Applied Modern Languages MA Programme - LEGAL ENGLISH REVISION JANUARY 2018

Course instructor: Roxana-Cristina Petcu, PhD

PART I
ENLARGE UPON THE FOLLOWING:

1. Give three examples of magistrates in the English court system. State their functions as well as the
differences and similarities between them.
2. Name the two types of practicing lawyers in the English legal system. In what ways are their functions
different?
3. Explain the term judicial precedent.
4. Explain the American term of checks and balances.
5. What is statute law?
6. Give three examples of courts of law in the English system. Highlight their level of competence. 7. Define
the burden of proof.
8. Define common law versus equity in the English legal system.
9. What is the difference between real property and personal property?
10. What is the Royal Prerogative?
11. Define the Law Society (constituency, representation, functions).
12. Give three examples of courts of law in the American system. Highlight their level of competence. 13.
Enlarge upon the American Constitution
14. The roles of the British Monarchy
15. Enlarge upon the British Parliament (composition, members, functions) (

PART II
I. Match the legal terms (1-10) below with their correct definitions (A-J). Give their Romanian
equivalents. Use them in sentences of your own.
1. intestate succession ; 2. fine ; 3.the Assizes ; 4. Tenants in Chief ; 5. tenure of land ; 6. forfeiture ; 7. an
itinerant court ; 8. first instance jurisdiction ; 9. equity ; 10. stare decisis

A. the principles of binding precedent; B. ownership of property; C. a court that moves from town to town; D.
loss of property or of a right as a result of an offence; E. the law concerning the transmission of a dead
person’s estate to the beneficiaries when there is no will; F. Norman noblemen given their land directly by the
King; G. the power of a court to hear and judge a new case; H. a system of law complementary to common law;
I. a sum of money that an offender must pay when ordered to do so by a legal authority as punishment for the
offence; J. sittings of court presided over by judges who would travel around the country.
II. Find the verbs that best complete the collocations below. Provide their Romanian
equivalents and use them in sentences of your own. (15 points)
1. _______ Acts of Parliament; 2. _________ into a law (US); 3. ______new statutes; 4. _________
existing legislation; 5. ___________ obsolete law; 6. _______ the President’s veto; 7. ________ the
Royal Assent to turn a bill into a legal enactment; 8. ______ a bill on the floor of a Parliament Chamber ;
9._______ powers to a lower body; 10. ________ the President’s appropriations of money.
III. Give the Romanian equivalent of the following English legal terms
To adjudicate, admissible evidence, arbitration, bail, claim, confinement, contempt of court, to hear a case/ an
appeal, to indict, indictable offence, to challenge a juror/judge/evidence, probation, tort law, libel, to adduce
evidence
IV. Give the English equivalent of the following Romanian legal terms
Flagrant organizat de politie; presedintele Curtii Supreme de Justitie in SUA; a depune/ inainta a plangere
impotriva cuiva; procedura; a anula/ a casa o hotarare; grefier; citatie (pentru un martor); procedura
simplificata fara juriu; a mentine o hotarare; eroare juridicara;
V. Find the terms that best cover the meaning described in the definitions below
1. collective word for a group of judges and the name of the place where a judge sits in court ; 2. formal
collective word for all the judges in the legal system ; 3. the specific post of a judge ; 4. place where people are
held as punishment when convicted of an offence
VI. Look at the list of legal terms below. Match each of these terms with its definition. Provide
their Romanian equivalents.
1. adversarial proceedings; 2. affidavit; 3. cassation; 4. burden of proof; 5. class action; 6. deposition; 7. fast
track; 8. freezing injunction; 9. litigation; 10. judgment debtor; 11. perjury; 12. privilege; 13. settlement; 14.
statements of case; 15. witness summons

A.witness can be compelled to attend a trail; B. proceedings involving a real dispute between two opposing
parties who are responsible for finding and presenting evidence: C. the collective term for all the documents
exchanged between parties before the trial; D. a sworn written statement made by a witness; E. parties avoid
going to trial by reaching an agreement on the claim; F. a court only competent to make decisions upon a
point of law. In the English system there are no such courts; G. the right of a party to refuse to produce
documents or answer questions on the ground of some special interest recognized by law: H. the claimant
must prove all th elements required for his claim against the defendant; I. telling lies in court while under
oath; J. American term which refers to bringing a lawsuit on behalf of a whole group of individuals who have
been affected; K.the one against whom a money judgment has been ordered; L. evidence given by a witness
before an examiner prior to the trial; M.where a dispute is taken in court. N. track used for claims for a value
above that of small claims; O. order of an English court to stop a party removing or disposing of assets before
trial.
VII. Find the correct definition for each of the legal terms below; translate these terms into
Romanian: Competence, Congress, County Court, Court of Appeal, court of first instance, Crown Court, to
distinguish, district courts, federal courts, forum shopping, jurisdiction, jurisprudence, juror, jury, jury
vetting, legal remedy, litigation, mediation, overrule, right of audience.

1. the right to appear and conduct proceedings in a court; 2. member of a jury; 3. a court can hear a case if it
has jurisdiction over the person or property at issue in that case; 4. a judge finds a precedent laid down in a
previous case not binding on the case before him because the material facts in the present case differ from
those in the previous case; 5. alternative form of dispute resolution where a third party, acting as mediator,
helps the parties to reach an agreement; 6. the courts of the USA as distinguished from the courts of the
individual states. These courts hear cases that involve disputes or issues governed by federal law; 7. a cross-
section of the public called upon to hear a case; 8. the legislative body of the USA; 9. means provided by the
law to help one party because the other party has acted contrary to the rules of law; 10. more than one court
has the competence to hear a case and parties wish to select the forum which would be more favorable for
their case; 11. in the English system it hears civil cases in its local area of jurisdiction; 12. the study or
philosophy of law (in the English legal system); 13. a procedure by which members of the public are selected
in court for jury service in England. ; 14. this is an appellate court to be found in many common law
jurisdictions. It hears appeals from lower courts.; 15. a court reaches the decision that a precedent laid down
in a different case no longer has to be followed; 16. a court in the English system that hears primarily criminal
cases; 17. where a party, known as litigant, brings an action to the court; 18. a court in which proceedings
begin; 19. the trial courts of the American federal court system’ 20. the legal power to hear and decide a case.
IX. Provide synonyms for the following words and phrases
Possible case; negatively influence the health of the client; unprejudiced point of view; causation; to start an
action; probable costs of action; in proportion to the damages recovered; in this instance; to preside over a
court; panel of judges
X. Translate into English:
1. Judecătorii au latitudinea de a crea noi reguli de drept atunci când nu există predecent care sa permită
rezolvarea dosarului în speţă.2. In Marea Britanie, procurorul general supraveghează instrumentarea
dosarelor instituite în numele Coroanei.3. În SUA, Ministerul de finanţe a comunicat recent ca doreşte să
limiteze asistenţa juridică gratuita. 4. Ordinul notarilor şi consilierilor juridici britanici se ocupă de
reclamaţiile formulate la adresa membrilor săi.5. Conform prevederilor legii din 1990, consilierii juridici au
pierdut monopolul în materie de tranfer de proprietate.6. Judecătorii de la instanţele superioare audiază
numai dosare importante sau apeluri.7. In activitatea lor, consilierii juridici se ocupă de multe aspecte care
nu sunt de natură contencioasă, de exemplu işi consiliază clienţii, fac transferuri de proprieatte sau se ocupă
de dezbaterea succesiunilor (moştenirilor).8. Obstrucţionarea cursului normal al justiţiei este o infracţiune
care se pedepseşte cu amendă sau închisoare.9. Cum în Anglia şi Tara Galilor există un număr insuficient de
judecători, sunt numiţi judecători cu program redus pentru a-i ajuta să-şi îndeplinească îndatoririle.10. În
Marea Britanie, magistratura (corpul judecătoresc) este total independentă de puterea executivă.11. Sarcina
principală a judecătorilor este de a defini intenţiile legislativului şi de a aplica doctrina precedentului
juridic.12. Instanţele superioare pot pedepsi orice sfidare a instanţei comisă în afara instanţei sau în interiorul
ei cu amendă sau pedeapsa cu închisoarea. 13. Fiecare stat american işi defineşte condiţiile de admitere a
avocaţilor în barou.14. Avocatul îşi exercită profesia în statul în care a fost admis în barou.15. În SUA, un notar
este un funcţionar public care nua are neaparat pregătire juridică.16. Avocaţii pot reprezenta o persoană în
instanţă, unii dintre ei se specializează în a pleda în instanţă, alţii se specializează pe consilierea cleinţilor şi
pregătirea documentelor.
XI.Translate into Romanian New laws preventing people accused of murder from using sexual jealousy,
so-called "honour" killing and revenge as partial defences will make little difference in practice, lawyers say.
The reforms - which will be debated next week as part of proposals for the first new murder legislation in 50
years - have been hailed by the government as a radical overhaul after years of controversial interpretation by
the courts. They will remove the current rules on "provocation", which provides a "partial defence" of murder,
reducing convictions to manslaughter where an accused proves they have killed after being "provoked to lose
self-control as a result of things said or done". "Provocation" will be replaced under the proposals, part of the
coroners and justice bill published last week, with a new system of partial defences that specifically excludes
sexual jealousy, something that was previously open for the jury to allow as a basis for the partial defence.
Critics of the changes have expressed doubts about singling out situations such as sexual infidelity. "I must
confess to being uneasy about a law which so diminishes the significance of sexual infidelity," Lord Phillips of
Worth Matravers, the senior law lord, said recently in response to the proposals. "We do not believe that
sexual infidelity should be singled out," added Peter Lodder QC, chairman of the Criminal Bar
Association.Lawyers said the changes would make little difference in practice. "As a general trend, defendants
have not been able to rely on sexual infidelity under the current law," criminal barrister John Cooper said.
"Any defence run on that basis would have been unlikely to convince a jury."Despite the proposals' aims to
toughen the law on "provocation", victims of domestic violence would be subject to greater understanding
under the changes, the government said. Defendants - often women - who killed their partners after suffering
from cumulative episodes of abuse would be able to invoke a new partial defence, reducing their conviction to
manslaughter where they could show they acted in "fear of serious violence".The government also faces
opposition over its refusal to radically change the law on "diminished responsibility", a separate partial
defence open to defendants suffering from an "abnormality of mind".The current law will be clarified so that it
only applies to those suffering from a "recognised medical condition". The government has rejected proposals
to include "developmental immaturity", causing anger among critics.