Say what the following people do.

· Judge

· Prosecutor

· Probation officer

· Solicitor

· Barrister

· Juror

· Magistrate

1. You are going to read the confession of the judge. Read and comment on the following:

“If judges take the hard line, they are accused of prejudice or insensitivity. If they tilt the other way, they are accused of misconception, or worse, of misplaced political correctness (A. Chandwani)”

I am a judge, an observer of the tragedy and comedy that unfold in the courtroom. I am the audience in the theatre where emotions are displayed, passions are vented, and eloquence is cultivated. I am the narrator of stories and author of judgments. I live and work in the Palais de Justice in Montreal.

Every courthouse has its theatres, where an exaggerated reflection of the world is presented and personal stories are performed. Each courtroom is a stage. Lawyers, parties, and witnesses make their appearances enjoy one or more moments at the center stage, portray themselves, recount events, and contribute pieces to the jigsaw of a lawsuit. The proud and the humble, the clever and the simple, the learned and the illiterate, the concerned and the indifferent parade, testify, and plead before the court.

The judge controls with mind and directs with voice and gesture under constant scrutiny in the open courtroom. Each word is recorded, some are transcribed and published. The press, in its role as representative and reporter to the world, is ever vigilant and frequently critical. Always surrounded and seen, the judge is very much alone, guided by conscience, the oath of office, and a duty to the parties, society, and the law.

The judge must be a chameleon, able to adapt to constantly changing circumstances, with manner and expression that encompass the spectrum of human experience, ranging from humble servant to stern ruler, from parent and friend to distant observer, while remaining faithful to the facts and guiding legal principles.

When evidence and argument are completed, the cast of parties, attorneys, and witnesses reassembles, this time as the audience. The judge, no longer a passive spectator, becomes the actor who pronounces a monologue for the benefit of those present and some who are absent, seeking to harmonize substance and style for an audience at once intimate and distant. Judicial literature emerges from this stage, sometimes blemished and uneven, often ponderous and dull, but occasionally graceful, precise, and majestic.

Understanding the Court System

The Law and the Judiciary in the usa

‘Equal justice Under Law’. These words, which affirm that the United States is a nation governed according to law and that that law protects and directs the actions of all people equally, are carved in marble, high overhead, on the front of one of the most significant buildings in Washington, D.C. The four-story marble building, in the style of an ancient Greek temple, is one in which the Supreme Court of the United States does its work.

The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices, and the responsibility and power of these nine people are extraordinary. Supreme Court decisions can affect the lives of all Americans and can change society significantly. This has happened many times in the course of American history. In the past, Supreme Court rulings have halted actions by American presidents, have declared unconstitutional – and therefore void – laws passed by the Congress (the government’s lawmaking body), have freed people from prison and have given new protection and freedom to black Americans and other minorities.

The Supreme Court is the court of final appeal and it may rule in cases in which someone claims that a lower court ruling on a Federal law id unjust or in which someone claims there has been a violation of the United States Constitution, the nation’s basic law.

The Court System

There are many federal courts in the system which has the Supreme Court as its head. In addition, each state within the United States has established a system of courts, including a state supreme court, to deal with civil, criminal, and appellate proceedings. There are also county and city courts/ Even many of the smallest villages, those in which only a few hundred people live, have a local judge, called a “justice of the peace”, who handles minor legal matters. There are separate military courts for members of the armed forces and other specialised courts to handle matters ranging from tax questions to immigration violations.

In the United States, a person accused of a crime is considered to be innocent until he or she is proven guilty. The constitution requires that any accused person must have every opportunity to demonstrate his or her innocence in a speedy and public trial, and to be judged innocent or guilty on the basis of evidence presented to a group of unbiased citizens, called a jury. A person who has been judged guilty must still be treated justly and fairly, as prescribed the law. A person treated unjustly or cheated by another or by a government official must have a place where he or she can win justice. That place, to an American, is a court.

Role of the Constitution

American concern for justice is written into the basic law of the land, The United States Constitution, which establishes the framework for the federal government and guarantees rights, freedom and justice to all.

The Constitution, written in 1787, establishes a government of three branches. One of these is the judicial branch, and the most powerful part of it.

The other two branches of the national government are the legislative, which consists of a Congress of elective representatives of the people, and the executive, headed by the president as chief of state. The people who designed this government and wrote the Constitution distributed power among the three branches so that no one person or group of people in the government could exercise enough power to control the others. the procedure for naming justices to the Supreme Court is one example of how this distribution of powers, called “checks and balances” works.

The chief justice and associate justices are named by the president. This authority represents great power, considering the major effect court decisions have on the legal system and on society in general. The writers of the Constitution tried to make certain, however, that presidents would name only qualified justices and also that they could not remove justices with whose decisions they disagreed. This insures the independence of the judicial branch. For that reason, no one can become a member of the court unless the upper house of Congress – The United states Senate – approves The senate does not approve an appointment until its members are satisfied that the candidate is qualified. Once approved, a justice cannot be removed be either the president or the Congress without very good reason, nor can the salary of the justices be reduced. The chief justice and associate justices, therefor, serve on the court for life and need not – and should not – take into consideration political issues or the opinions of officials in the other branches of government when making legal decisions.

What the Court Does

The main work of the Supreme Court is to make the final decision in legal cases in which a charge of violation of the Constitution is made. The Constitution gives certain powers to each branch of the federal (national) government. It also gives certain powers to the governments of the states, creating a federal system in which power is divided between national and state authorities. Whenever a charge is made that a person or agency in any part of the federal or a state government has broken law, The Supreme Court may eventually be asked to decide the case. When it does, the decision itself becomes law.

Most cases – and some of the best-known – that come before the Supreme Court involve charges that individual rights or freedoms have been violated. Such cases arise because the Constitution guarantees these rights and freedoms to everyone.

Most of the rights and freedoms that Americans enjoy are guaranteed in 10 short paragraphs amended (added) to the United States Constitution in 1791. These first 10 amendments make up “the Bill of Rights.” They guarantee freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press and freedom to assemble in public to ask the government to consider grievances. Among the other guarantees are the right in criminal cases to be judged on a public trial by an impartial jury, to be represented by a lawyer at one’s trial and freedom from cruel or unusual punishment. Because of the Bill of Rights, police cannot stop and search or arrest a person without good reason, nor can they search anyone’s home without clear cause and the permission of a court.

Elsewhere, the Constitution recognises other rights. A very important one is the right to “due process.” That means that no one can be deprived of life, liberty or property unless all proper legal procedures have been followed. Police, government officials and agencies and judges must be very careful not to omit or shorten these prescribed legal procedures in any case. No one person, group of persons or institution can be deprived of even the most minor legal right be the enactment of a law, by official action, by arrest, or in the course of a trial.

The importance to Americans of the Constitution, the law and the principles of equal justice is best understood through discussion of some cases that the Supreme Court has decided. While this discussion does not cover all the types of cases that come before the court, it shows the variety of decisions the court makes.

Winners and Losers

Not everyone whose case goes before the Supreme Court is a winner. losers have included prisoners who claimed they were treated unjustly because they were looked up two to a cell built for one. The Supreme court did not think this “overcrowding” was “cruel and unusual punishment,” which the Constitution prohibits.

Another loser has a man who was arrested for calling a policeman a “fascist” and using other abusive language loudly in public. The Supreme Court ruled that freedom of speech does not give people the right to use words that unjustly harm the reputation of another person.

It should also be noted that not all Americans are satisfied with all Supreme Court decisions. Many Americans believe that the court too often “takes the side of the criminals” in declaring proceedings invalid because an accused person’s rights have been violated. Others argue, however, that protecting the innocent is the real intent of these rulings, and that it is better to have a few criminals go free than to have one innocent person be jailed.

Not all cases are settled in the Supreme Court. Only a small percentage with the attention of the chief justice and the associate justices. Many cases sent to the Supreme Court are studied by the justices and then sent back to the court or person from which they came.

State Courts

Each of the 50 states and several territories has its own system so the court above and the explanations below are very generalized overviews.

Level 1: Trial Court

· also referred to as the court of general jurisdiction, the court of record, or the court of original jurisdiction;

· Plaintiff versus defendant: Johnson Vs Pletnikoff;

· Issues of fact: What happened? Jury is presented with evidence and renders verdict;

· Issues of law: was the defendant’s action legal or illegal;

· Judge presides over case, instructs jury on law, enters judgment;

· The losing party has appeal as a matter of right to the level;

Level 2: Appellate Court

· Intermediate appellate jurisdiction;

· Appellant versus appellee or petitioner Vs respondent, loosing party Vs winning party in the previous trial or sometimes appellee Vs appellant depending on the trial court designation;

· Only issues of law may be considered by the appellate court

a) prejudicial error – remand for new trial: start over

b) reverse trial decision – judgement for appellant: looser in Level 1 becomes winner.

c) affirm trial court decision – judgement for appellee winner in Level 1 becomes winner.

· An appeal from this level is normally at the discretion of the next higher court.

Level 3: State Supreme Court

· Appellate jurisdiction or the court of last resort;

· Appellate and appellee (petitioner and respondent);

· Unless there is a conflict with the U.S. Constitution or federal law, no appeal is possible;

· The State Supreme Courts are the final arbiters of state law;

Federal Courts

The Federal Courts are divided into 11 geographical circuits, plus a circuit for Washington, D.C. and a federal circuit, 28 U.S.C. §41 gives the jurisdictions 11 p 41.

THE COURT SYSTEM IN UKRAINE

1. You are going to read a passage about the judiciary system in Ukraine.
1. The following words and phrases appear in the passage. How do you think they will be related to the theme of the passage?

o Constitution

o Presumption of innocence

o Assessors

o Dispute

o Instance

1. What types of courts do you know in Ukraine? Scan the passage to see if you are right.

The judicial power turns out to be an independent way of fulfillment the legal power in the form of justice.

Legal procedure in Ukraine is carried out by the Constitutional court and by the all courts of common jurisdiction. Ukrainian people indirectly participate in realizing of the justice through the assessors and the jurymen. Court decisions are given by the courts on behalf of Ukraine and are necessary to be fulfiled through the whole territory of the state.

The highest judicial organ in the system of common courts is the Supreme (Verkchovniy) Court of Ukraine. The highest judicial organs of the specialized courts are the appropriate highest courts of Ukraine. The judiciary system presupposes the existence of both Common Courts (bringing in verdicts on the disputes between citizens and between citizens and juridical persons) and Arbitration Courts (hearing household and business cases between the juridical persons).

The basic principles of administering the law are:

Ø Lawfulness

Ø Equality of all the participants before the court and the law

Ø Presumption of innocence

Ø The right of the accused to defence

Ø The right to appeals

Ø The obligation of court’s decision

The Court System in Ukraine is based upon the Statute (law) of Ukraine on judicial system dating back from 5^th of June 1981 with some changes and additions from 17^th of June 1992, 24^th of February 1994.

According to the statute the Courts of Ukraine are:

The Supreme Court of Ukraine (the court of the third level) The Supreme Court of the Crimea, regional, Kyiv and Sevastopol city Courts, Military Courts of West, Central, South regions (courts of the second level)