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Practise saying the words.
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| compensation, contract, crime, damages, family law, intellectual property, plaintiff, police, private, individual, prosecution, the accused, the defendant, theft, to bring a case, to bring an action, to fine, to charge someone with something. |
Exercise 2
Classify the following terms into the appropriate column below. Some terms can appear in both columns.
Model:
| criminal | civil |
| prosecution | intellectual property |
Exercise 3
Match the words and word combinations with their Russian equivalents.
| 1. plaintiff | a. вмешиваться |
| 2. legal principles | b. главный свидетель |
| 3. to have free rein | c. ответчик |
| 4. to determine | d. состязательные |
| 5. adversarial | e. истец |
| 6. defendant | f. доказательство в пользу защиты |
| 7. to intervene | g. правовые принципы |
| 8. key witness | h. описать суть дела вкратце |
| 9. defence evidence | i. иметь свободу действий |
| 10. counterpart | j. процессуальный противник |
Text
Pre-reading task: Read the text and say whether the statements below are true or false:
1. The plaintiff can not call witnesses.
2. The judge controls all the proceedings.
3. The defendant presents the evidence after the plaintiff.
Civil procedure.
The case starts normally by the plaintiff outlining the case. And the plaintiff then calls the evidence he wants. When the plaintiff has presented all his evidence, the defendant or his lawyer speaks and then calls all the defence evidence. There are then speeches by the lawyers when they both try to persuade the judge as to what he should do. They may refer him to legal rules and legal principles, and the judge then gives his decision.
As with other aspects of procedure, it is for the parties to present the case. The judge doesn’t intervene to any great extent. He may ask for clarification, but the judge’s role, essentially, is to listen to the evidence which the parties choose to put in front of him. Unlike many civil jurisdictions, the judge is not in control of the proceedings. The judge is not taking an active part in what he has done. He is listening to what the parties choose to put in front of him; and after he has heard the evidence, the judge will then give his judgment and make the order on the basis of what he has determined.
The English civil trial, like its criminal counterpart, is conducted on adversarial lines. There are two contestants, each has free rein through their lawyers to run the case. The judge is the sole arbiter both of fact and law.
Exercise 4
Match the words with their definitions.
| 1. counterpart | a.to present a case |
| 2. advocacy | b.a court officer who maintains order in the court room |
| 3. plaintiff | c.party bringing a suit |
| 4. defendant | d.a lawyer who speaks in a law court either for or against |
| 5. judge | e.opposing party |
| 6. witness | f.a right to present a case |
| 7. judgment | g.a person appointed to hear and try cases |
| 8. bailiff | h.a person appointed to hear and try cases in a court of law |
| 9. to run a case | i.a person who gives evidence at a trial |
| 10. counsel | j.a person against whom legal action is brought |
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Exercise 5
Fill in the chart using the topic-related words (use the dictionary if necessary; the first example has been done for you).
| Verb | Noun (concept) | Noun (person) | Adjective |
| to present | presentation | presenter | Presentable/ presentationable |
| intervention | |||
| judge | |||
| decisive | |||
| persuasion | |||
| referee | |||
| determined | |||
| defamatory |
Exercise 6
Complete the following sentences by using an appropriate form of the word in capitals.
| 1. The parties are… to win the case. |
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| 2. The … does not direct what people have to do. |
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| 3. The verdict depends on the strength of the evidence and … abilities of the respective barristers. | c. PERSUADE |
| 4. The judge can and often … the trial to ask questions of his own. | d. INTERVENE |
| 5. I’m seeking … of the regulations. | e. CLARIFY |
Exercise 7
Match the synonyms.
| 1. Advocacy | a. Arbiter |
| 2. Judgment | b. Adversary |
| 3. Determine | c. Claimant |
| 4. Proceeding | d. Respondent |
| 5. Defendant | e. Trial |
| 6. Plaintiff | f. Decide |
| 7. Contestant | g. Decision in a civil trial |
| 8. Judge | h. A right to present a case |
Section II
Text
Civil Cases
Pre-reading task: Find in the text above the English equivalents for the following words and expressions:
1. истец;
2. судебное разбирательство;
3. частные лица;
4. денежная компенсация ущерба;
5. наличие более веских доказательств;
6. письменные объяснения, возражения ответчика по делу;
7. ответчик;
8. встречный иск;
9. бремя доказывания;
10. ответственность за ущерб;
11. подать иск, возбудить дело.
Civil cases are usually disputes between or among private citizens, corporations, governments, government agencies, and other organizations. Most often, the party bringing the suit is asking for money damages for some wrong that has been done.
The party bringing the suit is called the plaintiff; the party being sued is called the defendant. There may be many plaintiffs or many defendants in the same case.
The plaintiff starts the lawsuit by filing a paper called a complaint, in which the case against the defendant is stated. The next paper filed is usually the answer, in which the defendant disputes what the plaintiff has said in the complaint. The defendant may also feel that there has been a wrong committed by the plaintiff, in which case a counterclaim will be filed along with the answer. It is up to the plaintiff to prove the case against the defendant. This is called the plaintiff’s burden of proof, a burden that the plaintiff must meet in order to win. In most civil cases the plaintiff’s burden is to prove the case by a preponderance of evidence, that is, that the plaintiff’s version of what happened in the case is more probably true than not true.
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Exercise 8
Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents:
| 1. evidence for the plaintiff | a. вызывать истца в суд |
| 2. judgment for the plaintiff | b. выступать в суде в качестве адвоката истца |
| 3. plaintiff’s claim | c. доказательства в пользу истца |
| 4. to appear for the plaintiff | d. исковое требование |
| 5. to call the plaintiff | e. свидетель, выставленный истцом |
| 6. witness by the plaintiff | f. судебное решение в пользу истца |
Exercise 9
a) The word DEFENDANT has the following meanings in Russian:
1. ответчик
civil defendant - ответчик
2. обвиняемый
bailed defendant – обвиняемый или подсудимый, освобожденный (из-под стражи) под залог
3. подсудимый
judgment for the defendant – судебное решение в пользу ответчика или подсудимого
4. подзащитный
representation of defendant – представительство интересов подзащитного или подсудимого
b) Match the following English expressions with their Russian equivalents:
| 1. convicted defendant | a.подсудимый, содержащийся под стражей |
| 2. defendant in custody | b.осужденный |
| 3. defendant’s record | c.досье подсудимого |
| 4. defendant’s story | d.свидетель, выставленный ответчиком/подсудимым |
| 5. defendant’s witness | e.версия, выдвинутая обвиняемым |
c) Make your own sentences with the words combinations.
e.g. The defendant’s witness first took the oath, according to the customs of their religion and gave testimonial evidence.
Exercise 10
Answer the following questions:
1. What is a civil case?
2. Who is a plaintiff?
3. Who is a defendant?
4. What is a complaint?
5. What is an answer?
6. What is a counterclaim?
7. What is a burden of proof?
Exercise 11
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