III. Insert the proper word into the following sentences and explain its meaning with the help of the dictionary

1. The judge is a person responsible for administering the legal proceedings and offering a … decision.

2. In the U.S. guilt or … is decided through the adversarial system.

3. The prosecutor … a person, persons or corporate entity.

4. A defense attorney … the accused on the legal process.

5. The … party in the court may be a judge, a panel of judges, or a jury panel composed of unbiased citizens.

6. The high court judge will pass … next week.

IV. Find a proper definition for the following words.

V. Put the verb into the correct form.

1. The thieves scattered the papers all over the room while they … (to search) for the money.

2. This … (to be) one of the crimes he did not commit.

3. The counsel … (to sentence) the accused to 15 years in prison yesterday.

4. At the end of the trial he … (to convict) of murder.

5. The suspect denied that he … (to assault) a policeman.

6. The accused man was able to prove his innocence at the trial and … (to acquit).

VI. Give a short summary of the text in English.

VII. Retell the text.

Essential vocabulary

Text 4. The Lawyer

Advocate, in law, is a person who is professionally qualified to plead the cause of another in a court of law. As a technical term, advocate is used mainly in those legal systems that derived from the Roman law. In Scotland the word refers particularly to a member of the bar of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates. In France avocats were formerly an organized body of pleaders. In Germany, until the distinction between counsellor and pleader was abolished in 1879, the Advokat was the adviser rather than the pleader. The term has traditionally been applied to pleaders in courts of canon law, and thus in England those who practiced before the courts of civil and canon law were called advocates. In the United States the term advocate has no special significance, being used interchangeably with such terms as attorney, counsel, or lawyer.

A lawyer is trained and licensed to prepare, manage, and either prosecute or defend a court action as an agent for another and who also gives advice on legal matters that may or may not require court action.

A lawyer applies the law to specific cases. He investigates the facts and the evidence by conferring with his client and reviewing documents, and he prepares and files the pleadings in court. At the trial he introduces evidence, interrogates witnesses, and argues questions of law and fact. If he does not win the case, he may seek a new trial or relief in an appellate court.

In many instances, a lawyer can bring about the settlement of a case without trial through negotiation, reconciliation, and compromise. In addition, the law gives individuals the power to arrange and determine their legal rights in many matters and in various ways, as through wills, contracts, or corporate bylaws, and the lawyer aids in many of these arrangements.

A lawyer has several loyalties in his work. They include that to his client, to the administration of justice, to the community, to his associates in practice, and to himself. When these loyalties conflict, the standards of the profession are intended to effect reconciliation.

Legal practice varies from country to country. In England lawyers are divided into barristers, who plead in the higher courts, and solicitors, who do office work and plead in the lower courts. In the United States attorneys often specialize in limited areas of law such as criminal, divorce, corporate, probate, or personal injury, though many are involved in general practice.

In Ukraine, the advocates act to ensure the right to a defense against accusation and to provide legal assistance in deciding cases in courts and other state bodies.

In addition to these professional groups there are nonprofessional legal counsellors who give advice on various legal problems and are often employed by business firms. In almost all civil-law countries there are notaries, who have exclusive rights to deal with such office work as marriage settlements and wills.

In Germany the chief distinction is between lawyers and notaries. The German attorney, however, plays an even smaller courtroom role than the French avocat. Attorneys are often restricted to practice before courts in specific territories. There are further restrictions in that certain attorneys practice only before appeals courts, often necessitating a new attorney for each level of litigation. In Germany lawyers are employed in the administration of government to a greater extent than in common-law countries.

In France numerous types of professionals and even non-professionals handle various aspects of legal work. The most prestigious is the avocat, who is equal in rank to a magistrate or law professor. Roughly comparable to the English barrister, the avocat’s main function is to plead in court.

I. Answer the questions.

1. Who is an advocate?

2. What are the duties and responsibilities of the lawyer?

3. What are the lawyer’s loyalties in the work?

4. What are the distinctions of legal practice in different countries?

5. What do the notaries do?

II. Are these statements true or false according to the text?

1. A lawyer has to pass the final decision in the court.

2. A lawyer can settle a case without trial through negotiation and compromise.

3. In Germany attorneys are restricted to practice in specific territories.

4. In the USA lawyers are divided into barristers and solicitors.

5. In France an avocat is equal in rank to a law professor.

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