UNIT 1

MAGISTRATES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

In England and Wales there are two types of
magistrates: lay magistrates1 known as lay justices, who have
the title of justice of the peace, and stipendiary magistrates 2.
The former is a body of men and women which has been in
existence since the fourteenth century and is called on to pass
judgement on their fellow citizens, without any real legal
training. The latter is a body of lawyers, called upon 3 to do
substantially the same job, which dates from the eighteenth
century. They both exercise their powers in a less formal court
than the other courts, known as Magistrates Courts, and deal
with more cases than any other English court of law.
The main job of the magistrates is to deal with 4 civil
and criminal cases which are too trivial to be tried by the
Crown and County Courts. The courts consist of two to seven
unpaid lay magistrates, but in some cities professional
magistrates may sit alone. The Magistrates Courts of civil
jurisdiction have limited civil jurisdiction, mainly related to
domestic proceedings5.
In terms of their criminal jurisdiction the
MagistratesCourts deal with something over 95% of all cases.
The English legal system divides criminal offences into three
categories:
- summary offences6 is the category of minor crimes
such as minor assaults, begging, parking offences and less
3

minor crimes such as drinking and driving which are tried

without a jury;
- indictable offences7 are more serious offences for
which the police are given a power of arrest and which will be
tried by jury; murder, manslaughter8 and serious fraud all
come within this category;
- a number of offences called either way offences
which may or may not be tried by a jury at the request of the
defendant. The best example is theft9 which may involve either
very small or very large amounts of money.
The magistrates criminal jurisdiction is mainly limited
to summary and either way offences (where the defendant may
elect not to have a jury trial). Anyway, magistrates have an
important role to play in serious criminal proceedings. When a
person is charged with are indictable offence, magistrates sit as
examining justices to decide whether the prosecutions case is
strong enough to warrant10 committing the accused for trial in
the Crown Court. The procedure is known as committal
proceedings. They also issue arrest and search warrants to the
police.
The civil jurisdiction of the magistrate is limited to
minor matters including matrimonial and family matters and
the granting of licenses.
Justices of the peace are chosen by the Lord Chancellor
on the advice of Advisory Boards, that are concerned with
recruiting magistrates from amongst the worthy members.
Many justices of the peace are chosen on the recommendation
of an existing magistrate. It seems that others are chosen for
their background in voluntary work such as in churches or
youth organisations. They are not paid a salary but receive
expenses incurred11 in the performance of their judicial duties.
They are assisted by clerks to the justices, solicitors or
barristers of at least seven yearsstanding, who perform the
administrative work of the court.

Stipendiary magistrates are to be found in most of the

large towns and cities of England and Wales. They are full-time
members of the Court chosen by the Queen on the advice of the
Lord Chancellor. They receive wages or a stipend 12 and
unlike lay magistrates they may sit alone.

VOCABULARY
1) lay magistrate = magistrat nesalariat
2) stipendiary magistrate = magistrat salariat
3) to call upon = a chema, a mobiliza
4) to deal with = a se ocupa de, a trata despre
5) domestic proceedings = procedur legat de jurisdicia intern
6) summary offence = infraciune judecat n faa Curii
Magistrailor
7) indictable offence = infraciune grav judecat la
Crown Court cu juraii
8) manslaughter = omucidere involuntar
9) theft = furt
10) to warrant = a autoriza, a mandata
11) to incur = a suporta, a asuma
The law of criminal procedure regulates the modes of
apprehending, charging and trying suspected offenders; the
imposition of penalties on convicted offenders; and the
methods of challenging the legality of conviction after
judgment is entered. Litigation in this area frequently deals
with conflicts of fundamental importance for the allocation of
power between the state and its citizens
When a criminal offence has been reported, the
competent authority commences the criminal process by
investigating the circumstances. In this phase, relevant
5

evidence is collected and preserved for a possible trial. The

suspect also has the right to collect evidence in this favour.
UNIT 2
POLICE POWERS
Over the past few years, the powers the police have to
stop, question, arrest, search and detain1 have undergone major
changes in the United Kingdom. The two key pieces of
legislation in this field are the Police and Criminal Evidence
Act, sometimes referred to as PACE, and the Public Order
Act.
Arrest means the loss of liberty, being subject to
restraint2 as to ones movements. An arrest by the police will
only be lawful if the arrested person is informed that he or she
is under arrest and told the grounds3 for the arrest.
The police have the power to arrest a person without a
warrant in four different sets of circumstances:
- If they suspect that an arrestable offence has been
committed is being committed, or is about to be committed.
- If they have a statutory4 power of arrest (most
statutory powers of arrest without warrant were repealed 5 by
the Act).
- If one of the general arrest conditions is satisfied.
- If they wish to fingerprint a convicted person.
An arrestable offence is one which carries a sentence
of at least five years imprisonment. This includes murder,
burglary, theft, criminal damage, rape, and unlawful possession
of drugs. The Act also extends arrestable offences to include,
for example, taking a motor vehicle, going equipped for theft,
indecent assault on a female, corruption and smuggling6.
Specific serious arrestable offences are treason, murder,
manslaughter, rape, kidnapping, incest with a girl under the age
6

buggery7 with a boy under the age of 16, and indecent assault
which constitutes gross indecency.
In the case of serious arrestable offences the police have
the power to: set up road blocks; search for evidence; detain a
suspect for more than 24 hours and up to a maximum of 96
hours without charge; hold a suspect incommunicado 8 and deny
access to a solicitor for 36 hours (a juvenile is still entitled 9 to
have an appropriate adult informed of the detention); take nonintimate samples without the suspects consent (eg. hair).
The statutory powers of arrest for certain offences
include:
- offences under the Public Order Act 1986;
- some offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act;
- trespass10 under the Criminal Law Act 1977;
- offences under the Immigration Act 1971.
The general arrest conditions give the police the power
to arrest for offences which are not automatically arrestable. If
there are reasonable grounds for suspecting a person, the police
may arrest him or her if any one of the following conditions
applies:
- the suspects name is not known and can not be found
out;
- the given name is believed to be false;
- the suspect has failed to supply an address or has not
supplied an address which is satisfactory for serving a
summons11.
- it is believed that arrest is necessary to prevent the
person causing injury to self or others, suffering injury, causing
loss or damage to property, committing an offence against
public decency, unlawful obstruction of the highway, or to
protect a child or other vulnerable person from the suspect.
A person can be arrested for fingerprinting if the
following conditions apply:
the person has been convicted of a recordable offence,
that is, one defined in regulations;
7

 the person was never in police detention for the

offence and fingerprints were not taken;
within one month of conviction the person was asked
to go to a police station to be fingerprinted and had not done so
within seven days.
The police in all investigations should maintain a
schedule12 of all material, meaning not only documents, but
also articles and information, including material held on
computer. A list of items which are expected to be included in
the schedule should consist in:
interview notes and audio-visual tape recordings;
draft13 witness statements;
statements taken from potential witnesses;
crime reports;
custody records and associated documents;
other documents or other material containing a
description of the suspect;
any other material of information which the police
officer considers to be relevant and helpful.
UNIT 3
TRIBUNALS
In the English judicial system two different types of
institutions have been set up1 to resolve legal problems: courts
and tribunals. The distinction between the two is difficult to
make because there is no precise definition of these terms. The
word tribunal meaning any judicial assembly2 is widely used.
This use of the word would include the courts.
There is a narrower use of the word, however, which is
of greater interest to the law students. These institutions fall
into two, large categories:
8

 Domestic tribunals are non state organizations

set up as part of the disciplinary procedures of professional or
sporting organizations;
Administrative tribunals are bodies set up by the
state in order to perform judicial functions as part of the
administration of some government scheme.
A Council on Tribunals was initiated as a consultative
and advisory body. Its main task is to advise government
departments in setting up administrative tribunals and to review
the construction and working of these institutions. The Council
has at present almost fifty tribunals under its jurisdiction:
the Rent3 Tribunals which settle disputes between
landlords and tenants;
the Education Appeals Committees which hear
appeals against the allocation of school places by local
education authorities;
the Industrial Tribunals which settle the problems
which may arise between employer and employee, such as
redundancy payment disputes, questions of unfair dismissal
and the problem of equal pay.
The thorny question is whether these tribunals have
only an administrative role or if they also have an adjudicative 5
role. However government departments have a general
influence over decision making, so administrative tribunals
may not be regarded as pure court substitutes. Another question
is whether the tribunals should make law. The answer is no,
only the decisions of the courts of law may be regarded as
binding law. In practice, tribunals have a strong tendency to
follow their previous decisions and these decisions are
regularly reported.
Essentially, the tribunals have been set up to relieve6 the
over-burdened court system of work which may be dealt with
in a less formal way by experts in the particular field. Solicitors
and barristers are being appointed as chairmen of the tribunals
and their work is growing as the public becomes more aware of
9

them. It this way tribunals provide a speedier and more expert

alternative to the court system.
VOCABULARY
1) to set up = a nfiina
2) assembly = adunare
3) rent = chirie, nchiriere; rent
4) tenant = arenda; chiria, locatar
5) adjudicative = de adjudecare
6) to relieve = a uura, a elibera
Most Bills (Acts of Parliament) are measures relating to
public policy. The great majority of these are government
measures introduced by a Minister, but certain days are set
aside for debating Private Members Bills (public Bills
introduced by members of the House not holding office in the
Government). In addition, some private Bills relating solely to
matters of individual corporate or local interest are promoted in
each session by persons or bodies outside Parliament.
Bills may be introduced by either House unless they
deal with finance or representation (when they are introduced
in the Commons). Those that pass through all the necessary
stages in both Houses receive Royal Assent and become law as
Acts of Parliament. The House of Lords may not alter a
financial measure, nor may it delay for longer than one year
any Bill passed by the Commons in two successive sessions.
COMMON LAW
Common law1, also called Anglo-American law, is the
body of customary law, based upon judicial decisions and
embodied in reports of decided cases, which has been
administered by the common-law courts of England since the
Middle Ages. From this has evolved the type of legal system
10

now found also in the United States and in most of the member
states of the Commonwealth of Nations. Common law stands
in contrast to rules developed by the separate acts of equity 2, to
statute law (i.e., the acts of legislative bodies), and to the legal
system derived from civil law now widespread 3 in continental
Europe and elsewhere.
The term of common law is used in a number of
different ways each emphasizing various aspects of this
complex idea. There are three basic uses of the term:
As a description of the general system of law within
a national jurisdiction;
As a specific description of a historical
development in England and Wales;
As a description of a particular set of rules in
contrast to the rules of equity and of statute law.
First, common law is used to distinguish one type of
general legal system from other legal systems. It is most often
used to distinguish common law jurisdictions from civil law
jurisdictions. Those states whose laws are derived from the
English system such as the U. S. A., Canada, Australia, Hong
Kong, etc. are therefore known as common law jurisdictions.
The second way in which the term is often used is to
describe a historical situation in which the jurisdiction of the
kings courts of justice was extended throughout all the regions
of England and Wales, creating systems of law common to all
England in contradistinction to local law and custom which
varied from area to area.
After the Norman conquest it was Williams successors
who managed to diminish4 the opportunity for corruption
among their officials by creating a more centralized and
specialized form of government. This was achieved in part by
the delegation of royal judicative power to itinerant justices,
organized on circuits, who would travel round the country
holding sittings5 (Assizes) to hear and settle 6 cases waiting to
be tried in the country towns and enforce7 the kings rights.
11

At the same time as this development of the itinerant

courts was taking place, the impetus 8 for more efficient and
effective government created three static, royal courts located
at Westminster: the Court of Exchequer9, specialized in royal
finance; the Court of Common Pleas, which had jurisdiction in
ordinary litigation; and the Court of Kings Bench which had
jurisdiction over all wrongs with the Court of Common Pleas
and had an appellate10 and supervisory jurisdiction over all
royal justice. The jurisdiction of these courts was extended
until what had originally been an exceptional jurisdiction
becoming common to the whole kingdom. The law created by
this jurisdiction was therefore known as the common law.
The third and most modern use of the term common
law comes into opposition to the notions of equity and
statute law. The common law means the rules, standards and
principles created by the judges which are not equity. Lawyers
must simply learn what the rules at common law are and what
the rules in equity are. In many situations the rules overlap 11
and although the rules in equity will prevail12, it is of great
importance that the lawyer be aware of what the positions is
both at common law and in equity.
VOCABULARY
1) common law = drept comun, drept cutumier
2) equity = drept natural; lege nescris
3) widespread = rspndit; ntins
4) to diminish = a diminua; a micora, a slbi
5) sitting = edin, adunare, ntrunire
6) to settle a case = a soluiona, a rezolva un caz, o
cauz
7) to enforce the rights = a valorifica drepturi
8) impetus = imbold, impuls
9)Court of Exchequer = Curtea Ministerului de Finane
(n Anglia)
12

10) appellate (jurisdiction) = jurisdicie de apel

11) to overlap = a suprapune; a coincide n; a ntretia
12) to prevail = a predomina; a triumfa
The sovereignity has the duty of prosecuting those who
commit crimes; its attorney for the purpose is the prosecutor.
The prosecutor, who performs the function of trial lawyer for
sovereignity, has extensive resources at his disposal for
investigation and preparation purposes. He is not at liberty to
distort or misuse this information. He must disclose
information tending to relieve the accused of guilt. Any
conduct of a prosecutor or judge that hinders the fairness of a
trial to the extent that the outcome is adversely affected is in
violation of the defendants right of due process. The efforts of
the prosecutor and the court should be directed toward fairness
and justice.
UNIT 5
EQUITY
In Anglo-American law, the custom of courts outside
the common law is called equity. In origin equity provided
remedies in situations in which precedent or statutory law
might not apply or be equitable. By the end of the 13th century
the English kings common-law courts had largely limited the
relief available in civil cases to the payment of damages and to
the recovery of the possession of property.
The disappointed litigants1 petitioned the king, who was
the fountain of justice. The king, through his Chancellor,
eventually set up a special court to deal with these petitions.
The rules applied by the Court of Chancery hardened 2 into law
and became a regular part of the law of the land. The most
13

important branch3 of equity is the law of trusts4, but equitable

remedies such as specific performance and injunction5 are also
much used. In case of conflict or variance between the rules
of common law and equity, equity come to prevail.
Equity thus worked behind the scenes of the common
law action; the common law principles were left intact, but
they were superseded6 by equitable rules in all cases.
This system went on until 1875 when the old courts of
common law and the Court of Chancery were abolished, and in
their place was established a single Supreme Court of
Judicature, each branch of which had full power to administer
both law and equity.
When one says that a particular rule of modern law is a
rule of equity, one means that it has to be read in the light of
a whole complex of rules developed by the Chancellors. One of
them was (and is) to the effect that he who comes to equity
must come with clean hands. This rule will apply whenever
the plaintiff7 is relying upon an equitable right, but not
necessarily when he is relying on a common law right. To say
that a particular right is an equitable right means that all the
subsidiary rules of equity apply to it. On the other hand, a
particular right is to be interpreted in a common law
atmosphere, leaving out of account such equitable rules as
apply only to equitable rights.
Although the rule is that when law and equity conflict,
equity prevails, there is always the possibility that a litigant
who relies on an equitable rule may for some reason find
himself outside the limits of that equitable rule and when this
happens the contradictory common law rule, which may
generally seem to be a dead letter, becomes very much alive.
Courts of equity also developed early in the United
States, but in the late 19th and early 20th centuries most U. S.
courts similarly abolished the distinctions between actions at
law and suits in equity and fused 8 their administration in one
procedural system, with but one civil action, in the same court.
14

Modern equity has been much assisted by legislation. The old

notion that equity protects only property rights has been
virtually abandoned. Now an employee 9, for example, can be
barred from competing10 with his employer after discharge or
resignation. An injunction may now be had, where other factors
of appropriateness permit, against threatened injury to interests
of personality, such as civil liberties, privacy, reputation and
domestic relations
VOCABULARY
1) litigant =.mpricinat, parte litigant, acuzator
2) to harden = a (se) consolida, a (se) ntri
3) branch = ramur, domeniu; cmp de activitate
4) trust = tutel, procur
5) injunction = ordonan, hotrre judectoreasc
6) to supersede = a nlocui; a (se) substitui
7) plaintiff = reclamant (ntr-un proces civil; parte
vtmat ntr-un litigiu civil)
8) to fuse = a se contopi, a fuziona
9) employee = angajat, salariat
10) to compete with = a concura, a intra n competiie
The legal systems rooted in the English common law
have diverged from their parent system so greatly over time
that in many areas the legal approaches of common-law
countries differ as much along themselves as they do with the
civil-law countries. Indeed, England and the United States have
so many legal differences that they are sometimes described as
two countries separated by a common law. The most striking
differences are found in the area of public law: England has no
written constitution and no judicial review, whereas every court
in the United States possesses the power to pass judgment on
the conformity of legislation and on other official actions to
constitutional norms.
15

THE SOURCES OF THE ENGLISH LAW

According to the solemnity of the form in which they
are made, laws are traditionally divided into two main
categories: written or unwritten. Written law signifies any
law that is formally enacted1, whether reduced to writing or
not, while unwritten law signifies all enacted law.
On the Continent the volume of written law tends to
preponderate over the volume of unwritten, but in England
unwritten law is predominant, for more of their law derives
from judicial precedents2 than from legislative enactment. Two
main and two subsidiary sources of law are to be mentioned.
The principal sources are Legislation and Judicial Precedent;
the subsidiary sources are Custom and Books of Authority.
The principle of justice is enforced in English law by
the rule of stare decisis (referring to what has been decided
previously) and this rule has a coercive 3 or binding4 nature in
the English system. The rules of common law have been
evolved inductively from decision to decision involving similar
facts, so that they are firmly grounded upon5 the activities of
litigation and the reality of human conduct. New cases lead
onwards6 to reach forward new rules. In contrast, the European
civil law supposes the task of the courts to be deductive: to
subsume the present case under a generalized and codified rule.
So, a distinctive feature of the English system is that, because
the English judge has through precedent power to make
new law, his position in the legal system is central.
The judge may be obliged to consider the former
decision as part of the material on which his present decision
could be based, or he may be obliged to decide it in the same
way as that in which the previous case was decided. In the
latter case the precedent is said to be binding. A court which
is inferior in authority to another court is obliged to follow a
court of superior authority if called upon to decide upon facts
similar to facts already tried by the superior court. On the
16

criminal side of the Court of Appeal the Court could depart 7

from its previous decisions in the interest of justice. On the
civil side it may depart from its previous decisions in three
situations: when there are two earlier conflicting decisions;
when the Courts earlier decisions cannot stand with a
subsequent decision of The House of Lords; and when the
Courts earlier decision was given per incuriam8. These
exceptions of the rule of stare decisis underline the fact that,
although the rules of precedent are important in English law,
they are not as important as the judges obligation. The judges
have a field of choice in making their decisions, they rest their
judgements upon the general principles exercised in case law
as a whole.
Customs are social habits, patterns of behaviour, which
all societies seem to evolve. Custom is not solely 9 important as
a source of law, for even today some customary rules are
observed in their own right and they command almost as much
obedience as rules of law in that their observance 10 is not
enforced by the organs of the State. In modern times most
general customs have either fallen into desuetude or become
absorbed in rules of law.
The European writings of legal authors form an
important source of law. In England, in accordance with the
tradition that the law is to be sought in judicial decisions, their
writings have in the past been treated with comparatively little
respect. They have been cited in court, rather by way of
evidence of what the law is than as independent sources from
which it may be derived.
VOCABULARY
1) to enact a law = a promulga o lege
2) precedent = precedent, decizie judectoreasc ce face
jurispruden
3) coercitive = de constrngere, coercitiv
17

4) binding = obligatoriu
5) to ground upon = a (se) baza pe, a (se) ntemeia pe, a
(se) sprijini pe (fig.)
6) onwards = nainte; mai departe
7) to depart = a se abate
8) per incuriam (lat) = prin neglijen sau omisiune
9) solely = numai
10) observance = respectare; observan; regul
The plaintiff begins his action by way of a writ of
summons, which is a formal document containing details of the
parties, the plaintiffs claim, an instruction to the defendant to
acknowledge the writ within a specified time and a warning to
the defendant that he must acknowledge and indicate an
intention to contest the case or risk the plaintiff proceeding
directly to a judgment.
On the back of the writ the plaintiff must set out
(indorse) the nature of his claim against the defendant either
in a brief, general statement (a general indorsement) or in a
full statement (a special indorsement). If the writ contains
only a general indorsement and the defendant wishes to contest
the case, a full statement of claim will become a necessary part
of the pleadings which will follow in due course.
UNIT 7
THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION
The British Constitution is not written in a basic
document or group of documents. It has evolved over the
centuries with several dramatic changes and high degree of
historical continuity has been maintained as the constitution
has been brought up to date.
The constitution is regulated1 to a large extent by rules
which do not belong to the normal legal categories and which
18

are called constitutional conventions. They are rules of political

conduct or binding usages, most of which are capable of being
varied or of simply disappearing as political conditions and
ideas change. Sometimes it is convenient to contrast
constitutional convention with strict law2. This, in strict law
(by virtue of the royal prerogative) the Queen can dismiss her
Ministers at pleasure. By convention this legal power is
exercisable only in very extraordinary circumstances. As the
Queen must act in accordance with ministerial advice,
Parliament still adopts the form of conferring discretionary
powers on Her Majesty. This dichotomy3 of law and
convention pervades4 much of the constitutional law.
The absence of a cumbersome5 procedure for altering
rules of constitutional importance, the omnicompetence 6 of
Parliament and the pliability7 of many constitutional
conventions tend to make the British constitution flexible and
easily adaptable.
The upper House of Parliament, the House of Lords,
still constituted on a hereditary basis, is of minor importance;
the lower House, the elected House of Commons, is the focus
of political attention. The political arm of the executive branch
of government is recruited from and located within Parliament,
and the Cabinet is collectively responsible to Parliament in
general and the House of Commons in particular. A
Government would either have to resign or go to the country if
it were to forfeit8 the support of a majority in the Commons.
Because of the structure of modern British political
parties, and the operation of the electoral system and certain
constitutional rules the Government is normally able to
command parliamentary support for the implementation of
almost any policy that it is in practice likely to adopt. The
Government has indeed to be responsive9 to parliamentary
opinion, as well as to the weight of opinion in the electorate at
large, but one must not imagine that it is in any real sense a
delegate or agent of Parliament. Parliamentary government is
19

not governed by Parliament. The Government governs in and

through Parliament. At the same time, it would be erroneous to
speak in terms of Cabinet dictatorship. A Government
operates within a complex network10 of constraints restricting
its freedom of manoeuvre.
The constitutional principles, rules and practices of the
United Kingdom have never been codified. They derive from
statute law, from common law, and from conventions of the
constitution, which are not laws at all, but political practices
which have become considered as indispensable to the smooth
working of the machinery of government.
VOCABULARY
1) to regulate = a pune la punct, a potrivi; a regla, a
ajusta
2) strict law = lege necondiionat, fix
3) dichotomy =dihotomie, diviziune cu dou pri
4) to pervade = a cuprinde; a ptrunde (n)
5) cumbersome = obositor, incomod, greoi
6) omnicompetence = mputernicire deplin
7) pliability = pliabilitate, flexibilitate
8) to forfeit = a pierde prin confiscare
9) responsive = nelegtor; corespunztor
10) network = reea

UNIT 8
THE ACTORS OF THE CONSTITUTION
The British monarchy must seem to outsiders a
caricature of the traditional conceits: the participants are trusted
to play the game, though its rules are undefined, and, if they do
20

not abide1 by the rules, nobody knows what the sanctions might
be.
Most political business in Britain is conducted in the
name of the Crown. Parliament does not govern; the Queen in
Parliament governs. When Parliament reassembles2 at the
beginning of a session, the Queen herself reads out the list of
laws the government hopes to pass. Every bill that passes
through Parliament needs to have royal assent3 before it passes
into law. The Queen appoints bishops, judges and the top brass4
of the army, but always on the advice of the Prime minister.
When one party wins a majority in the House of Commons, the
monarch has no difficulty in nominating the leader of the party
to be prime minister. The Queen has to work on two principles:
she must appear impartial, and must find a government capable
of surviving in the House of Commons.
The House of Lords is made up of hereditary and life
peers5 and peeresses, including the law lords appointed to
undertake the judicial duties of the House, the archbishops of
Canterbury and York, the bishops of London, Durham and
Winchester and 21 senior bishops of the Church of England.
The main function of the House of Lords is to bring the wide
experience of its members into the process of law-making.
The House of Commons is elected by universal adult
suffrage and consists of 650 members of Parliament (MP s).
General elections are held after a Parliament has been
dissolved and a new one summoned6 by the Queen. When an
MP dies or resigns or is given a peerage 7, a by-election8 takes
place.
For electoral purposes the United Kingdom is divided
into constituencies9, each of which returns one member to the
House of Commons. Elections are by secret ballot. British
citizens and citizens of other Commonwealth 10 countries,
together with citizens of the Irish Republic, may vote provided
they are aged 18 or over, resident in the United Kingdom,

21

registered in the annual register of electors for the constituency

and not subject to any disqualification.
People not entitled to vote include members of the
House of Lords, patients detained under mental health
legislation, sentenced prisoners and people convicted within
the previous five years of corrupt or illegal election practices.
The Representation of the People Act 1985 extends the
franchise11 to British citizens abroad for a period of five years
after leaving the United Kingdom and extends the right to
apply for an absent vote to all those who cannot reasonably be
expected to vote in person at the polling 12 station. A candidates
nomination for election must be signed by two electors as
proposer and seconder, and by eight other electors registered in
the constituency. He or she does not require any party backing.
A candidate must also deposit 500, which is forfeited if his or
her votes do not exceed 5 per cent of those validly cast.
VOCABULARY
1) to abide by = a respecta, a se conforma (unei legi,
unui regulament)
2) to reassemble = a re-convoca o ntrunire
3) royal assent = acordul regal; consimmntul
4) brass = ofieri superiori
5) peer = pair, nobil
6) to summon = a convoca
7) peerage = rang de pair; pairii, Lorzii Regatului
8) by-election = alegere local/parial
9) constituency = circumscripie electoral; corp
electoral
10) Commonwealth = republica englez, statul englez
11) franchise = privilegiu, scutire; concesiune
12) polling station = centru de votare

22

After a regulation has been adopted, there will be an ex

post assessment of whether the regulation actually realizes its
objectives. This may be a formalized assessment, but most
often it is an informal process through public discussion, press
comments, court decisions, etc. The result may be that one
initiate a revision process, which generally will take the form
of a report that concludes whether amendments should be
introduced, and which is subject to a political decision. If the
decision is positive, a draft of the new regulation is developed
and is made subject to an ex ante review, both with respect to
whether political objectives will be realized and to the more
legal technical details of the drafting. The draft be then
adopted.
UNIT 9
LEGAL PROFESSIONS
Of the public roles played by members of the legal
profession, that of judge is most visible, but the status of judge
and the mode of entry into this branch vary considerably from
country to country. The traditional independence, prestige and
creativity of the Anglo-American judge contrasts with the
rather ordinary civil servant status of most continental judges.
The English judiciary consists of judges of the High
Court and appellate1 courts and comprises the Lord Chancellor,
the lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls 2, 11 Lords of
Appeal, 18 lords justices of appeal, the Vice-Chancellor, the
President of the Family Division of the High Court and 80
other judges of the High Court. The Circuit 3 judges try criminal
cases in the Crown Courts and civil cases in the County Courts
and they are less than 400. By contrast, the American judiciary
is enormous: the federal judiciary (over 700), District judges,
who are trial judges (over 545) and the judges of the state court
23

systems exceeding 7, 500 though many of these may have

limited jurisdiction. Besides, American judges operate in a far
less centralized system. Not only does each state have its own
judicial system within its own borders, distinct from the federal
system which covers the whole country, but even the federal
system itself is decentralized to a significant degree.
In England there are two distinct kinds of legal
advisors: barristers4 and solicitors5, whereas America has one
professional status of lawyer, attorney or counsel. The English
bar is exceedingly small profession. There are today about
5,300 practicing barristers which is only about one-tenth the
number of practicing solicitors.
An important factor that strengthens the cohesiveness 6
of this tightly knit profession is that the majority of barristers
practice in London and nearly all have chambers 7 in a very
limited number of areas. The English bar is almost the
apprenticeship8 for becoming a judge. Senior barristers
appearing daily in court become so acquainted with the role of
the judge that they can move from bar to bench 9 overnight,
doffing10 the role of advocate and adopting that of judge.
The disappearance of the civil jury means that oral
argument in English Courts tends today to encourage skill in
arguing strict points of law in a way which matches the
approach of English judges. The English barrister acts as a
filter through whom assertions and arguments have to be made.
In this respect, he is not just a hired retainer 11, but a public
official with important responsibilities for the working of the
legal system as a whole.
According to the American Bar Foundation Research
Study released in 1985, there are more than 675,000 lawyers in
America. About two thirds of all American lawyers are in
private practice, with some ten per cent in government service.
Unlike an English barrister who is a specialist in advocacy but
a generalist in law, many American lawyers are likely to
specialize in a narrow area, and may have little sense of the
24

general values and ideas influencing judges in other areas.

Unlike English barristers, most American lawyers do not
regularly appear before judges anyhow, and those who do,
found themselves before a wide variety of judges, state and
federal, trial and appellate. Like judges, lawyers in America are
often more political than awyers in England, and in a variety of
ways they play a larger role in the formulation of policy.
The prosecutor, who performs the function of trial
lawyer for sovereignity has extensive resources at his disposal
for investigation and preparation purposes. He is not at liberty
to distort or misuse this information. He must disclose
information tending to relieve the accused of guilt. The efforts
of the prosecutor and the court should be directed toward
fairness and justice. But it is as much his duty to refrain from
improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction
as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one.
VOCABULARY
1) appellate court = curte de apel
2) Master of the Rolls = eful baroului
3) circuit judges = judectori de circumscripie
4) barrister = avocat pledant
5) solicitor = avocat, consilier juridic
6) cohesiveness = coeziune
7) chamber = sediu profesional al avocailor pledani
8) apprenticeship = ucenicie
9) bench = scaun judectoresc
10) to doff = a scoate, a schimba
11) retainer = angajat, consilier
UNIT 10

25

EUROPEAN LAW
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the final
arbiter of European Economic Community (EEC) law, is
inspired by the French Conseil dtat. The system of dividing
the court into chambers, and the role of the advocates-general
who assist the 13 judges, are derived from the French legal
system.
If the courts model is French, its functions are
frequently compared to those of the United States Supreme
Court. Just as the supreme court settles disputes 1 in the federal
structure of the United States, so the Court of Justice settles
those in the EEC. Its judgments are final, there is no further
appeal. The Courts task is to see that EEC law is properly
applied throughout the Community.
Unlike the Supreme Court, its judgments have to be
unanimous. There is no dissenting2 minority, at least outside the
judges private deliberating chamber. EEC members have no
choice but to respect the rulings3 of the court: its powers are set
out4 in the Treaty of Rome, which they have all accepted. In
this, the European Court of Justice differs from two other
courts with which it is sometimes confused, the International
Court of Justice in the Hague (the World Court) and the
European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. EEC member
states have no treaty obligation to accept rulings of the World
Court or of the European Court of Human Rights. All
community countries are also members of the Council of
Europe and have chosen to recognise the jurisdiction of its
court in human-rights cases.
No member country has refused to accept a ruling of
the European Court of Justice on a large issue of principle. In
some instances, however, they have dithered5 for a long time
before complying. France delayed opening its market to
imports of mutton and lamb from Britain to protect its own
high-cost producers for several months after a court
26

condemnation. Four years later Britain put into practice a

ruling that it should accept imports of long-life milk from the
continent (mainly France).
When France delayed applying its ruling, the court
came under pressure to issue a second condemnation under its
emergency procedures. The courts refusal to do so was at first
seized upon by some British commentators as evidence of the
court bowing6 to political pressure. But its reasoning-that to
issue a second ruling would devaluate the validity of the firstwas widely accepted as wise.
The same reasoning prevailed when the idea of penal
sanctions to back up7 court decisions was rejected by EEC legal
experts looking into reforms of the Treaty of Rome designed to
help speed the 1992 project along. The reforms, in the shape of
the 1987 Single European Act, created a junior court, to ease
the workload in Luxembourg. This court, called Court of First
Instance, will deal with minor cases and is due to begin work
later.
The most important cases concern the respect by EEC
countries of their treaty obligations and, for private companiesthe application of Community competition and trade policy.
American multinationals turn to the court if they feel the
commissions have fined them unfairly for breaches of EEC
antitrust8 law.
The new rules resulting from the Single European Act
and the 1992 project will add to the courts work. EEC legal
experts complain privately that the act, which was drafted 9 in
less than six months, contains a number of ambiguities and
even contradictions. The court will no doubt have to sort some
of them out. It will also be called upon more and more by
national courts for rulings on how they should apply the
growing number of EEC rules. And it will have to arbitrate in
cases where member-states contest some of the Communitys
new powers. Governments are carefully checking each major
item of 1992 legislation to see whether it requires a majority
27

vote or a unanimous one in the Council of Ministers or whether

the EEC is competent to decide at all. Britain is being
particularly vigilant.
VOCABULARY
1) to settle a dispute = a soluiona un diferend
2) dissenting = care este n dezacord sau n opoziie
3) ruling = decizie (a unui tribunal), sentin
4) to set out = a pune n ordine, a stabili
5) to dither = a ovi, a ezita
6) bowing = care se supune
7) to back up = a face s dea napoi
8) antitrust law = lege antitrust
9) to draft = a schia, a ntocmi un plan/proiect
UNIT 11
JUDICIAL POWER IN THE UNITED STATES
Constitution of the United States of America
We the people of the United States, in order to form a
more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic
Tranquility1, provide for the common defense, promote the
general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to
ourselves and our Posterity, to ordain2 and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
Article 111
Section 1 (1) The Judicial Power shall extend to all
cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the
Laws of the United States, the Treaties made, or which shall be
made, under their authority; - to all cases affecting
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; - to all cases
of Admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; - to controversies to
28

which the United States shall be a party; - to controversies

between two or more states; - between a State and Citizens of
another State; - between Citizens of different States; - between
Citizens of the same State claiming lands under Grants 3 of
different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof 4,
and Foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
(2) In all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public
Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a state shall be a
Party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all
the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have
appellate Jurisdiction, both as law and fact, with such
Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall
make.
(3) The Trial of all Crimes, except in cases of
impeachment5, shall be by Jury; and such trial shall be held in
the state where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but
when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such
Place or Places as the Congress may by law have directed.
() section 3 (1) Treason against the United States,
shall consist only in levying 6 War against them, or in adhering
to their Enemies, giving them Aid7 and Comfort. No person
shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two
witnesses to the same over Act, or on Confession in open
Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the
Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder8 of Treason shall work
Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the life of the
Person attained. Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging9 the freedom of speech, or of the press.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or
otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment 10 or
indictment11 of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land
or naval forces, or in the Militia12, when in actual service in
time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject
29

for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb;

nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness
against himself; nor be deprived13 of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken
for public use, without just compensation.
VOCABULARY
1) tranquility = linite, pace; calm
2) to ordain = a meni, a soroci, a predestina
3) grant = subvenie, donaie; dar
4) thereof = de aici; din aceasta
5) impeachment = punere sub acuzare, acuzaie
6) to levy = a recruta, a nrola, a mobiliza; a percepe a
strnge (impozite)
7) aid = sprijin, support, ajutor
8) attainder = privare de drepturi civile i de proprietate
(pentru o crim deosebit de grav)
9) to abridge = a scurta, a reduce, a limita
10) presentment = prezentare, nfiare
11) indictment = acuzare, punere sub acuzaie, trimitere
n judecat, incriminare
12) Militia = rezerviti (n SUA); armat, oaste
13) to deprive = a priva, a lipsi

UNIT 12
LITIGATIONS AND ADJUSTMENT
Complaints1 (UK) or claims (US) to purchases2 may
arise from a delay in delivery, lost goods, damaged goods or
the delivery of wrong goods. Complaints in connection with
purchases may also arise from the non-fulfilment of the clauses
30

in the contract of sale (default3 in carrying out the clauses in the

contract of sale) by the supplier or of those in the carriage
contract by the carrier.
1. Whatever the cause of your claim you should first
refer clearly to the type of the items concerned by referring to
your own order number or to that of your suppliers invoice 4
and then state the nature of your complaint in detail.
2. You may point out what difficulty the mistake has
caused to you. A reference to the reputation of the firm may
help your complaint in being taken into consideration more
sympathetically.
3. You should ask to have your complaint investigated
and specify what action you want the supplier to take: you as
buyer, are entitled to refuse any goods that are not in
accordance with your order, except as the result of alterations 5
made in agreement with your supplier.
4. You should not use warnings of cancellation or
threats of legal action too liberally. Try to reach an amicable
adjustment.
Replies to Complaints
On receiving a complaint, you, as vendor, should decide
whether it is well-founded or not. Then you must write a reply
to the complaint. If the complaint is well-founded, you will
first admit the error and offer a sincere apology assuring your
correspondents that you are taking measures to avoid the
recurrence of such a mistake. If you feel that the complaint is
unfounded you should carefully explain why his complaint
cannot be accepted and endeavour to convince him that he is
wrong.
Legal Problems
In small firms, matters such as legal action to be taken
in the case of non-payment of debt, default in carrying out a
contract or a dispute of any kind, are dealt with by the secretary
on the instructions of, and after discussion with the directors. In
larger firms, they are handled by the Accounts Department 6,
31

also after discussion with the directors, who will not act
without the advice of the firms solicitors.
Non-fulfilment of Contract
The failure by one party to a contract to perform his
part is called a breach of contract. Breach of contract may be
by: renunciation, making performance impossible or merely
failing to perform his part. The aggrieved 7 party may either sue
for damages or apply to the court for specific performance of
contract.
Damages
Damages are the estimated reparation in money for
injury sustained. The court awards nominal damages as an
acknowledgement of a breach, even if no loss has been
incurred, while for actual loss suffered it awards substantial
damages. The party breaching a contract shall be under an
obligation to take all required steps to mitigate 8 the loss that
has taken place, providing that he can do so without undue9
inconvenience or cost.
Penalties10
Penalties are round sums which are stated in the
contract (penalty clause) and must be paid by any party
breaching the contract, but they should not be an attempt to
assess the possible damage.
Customarily, they may be stated in the contract by the
way of compensation where it is difficult to estimate damages
in advance.
Bribery
Bribery and kickbacks11 have become common practice
in former communist countries. The spread of democracy may
itself create new incentives for corruption, given the need to
fund political parties and election campaigns.
If Third World countries are often blamed for the spread
of corruption, developed nations must take their share of the
responsibility and blame, as the corruptors are also

32

corporations fighting for contracts in military supplies, aircraft,

civil works and communications.
Today, international bodies are beginning to take steps
to curb corruption, and the World Bank has instituted rules that
empower it to investigate corruption complaints and to
blacklist12 companies and governments guilty of large scale
corruption.
VOCABULARY
1) complaint = plngere, reclamaie
2) purchase = achiziie, cumprare
3) default = nendeplinire a unei obligaii, a unui
angajament; neplat
4) invoice = factur
5) alteration = modificare
6) Accounts Department = departamentul de nregistrri
contabile
7) to aggrieve = a vtma; a rni
8) to mitigate = a atenua, a micora
9) undue = nepotrivit, exagerat
10) penalty = penalizare, daun penalizatoare
11) kickback = mit, sprijin bnesc
12) to blacklist = a trece pe lista neagr

There are basically three types of torts:

intentional torts;

negligence; and

strict liability.

An intentional tort is a civil wrong that occurs when the

wrongdoer engages in intentional conduct that results in damages

33

to another. Striking another person in a fight is an intentional act

that would be the tort of battery. Striking a person accidentally
would not be an intentional tort since there was not intent to strike
the person. This may, however, be a negligent act. Careless
conduct that results in damage to another is negligence.
Generally, liability because of a tort only arises where the
defendant either intended to cause harm to the plaintiff or in
situations where the defendant is negligent. However, in some
areas, liability can arise even when there is no intention to cause
harm or negligence. For example, in most states, when a
contractor uses dynamite which causes debris to be thrown onto
the land of another and damages the landowners house, the
landowner may recover damages from the contractor even if the
contractor was not negligent and did not intend to cause any
harm. This is called strict liability or absolute liability. Basically,
society is saying that the activity is so dangerous to the public that
there must be liability. However, society is not going so far as to
outlaw the activity.
Judge: is the final arbiter of the law wich has the duty to
maintain order in court and give a verdict.
Jury is a group of local citizen is the fact finder in most
trial. Their job is to listen all evidences presented at trial and to
decide the fact the jury decide the law.
Kinds of law in usa:
1.constitutional law: wich are the supreme sources of law. It

covers areas of law such as the relationship between the federal

government and state governments, the rights of individuals, and
other fundamental aspects of the application of government
authority in the United States.
2.statutory law: is written law set down by a body of legislature or
by a singular legislator. . Statutes may originate with national,
state legislatures or local municipalities. Statutory laws are
subordinate to the higher constitutional laws of the land and
other sources of law.
3. administrative law: the federal states and local legislature all
create administrative agencies wich have the force of law.
4.case law is created by the judicial branches of government and

34

each state create their own case law

house of commons are the lowerhouse of british parliament Is
main place where legislation and other decision of government are
criticicez.
their main work includes making law controlling finance only with
they permission government can spend money
Speaker: is person wich is elected at each new parliament wich
have the main purpose to preside over the house and enforce the
rules of order

35