listen to the evidence given in court in certain criminal cases and decide whether the defendant is guilty or innocent. If the person is found guilty, the punishment is passed by the presiding judge. Juries are rarely used in civil cases.

To be eligible for jury service a person must:

• be aged between 18 and 70

• be registered to vote on the electoral register

• have lived in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for at least five years since reaching the age of 13.

These qualifications are set out in the Juries Act 1974, as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1988. However some people, who qualify under the criteria above, are still not allowed to serve on a jury, because they are disqualified or ineligible for some other reason.

Some criminal convictions will disqualify you from serving on a jury, the length of time of the disqualification depending on the sentence given. In addition the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 has disqualified those on bail from sitting as jurors.

Those who are ineligible include:

• people suffering from certain mental illnesses

• people whose occupations are concerned with the administration of justice or who have been so employed within the last 10 years; this is a wide group as it includes judges, court clerks, barristers, solicitors and police

• priests, monks and nuns

Apart from these groups there are also people who have the right to refuse to do jury service; they are ‘excusable as of right’. This group includes:

• Members of Parliament

• those serving in the armed forces

• doctors, nurses and pharmacists

• anyone aged 65 to 70

• anyone who has done jury service within the last two years

The court has an official who is responsible for sending out summons calling people for jury service. This official will have all the electoral registers for the area and he will select names from these in a random manner. In some areas a computer is used to select people’s names, in other areas the court official will look at the registers and choose names at random. Once the names have been chosen, those people are sent jury summons telling them to come to the court on a certain date. The normal length of jury service is two weeks, though jurors are warned that some trials may last longer. More people than are needed are summoned as the court official will not know who is disqualified, ineligible or excusable as of right. If someone is within one of these categories he or she has to declare it and anyone who is disqualified can be fined up to £5,000 for failing to declare that disqualification.

There will also be other people who do not want to do jury service and they have to explain their reasons in writing to the court. If they have a sufficiently good reason, they will be excused from doing jury service on that occasion, but may have to do it in the future. Good reasons include being too ill to go to court, business appointments, having a holiday booked or even having an examination to take. This sort of excusal is called a discretionary excusal, since it is up to the court to decide whether that person should be excused or not. If a person is not excused he must attend court on the date given on the summons or risk being fined for failing to do so. The maximum fine for non-attendance is £1,000.

The Police

Each of Britain’s fifty-two police forces is responsible for law enforcement in its own area. In addition there are various national and regional connections (for example, in areas of training or the transfer of criminal records), and local forces cooperate with each other. Some special services, such as the Fraud Squad (who investigate financial crimes), are available to any local force in England and Wales. In general, however, the local police forces work independently under their own Chief Constables. Each force is maintained by a local police authority. The exception is London, where the Metropolitan Police are responsible to the Home Secretary.

Police duties cover a wide range of activities, from traffic control to more specialised departments such as river police. Each independent force has a uniformed branch and a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) with detectives in plain clothes. In addition the police authorities in England and Wales employ 40,000 civilians and nearly 5,000 traffic wardens.

Britain has relatively few police – approximately one policeman for every 400 people – and traditionally they are armed only with truncheons except in special circumstances. However, recent years have seen some major changes in police policy in response to industrial disputes and inner city violence in Great Britain. The situation in Northern Ireland, where the Royal Ulster Constabulary are the local police force, has also meant a change in the style of maintaining law and order. In general, there has been increase in the number of special units trained in crowd and riot control and in the use of firearms, a controversial area for the British police. The number of police has risen along with the crime rate.

Crime and Punishment

About 90% of all crimes are dealt with by magistrates’ courts. Sentences vary a lot but most people who are found guilty have to pay a fine. Magistrates’ courts can impose fines of up to 2,000 pounds or prison sentences of up to six months. If the punishment is to be more severe the case must go to a Crown Court. The most severe punishment is life imprisonment: there has been no death penalty in Britain since 1965.

The level of recorded crime and the number of people sent to prison both increased during the 1970s and 1980s. By the end of that period the average prison population was more than 50,000 and new prisons had to be built as overcrowding had become a serious problem. By 1988 the cost of keeping someone in prison was over 250 pound per week, which was more than the national average wage.

The United States of America

Physical Geography

The country naturally presents a tremendous variety in physical features (and climate), ranging from moist forest to arid desert and bald mountain peaks. Mount McKinley in Alaska at 20,320 feet (6,194 meters) is the highest point in the United States, while part of Death Valley in California is 282 feet (89 meters) below sea level.

The eastern coast of the United States is a long, gently rolling lowland area known as the coastal plains. These coastal plains, which stretch from Maine to Texas, are very flat (nowhere in Florida is more than 350 feet above sea level, for example) and often swampy. In general the soil is very poor, except in the fertile southern part, where the plain reaches many miles inland (the Cotton Belt of the Old South and the citrus country of central Florida).

At the western edge of the Atlantic coastal plain, there is a chain of low, almost unbroken mountains, stretching from the northern part of Maine southwest into Alabama, called the Appalachian Mountains. The mountains contain enormous quantities of easily accessible coal and iron (which helps explain the huge concentration of heavy industry along the lower region of the Great Lakes). The Priedmont hills, to the east of the main peaks, are the most highly productive agricultural land in the country after the Midwest.

The heart of the United States is a vast plain, broken by the Superior Upland and Black Hills in the north and the Ozark Plateau in the south, which extends from central Canada southwards to Mexico and from the Appalachian Mountains westwards to the Cordillera. These interior plains, which rise gradually like a saucer to higher land on all sides, are divided into two parts: the wetter, eastern portion is called the Central Plains and the western portion the Great Plains, both of which have good soils.

To the west of the Great Plains is the Cordillera, which accounts for one-third of the USA. It is a region of tremendous variety, which can be sub-divided into various other regions. On its eastern border the Rocky Mountains, a high, discontinuous chain of mountains stretching from mountainous Alaska down to Mexico, rise sharply from the Great Plains. These rugged mountains contain many important metals such as lead, uranium and gold.

The western edge of the Cordillera is characterised by a coastal chain of high mountains, among which there are broad, fertile valleys. The most important ranges are the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades in the eastern part and the Coastal Ranges along the western coast. There is no Pacific coastal plain and between these two sets of mountains there is a large plateau region, with steep cliffs and canyons, basins and isolated ranges. Many basins are rich in resources such as oil and natural gas.

Hawaii is a chain of twenty islands, only seven of which are inhabited. The mountainous islands were formed by volcanic activity and there are still a number of active volcanoes.

The United States has several immensely long rivers. There are a large number of rivers in the eastern part of nation, the longest of which is the Missouri (3,942 km), a tributary of the Mississippi (3,760 km); the Mississippi-Missouri-Red Rock system extends for 6,176 km before entering the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans. Two other tributaries of the Mississippi – the Ohio and Tennessee – are more than 1,250 km long. In the West the Rio Grande, which forms part of the United States-Mexico border, flows for 3,016 km and only the Colorado (2,320 km), Columbia (2,240 km) and the San Joaquim-Sacramento river systems reach the Pacific.

Population

With more than 245,000,000 inhabitants the United States is the fourth country in the world in terms of population. About 75% of the population live in urban areas and there are 170 cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants, 24 of which have population of over 500,000. Most of these urban centers lie along the Atlantic and Pacific coast, the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes. The most populous area is the relatively small Northeast, which accounts for nearly one fourth of the nation’s population.

The vast majority of the population was WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) until about 1860. Between 1860 and 1920 almost 30 million immigrants arrived from central and southeastern Europe in particular. These mainly Italian, Russian, Polish and Hungarian immigrants quickly formed their own culturally homogeneous neighbourhoods (“Little Italys”, etc) and became a second economic class behind the WASPs. The almost 12% of the population that are black are bottom of the economic and educational table, with far higher unemployment than whites, especially as a result of racial discrimination. The most rapidly growing ethnic group is the Hispanics (almost 7% of Americans), who still continue to use Spanish in their homes even though the vast majority were born in the United States. Like the blacks, they have a generally lower economic and educational level than the rest of the population. There are also almost 2 million generally prosperous Oriental Americans (predominantly from Japan, China and the Philippines), who are concentrated mainly in California. The 1.5 million Native Americans live mainly in reserves in the southwestern states in usually deep poverty and there has been little or no integration into American society.

National Production

The United States is the world’s greatest economic power in term of both Gross National Product and per capita GNP, with its export accounting for more than 10% of all world trade.

Although the importance of industrial production is falling and that of services growing (as in most of Western Europe), the US remains the world’s greatest maker of industrial goods and around 20 million Americans are still employed in manufacturing. The industrial heart of the nation is the Midwest around the Great Lakes, especially in the region stretching from southern Michigan through northern Ohio and into the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania. Another important industrial region is the Northeast, which is the home of the major computer manufacturers. Service industries are also very important in this region and New York is the country’s banking and insurance capital. The nation’s fastest growing region, however, is the Southeast, where the chemical industry and high-technology industries are now catching up with the traditional textile industry as many firms exploit the warm climate and low labour costs.

47% of the land area of the US is farmland, of which 152 million hectares are harvested cropland and 560 million hectares are permanent pasture land, yet only 6.2 million people live on the nation’s 2,300,000 farms. The Midwest is the most important agricultural region in the United States (though California is the number one state in terms of the value of its agricultural products ) and alone produces almost twice as much as the American people can consume; corn and wheat are the main crops, and livestock and dairy farming are also carried out on a large scale. Although the South is still important for traditional crops, such as tobacco, corn and cotton, there is now far greater variety, while Texas is the nation’s leading producer of cattle, sheep, cotton and rice. The West is important for cattle and wheat farming in the Great Plains area, and for fruit in the fertile valleys of the states that border the Pacific. Yet agriculture (together with fishing) accounts for less than 3% of GNP.

The Constitution

The American Constitution is based on the doctrine of the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judiciary. The respective government institutions – The Presidency, Congress and the Courts – were given limited and specific powers; and a series of checks and balances, whereby each branch of government has certain authority over the others, were also included to make sure these powers were not abused. Government power was further limited by means of a dual system of government, in which the federal government was only given the powers and responsibilities to deal with problems facing the nation as a whole (foreign affairs, trade, control of the army and navy, etc.). The remaining responsibilities and duties of government were reserved to the individual state governments.

Article V allowed for amendments to be made to the Constitution (once passed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and then ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states). The Constitution finally ratified by all thirteen states in 1791 already contained ten amendments, collectively known as the Bill of Rights (the freedom of religion, speech and the press, etc.), to protect the citizens against possible tyranny by the federal government. So far only twenty-seven amendments have been made to the Constitution.

The Presidency

The President (any natural-born citizen over 34) is elected for a term of four years and can be re-elected for one more term (22^nd amendment – adopted after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four successive terms). The President was originally intended to be little more than a ceremonial Head of State, as well as Commander in Chief of the armed forces, but the federal government’s increasing involvement in the nation’s economic life and its prominent role in international affairs, where secrecy and speed are often essential, has increased the importance of the Presidency over Congress.

The President now proposes a full legislative program to Congress, although the President, the Cabinet and staff are not, and cannot be, members of Congress. This means that the various bills must be introduced into the House of Representatives or Senate by their members. The President is consequently completely powerless when faced by an uncooperative Congress. Given also the difficulties in ensuring that the laws passed are effectively implemented by the federal bureaucracy, it has been said that the President’s only real power is the power to persuade.

The role of the Vice-President is not very well defined by the Constitution, which gives him or her no other task than presiding over the debates in the Senate, where he may only vote in the case of a tie.

Yet the Vice President takes over from the President in the case of death, resignation, or sickness, which has already happened on eight occasions. To try and attract able men to this otherwise unimportant, mainly ceremonial post, Vice-President has recently been given more important tasks, especially in foreign affairs.

Congress

The legislative branch of national government consists of two houses – the Senate and the House of Representatives – each with a different role, different power and a different electoral procedure.

The House of Representatives is the dynamic institution of the federal government. The states are represented on a population basis and are divided into congressional districts or constituencies of roughly equal size (around 520,000 people). There are currently 435 members, who are elected every two years. All states must by law adopt the system of single-member constituencies with a simple majority vote. Vacancies arising from death, resignation, etc, are filled by by-elections.

The chairman of the House of Representatives, the Speaker, is elected by the House and has important responsibilities, giving him considerable influence over the President. Moreover, should the President and Vice-President die before the end of their terms, it is the Speaker who becomes President.

The Senate is the conservative counterweight to the more populist House of Representatives. Each state has two senators who, since 1913 (17^th Amendment), have been chosen directly by the electorate in the way decided by the state legislature in each state. Senators are elected every six years, but the elections are staggered so that one-third of the Senate is elected every two years. A vacancy caused by death or resignation is filled until the next congressional elections by the nomination of the State Governor. There are currently 100 senators. The Senate has the special privilege of unlimited debate to safeguard the rights of minorities, but this can enable a small group of Senators to prevent the passage of a bill (filibustering).

Although Congress can legislate its most important task has become that of scrutinizing the policies and actions of the executive, and upholding the interests of states and districts. Indeed, since Representatives and Senators depend on the voters in their various states or constituencies for re-election, they tend to satisfy the particular interests of constituencies and special groups rather than tackle the problems of the nation as a whole. Congress also controls the nation’s finances and its permanent specialist staff helps Congress consider and change the budget presented each year by the President.

Political Parties

Political parties or “fractions” were not mentioned in the original Constitution. Differences over the role of the federal government led to the first national parties – the Federalists and the Republicans. Since then two major parties dominated political life. The Democratic Party has existed in one form or another since the beginning of the 1800s and has been opposed in successive eras by the Federalist, Whig and Republican parties. The Republican Party was founded in 1854 and was originally the anti-slavery party.

There is very little ideological difference between the Democratic and Republican parties, as both parties defend the free-enterprise capitalist system, accepted by almost all Americans as the basis of American society. The Democrats, unlike the Republicans, tend to favour some Government intervention, but both parties have liberal and conservative wings, and in Congress the liberal and conservative wings of the two parties often side with each other against the other wing. It is broadly possible to say that poor people vote for the Democrats and wealthy people for the Republicans.

American politics and a party will always alter its platform to try and catch the mood of the nation, the middle ground.

The Federal Judiciary

In the federal system there are 90 District Courts presided over by a district judge, which hear criminal cases involving breaches of federal law and civil cases on federal matters (disputes between states, non-payment of federal taxes, etc.).

Appeals can be made to the United States Court of Appeals, where an appeal is heard by three judges, although in very important cases all nine appeal judges sit together. In vast majority of cases this court’s decision is final and sets a precedent for future cases, although this precedent is not always binding on the Supreme Court.

Although not explicitly given the power of judicial review – the power to decide whether the actions of the President, Congress or state government violate the Constitution – this is the important role that the Supreme Court has developed in the legal system. The Supreme Court judges, of whom there are normally nine (though Congress may alter this number) are nominated for life by the President after being approved by the Senate.

The judicial systems of the states vary greatly in structure and procedures. Generally speaking, however, at the lowest level there are Justices of the Peace Courts, presided over by elected lay magistrates, which deal with minor offences. Then come the County Courts, which deal with the majority of civil and criminal cases. Appeals go to the District Court of Appeals, while the State Supreme Court has the same role as the United States Supreme Court in the federal system. The most controversial aspect of state judiciaries is that in more than two-thirds of the states judges (including those in the Supreme Court) are elected.

Irregular Verbs