24.11.

2009
LEGAL ENGLISH TEST

A. LISTENING
Listen to the following presentation and choose the correct answer:
1. How is a criminal case born?
a. by a criminal investigation
b. by complaints addressed to a judge
c. by a letter addressed to the President
2. Who is entitled to take the first steps in a criminal investigation?
a. the neighbor of the victim
b. the law enforcement officer
c. the judge
3. What is the duty of the law enforcement officer after conducting the investigation?
a. to determine whether or not there is a crime
b. to go home and watch TV
c. to write a report for his superior
4. What will happen if there is a probable cause between the author and crime?
a. the accused is beaten
b. the accused is arrested and he will face trial
c. the law enforcement officer will testify against the author
5. Who is entitled to continue proceedings if the law enforcement officer is not sure
whether or not there is a probable cause?
a. the district attorney or the state attorney
b. the same law enforcement officer
c. the priest of the detention facility
6. At the end of proceedings who makes the final decision?
a. a Grand Jury
b. the judges of the Supreme Court
c. the district attorney or the state attorney

B. READING
Match the following fragments (7-12) with the corresponding sentences (A-F):

7. The French Immigration Minister’s proposals to address the needs of unaccompanied

migrant children held at transit zones, especially airports, falls short of bringing France
into compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

8. The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal has appointed a British lawyer to represent Radovan
Karadzic if the former Bosnian Serb leader continues to boycott his trial when it resumes
in March, according to a document released Friday. The U.N. court named Richard
Harvey, a lawyer with experience in The Hague representing war crimes suspects from
Kosovo.

9. Germain Katanga, alleged commander of the Force de résistance patriotique en Ituri

(Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri, FRPI), and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, alleged former
leader of the Front des nationalistes et intégrationnistes, (National Integrationist Front,
 FNI), are accused of three crimes against humanity (murder, sexual slavery and rape) and
seven war crimes (using children under the age of 15 to take an active part in hostilities;
deliberately directing an attack on a civilian population as such or against individual
civilians or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities; willful killing;
destruction of property; pillaging; sexual slavery and rape).

10. Intel had complained to the European Ombudsman alleging two things. First that the
Commission had failed to take minutes of a meeting with a senior Dell executive held on
23 August 2006, even though the meeting directly concerned the subject-matter of the
Commission's anti-trust investigation of Intel. Second that the Commission encouraged
Dell to enter into an information exchange agreement with micro-chip producer and Intel
competitor AMD thus giving AMD access to information contained in the Commission's
investigation file.

11. The Czech Constitutional Court has lifted the last major obstacle to the entry into
force of the Lisbon Treaty. On November 3rd 2009 it handed down a second finding that
ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by the Czech Republic did not violate its constitutional
provisions. The Constitutional Court declared the petition to review the Treaties of Rome
and Maastricht as inadmissible as those Treaties were unaffected by the process of
ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.

12. The Court stated that according to the Directive, the seller is to be liable to the
consumer for any lack of conformity in the goods at the time when they are delivered.
Where goods are not in conformity, the consumer is entitled to require the seller to repair
the goods or to replace them – in either case free of charge – unless that is impossible or
disproportionate.

A. In France, the issue of immigration is assessed at governmental level.

B. The Constitutional Court of the mentioned state declared that it had no competence to
review some treaties regarding the EU.
C. The Directive provides the right of the consumer to have certain goods replaced or
repaired.
D. A large IT company filed a complaint against another company regarding issues of
competition.
E. The suspects are accused of war crimes.
F. The war crime suspect refused to choose a lawyer.

C. ENGLISH IN USE:
a) Choose the best word to fill each gap:

International investment and (13)………….. change intersect in a number of

ways. There is immense potential for investment in carbon markets, renewable energy
sources, and low carbon technology. There is also, however, the potential for
international investment (14)………… to frustrate the implementation of climate change
mitigation measures. This paper examines recent investor challenges to environmental
regulation and (15)………… that a similar approach to climate change-related regulation
can be expected. The interaction of these international legal regimes will have significant
implications for achieving global carbon (16)………….. reductions, and, as such, this
paper argues for a better alignment of their objectives. It points to the need for a shift in
international investment law to meet global environmental challenges of the 21st century
and argues for the inclusion of (17)……………. in international investment (18)
…………… that will assist with the transition to a low carbon economy.

13. A – climate, B – power, C – whether, D – interest

14. A – legally, B – lawful, C – law, D – illicit
15. A - argued, B - has argued, C- arguing, D- argues
16. A – quality, B – quantity, C – smoke, D – emissions
17. A – provisions, B- obligations, C – words, D – models
18. A. – agreeing, B – agreements, C- agree, D- agrees

b) Translate the following sentences into English:

19. Inculpatul a fost audiat ieri.

20. Procesul urmeaza sa aiba loc saptamana viitoare.
21. Judecatorul tocmai a pronuntat sentinta.
22. Conform prevederilor legii nr. 21/ 2009 partile trebuie sa incheie un contract de
vanzare-cumparare.
23. Daca as avea acces la documente as putea dovedi ca el este nevinovat.
24. In acest moment Primul Ministru prezinta membrii cabinetului.

D. WRITING:
Write a letter of application in response to the following internship advertisement:

Legal Internship Program

Positions are available for undergraduates

and postgraduate law students, or for lawyers Candidates being considered for an IBA internship
awaiting a pupilage position, or for recently should:
qualified lawyers to serve as an intern at the
International Bar Association's office in • be highly motivated;
London. • be able to work independently and on his/her
Founded in 1947, the International Bar own initiative;
Association (IBA) is the world's largest
• have excellent interpersonal skills;
organization of Law Societies, Bar
• have good computer literacy including Microsoft
Associations and individual lawyers. The IBA
Word and e-mail and internet;
is involved with cutting edge issues affecting
the international legal community and as an • have good analytical and writing skills;
intern you can become involved in the work of
the Association. • have an interest and/or experience in
international affairs and politics.
E. SPEAKING:

Text 1.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as
an international bill of rights for women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it
defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national
action to end such discrimination.
The Convention defines discrimination against women as "...any distinction,
exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of
prejudicing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective
of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and
fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field."

E. SPEAKING:

Text 2.

The case came to the Court of Justice on a reference from the Irish High Court.
There were four cases before the Irish court concerning non-EU Member State nationals
that arrived in Ireland and applied for asylum. In each case the application was refused.
While residents in Ireland, the four asylum seekers married citizens of the Union who did
not have Irish nationality but who were residents in Ireland. None of the marriages was a
marriage of convenience. After the marriage, each of the non-EU spouses (the asylum
seekers) applied for a residence permit as the spouse of a EU citizen. The Minister for
Justice refused the applications on the grounds that the spouse did not satisfy the
condition of prior lawful residence in another Member State.

E. SPEAKING:

Text 3.

The European Commission has decided to send a letter of formal notice to

Bulgaria in connection with its legislation concerning lawyers. The letter of formal notice
represents the first stage in the pre-litigation procedure under Article 226 EC, under
which the Commission requests Bulgaria to submit its observations within two months on
the identified problems regarding the application of Community law.
The Commission considers that some provisions of the Bulgarian Bar Act could
constitute a violation of the freedom of establishment of lawyers and law firms in
Bulgaria as enshrined in Article 43 EC. The Commission is enquiring in particular about
the following aspects:
- the nationality requirement for obtaining the qualification of Bulgarian lawyer;
- the fact that Community lawyers and Bulgarian lawyers do not benefit from the same
rights for the exercise of their activity;
- the fact that Community law firms are prevented from establishing themselves in
Bulgaria;
- the rule prohibiting Community lawyers and law firms to make use of their own law
firms' names in Bulgaria.