Your Working Day

The number of the days you work as a juror and your working hours depend on the jury selection system in the county in which you live. Working hours may also be varied by the judge to accommodate witnesses coming from out of town or for other reasons.

Regardless of the length of your working day, one thing that may strike you is the amount of waiting. For example, you may have to wait a long while before you are called for a jury panel. You also may be kept waiting in the jury room during trial while the judge and the lawyers settle a question of law that has come up.

This waiting may seem like a waste of time to you and also may make it seem as if the court system isn't working very well. In reality, however, there are good reasons for the waiting you do both before and during trial.

Your having to wait before trial is important for the efficient operation of the system. Because there are many cases to be heard and because trials are expensive, judges encourage people to come to an agreement in their case before trial. These agreements, called SETTLEMENTS, can occur at any time, even a few minutes before the trial is scheduled to begin. This means that it is impossible to know exactly how many trials there will be on a particular day or when they will start. Jurors are kept waiting, therefore, so that they are immediately available for the next case that goes to trial.

Your waiting during trial helps assure the fairness of the proceedings. You will remember that the jurors decide the facts and that the judge decides the law. If you are sent out of the courtroom during trial, it is probably because a legal issue has come up that must be decided before more evidence can be presented to you. You are sent out because the judge decides that you should not hear the discussion about the law, because it might interfere with your ability to decide the facts in an impartial way. Sometimes the judge will explain why you were sent out, but sometimes he may not be able to do so. Please be assured, however, that these delays during trial, explained or not, are important to the fairness of the trial.

In any case, judges and personnel do whatever they can to minimize the waiting before and during trial. Your understanding is appreciated.

TASK 2. Give Russian equivalents Jor the following words and translate the definitions info Russian

CASE - any proceeding, action, cause, lawsuit or controversy initiated through the court system by filing a complaint, petition or information.

WITNESS - person who testifies under oath in court regarding what was seen, heard or otherwise observed.

TRIAL - the presentation of evidence in court to a trier of facts who applies the applicable law to those facts and then decides the case.

EVIDENCE - a form of proof legally presented at a trial through witnesses, records, documents, etc.

TASK 3, Paraphraze the following words and expressions and explain their meanings.

- fellow citizens;

- courtroom;

- prejudice;

- to deal thoroughly with the cases;

- to exempt from jury service;

- to meet some requirements;

- impartial decision;

- to be available for case;

- legal issues;

- common sense;

- to select at random;

- eligible for service;

- to have one's civil rights restored;

- to be excused from jury service;

- to accommodate a witness;

- delays during trial.

TASK 4. Answer the questions.

1. What is the job of a juror?

2. What is the job of a judge?

3. What qualities should a good juror have?

4. What requirements should one meet to be eligible for jury service?

5. What are the reasons for a person to be excused from jury service?

6. What is the aim of VOLR DIRE!

1. What is CHALLENGING A JUROR?

8. What are the types of challenge?

9. What does a juror's working day depend on?

10. Who are alternative jurors?

TASK 5. Read the text.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29