English for Lawyers 1

1. English for Lawyers 1 Lecturer: Miljen Matijašević G10, room 6/I, Tue 11:30-12:30 e-mail: miljen.matijasevic@gmail.com Session 5, 8 Nov 2013

2. Today’s session • Revision of the last session • The British Judiciary • Translationpractice

3. Revision of thelastsession

4. Revision • What are the executive bodies in the UK? • What are the parts of the British Parliament? • What do you know about: • the House of Commons, and • the House of Lords? • What do youknowaboutParliamentaryelections?

5. Statute Law in Britain • Describe the legislative procedure in the British Parliament. • What is the Queen's role in Parliament? • What is a Bill? What types do you know? • Which House has more power - the Commons or the Lords? What is that power?

6. The British Judiciary Unit 4

7. The Court System of England and Wales

8. The Court System

9. The Court System FIRST-INSTANCE/LOWER CIVIL COURTS: • county courts FIRST-INSTANCE CRIMINAL COURTS: • magistrates’ courts • TheCrowncourt (!)

10. The Court System HIGH COURTS – the Supreme Court of Judicature • The Supreme Court of the UK • highest court of appeal (appeals from the CA of exceptionally the HCJ) • The Court of Appeal • Civil and criminal divisions • The High Court of Justice • Queen’s Bench division • Chancery Division • Family Division • Complex civil cases, appeals from the Crown court and county courts

11. The Court System Civil Courts The Supreme Court of the UK - highest court of appeal (appeals from the CA of exceptionally the HCJ) The Court of Appeal - appeals from the High Court or county courts The High Court of Justice – first instance for complex cases, specialist divisions (family law, administrative law, commercial law, etc.), alsosecond instance County courts – first-instance court for most civil cases of low or medium complexity

12. The Court System Criminal Courts The Supreme Court of the UK - highest court of appeal The Court of Appeal - appeals from the Crown Court on points oflaw or the verdict Divisional Court of the Queen’s Bench Division (HCJ) – criminal appeals from the Crown Court or magistrates’ courts on points of procedure CrownCourts – first-instance court for serious crimes Magistrates’ courts – first-instance court for summary offences (petty crimes)

13. The Judges • Judges have different titles, according to experience and type of court they sit in • Justices of the Supreme Court • Lord Justices of Appeal (CA) • puisne judges /pju:ni/ (judges of the HCJ, other than the presidents) • circuit judges • recorders • district judges • Justices of the Peace (magistrates)

14. The Judges • circuit judges, district judges, recorders – drawn from the ranks of solicitors or barristers with varying years ofstanding (minimum 10) • one must haveworked as a barrister or solicitorinorder to takejudicialoffice • one must advancefromlower to more senior judicialoffices

15. The Judges • Justices of the Peace (magistrates) • lay, unpaid judges – established members of the local community • usually sit in groups of 2 or 3 • advised by a clerk • TREND: more andmorebeingreplacedbydistrictjudges (professionals)

16. The Court System • The only judicial authorities above the Supreme Court of the UK are: • theCourt of JusticeoftheEuropean Union, and • the European Court of Human Rights

17. The Court System • The court system also includes tribunals– specialized courts dealing with certain areas (e.g. employment, immigration, technical and scientific areas) • In addition to legal professionals, judges sitting in tribunals are established specialists in pertinent areas

18. The Court System • The Supreme Court of the UK started work on 1 October 2009 (Constitutional Reforms Act 2005) • Before these reforms, the highest court of appeal was the (AppellateCommitteeofthe) HouseofLords (HL)

19. The Court System • There were 12 Lords of Appeal inOrdinary(a.k.a. theLawLords), sitting as peers in the HL and hearing appeals as the last instance in the country (a mix of judicial and legislative roles) • Today: Justices of the Supreme Court – completely independent from Parliament

20. The Lord Chancellor • until 2005 thisfunctionwaspresentin all 3 branchesof power • Theministerofjustice (executive) • HeadoftheAppellateCommitteeoftheHouseofLords (judiciary) • SpeakeroftheHouseofLords (legislative) • Responsible for judicialappointments

21. Recent updates Constitutional Reform Act 2005 – redefines and reduces the role of the Lord Chancellor, and extends the role of the Lord Chief Justice, also constitutes the Supreme Court of the UK, removing the judicial function of the House of Lords

22. Recent updates The Lord Chancellor • Today the Minister of Justice (sits in the Cabinet) and a Member of Parliament • No longerinvolvedinselecting judges • No longer the Speaker of the House ofLords

23. Recent updates The Lord Chief Justice • Head of the judiciary for England and Wales – represents the judiciary before the Government and Parliament • Makes decisions regarding the organisation of courts, distribution of work, allocation of funds, and training provided to judicialstaff • PresidesovertheCriminalDivisionofthe Court ofAppeal

24. JudicialAppointments Constitutional Reform Act 2005 Judicial Appointments Commission • Anindependentbody • Took over the task of judicial appointments, formerly performed by the Lord Chancellor

25. Keyterms Judicial Appointments Committee Lord Justices of Appeal Justices of the Supreme Court tribunals Lord Chief Justice Lord Chancellor first-instance court appellate court Justices of the Peace (magistrates) circuit judges district judges recorders puisne judges

26. Translationpractice

27. TranslateintoCroatian TheJudicialAppointmentsCommission is responsible for selectingjudgesinEnglandandWales. It is a non-departmentalpublicbodywhichwascreated on 3 April 2006 as partofthereformsfollowingtheConstitutionalReformAct 2005. It tookover a responsibilitypreviouslyheldbythe Lord Chancellorandthe Department for ConstitutionalAffairs, althoughthe Lord Chancellorretainsresponsibility for appointingtheselectedcandidates. The Lord Chancellorhasalsogivenup his otherjudicialfunctions, includingtheright to sit as a judgeintheHouseofLords.

28. TranslateintoCroatian Povjerenstvo za sudačka imenovanja odgovorno je za odabir sudaca u Engleskoj i Walesu. To nezavisno javno tijelo osnovano je 3. travnja 2006. u sklopu reformi koje su uslijedile nakon usvajanja Zakona o ustavnoj reformi 2005. Preuzelo je jednu od zadaća Lorda kancelara i Ministarstva za ustavne poslove, iako Lord kancelar i dalje obavlja imenovanja odabranih kandidata. Lord kancelar također se odrekao ostalih sudačkih dužnosti, kao što je pravo na sudjelovanje u sudskoj funkciji Doma lordova.

29. Thank you for your attention!